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Rebekah Higgitt

@rhiggitt.bsky.social
16K followers 1.1K following 4.2K posts

Historian of science; Principal Curator of Science @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social & Hon Fellow, STIS, Uni of Edinburgh. President @bshsnews.bsky.social #histSTM. Views own. Formerly known as @beckyfh teleskopos.wordpress.com/profile

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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Good to see a #histSTM book winning. It featured in this episode of Start the Week, if you want to know more www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Wonderful filmmaking. Daphne Oram gets a credit for Music Effects.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Edinburgh #histmed #histSTM
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The Past and other Places @pastandotherplaces.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Craft Scotland director's petition against @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social plans to close Jewellery and Silversmithing, Textiles and Performance Costume UG ECA degrees to new admissions in 2027 (to be taught out over the next four years). #Edinburgh #craft #art #students #design 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 c.org/JJQNyV8R6m
c.org
Sign the Petition
Save the Craft and Design Courses at Edinburgh College of Art
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Rev Peter W Nimmo @peternimmo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This week the BBC reported on Oleshky www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Oleshky: Eating garden weeds to survive in Russian-occupied city cut off from food and water
The BBC has spoken to residents in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky who say they are being "constantly shelled".
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
TIL! This is a lovely, clear explanation of the difference between Equinox and Equilux.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
In Our Time on BBC Radio 4 this morning (or this evening, or online) is on Particle Accelerators, with @harrycliff.bsky.social @mamaphysikerin.bsky.social and @randomjetship.bsky.social #histSTM
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Gaia Vince @wanderinggaia.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Wow good call
theguardian.com
UK shares findings of damning climate crisis national security report suppressed under Starmer
El Niño poses critical threat to nations’ defences, says Ed Miliband in presentation to global foreign ministers
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
For Edinburgh folk - free this Wednesday 1pm. Guided tour of the exhibition 'For the Safety of All: Scotland's Lighthouses' followed by Wikipedia edit-a-thon to improve articles on Scottish lighthouses www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/for-those-... #histSTM 🗃️ 📜
eventbrite.co.uk
For those in peril on the sea: Mapping Scotland's Lighthouses on Wikipedia
An engaging exhibition tour, Wikipedia editing tutorial and a writing workshop in a social and supportive environment
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
a) 'it is no bad thing' if universities close ❌ - think about who they employ and what they offer local area and people. b) Cap on fees should go ❌ - wrong cap: cap on numbers at each institution would help. c) Cost of student loans is often borne by public money ✅ - so get rid of fees altogether!
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Mathew Lyons @mathewlyons.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
How Anglo-Saxon is the Bayeux Tapestry? Was it made, as is often suggested, by nuns around Canterbury in the decade after the Conquest? And if so what might the Tapestry, and especially its rarely seen reverse, tell us about their experiences? mathewlyons.substack.com/p/the-bayeux...
mathewlyons.substack.com
The Bayeux Tapestry and its backstories
Can the Tapestry’s narrative ambivalence tell us about the women who made it?
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
A rare feeling of success. A search for 'Longitude prize' on Wikipedia offers you the 2014 version or for the 18th-century redirects to 'Longitude rewards'. Hurrah! This may well have been changed years ago, but it's good to see it's (still) there. No, I'm not going to check what any LLM offers.
Screenshot of the search on Wikipedia.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The theme of this year's Artefacts meeting is Trust and Objects. The programme looks excellent, addressing vitally important issues in the US's current circumstances. (I'm sorry not to be there, but cannot justify travel to the US at present.) #histSTM 📖 www.sciencehistory.org/visit/events...
sciencehistory.org
Artefacts XXXI: Trust and Objects
Invited speakers will present on topics ranging from medieval medicine to modern climate science.
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Thony Christie @rmathematicus.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The history of the proportional compass an early analogue calculator #histsci #histtech thonyc.wordpress.com/2026/09/16/t...
A brass proportional compass made by Galileo c. 1604
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
#histSTM
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BSHS @bshsnews.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
⏳ Two days left to apply The deadline for the BSHS Outreach & Engagement Project Grants is in two days. Grants of up to £500 are available to support creative public engagement with the history of science, technology, and medicine. Don't forget to submit your proposals! bshs.org.uk/oec/#project...
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Good to know that the Minister is now aware that he is responsible for research across all disciplines, and that he is being responsive to discussion. 🧵 ⬇️
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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The American Institute of Physics history program now has a reorganized website. Whether you know nothing, a little, or a lot about our work, take a look around and see if you find anything new to you! www.aip.org/history
Screenshot of the top portion of the AIP history website, showing a feature of a history guide on Bell Labs, introductory text, and the most recent weekly/monthly email newsletters.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
OMG! Talk about not being across your brief. I hope someone has put him right.
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Parliamentary History Journal @parlhistjournal.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Are you an early career researcher with an interest in parliamentary history? We are inviting submissions of 10,000 words, including references, for our annual essay prize, worth £500. The deadline is 30 Nov. 2026. More details here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1750...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Parliamentary History
Click on the title to browse this journal
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Meanwhile the new boss of the Panama Canal says the biggest issue they face is climate change and it may have to cut shipping transits due to declines in its water levels. Tell me again about how we can’t afford to tackle environmental issues as it will hit the economy www.ft.com/content/3ff1...
ft.com
Shipping through Panama Canal faces new cuts as water dries up
New administrator cites impact from water shortages at a time when Iran war has strained trade flows
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Here are a couple of slightly ‘quieter’ stories about how we are entering a more disordered world. First - the collapse of shipping law as civilian vessels are hit by Russia, Iran and the US, and we see the rise of an ungoverned and uninsured shadow fleet www.ft.com/content/c651...
ft.com
Global shipping rules are collapsing, say maritime nations
Wars and the growth of the shadow fleet are causing a ‘structural shift’ in global trade, according to 18 maritime authorities
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Reminds me that I recently saw the 1707 Scilly Isles disaster still being presented as the direct cause of the 1714 Longitude Act. It's as if not everyone has been closely following the outputs of the AHRC Longitude Project! 😲
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
It seems to be a flawed kind of Baconianism (as people in the 17thC imagined machines might manage). As Philip says in the thread, it would be good if some historians and philosophers of science were brought into such initiatives and discussions. #hps #histSTM
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Look what I saw in Neuchâtel! So wonderfully discussed in Simon Schaffer's Mechanical Marvels, Clockwork Dreams en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaquet-... #histSTM
An automata - a young boy in 18thC(ish) clothes, sitting and drawing .Three 18thC automata - the boy drawing, a lady playing a small organ and a boy writing.The same three automata, with the mechanism of the writing boy revealed.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Fascinating papers here at the Scientific Instrument Commission Symposium in Neuchâtel, but we do have this just outside the window!
Scene of blue sky and blue water separated by slightly darker blue mountains on the distant horizon. Rocky shore and green foliage in the foreground.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
"Workers’ Observatory, a charity founded by gig economy workers alongside academics at St Andrews and Edinburgh universities. Its aim is to help riders research the parts of their working experience that are mostly concealed by the companies" Excellent initiative! www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Food delivery riders call on platforms to open up AI ‘black box’ they say has cut pay
Workers who blame algorithms for lowering their earnings are getting help from academics to find out how the system works
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Not the main point, but I wish journalists would stop presenting Farage's anti-establishment schtick as his honest view rather than concocted persona. "While Farage pits himself in opposition to the Westminster elite, Orr’s upbringing and early life could hardly have been closer to its traditions."
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Ben Gross @bhgross144.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
A shocking moment in the history of American science... (Also personally devastating: The Academy was my childhood natural history museum!) #histsci #histSTM #museums
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Karl Galle @karlgalle.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Online lecture on "Alchemy and the Scientific Revolution" by Prof. Lawrence Principe, this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. CDT, hosted by The Linda Hall in Kansas City: events.lindahall.org/alchemyandsc... #HistSTM #EarlyModern
events.lindahall.org
Alchemy and the Scientific Revolution (Virtual)
Although alchemy was once considered unrelated to the history of science, or even imagined to be an “obstacle” to the emergence of modern chemistry, historians now recognize it as a crucial contributo...
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
'There's a great view of Edinburgh from the top of Blackford Hill", we told our visitor. Actual view:
You can just about pick out the shapes of the Castle and Arthur's Seat from the mist and murk.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
"This project, comprising photos and text, was born out of our frustration at how people are absent from both the visual and written lexicon of heat."
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
This year's Festival is over and done for me with an excellent production of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. Effective set and fantastic singing (though choosing to set it in 1870s/80s America, with an English Earl as a politician, was a little odd!)
View of the full cast, and some of the orchestra, during the curtain call.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I hate this updated icon for the clock on my phone with a passion. Annoys me every time I see it.
Round blue and white icon, with what are supposed to be clock hands at 6 o'clock but looks more like - a cigarette? some kind of cosmetic applier? The wallpaper behind is my photo of a magnolia tree.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Jahnavi is a historian of science, the Founding Director of the Science Gallery Bengaluru and one smart cookie #histSTM 📜
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Erika Milam @emilam.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Three cheers Greg Radick for being awarded the 2026 Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal and Lecture by the Royal Society! Don't know Greg's work? This is a fun place to start! (p.s. the award is for excellence in a subject relating to the history/philosophy of science or the social function of science.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
One for @sticknetwork.bsky.social?
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I'm grateful to Ofer Gal for this insightful review of Metropolitan Science in @metasciencejournal.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1.... #histSTM
link.springer.com
The institutional geography of science in early modern London - Metascience
Metascience -
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Oh no, Dolly!
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
📜 🗃️ #histtech #histSTM
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
We (the fabulous Science & Technology department @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social) are looking for a FT fixed-term Assistant Curator. Details here: careers.nms.ac.uk/job/936922 Deadline: 6 September
careers.nms.ac.uk
Assistant Curator, Technology
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Made my pilgrimage to Siccar Point in James Hutton's tercentenary year, following the Deep Time Trail #histSTM #geology The weather could not have been more lovely!
Looking over a grassy cliff edge down to rocks in a blue sea. You can just about make out the unconformity of red over grey sandstone. Interpretation post for the Deep Time Viewpoint, against blue sea and sky. The lower part of the post is filled in with vertical grey stones and horizontal red stones above.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
No! 27 thousand times no! www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Proposed London datacentre will have annual carbon footprint of 27,000 flights to New York
Exclusive: Planning documents show datacentre in North Ockendon would be incompatible with UK net zero targets
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Article and thread on history of London, mapping and digital humanities #dighum 🗃️ Locating London's History and Layers of London were both indispensable for my Metropolitan Science project and histories of the scientific instrument trade
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Most mysterious goings on in south Edinburgh. I've seen plenty of unknown substances on lampposts but never have they triggered fire engines and police cars.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The rain deluge in central Edinburgh evidently missed the Botanics weather station: www2.sepa.org.uk/rainfall/. I'd love to know what it was over the National Museum of Scotland to compare with the "half-an-inch of rain over half-an-hour" that the Evening Dispatch reported there on 15 July 1907.
www2.sepa.org.uk
Scottish Rainfall Data - provided by Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
Rainfall data for Scotland.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Fabulous image from the @sciencemuseum.org.uk random catalogue picker! Even better, the parts have been photographed but not the main object collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co45.... Gotta love science & technology museum collections 😀 📜
Scattered selection of knobs and screws, nicely photographed against a white background.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
REMINDER: the deadline for proposals is 4 September. We have some additional guidelines added to the call below: teleskopos.wordpress.com/wp-content/u... #histSTM #envhist
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The Women In Science Archive @wisarchive.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Today is the 180th anniversary of Elsie Inglis's birth. She obtained the Triple Qualification in medicine in 1892, founded a maternity hospital in Edinburgh, spoke at suffrage events organized by Milicent Fawcett, and during WWI created the Scottish Women's Hospitals. #WomenInSTEM #MedSky ⚕️
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Also zero for me (and zero women either).
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