History of Science

History of Science

episodes

Interviews with historians of science about their new books.

Peter Harrison, "Some New World: Myths of Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age" (Cambridge UP, 2024)

October 29, 2024

Some New World

Peter Harrison
Hosted by Adrian Guiu

In his famous argument against miracles, David Hume gets to the heart of the modern problem of supernatural belief. 'We are apt', says Hume, 'to imagi…

Wilko Graf von Hardenberg, "Sea Level: A History" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

October 21, 2024

Sea Level

Wilko Graf von Hardenberg
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

News reports warn of rising sea levels spurred by climate change. Waters inch ever higher, disrupting delicate ecosystems and threatening island and c…

Lois Peters Agnew, "Fitter, Happier: The Eugenic Strain in Twentieth-Century Cancer Rhetoric" (U Alabama Press, 2024)

October 19, 2024

Fitter, Happier

Lois Peters Agnew
Hosted by Shu Wan

Fitter, Happier: The Eugenic Strain in Twentieth-Century Cancer Rhetoric (U Alabama Press, 2024) is a thought-provoking exploration of the relationshi…

Critique, Wonder, and Chinese Anatomy, with Lan A. Li

October 8, 2024

Critique, Wonder, and Chinese Anatomy, with Lan A. Li

Lan A. Li
Hosted by Pierce Salguero

In this episode of the Blue Beryl Podcast, Dr Pierce Salguero sits down with the show’s producer, Lan A. Li, a historian of Chinese science, medicine,…

Pamela O. Long on the Long, Long, Long History of Technology

October 7, 2024

Pamela O. Long on the Long, Long, Long History of Technology

Pamela O. Long
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with MacArthur “Genius Prize” winning historian Pamela Long about her long career writing about the history o…

Kyle Falcon, "Haunted Britain: Spiritualism, Psychical Research and the Great War" (Manchester UP, 2023)

October 6, 2024

Haunted Britain

Kyle Falcon

Today I talked to Kyle Falcon about his book Haunted Britain: Spiritualism, Psychical Research and the Great War (Manchester UP, 2023). The Great War…

Paola Bertucci, "In the Land of Marvels: Science, Fabricated Realities, and Industrial Espionage in the Age of the Grand Tour" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2023)

October 1, 2024

In the Land of Marvels

Paola Bertucci

How a journey through Italy casts light on secrets, stereotypes, and the manipulation of information in eighteenth-century science. In 1749, the cele…

Jason A. Josephson Storm, "The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences" (U Chicago Press, 2017)

September 23, 2024

The Myth of Disenchantment

Jason Ananda Josephson Storm

A great many theorists have argued that the defining feature of modernity is that people no longer believe in spirits, myths, or magic. Jason Ā. Josep…

Amir Alexander, "Liberty's Grid: A Founding Father, a Mathematical Dreamland, and the Shaping of America" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

September 21, 2024

Liberty's Grid

Amir Alexander
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Seen from an airplane, much of the United States appears to be a gridded land of startling uniformity. Perpendicular streets and rectangular fields, a…

Whitney Barlow Robles, "Curious Species: How Animals Made Natural History" (Yale UP, 2023)

September 13, 2024

Curious Species

Whitney Barlow Robles

Dive into the world of animals with Whitney Barlow Robles in her captivating new book, Curious Species: How Animals Made Natural History (Yale UP, 202…

Matthew C. Ehrlich, "The Krebiozen Hoax: How a Mysterious Cancer Drug Shook Organized Medicine" (U Illinois Press, 2024)

September 11, 2024

The Krebiozen Hoax

Matthew C. Ehrlich
Hosted by Nathan Moore

The brainchild of an obscure Yugoslav physician, Krebiozen emerged in 1951 as an alleged cancer treatment. Andrew Ivy, a University of Illinois vice p…

Kostas Kampourakis, "Darwin Mythology: Debunking Myths, Correcting Falsehoods" (Cambridge UP, 2024)

September 3, 2024

Darwin Mythology

Kostas Kampourakis

Many historical figures have their lives and works shrouded in myth, both in life and long after their deaths. Charles Darwin (1809–82) is no exception…

Elizabeth A. Williams, "Appetite and Its Discontents: Science, Medicine, and the Urge to Eat, 1750-1950" (U Chicago Press, 2020)

September 2, 2024

Appetite and Its Discontents

Elizabeth A. Williams
Hosted by Claire Clark

Why do we eat? Is it instinct? Despite the necessity of food, anxieties about what and how to eat are widespread and persistent. In Appetite and Its D…

Violet Moller, "The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found" (Doubleday, 2019)

September 2, 2024

The Map of Knowledge

Violet Moller
Hosted by Ian Drake

Violet Moller has written a narrative history of the transmission of books from the ancient world to the modern. In The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Y…

Brian Clegg, "Ten Patterns That Explain the Universe" (MIT Press, 2021)

September 2, 2024

Ten Patterns That Explain the Universe

Brian Clegg
Hosted by Galina Limorenko

Our universe might appear chaotic, but deep down it's simply a myriad of rules working independently to create patterns of action, force, and conseque…

Joanna Wuest, "Born This Way: Science, Citizenship, and Inequality in the American LGBTQ+ Movement" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

August 27, 2024

Born This Way

Joanna Wuest
Hosted by Susan Liebell

Scholars often narrate the legal cases confirming LGBTQ+ rights as a huge success story. While it took 100 years to confirm the rights of Black Americ…

Cyrus Mody on the Importance of Square (as in NOT COOL) Scientists and Engineers

August 26, 2024

On the Importance of Square (as in NOT COOL) Scientists and Engineers

Cyrus Mody
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks to Cyrus Mody, Professor in the History of Science, Technology, and Innovation and Director of the STS Progra…

Regina G. Kunzel, "In the Shadow of Diagnosis: Psychiatric Power and Queer Life" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

August 25, 2024

In the Shadow of Diagnosis

Regina G. Kunzel
Hosted by Daniela Valdes

In the mid-twentieth century, American psychiatrists proclaimed homosexuality a mental disorder, one that was treatable and amenable to cure. Drawing…

Noah Heringman, "Deep Time: A Literary History" (Princeton UP, 2023)

August 14, 2024

Deep Time

Noah Heringman
Hosted by Victor Monnin

In Deep Time: A Literary History (Princeton UP, 2023), Noah Heringman, Curators’ Professor of English at the University of Missouri, presents a “count…

Heather Murray, "Asylum Ways of Seeing: Psychiatric Patients, American Thought and Culture" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2022)

August 13, 2024

Asylum Ways of Seeing

Heather Murray
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Asylum Ways of Seeing: Psychiatric Patients, American Thought and Culture (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021) by Dr. Heather Murray is a cultura…