Simone Weil against distraction
April Owens, a postgraduate student on the MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, has published an essay in the journal The Hedgehog Review.
The essay, 'Simone Weil Against Distraction', discusses the 20th-century philosopher's writing about the concept of attention, in the context of social media and the 'attention economy'. Owens argues that Weil's view of attention is relevant today, in showing how we can train and improve our focus.
Mary Hesse Lecture
'How scientific plurality and sociality enhance scientific objectivity', the Second Annual Mary Hesse Lecture in the Philosophy and History of Science, was given by Professor Helen Longino (Stanford University) on 23 October 2025.
The ghostwriter and the test-tube baby
Research by Nick Hopwood has uncovered how a poet-physician turned the key innovation in assisted reproduction into a moving story and amplified the women involved.
Alexander van Dijk receives Early-Career Fellowship with Parker Library
PhD student Alexander van Dijk will focus on the Parker Library's Arabic manuscripts during the fellowship.
Professor Nick Hopwood to chair public dialogue oversight group
Nick Hopwood has been named as chair of an oversight group for a public dialogue on the 14-day limit on human embryo research.
Rausing Lecture
'But why here? Space technologies, the logic of location, and the violence of infrastructure', the Twenty-Ninth Annual Hans Rausing Lecture, was given by Professor Asif Siddiqi (Fordham University) on Thursday 5 June.
HPS welcomes Dr Elabbar and Dr Fagerberg
We are delighted to announce that we have two new members of academic staff joining the Department in September.
Diasporic Natures Conference
The conference, which was organised by Dániel Margócsy, challenged common conceptions of human migration and mobility.
Contacts are community
A report co-authored by Dr Richard McKay, 'Contacts are Community: Hackney's experiences of COVID-19 contact tracing', examines the success of the community-led response to the pandemic in the London Borough of Hackney.
Cambridge HPS professor co-authors research paper on social infrastructure
Anna Alexandrova has co-authored a new report on the role of social and cultural spaces, such as parks and libraries, in building communities.
Cambridge Lecture in the History of Medicine
Keith Wailoo (Princeton University) gave the Cambridge Lecture in the History of Medicine on Thursday 6 March: 'Unnecessary sleep: opium, the trial of Ann, and the therapeutic dilemma of slavery'.
New research asks us to rethink the impact of oceanic travel on our view of the world
Drawing our movement through the world as a line on a map is not an obvious idea. It has deep historical roots, and many of them can be found in maritime voyages. This is the argument made by Dr Sara Caputo in her new book Tracks on the Ocean: A History of Trailblazing, Maps and Maritime Travel.