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Department of History and Philosophy of Science

 
hps-cambridge.jpgHistory and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge
An introduction to HPS at Cambridge, with contributions from students and members of staff.

 

conversation.pngVirtual Conversations
Recordings of online discussions from Easter Term 2020.

 

chang-inaugural.jpgScientific Pluralism and the Mission of History and Philosophy of Science
What is HPS for? Why do we need such a professional academic discipline? Hasok Chang considers these questions in his inaugural lecture, given in October 2012.

 

horry-fungus.jpgThe 'Flying Scientist' Who Chased Spores
Ruth Horry tells the story of the Cambridge mycologist who used an airship to trap fungal spores.

 

poskett-crania.jpgSkulls in Print: Scientific Racism in the Transatlantic World
James Poskett shows how racist ideas and images circulated between the United States and Europe in the 19th century.

 

falk-globe.jpgThe World Inside a Spanish Globe
Seb Falk lifts the lid on an early 20th-century educational toy, which can be seen in the Whipple Museum's globes exhibition.

 

Cambridge

CRASSH (Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities)

  • Disciplines and Disorientation
    Simon Schaffer's contribution to the conference The Future University.
  • Field Notes
    Recordings of the seminar series that encourages interdisciplinary discussion about the histories of archaeology and anthropology.
  • Global Science
    Recordings of the research group that explores the relationship between global history and science studies.
  • PhDcasts: Katy Barrett
    Katy Barrett discusses her PhD research on the cultural history of the longitude problem in the 18th century.
  • PhDcasts: Michelle Wallis
    Michelle Wallis discusses her PhD research on cheap print and medical advertising in early modern England.
  • Things: Early Modern Material Cultures
    Recordings of the seminar series in which objects are considered from different perspectives.

Darwin College

Darwin Correspondence Project

  • Darwin and Religion
    Paul White interviews Tim Lewens about the role of Darwin in modern science and the implications of evolution for religious belief.

Fitzwilliam Museum

  • Darwin and the Ancient Earth
    In a podcast to complement the 2009 exhibition Endless Forms, Jim Secord explains why the young Darwin's fascination with geology was so important for his later work.

Generation to Reproduction

  • Henry VIII: The Quest for an Heir
    In the first of two lectures on royal births in Tudor and Stuart England, Peter Jones (King's College, Cambridge) looks at Henry VIII's anxieties about fertility, and the resources – medical, religious, political – on which he drew to secure a male heir.
  • Mary of Modena: A Royal Scandal
    Mary Fissell (Johns Hopkins University) examines the sensational tales told about the so-called 'warming-pan baby', the child born to James II and Mary of Modena in 1688.

Sidney Sussex College

Trinity College

  • Tarner Lectures 2010
    Simon Schaffer gives a series of four lectures on 'When the stars threw down their spears: histories of astronomy and empire'.

External

BBC Arts

BBC Radio 3

BBC Radio 4

BioViews

YouTube