Tag Archives: popular writing

Observing transit history in the media

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Rebekah Higgitt

I have a post up on the Guardian’s ‘Notes and Theories’ science blog. It’s called What they didn’t tell you about the transit of Venus. ‘They’ are all the potted transit histories that I’ve read/heard/watched over the last few weeks. What … Continue reading →

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On this day: the role of anniversaries

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Rebekah Higgitt

Newspapers, magazines, blogs and Twitter are awash with anniversaries. Today’s Birthdays, On this Day in History, #OTD and so on greet me every morning. I know a handful of famous people or events that share my birthday, and I am … Continue reading →

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Sympathetic vibrations

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Rebekah Higgitt

Over at PACHSmörgåsbord, brought to us by the Philadelphia Area Centre for History of Science, Darin Hayton has been catching the longitude vibe while investigating the collection of the Library Company of Philadelphia. He describes an anonymous 1688 pamphlet that, famously for those who … Continue reading →

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Astrology (again) and skepticism

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Rebekah Higgitt

I have another post on the topic of “Astrology is rubbish, but…” thas has just appeared as a guest post on Martin Robbins’ The Lay Scientist. Very many thanks to Martin for agreeing to host, and offering his readers a different view … Continue reading →

Posted in Astrology, History | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Yes, histories of science are worth reading!

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Rebekah Higgitt

In a previous post, Alice Bell suggested in a comment that I read the article by Mark Erickson in this month’s issue of History of the Human Sciences. The issue also contains responses from Patricia Fara, Steve Fuller and Joseph … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Science | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Martyr of Science

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Rebekah Higgitt

I wrote this introduction to David Brewster’s collected biography of Galileo, Tycho Brahe and Kepler, Martyrs of Science (1841), some time ago when there was a plan to republish it as part of a collected edition of popular 19th-century works on science and history … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, Book, History, Physics, Religion, Science | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Good, popular history of science II

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Rebekah Higgitt

When I asked for suggestions for good, popular history of science I received a wide variety of responses, which I should have expected, given the nature of Twitter and the range of views that exist regarding what history of science … Continue reading →

Posted in Book, History | Tagged , | 23 Comments

Good, popular history of science….

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Rebekah Higgitt

I few days ago, I sent a question out on Twitter: “Could you send me e.g.s of GOOD popular history of science, any format? Ones that wd please academic historians & general readers #histsci” and went on to explain that the “Reason for … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged , | 26 Comments