In today's AIP History Weekly Edition, we draw on oral histories conducted by the late Joan Bromberg to revisit the 1960s-era quest to do an experimental test of Bell's theorem. At stake was whether quantum randomness and what Einstein called "spooky action at a distance" are real phenomena. #HPS

Today is the 150th anniversary of the patenting of the Telephone in 1876 — so, here is our very funny 150th episode of You’re Dead To Me about the telephone’s origins With comedian Catherine Bohart and historian of science Professor @irmorus.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Before @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social opened this morning - hardcore dusting. You would not catch me up there!

“Build me a cathedral!,” somebody must have said -

Looks interesting! #histSTM

Mrs Lovi's beads - sharing a short piece I wrote for a newspaper feature for #WomensHistoryMonth on Isabella Lovi, a female scientific instrument maker in Edinburgh teleskopos.wordpress.com/2026/03/02/m... #histSTM

Looking forward to talking about black holes at the Edinburgh Science Festival on 10 April at 2pm www.edinburghscience.co.uk/event/a-crac... Lots of developments since I last spoke: black holes in the “forbidden mass” range, the mysterious Little Red Dots… #Edinburgh #space #nature #astronomy

Mrs Lovi's beads - sharing a short piece I wrote for a newspaper feature for #WomensHistoryMonth on Isabella Lovi, a female scientific instrument maker in Edinburgh teleskopos.wordpress.com/2026/03/02/m... #histSTM

12-month post for a Project Conservator (Science and Technology) @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social National Museum of Flight, focused on our outdoor aircraft ✈️🛩️ #museumjobs 📜 The de Havilland Comet and Vulcan need you! careers.nms.ac.uk/job/841751

I was quite shocked to learn, via @mercoglianos.bsky.social, that UKMTO is advising no use of satellite navigation there because of this: ships should only be using radar and conventional terrestrial or celestial nav. If they can remember how to do the latter.

Article here the-past.com/feature/expa... (footnote ref to @trowelblazers.bsky.social)

#histsci 🧵

Puts me in mind of Halley's depiction, from 1715

Fascinating bit of film showing London in 1929 @thelondonarchives.bsky.social (on Instagram) Watch for the way that Victorian London is still present in the modern world, and for the dog, who is clearly a very good boy www.instagram.com/reel/DVOkoBJ...

I can't open the @oldbaileyonline.bsky.social website at the moment. Is this a me problem or a wider one?

An opportunity for a Shameless Plug! Anyone in Chicagoland curious? The Chicago Astronomical Society has invited me to speak Sat, 28 Feb, 6 PM, at the Cernan Earth & Space Center, 2000 5th Ave, River Grove IL. "The Great Telescope of Birr Castle: How a 19th-Century Irish Family Changed Astronomy"

There's a video on Instagram of me taking the astrolabe apart. Someone commented to complain that I'm not wearing white gloves! Philistine! www.instagram.com/reel/DVJaOau...

I have a thread that dovetails with this!

One of several exhibits in @colinstuartspace.bsky.social's virtual Museum of Cosmic Curiosities (see following post for the link) #histsci 📜

Donning my purple gloves to say happy birthday to our 1000-year-old astrolabe #histsci 📜 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Sad news. I didn't know him personally but remember being inspired by his book on Victorian philanthropy as an undergraduate

I didn't have anything particular prepared on the subject of the bicentennial of Kay's death, but I did have cause recently to look into one of his caricature subjects stands out amongst his prolific output of pompous men, that of "Sibbie" Hutton - notable in that it lampoons a named woman. 🧵👒 ▶️

Today is the 200th anniversary of the death of the Edinburgh caricaturist John Kay. This is his self portrait from 1786, with cat and bust of Homer en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ka...

May be of interest to those visiting Edinburgh for the #ESHS/HSS meeting in July #histSTM

Titbit in this story about the Stranraer hotel ice rink is that the hotel's building was originally built for early 19thC Arctic explorer John Ross

The Division for the History of Science and Technology is running another ECR workshop series in the second half of 2026. I really enjoyed taking part in the first series, which covered an impressively broad list of topics, from writing book reviews and grant proposals to...

There's a (tiny) face in this moon #histsci

Job opening at the Royal Observatory Greenwich (3 year fixed term): Heritage Operations Officer, responsible for coordinating public engagement and events for the Heritage Fund programme associated with the First Light redevelopment of the site #scicomm 📜

It's a touch embarrassing that my institution was responsible for demolishing the former home of someone as d̶i̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶u̶i̶s̶h̶e̶d̶ memorable as McGonagall. Oh, and also of that other chap, Darwin.

There needs to be a health warning for the metrically sensitive

On the physicist's image in our cultural moment - reviewing four novels: John Banville, The Singularities; Benjamín Labatut, The MANIAC; Cormac McCarthy, The Passenger; Cormac McCarthy Stella Maris #histSTM

See also slimy flexible plastic covers and brittle hard plastic components (if not flammable celluloid and crumbly asbestos)

Shall we go with #ESHS/HSS? Or #HistSci26? To all who are travelling to Edinburgh, BOOK YOUR ACCOMODATION NOW!! #HistSTM

I love how historians have risen to this occasion. I haven't seen it yet, but I assume there's also a discussion or two on how to define "modern" (who includes George I, on this list?)

On science and religion, the myth of historic conflict, the problems of their collision and how we can better think about their relationship in the future #histSTM #sts

Exciting news for historians of astronomy -- the scholar who discovered this copy also has a quite interesting recent book on Galileo's early-career use of material from the Almagest: link.springer.com/book/10.1007... #HistSTM #EarlyModern @springer.springernature.com

📣 Call for submissions: Singer Prize 2026 Submit your unpublished essay (< 10 000 words), based on original research into any aspect of #HistSTM! 🎓 Eligibility: current postgraduates or awarded a PG degree within the past 5 years 📅 Deadline: 30 April ℹ️ Learn more:

You'd have thought this might be a good time to maintain our still outsized global influence. But apparently not.

It is utterly extraordinary that one of the UK's greatest engines of soft power has to scrabble about with the begging bowl like this. 'With just seven wks before its funding runs out, the UK’s greatest cultural asset and most trusted international news organisation must be supported.' 100% this.

Happy Valentine's!

If you want a colourful weekend read, here's the extract from my book Alchemy: An Illustrated History published in @chemistryworld.com www.chemistryworld.com/culture/cruc...

Farage is wrong shocker (useful thread on how he's wrong, and how wrong he is)

I had a pleasant day mostly looking at astrolabes. Did you know that the little bit of metal that keeps the pin in place is called the horse? In the case of the later example on the right it is actually shaped like one #histSTM 📜

"The seriousness of this failure should not be underestimated." "It is frankly intolerable that the Royal Society has allowed itself to be hollowed out in this way."

The AIP stats team has released its latest data of physics & astronomy PhD trends, with breakdown by gender. What is extraordinary to me is how clearly the overall trends exhibit an important gender dimension, and that that story is quite different between physics and astronomy.

There hasn't been much media coverage outside the science media of the Epstein scientists. So I wrote about them here for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social. As many in science know, John Brockman was central in linking Epstein to scientific "public intellectuals". www.thenewworld.co.uk/philip-ball-...

💜🎂 Happy 200th birthday @ucl.ac.uk! In 1826, UCL was founded as London’s very first university with a progressive vision: higher education for all, regardless of religion or social background. Today we mark our Bicentenary and the beginning of a year of celebration! #UCL200

Happy birthday UCL! (I was going to say that it was probably raining in 1826 too, but I see that year was mostly remarkable for a cold January and a very hot summer.)

There are just a handful of women marked so far, I'm sure the #histsci community on here can suggest many more (brief submission form via link below).