Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
historian of modern science and technology
Going to a lecture about Denisovans. Quite excited. Topic has been a minor obsession
November 13, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Going to a lecture about Denisovans. Quite excited. Topic has been a minor obsession
Nettle-leaved Bellflower (under the box woods) and Clustered Bellflower (in the chalk grassland at the top), still flowering, on Box Hill.
Interesting bellflower seed heads too #wildflowerhour
Interesting bellflower seed heads too #wildflowerhour
November 9, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Nettle-leaved Bellflower (under the box woods) and Clustered Bellflower (in the chalk grassland at the top), still flowering, on Box Hill.
Interesting bellflower seed heads too #wildflowerhour
Interesting bellflower seed heads too #wildflowerhour
With 56,000 others to watch Arsenal Women robbed of a win against Chelsea
November 8, 2025 at 2:35 PM
With 56,000 others to watch Arsenal Women robbed of a win against Chelsea
I’ve been catching up working through all the titles of files released at the National Archives, August-October 2025
Here are the overviews followed by a vote for what might be interesting to look at and report…
Here are the overviews followed by a vote for what might be interesting to look at and report…
November 5, 2025 at 1:15 PM
I’ve been catching up working through all the titles of files released at the National Archives, August-October 2025
Here are the overviews followed by a vote for what might be interesting to look at and report…
Here are the overviews followed by a vote for what might be interesting to look at and report…
Any suggestions of good STS scholarship (journal articles, book chapters, other) on disability and technology? never been quite satisfied with ones I've used before in teaching...
November 5, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Any suggestions of good STS scholarship (journal articles, book chapters, other) on disability and technology? never been quite satisfied with ones I've used before in teaching...
Reposted by Jon Agar
🎉 Exciting news from @UCLSTS! We’re thrilled to welcome Professor Andy Stirling as an Honorary Professor in our department. Andy, is a emeritus professor at Sussex, and has been a valued friend to the department for decades. For more info 👉https://bit.ly/4hFlY7K
November 3, 2025 at 10:58 AM
🎉 Exciting news from @UCLSTS! We’re thrilled to welcome Professor Andy Stirling as an Honorary Professor in our department. Andy, is a emeritus professor at Sussex, and has been a valued friend to the department for decades. For more info 👉https://bit.ly/4hFlY7K
I’m at the British Textile Biennial, with exhibits and events in Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn etc.
Theme this time is invention and innovation, so plenty of #histsci and #histech among the new fibres and Lancashire looms.
Some of the things I’ve seen…
Theme this time is invention and innovation, so plenty of #histsci and #histech among the new fibres and Lancashire looms.
Some of the things I’ve seen…
Stack of Jacquard loom cards, about two meters in length at Queen’s Street Mill, near Burnley
By my calculation about 120kb of data
By my calculation about 120kb of data
November 2, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Stack of Jacquard loom cards, about two meters in length at Queen’s Street Mill, near Burnley
By my calculation about 120kb of data
By my calculation about 120kb of data
November 1, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Stack of Jacquard loom cards, about two meters in length at Queen’s Street Mill, near Burnley
By my calculation about 120kb of data
By my calculation about 120kb of data
Visiting Accrington at the weekend. Any tips?
October 27, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Visiting Accrington at the weekend. Any tips?
Reposted by Jon Agar
STS is proud that Helen Pearson, Honorary Professor of Practice with us, and who teaches on our SciCom MSc, has been awarded the European Science Journalist of the Year Award from the European Federation for Science Journalism.
#ScienceJournalism #ScienceCommunication
#ScienceJournalism #ScienceCommunication
October 27, 2025 at 9:54 AM
STS is proud that Helen Pearson, Honorary Professor of Practice with us, and who teaches on our SciCom MSc, has been awarded the European Science Journalist of the Year Award from the European Federation for Science Journalism.
#ScienceJournalism #ScienceCommunication
#ScienceJournalism #ScienceCommunication
This was good.
Gutted to have missed The Doors though
Gutted to have missed The Doors though
October 26, 2025 at 10:14 PM
This was good.
Gutted to have missed The Doors though
Gutted to have missed The Doors though
Seen Comet Lemmon (it has a bit of tail, good through binoculars)
October 24, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Seen Comet Lemmon (it has a bit of tail, good through binoculars)
I tried a little pedagogical innovation in teaching #HistTech today
The students had read Ruth Schwartz Cowan’s classic More Work for Mother: the Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave
I wanted them to remember 1) the hard work, and 2) how some work disappeared
1/n
The students had read Ruth Schwartz Cowan’s classic More Work for Mother: the Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave
I wanted them to remember 1) the hard work, and 2) how some work disappeared
1/n
October 24, 2025 at 10:33 AM
I tried a little pedagogical innovation in teaching #HistTech today
The students had read Ruth Schwartz Cowan’s classic More Work for Mother: the Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave
I wanted them to remember 1) the hard work, and 2) how some work disappeared
1/n
The students had read Ruth Schwartz Cowan’s classic More Work for Mother: the Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave
I wanted them to remember 1) the hard work, and 2) how some work disappeared
1/n
Why wait for retirement?
For many years I have been trying to visit:
1) all the SSSIs in the country (all ones within M25 ticked, but in total a ridiculous fools’ errand)
2) all Cold War defence research establishments
Remarkably I am still married and occasionally am invited to parties
For many years I have been trying to visit:
1) all the SSSIs in the country (all ones within M25 ticked, but in total a ridiculous fools’ errand)
2) all Cold War defence research establishments
Remarkably I am still married and occasionally am invited to parties
What policy themed visitor trail would you do upon retirement? I would pilgrimage to visit the 100 Rishi Sunak outdoor chess sets around the country. I genuinely think it would be one of those fun random things that would take me to places I’d never otherwise go to
October 13, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Why wait for retirement?
For many years I have been trying to visit:
1) all the SSSIs in the country (all ones within M25 ticked, but in total a ridiculous fools’ errand)
2) all Cold War defence research establishments
Remarkably I am still married and occasionally am invited to parties
For many years I have been trying to visit:
1) all the SSSIs in the country (all ones within M25 ticked, but in total a ridiculous fools’ errand)
2) all Cold War defence research establishments
Remarkably I am still married and occasionally am invited to parties
Footage has just been found of a band I was in, Trotsky's Dog.
We played gigs in Hitchin, Stevenage and Cambridge in the late 1980s. Some of our own material, but mostly covers of Stooges, Spacemen 3 and so on. A racket.
I'm the moody guitarist (r) - with hair!
Faster. Louder. More feedback
We played gigs in Hitchin, Stevenage and Cambridge in the late 1980s. Some of our own material, but mostly covers of Stooges, Spacemen 3 and so on. A racket.
I'm the moody guitarist (r) - with hair!
Faster. Louder. More feedback
Trotsky's Dog Live at Queens' ca. 1988
YouTube video by Jon Morrow
www.youtube.com
October 8, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Footage has just been found of a band I was in, Trotsky's Dog.
We played gigs in Hitchin, Stevenage and Cambridge in the late 1980s. Some of our own material, but mostly covers of Stooges, Spacemen 3 and so on. A racket.
I'm the moody guitarist (r) - with hair!
Faster. Louder. More feedback
We played gigs in Hitchin, Stevenage and Cambridge in the late 1980s. Some of our own material, but mostly covers of Stooges, Spacemen 3 and so on. A racket.
I'm the moody guitarist (r) - with hair!
Faster. Louder. More feedback
With Michael Heseltine in the news, saying the right things, I thought I'd share this.
Sarah Hogg, head of John Major's Number 10 Policy Unit, pens a rather charming portrait of what it was like to work with the man
(I'm working on a chapter on science/environment under Major and Blair at the mo)
Sarah Hogg, head of John Major's Number 10 Policy Unit, pens a rather charming portrait of what it was like to work with the man
(I'm working on a chapter on science/environment under Major and Blair at the mo)
October 8, 2025 at 9:23 AM
With Michael Heseltine in the news, saying the right things, I thought I'd share this.
Sarah Hogg, head of John Major's Number 10 Policy Unit, pens a rather charming portrait of what it was like to work with the man
(I'm working on a chapter on science/environment under Major and Blair at the mo)
Sarah Hogg, head of John Major's Number 10 Policy Unit, pens a rather charming portrait of what it was like to work with the man
(I'm working on a chapter on science/environment under Major and Blair at the mo)
The @stsucl.bsky.social History of Science Reading Group is back. Yesterday we discussed Helen M. Rozwadowski @oceanhistories.bsky.social , ‘Ocean literacy and public humanities’, Parks Stewardship Forum (2020) 36(3) escholarship.org/uc/item/11w5... (suggested by Janet Browne & Jordan Goodman)
October 8, 2025 at 9:07 AM
The @stsucl.bsky.social History of Science Reading Group is back. Yesterday we discussed Helen M. Rozwadowski @oceanhistories.bsky.social , ‘Ocean literacy and public humanities’, Parks Stewardship Forum (2020) 36(3) escholarship.org/uc/item/11w5... (suggested by Janet Browne & Jordan Goodman)
"The Met Police investigation discovered street thieves were being paid up to £300 per handset - and the force said stolen devices are being sold in China for up to £4,000 each, given they are internet-enabled and more attractive for those trying to bypass censorship".
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
One iPhone led police to gang who sent 40,000 snatched phones to China
BBC News is given access to what the Met Police says is the UK's largest operation against mobile phone thefts.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 7, 2025 at 9:57 AM
"The Met Police investigation discovered street thieves were being paid up to £300 per handset - and the force said stolen devices are being sold in China for up to £4,000 each, given they are internet-enabled and more attractive for those trying to bypass censorship".
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Turkmenistan Shrike, Dunwich Heath, Suffolk, being admired by lots of birders
October 5, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Turkmenistan Shrike, Dunwich Heath, Suffolk, being admired by lots of birders
Happy Sputnik Launch Day to those who celebrate
October 4, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Happy Sputnik Launch Day to those who celebrate
The @stsucl.bsky.social department on TV #2
October 1, 2025 at 7:49 PM
The @stsucl.bsky.social department on TV #2
Reposted by Jon Agar
We've just selected this as our @stsucl.bsky.social OneBook. (Every year, we ask all of our students and colleagues to read one book together).
Today's the day! My new book MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER is finally out! If you want to understand why tech billionaires are so obsessed with impossible ideas about space and AI — and why that's dangerous — this book is for you. #MoreEverythingForever www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/adam-...
More Everything Forever
This "wild and utterly engaging narrative" (Melanie Mitchell) shows why Silicon Valley’s heartless, baseless, and foolish obsessions—with escaping death,...
www.hachettebookgroup.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:56 AM
We've just selected this as our @stsucl.bsky.social OneBook. (Every year, we ask all of our students and colleagues to read one book together).
Reposted by Jon Agar
Job at UC-Berkeley: Asst. Prof. in Global History of Technology, apps due 10/10 (so soon). #history #histSTM #histsci #histphilsci
aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05065
aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05065
Assistant Professor – Global History of Technology - Department of History
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
September 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Job at UC-Berkeley: Asst. Prof. in Global History of Technology, apps due 10/10 (so soon). #history #histSTM #histsci #histphilsci
aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05065
aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05065
Bristly Oxtongue, on walls of Lewes Priory for #wildflowerhour
September 28, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Bristly Oxtongue, on walls of Lewes Priory for #wildflowerhour
Reposted by Jon Agar
We need an associate lecturer in history of modern science @stsucl.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
September 26, 2025 at 8:57 AM
We need an associate lecturer in history of modern science @stsucl.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...