We're super excited to be hosting Prof. Alison Bashford at @globalaffairslu.bsky.social to hear her talk about her fascinating new book on the history of reading the hand. You can imagine why we'd be interested and we are sure you will be too. Please sign up for free tickets at the link below.

Thanks to the generosity of the Bibliographical Society we still have two subsidised tickets for postgraduate attendance at the forthcoming Print Networks conference. Don't let the opportunity pass. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/print-netw...

Huge congratulations to our own Dr Ellen Clarke on the publication of "The Units of Life: Kinds of Individual in Biology"! academic.oup.com/book/60068

Our Museum of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine holds some incredible collections. Look out for a complete refresh of our permanent gallery spaces - “Proper #Yorkshire Science” - launching very soon! It explores the connection between science and regional identity #histsci

Great to see the latest issue of @bshsnews.bsky.social "Viewpoint" magazine out at www.bshs.org.uk/wp-content/u.... A big shout-out to editor Joe Holloway for including an excerpt from my book "Reading the Book of Nature" in this issue and for organizing to interview me. Thanks, Joe!

Join us in Cambridge for Sadiah Qureshi’s public lecture "Vanished" — on extinction, race & the politics of memory. 📅 Wed 9 July, 6–10pm 📍 David Attenborough Building, Cambridge 🎟 Free tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1395979053... With an introduction by Helen Macdonald! #BSHS2025 #histSTEM

Call for Papers, please share! “Power Couples? Collaborations at work and at home, c.1750-1914” workshop to be held at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany 11-13 May 2026. Deadline for expression of interest 1 Sep 2025. Please see more info in the attached & email me if any questions.

'researchers...say that Annie Walker – a Victorian woman who began working at the observatory in 1879, when she was only 15 – ...observed thousands of stars herself....Walker was the first British professional female astronomer...paid a living wage by an observatory in the UK to chart the stars.'

The APEX Awards, jointly awarded with the @britishacademy.bsky.social and the @raeng.org.uk, are now open for applications, giving independent researchers the opportunity to pursue genuine interdisciplinary research. Applications now close on 09 September: #RSGrants royalsociety.org/grants/apex-...

It's here.

If you’d like to know more about extinction and empire, some upcoming book events: 18 June, with Gary Younge, KCL www.kcl.ac.uk/events/vanis... 26 June, Linnean Society, London www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-unnatu... 9 July, with Helen Macdonald, Cambridge www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/vanished-a...

Giant 1970s cheese plant rehomed at indoor zoo in Leeds. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Celebrating the BSHS Postgraduate Conference Now that the dust has settled on this year's British Society for the History of Science (BSHS) Postgraduate Conference, held here at the University of Leeds by our postgraduate community from 25-26 April, we are delighted to share reflections from a…

Coming soon: reports from attendees, photos and even a film which capture the @bshsnews.bsky.social Postgraduate Conference hosted by our wonderful PG community last month. We're still basking in the warm glow of this amazing event! pg-conference.bshs.org.uk #histsci #histSTM

My latest book, Translating Science in the 18th and 19th centuries (co-edited with my dear friend Alison E. Martin), is now available in open access format at tinyurl.com/yy3wt4h7

Beautiful botanical details inside & out in this recent acquisition from @quaritch1847.bsky.social: Henrietta Moriarty's 'Viridarium: coloured plates of greenhouse plants' (London, 1806), produced in part to free her from destitution after the early death of her dissolute husband. CUL 8000.d.1621.

📣 Call for Proposals – BJHS Themes 2026! We're inviting proposals for the next issue of BJHS Themes, the open-access journal published with @CambridgeUP! 📅 Deadline: 15 July 2025 📘 Details: www.bshs.org.uk/cfp-bjhs-the... Check out our current Themes issues! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

IMEMS Co-Director Professor Matthew Eddy discusses his new book, winner of the British Society for the History of Science's Pickstone Prize, in an interview with @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social - now live! 🎙️ 👉 Listen here: newbooksnetwork.com/media-and-th... @bshsnews.bsky.social

Join us on 16-18 December in Chieti to explore how texts — from hypertexts and digital narratives to literature and social media — shape human experience: influencing social change, reframing histories. CfP open now digital-humanities.open.ac.uk/text-affects... 1/

Postgraduate student in book history or literary studies? Apply for a bursary to the Digital Scholarship Winter School. Learn concepts and methods for research on new sources and media technologies. Generously sponsored by @sharpnews.bsky.social digital-humanities.open.ac.uk/text-affects... 2/end

🗣️ Got a bold idea to bring history of science, tech or medicine to the public? 🧪🎬🧵🎭📚 Apply for a BSHS Outreach & Engagement Grant – up to £500 available! 📅 Deadline: 16 May 2025 🔗 bshs.org.uk/grants/outreach-and-engagement-project-grants #HistSTM #SciComm #PublicHistory #BSHSGrants #HSTM

📢 WHS Research Bursary! Postgrad, early career, or independent researcher in women's/gender history? Apply for up to £500! Open to those in Scotland or researching Scottish themes. 🗓️ Deadline: 31st May 🔗 womenshistoryscotland.org/projects-and... #WomensHistory #GenderStudies #ResearchFunding

The Lyell Lectures are free! Link here to book online and in person: visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/lyell-lectur...

RSVP’s annual Colby Prize lecture is going digital! Join us for a special #RSVPDigiEvent on May 9 to hear from W. Hamish Fraser on "Nineteenth-Century Scottish Newspapers: The Importance of the Local." As always, this event is free and open to all! #VoicesandVisions rs4vp.org/colby-prize-...

🚨 Tomorrow! Don’t miss Prof. Jon Topham’s jontopham.bsky.social inaugural lecture & BSHS PG Conference keynote: Science and Religion from the Ground Up. 📆 25 April | 3.30pm BST 📍 Leeds & Online 🔗 Register now: bit.ly/4hDxuyV Join us live online! #HistSci #BSHSPG2025

Don't miss out on these fantastic opportunities to come and work with us in Leeds. Deadlines coming up shortly!

Interesting to learn that the Isle of Axholme, where I spent my childhood, is literally "the isle of the island of Hakr's island" in a combination of modern English, old English, and old Norse. doi:10.1017/ean.2025.7. A bit like the marshland equivalent of Pendle Hill ("Hill-Hill-Hill").

Delighted to see the new exhibition as part of the project 'Natural History in the Age of Revolutions' in the Library and Archives at @rbgkew.bsky.social ! Thank you to all those who made this happen, especially my Co-I Staffan Müller-Wille and Fiona Ainsworth. Free and open 1 April-19th June

In celebration of the publication of my new book, a lovely review of my previous one by @peteorford.bsky.social is now up on @thebsls.bsky.social website: www.bsls.ac.uk/2025/04/fall...

📢 Join us for Leviathan and After – a one-day celebration of the history of science, the field, and its future! 📅 Mon 12 May | 🕙 10:00–19:00 📍 Dana Research Centre & Science Museum 🎙️ With Steven Shapin, Simon Schaffer & John Tresch 🎟️ Free, but registration required: 🔗 ucl.ac.uk/sts/events/2...

⏳ Last chance! For over 25 years, the BSHS has recognised books that bring the fascinating, weird, and important stories of #HistSTEM to a broader audience. Help us find the next milestone! 📅 Deadline: TOMORROW! 🔗 Apply now: www.bshs.org.uk/submissions-... #BookAwards #ScienceWriting

Two wonderful opportunities for early career and postdoctoral researchers to participate in the @Cambridge_Uni  Collections-Connections-Communities initiative (natural history humanities theme). www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/initiatives/... and www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/initiatives/...

📣 We're currently running our April Bio-Blitz! 🌼 We need 100 people to make 10 observations each of plants and wildlife on the iNaturalist App 🌳 🏡 Make a difference from your doorstep and join us in helping Nature in Alwoodley 🐞 ➡️ Follow this link to sign up: sites.google.com/alwoodley203...

On 10 & 11 April, @kingshistory.bsky.social is hosting a symposium in honour of the historian Arthur Burns (1963-2023). It pays tribute to Arthur with a theme which runs throughout his own research: institutions and communities in modern Britain. Programme and booking: bit.ly/4bOC8cc #Skystorians

Two Collaborative PhD Studentships in History of Science The Centre for History & Philosophy of Science is offering two fully-funded PhD scholarships to support research in the history of science and gender, and the history of trust in meteorology. The two projects – supported by Collaborative…

A wonderful opportunity to apply for a fully-funded collaborative PhD studentship in partnership with @royalsociety.org. "Weather Sceptics: Almanacs and the Making of Scientific Meteorology in Nineteenth-Century Britain". Deadline 6 May. See link for full details. #histsci @bshsnews.bsky.social

Congratulations to Elfed Huw Price! His #OpenAccess book William Lawrence and the Organ of Mind published today. Read and download free using link below!

Leeds University doing its Spring thing...

We are delighted to announce another fully-funded collaborative PhD studentship, this time in conjunction with @theul.bsky.social. "The Hidden Gender of Collections: Women and the Curation of Scientific Heritage". Deadline 30 April. See here for full details: phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/2233... #histsci

📢Upcoming lecture! Professor Jon Topham jontopham.bsky.social on ‘Science and Religion from the Ground Up’ Join us for this joint event between the BSHS, hpsleeds.bsky.social and leedsprhs.bsky.social in Leeds and online! 📆Friday 25th April, 2025 | 3.30pm–5.00pm www.eventbrite.com/e/science-an...

Today!

PhD on offer at Kew: Plants and their Products: Biocultural collections at Kew Gardens & the South Kensington Museum during the long nineteenth century If only I could apply! Fascinating mutual interests of Kew and the V&A in plants. Closes 16 May www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-her...

UCL Special Collections is now on BlueSky, so please pass on this particular opportunity (and add us to your lists)!

#WomensHistoryMonth Celebrating the 226th birthday of photographic pioneer #AnnaAtkins by revisiting my 2024 blog for the @linneansociety.bsky.social. A rare photo of all three volumes of Photographs of British Algae, Cyanotype Impressions courtesy of Linnean Society. www.linnean.org/news/2024/12...

A John Ray (1627-1705) #shelfie @theul.bsky.social. Books from the library of Sir Geoffrey Keynes (1887-1982), who compiled a bibliography of Ray’s works.

Hi there! We are the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing. Our members promote research in the history of the book including manuscript culture, print, digital technologies + beyond. Follow to connect with bookish scholarship from around the world + across time periods.

Hi! We're SHARP News, an online open-access quarterly publication of @sharpweb.org. Follow us to hear when we publish new materials and to hear about interesting things happening all over the book-ish world. Tag us in your posts so we can let others know about your work, publications, and events!

Our latest ‘explainer’ article from our colleague @martinspychal.bsky.social looks at how many people could vote in the UK after 1832, using census and electoral registration data to calculate what % of adult men had the vote. Find out more here: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2025/02/25/h...