Alistair Sponsel
@alistairsponsel.bsky.social
Historian of science
https://www.sciencehistory.org/profile/alistair-sponsel/
https://www.sciencehistory.org/profile/alistair-sponsel/
The foreword by Janet Browne and Michael Neve made a strong impression on me.
November 24, 2025 at 11:17 PM
The foreword by Janet Browne and Michael Neve made a strong impression on me.
Those books don't make a big show of the degree to which they're informed by wider historiography, but I've long found it uncanny/impressive how they manage to resonate with specialist literature on themes I happen to know about.
November 19, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Those books don't make a big show of the degree to which they're informed by wider historiography, but I've long found it uncanny/impressive how they manage to resonate with specialist literature on themes I happen to know about.
Janet Browne's volumes on Darwin are very atmospheric; they might be interesting in this regard.
November 19, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Janet Browne's volumes on Darwin are very atmospheric; they might be interesting in this regard.
Alain Corbin "Lure of the Sea" and Helen Rozwadowski "Fathoming the Ocean" are also good on 19th century shifts (reversals) in attitudes toward the beach and the ocean respectively. @oceanhistories.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Alain Corbin "Lure of the Sea" and Helen Rozwadowski "Fathoming the Ocean" are also good on 19th century shifts (reversals) in attitudes toward the beach and the ocean respectively. @oceanhistories.bsky.social
Regarding Victorians' views on/interest in nature (as they would have understood the term), there is a lot of work on the social history of natural history (including as a hobby for both sexes). For something closer to history of environmental attitudes, histories of coal pollution are promising.
November 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Regarding Victorians' views on/interest in nature (as they would have understood the term), there is a lot of work on the social history of natural history (including as a hobby for both sexes). For something closer to history of environmental attitudes, histories of coal pollution are promising.
P.S., don't anybody take this too seriously!
November 14, 2025 at 8:59 PM
P.S., don't anybody take this too seriously!
All the criminals in their RNA ties...
November 14, 2025 at 8:57 PM
All the criminals in their RNA ties...
The topic also comes up in a lot of Staffan Müller-Wille's work.
October 25, 2025 at 1:40 PM
The topic also comes up in a lot of Staffan Müller-Wille's work.