As the London History of Science Society website has been relatively dormant for the last year or so, I thought that it might be worth giving an update on why everything's gone a bit quiet. Also, for those who are curious about the Society and where it came from, and might like to get involved in the future, I'd like to give an outline of the sorts of activities we've had in the past and what's planned in the New Year.
As some of you will know, for my degree course I studied the history of science at Cambridge, at the Department for the History and Philosophy of Science (HPS). Despite its international renown, the Department has a cosy and friendly feel, and is very welcoming to new students and visitors. The Whipple Museum is an essential stop for any trip to Cambridge - if you haven't visited before, you really should.
During the time I was, studying the kind, charismatic, and inspirational Peter Lipton was running the Department, whose premature death in 2007 was a great blow not only to his family and friends but also to the Department and indeed the field of philosopy, within which he was an intellectual giant and highly respected authority. [For those who would like to learn more about this wonderful man's life, see the obituaries on the HPS website and in the major broadsheet papers].
I was privileged to hear Professor Lipton's superb lectures on epistemology and the problem of induction in my second year, and was sorely tempted to specialise in the study of philosophy of science in my final year - but in the end plumped for history of science and have never regretted it.
The beauty of the HPS undergraduate course is the ability to take three different modules in the final year, which can be mixed and matched in any combination according to the interests of the student. For me it was easy to narrow down the options to the four pure history of science modules (Classical Traditions in the Sciences - from Antiquity to the Renaissance; Scientific Revolution / Enlightenment Science; 19th century science; 20th Century Science & Technology) - but then choosing which one to drop was very tough indeed.
In the end I chose the courses which were taught by my favorite lecturers - Eleanor Robson, Jon Agar [now at UCL], Lauren Kassell, and Simon Schaffer - which meant dropping the 19th century science, though I did attend quite a few of the lecture series.
I was also lucky enough to be supervised by Eleanor for my dissertation (on the contemporary use of medical imaging techniques to 'read' ancient textual artefects) and it was a wonderful experience - I'll always be in her debt for the insights, challenges, and support she gave me, and her invariable sense of humour.
After graduation, and whilst working as a Management Consultant, I kept up a strong interest in the history of science - and eventually, over a drink with my friend Julia, decided on a Grand Plan to start a history of science society in London for people like us. It would be relaxed, informal, friendly, and aimed at people who have an interest in science and where it came from, whilst not necessarily studying it or having studied it in the past.
The result, of course, is the London History of Science Society, which enjoyed a Golden Era for about a year after its launch, during which we attended lots of events, and produced two editions of our Society magazine, Phaeton (of which - as Editor - I am inordinately proud). Some of the highlights of this period were attending a number of lectures by the Royal Institution and the Royal Society; visits to the Foundling Museum and the Wellcome Collection; and various dinner parties hosted by members of the Society.
Since then, however, things have gone distinctly off the boil, mainly due to other commitments: Julia had her finals and then transmogrified into an ACTUAL junior doctor in Birmingham; Sam's been spending a lot of time on the Darwin Correspondence Project; Michael is doing his hero work for HALO; and I got a new job...
Obviously then, since my excuse is the weakest, it's my responsibility to get motivated and stir up some activity - I don't deny it, and can only apologise that it's taken so long.
So, the ideas I have at the moment are:
- Chelsea Physic Garden - sometime in the Spring?
- The 'War+Medicine' exhibition at the Wellcome Collection - on until 15 February 2009
- 'The Age of Wonder' - an RI talk on the 19 January 2009
I hope that others are interested in these activities and will post them as news on the LHOSS website in the next few days. I really hope that we can get back to the frequency of Society events (~8 per year) that we had after launching - it was really fun and it would be a real shame if the Society fizzled out through lack of effort or interest...
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