History of Science

History of Science

episodes

Interviews with historians of science about their new books.

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…

Gavin Steingo, "Interspecies Communication: Sound and Music Beyond Humanity" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

August 10, 2024

Interspecies Communication

Gavin Steingo
Hosted by Khadeeja Amenda

In Interspecies Communication: Sound and Music Beyond Humanity (U Chicago Press, 2024), music scholar Gavin Steingo examines significant cases of atte…

Edward Shanks, "The People of the Ruins" (MIT Press, 2024)

August 6, 2024

The People of the Ruins

Edward Shanks
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In The People of the Ruins (originally published in 1920), Edward Shanks imagines England in the not-so-distant future as a neo mediaeval society whos…

Mark Walker, "Hitler's Atomic Bomb: History, Legend, and the Twin Legacies of Auschwitz and Hiroshima" (Cambridge UP, 2024)

August 5, 2024

Hitler's Atomic Bomb

Mark Walker
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Who were the German scientists who worked on atomic bombs during World War II for Hitler's regime? How did they justify themselves afterwards? Exami…

Robert Baker, "Making Modern Medical Ethics: How African Americans, Anti-Nazis, Bureaucrats, Feminists, Veterans, and Whistleblowing Moralists Created Bioethics" (MIT Press, 2024)

August 2, 2024

Making Modern Medical Ethics

Robert Baker
Hosted by Claire Clark

The little-known stories of the people responsible for what we know today as modern medical ethics. In Making Modern Medical Ethics: How African Ameri…

Resonant Grains

July 29, 2024

Resonant Grains

Craig Eley and Carleen Hutchins
Hosted by Mack Hagood

In the 1950s, a schoolteacher named Carleen Hutchins attempted a revolution in how concert violins are made. In this episode, Craig Eley of the Field …

Kirsten Moore-Sheeley, "Nothing But Nets: A Biography of Global Health Science and Its Objects" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2023)

July 24, 2024

Nothing But Nets

Kirsten Moore-Sheeley
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Distributed to millions of people annually across Africa and the global south, insecticide-treated bed nets have become a cornerstone of malaria contr…

Anton Howes, "Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation" (Princeton UP, 2020)

July 22, 2024

Arts and Minds

Anton Howes
Hosted by Matthew Jordan

Over the past 300 years, The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce has tried to improve British life in every way ima…

Monika Krause, "Model Cases: On Canonical Research Objects and Sites" (U Chicago Press, 2021)

July 10, 2024

Model Cases

Monika Krause
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Model Cases: On Canonical Research Objects and Sites (University of Chicago Press, 2021), Dr. Monika Krause asks about the concrete material resear…

Sasha Warren, "Storming Bedlam: Madness, Mental Health, and Revolt" (Common Notions, 2024)

July 10, 2024

Storming Bedlam

Sasha Warren
Hosted by Clayton Jarrard

Mental health care and its radical possibilities reimagined in the context of its global development under capitalism. The contemporary world is over…