Karl Galle
@karlgalle.bsky.social
Historian of science, mostly medieval to early modern astronomy & mathematical arts. Things German, Polish, Egyptian, or hey that looks interesting. Ex public policy + occasional tuba. Copernicus book in progress. Don't get long covid, it sucks.
At least seems less disastrous than the flooding at the Warburg Library, which I haven't seen reported on anywhere except in their email newsletter. 😬
December 7, 2025 at 7:01 PM
At least seems less disastrous than the flooding at the Warburg Library, which I haven't seen reported on anywhere except in their email newsletter. 😬
3-day conference on "Cross-Cultural Interaction in Egypt through the Ages," December 5-7 in Cairo and live-streamed online -- mostly Egyptology, but also a selection of papers on medieval history, food & music history, history of astronomy, and other topics: arce.org/cross-cultur...
December 4, 2025 at 10:47 PM
3-day conference on "Cross-Cultural Interaction in Egypt through the Ages," December 5-7 in Cairo and live-streamed online -- mostly Egyptology, but also a selection of papers on medieval history, food & music history, history of astronomy, and other topics: arce.org/cross-cultur...
A minor tangent to this story, but for anyone interested in more background on the 14th-century Elisha ben Abraham Cresques map used to illustrate Italian trade routes in the article below, I reviewed a fantastic new book about the map & its author a few years ago: works.hcommons.org/records/1ndk...
December 4, 2025 at 10:28 PM
A minor tangent to this story, but for anyone interested in more background on the 14th-century Elisha ben Abraham Cresques map used to illustrate Italian trade routes in the article below, I reviewed a fantastic new book about the map & its author a few years ago: works.hcommons.org/records/1ndk...
Currently grappling with bracing some bookshelves to drywall and have renewed appreciation for my old childhood bedroom walls that were repurposed barnwood. You could bang absolutely anything into it, & if you messed up first time or needed to move locations, no worries the holes just blended in. 🤷♂️
December 3, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Currently grappling with bracing some bookshelves to drywall and have renewed appreciation for my old childhood bedroom walls that were repurposed barnwood. You could bang absolutely anything into it, & if you messed up first time or needed to move locations, no worries the holes just blended in. 🤷♂️
Some titles have both 60% & 40% discount prices listed; for example, A. Tunç Şen's "Forgotten Experts" is listed at $26 (60% off), but if you add it to your shopping cart it becomes $39 (40% off). Are there two different sales happening? www.sup.org/books/middle...
December 2, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Some titles have both 60% & 40% discount prices listed; for example, A. Tunç Şen's "Forgotten Experts" is listed at $26 (60% off), but if you add it to your shopping cart it becomes $39 (40% off). Are there two different sales happening? www.sup.org/books/middle...
Oof, likewise for me TS was such an influence both for entertainment - I own so many of his works, acted in a university production, saw the premiere run of "Invention of Love - & for how "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" inspired some of the original framing on my Copernicus biography project.
November 29, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Oof, likewise for me TS was such an influence both for entertainment - I own so many of his works, acted in a university production, saw the premiere run of "Invention of Love - & for how "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" inspired some of the original framing on my Copernicus biography project.
I'd say take the MARC and come to DC, but even here it looks like the few showings are selling out.
November 28, 2025 at 7:56 PM
I'd say take the MARC and come to DC, but even here it looks like the few showings are selling out.
Continually impressed by Concerto Köln's knack for producing early music recording bangers out of composers I was previously almost entirely unfamiliar with. This morning's random calming melodies post brought to you by the latest acquisition from my local secondhand books and music shop:
November 28, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Continually impressed by Concerto Köln's knack for producing early music recording bangers out of composers I was previously almost entirely unfamiliar with. This morning's random calming melodies post brought to you by the latest acquisition from my local secondhand books and music shop:
All of this thread, plus a favorite example from my own research: a computer transcription would pick up the "correct" signature of one of my guys writing his code name in a secret message but not the fact that underneath it he had (oops) accidentally started to sign his real name.
![Image of a manuscript letter in which Fabian von Lossainen, who is spying on Nicolaus Copernicus, accidentally starts to sign his real name with a flamboyant "F" (indicated by a red arrow added in the image) before realizing, "oh shit, I'm supposed to be using my code name for this letter, but I really can't be bothered to rewrite the whole thing" and therefore tries to overwrite the "F" with a signature of "H[ans] Liliental".](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ck7tlwhcwtuzuaihedldnzyc/bafkreidyzcolnplqub77kva6gz6s3piyeau4t57w6xrvoebjekcztj4iwa@jpeg)
November 27, 2025 at 6:19 AM
All of this thread, plus a favorite example from my own research: a computer transcription would pick up the "correct" signature of one of my guys writing his code name in a secret message but not the fact that underneath it he had (oops) accidentally started to sign his real name.
Y'all have more edifying roots than I do (not from Waco itself but down the highway a bit). 🙄 😬
November 23, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Y'all have more edifying roots than I do (not from Waco itself but down the highway a bit). 🙄 😬
That was a good 2 weeks, it was nice to get a few more "that sounds really interesting" books rather than only budgeting for "essential to my work" titles. 😢
November 21, 2025 at 8:36 PM
That was a good 2 weeks, it was nice to get a few more "that sounds really interesting" books rather than only budgeting for "essential to my work" titles. 😢
Originally thought you were doing a Dendera zodiac crossover (cross-stitch?), so that's probably worth at least half a pyramid, Egyptologically speaking: www.lindahall.org/experience/d...
November 17, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Originally thought you were doing a Dendera zodiac crossover (cross-stitch?), so that's probably worth at least half a pyramid, Egyptologically speaking: www.lindahall.org/experience/d...
I really enjoy Science magazine (@science.org) myself. Obviously the back half of each issue is just research articles catering mostly to technical specialists, but the front half has been the best of any peers at covering news & policy issues, including a lot of good international coverage.
November 16, 2025 at 11:19 PM
I really enjoy Science magazine (@science.org) myself. Obviously the back half of each issue is just research articles catering mostly to technical specialists, but the front half has been the best of any peers at covering news & policy issues, including a lot of good international coverage.
Yes, this looks great & many thanks for posting! At some point would also be nice if future studies would allow for people who can verify their condition but have had a conveyor belt of doctors saying "have you tried more exercise, yoga, etc?" because answering no to question below boots you out. 🫤
November 16, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Yes, this looks great & many thanks for posting! At some point would also be nice if future studies would allow for people who can verify their condition but have had a conveyor belt of doctors saying "have you tried more exercise, yoga, etc?" because answering no to question below boots you out. 🫤
Same here, except they're only cherry & bell tomatoes this year; have made green sauce for enchiladas from end-of-season fruits in past years, but not sure this is enough to be worth the trouble for that. 🧐 🙁
November 10, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Same here, except they're only cherry & bell tomatoes this year; have made green sauce for enchiladas from end-of-season fruits in past years, but not sure this is enough to be worth the trouble for that. 🧐 🙁
There's a book by @ericnus.bsky.social as well, which I actually haven't read yet but just picked up from the local public library on my dad's recommendation: 👀 ⚾ bookshop.org/p/books/stea...
November 5, 2025 at 8:38 PM
There's a book by @ericnus.bsky.social as well, which I actually haven't read yet but just picked up from the local public library on my dad's recommendation: 👀 ⚾ bookshop.org/p/books/stea...
I was still in DC that night (posted to Cairo a few weeks later), and the street party next to the White House was *hopping*. 🥳
November 4, 2025 at 10:36 PM
I was still in DC that night (posted to Cairo a few weeks later), and the street party next to the White House was *hopping*. 🥳
If anyone is looking for new historical fiction, this by Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a vivid depiction of the 1518 dancing plague in Strasbourg, with cameo appearances by the Ensisheim meteorite of 1492: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
November 4, 2025 at 7:03 PM
If anyone is looking for new historical fiction, this by Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a vivid depiction of the 1518 dancing plague in Strasbourg, with cameo appearances by the Ensisheim meteorite of 1492: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
Sadly for you, their collection of medieval saint books for European shipping seems to be a bit limited (and I don't think that Thomas Paine qualifies! 😂):
October 30, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Sadly for you, their collection of medieval saint books for European shipping seems to be a bit limited (and I don't think that Thomas Paine qualifies! 😂):
Mockery of doctors looking very serious while staring at flasks of urine seems to have been a common imagery theme, & thanks to your thread, I just went back & confirmed there are eyeglasses as well on the physician next to Andreas Osiander in this illustration of the 1539 Nuremberg Schembart. 🙏
October 28, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Mockery of doctors looking very serious while staring at flasks of urine seems to have been a common imagery theme, & thanks to your thread, I just went back & confirmed there are eyeglasses as well on the physician next to Andreas Osiander in this illustration of the 1539 Nuremberg Schembart. 🙏
Also don't forget how essential eyeglasses were to the scholarly medical uniform used when examining a flask of urine while a worm-sprouting skeleton dances to a funky musical beat in front of you: digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/touch/totent... (from the Heidelberger Totentanz, ca. 1488) #HistMed
October 28, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Also don't forget how essential eyeglasses were to the scholarly medical uniform used when examining a flask of urine while a worm-sprouting skeleton dances to a funky musical beat in front of you: digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/touch/totent... (from the Heidelberger Totentanz, ca. 1488) #HistMed
Gift link to @philipkennicott.bsky.social's reflections on pressures in the museum, arts & culture sector today, and why it matters: wapo.st/3WHucD3
October 25, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Gift link to @philipkennicott.bsky.social's reflections on pressures in the museum, arts & culture sector today, and why it matters: wapo.st/3WHucD3
Speaking of the destruction of significant heritage sites, this by the current director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park was an interesting read: 📗 bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
October 21, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Speaking of the destruction of significant heritage sites, this by the current director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park was an interesting read: 📗 bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
This headline from way back [checks notes] this morning certainly aged well. 👀
October 18, 2025 at 3:48 AM
This headline from way back [checks notes] this morning certainly aged well. 👀
Digitized Vatican copy of Copernicus alert! 👇 In this case, their catalog attribution of MSS notes to Tycho Brahe is out-of-date, & these notes have more recently been ascribed to Paul Wittich (with Tycho as later owner), but it's still a great volume. Gingerich census description attached. #HistSci
October 14, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Digitized Vatican copy of Copernicus alert! 👇 In this case, their catalog attribution of MSS notes to Tycho Brahe is out-of-date, & these notes have more recently been ascribed to Paul Wittich (with Tycho as later owner), but it's still a great volume. Gingerich census description attached. #HistSci