iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 30m

The video is now available from Fara Dabhoiwala's lecture at AIP last week—an account of a Jamaican prodigy, his failed nomination to the Royal Society, and the only known depiction of the first return of Halley's comet. A story almost lost to history recovered from clues hidden in a small painting!

youtube.com

“Black Genius: Race, Science, and the Extraordinary Portrait of Francis Williams”

YouTube video by AIP History

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ertruitt.bsky.social @ertruitt.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Unboxing day! Over a decade in the making, NECESSARY INVENTIONS: ROGER BACON, THE MIDDLE AGES, AND THE MAKING OF MODERN SCIENCE (PENN Press) is a material object. Thank you to everyone who helped along the way. For sale on October 20. @pennpress.bsky.social

Photo of a box filled with multiple copies of the book. The cover is ochre, and has different images of Bacon, from manuscripts and printed books.

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H-Net Job Guide @h-net-job-guide.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

New job: Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of the History of Science and Technology University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill jobs.h-net.org/jobs/70470

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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 25/09/2026

This week, we published the first paper in the U.S. Climate Collection titled, "Research Priorities for Robust Climate Assessments in the United States". The paper was led by Melissa Kenney, @bobkopp.net, & me, with 175 authors helping outline climate risks. cee.engineering.cmu.edu/news/2026/09...

cee.engineering.cmu.edu

CMU faculty helps lead new efforts on climate assessment research

CMU faculty helps lead new efforts on climate assessment research - Civil and Environmental Engineering

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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 25/09/2026

Melissa Kenney, @bobkopp.net, and I are also among the lead organizers of the U.S. Climate Collection, an initiative of the American Geophysical Union and the @ametsoc.org to catalyze assessment science that advances U.S.-focused climate change research. usclimatecollection.org

usclimatecollection.org

U.S. Climate Collection | AGU and AMS

An initiative of the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society. The new “U.S. Climate Collection” will host research and analysis, including work that would have contributed t...

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

In today's AIP History Weekly Edition, Jon Phillips @jowiph.bsky.social looks at a new article by Alex Blum and Arnab Rai Choudhuri presenting the early history of magnetohydrodynamics. Theorists struggled for years to get a grip on MHD theory before it became the go-to tool for explaining the Sun.

aip.org

Article spotlight: Blum and Choudhuri on magnetohydrodynamics

AIP History Weekly Edition: September 25, 2026

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The University of Vienna is hosting a lecture series this fall and winter on the "History and Foundations of Modern Physics." Christoph Lehner will kick things off by discussing Schrödinger’s equation on Oct. 1. Click through to learn more, including how to watch online. #HPS

dakic.univie.ac.at

History and Foundations of Modern Physics

The lecure series examines the historical and conceptual development of modern physics, focusing on the debates, discoveries, and ideas that shaped major breakthroughs. Topics include relativity, cosm...

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Lynette Reid @lynettereid.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

If you're not in London and free this evening you can watch a video from the LRB about this amazing story. (I had no idea Hume was such a racist☹️.) I'll put that link in a comment.

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"Constructing Midichlorians: The Demystification of Jedi Power/Knowledge" ... or maybe "Trade Route Taxation and the Economic Causes of the Collapse of the Old Republic"

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Definitely a credible cover, having a "Society of Young Women Scientist and Engineers" donate $150k to a PAC.

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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

If it were possible, I'd actually go to this, and would doubtless learn a lot. This is a fabulous panel.

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Dr. Sarah Milkovich @milkysa.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Curator of Griffith Observatory job posting! www.governmentjobs.com/jobs/5481469...

governmentjobs.com

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AIP Niels Bohr Library & Archives @history.aip.org · 02/09/2026

NBLA has been the longtime holders of photographs from physicist Hertha Sponer’s album from Göttingen. Thanks to a recent project, it is now properly situated as Sponer's, not Franck's collection. www.aip.org/library/ex-libris-unive…

aip.org

Hertha Sponer at Göttingen

September Photos of the Month

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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

And here's a plot of workforce changes relative to 2024.

Plot of workforce change relative to 2024

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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Here's an updated version of that chart. (Includes latest numbers from 2026, USGS, and the comparison is vs. 2015–2024 avg.)

Plot of science agency workforces. Peaks in '24 and declines in '25 and '26.

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Niall Roe @niallroe.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

C. S. Peirce, echoing recent comments by Terrence Tao and other mathematicians on the use of AI to solve Navier-Stokes (except Peirce is writing in 1903):

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Matthew L. Jones @nescioquid.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Amazing postdoc opportunity in history of modern mathematics at IAS surrounded by excellent mathematicians, historians of science, and STS scholars. www.math.ias.edu/~akshay/hist...

math.ias.edu

Postdoctoral Scholar, History of Modern Mathematics | Institute for Advanced Study

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

This is basically what my mind is picturing here.

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

In today's AIP History Weekly Edition, AIP grant recipient James Lockridge offers a look at the history behind photos he is currently digitizing at NSF NOIRLab in Arizona. This program is an unusual example of a ground-based observatory venturing into rocket-based space research.

aip.org

The Kitt Peak National Observatory rocket program, 1959–1973

AIP History Weekly Edition: September 18, 2026

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The fun thing about AI discourse is that the risks associated with it variously involve it working (threats to jobs), working inappropriately (cybersecurity threats), not working (overinvestment in janky tools no one wants), and impairing people's judgment regardless of whether it works.

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Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Now also a paid part-time *graduate student* internship @ Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics working on American Women's History Museum project to make scientific work of 19th-& early 20th-century women more findable & accessible Deadline: October 5, 2026 #HPS www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=a...

indeed.com

Graduate Student Research Intern | History of Women in Science - Cambridge, MA 02138 - Indeed.com

Apply for the Graduate Student Research Intern | History of Women in Science job in Cambridge, MA! Learn more about the job description, salary, and job details to see if you qualify on Indeed today.

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Jim Weatherall @jamesowenweatherall.com · 16/09/2026

Just launched! LPS is running a new certificate program on Science for Policy and the Public. It's an introduction to modern philosophy of science aimed at people who communicate about and advise on science. Check it out! ce.uci.edu/programs/soc... #philsci #philsky #academicsky

ce.uci.edu

Science for Policy and the Public | UC Irvine DCE

The Science for Policy and the Public Certificate is an interdisciplinary certificate program designed to provide learners with foundational knowledge in...

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IHPST | University of Toronto @ihpst-uoft.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Postdoctoral Fellow Julia Menzel was featured in Scientific American, discussing historical parallels between today’s pressures on U.S. science and the Nixon era. Her research offers important lessons for understanding challenges facing researchers today 🔗 www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...

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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

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Modern American History @modamhist.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Teasel Muir-Harmony contextualizes the 1976 bicentennial logo—the “fat star”—amid Cold War public diplomacy, corporate branding, and federal arts policy. While the logo was designed to mend the nation fractured by the Vietnam War, it in fact further exposed those very fractures. Link Below.

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The HPS Podcast @hpspodcast.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

"But on the night sky, it's like seeing an atom held at arm's length..." This week on the podcast, Peter Galison joins Sophie Ritson to discuss what it took to make the first image of the black hole — and what it means to say we saw it. linktr.ee/thehpspodcast

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Grant Witness @grantwitness.org · 11/09/2026

Glad to work with @aip.bsky.social to highlight the dramatic loss of support for physics from NSF this year. Dig into the numbers at grantwitness.org/nsf 🧪

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The University of Chicago Press @uchicagopress.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

M. X. Mitchell, author of UNSETTLING SOVEREIGNTIES, interviews Benetick Kabua Maddison about the ongoing impact of aboveground US nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands. Read at @physicstoday.aip.org. buff.ly/eLaoW83

physicstoday.aip.org

The 80-year nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands

An interview with a prominent member of the Marshallese diaspora delves into the ongoing impact of aboveground US nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific archipelago.

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

In today's AIP History Weekly Edition, I follow up on an earlier look at Sveinn Jóhannesson's new book on the influence of French military science in US history, asking him about how he landed on this subject and how the history of the state led him into the history of science & technology. #HPS

aip.org

Q&A: Sveinn Jóhannesson and the antebellum "scientific-military state"

AIP History Weekly Edition: September 11, 2026

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Good to see the NIST reactor is back up for research operations. The US has been missing a large percentage of its neutron scattering capacity following a reactor refueling mishap in February 2021.

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undercoverhist.bsky.social @undercoverhist.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

1/x Aurélien Saïdi and I wrote a history of the 3-equation New Keynesian model, starting from an unusual angle: documenting the intertwining of research, pedagogical and policy goals in the development of a model Open access link to advance publication: read.dukeupress.edu/hope/article...

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

DC friends, AIP's next Trimble lecture is coming up on Wed., Sept. 23, when Princeton University's Fara Dabhoiwala presents "Black Genius: Race, Science, and the Extraordinary Portrait of Francis Williams." Learn more and register to attend today: www.aip.org/history/fara... 📷V&A Museum, London

A section of a painting depicting a black man in the dress of an 18th century gentleman with a white wig, with shelves of books and a window looking out on a Jamaican landscape and a cloudy night sky behind him.

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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I knew that some folks will not be delighted by this review of Graham Farmelo's new biography of Hawking, but so be it. The book itself is good - as I say, Farmelo lets people's words speak for themselves, and many are quite damning. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...

theguardian.com

Hawking by Graham Farmelo review – the dark side of genius

A biography of the physicist recognises his achievements, but also reveals the selfish narcissist underneath

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Gareth Funning @gfun.earth · 05/09/2026

This is all awesome, not least because one of the interviewees is Emily Brodsky (pictured), and the last conversation I had with her was at about 2 am on Monday night, staggering back after the SCEC karaoke, on whether she would sing next year (unlikely) and what (maybe Bob Dylan, still unlikely).

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Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

There are 4 (sort of) teasers about these women – to be specific, a geophysicist, a nuclear physicist, an experimental high energy physicist, and a physical scientist at NOAA. They are all super interesting. But if you click on their names, you jump to oral histories which are fascinating!

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

In today's AIP History Weekly Edition, Anna Doel looks at the variety of ways that recent oral history interviewees found their way into careers in the physical sciences. (Contra the photo, none of them through finding the secret door by the last light of Durin's Day.) #WomeninSTEM

aip.org

New oral histories: Women’s experiences in moving into science

AIP History Weekly Edition: September 4, 2026

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Taking out the (radioactive) trash at the Atomic Energy Commission’s Hanford Reservation in southeastern Washington State in the 1960s (left) and 1974 (right). Yes, those are cardboard boxes. They hold low-level radioactive waste, which despite the name could often be quite “hot.”

An archival color photograph of a large truck dumping cardboard boxes of radioactive waste into a large, unlined dirt trench already filling up with other cardboard boxes and a few orange 55-gallon drums, as two men in white coveralls and caps and black gloves observe from a few feet on either side of the back truck on the edge of the trench. The drums and the boxes have the radiation trefoil symbol printed on their sides. Some of the boxes dumped in the trench during an earlier disposal run appear to be wrapped in clear plastic bags.

Two men in white coveralls and caps stand in the rear of a large enclosed truck parked on the edge of an unlined dirt trench about to toss a large cardboard box into the trench, which is already partially filled with cardboard boxes, all of which have the trefoil radiation symbol printed on their sides and are taped shut. A few boxes appear to be crushed.

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It correctly gave the edge to Minnesota. Interesting that it picked up on the connection to the Pacific Northwest given that to my knowledge Minnesota and Oregon are the only places where kids play duck, duck, gray duck, but it didn't ask about that dead giveaway.

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American Astronomical Society (AAS) @aas.org · 03/09/2026

🔭 Meet #AAS249 plenary speaker: Rebecca Charbonneau! Historian at AIP, SETI Institute Fellow, and NRAO scientist studying the history of radio astronomy & technosignatures. Don't miss her talk in Salt Lake City — early registration closes 12 Oct. aas.org/meetings/aas... @rebeccacharbon.bsky.social

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Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

On October 13, my book will officially be out into the world! Available open access from MIT Press, made possible in part by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. mitpress.mit.edu/978026205474...

A graphic with white text on a green background, advertising a forthcoming book. Image text reads: "In Referees We Trust? How Peer Review Became a Mark of Scientific Legitimacy, by Melinda Baldwin." The book cover appears at the right of the image.

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Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

An amazing paid internship for undergrads @ the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian here in Boston "to make scientific work of 19th & early 20th century women more findable & accessible while exploring #histsci astronomy, #opensci, history of astronomy, women’s history" Deadline 9/7 #HPS

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Tim O'Brien @proftimob.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Excellent to hear the Prime Minister commit this evening to saving Jodrell Bank. Referenced how we are a research asset,a heritage asset and an inspiration to schoolchildren who visit. Will look forward to future discussions.

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Neal Weiner @nealweiner.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

An interesting result out today from LZ. Definitely not a standard wimp, but maybe an inelastic scattering or momentum dependent scattering? (1/n) www.sciencenews.org/article/dark...

sciencenews.org

Have scientists glimpsed the first dark matter particle?

Shadowy dark matter has eluded scientists for decades. The LZ experiment may have spotted one particle, called a WIMP, but more data is needed to check.

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Robert Rutledge @rerutled.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

There was a 57% decrease in the number of research grants given by the US National Science Foundation last year to astronomy and astrophysics - and a 51% decrease in the funding. This is a collapse. aas.org/posts/news/2...

aas.org

NSF Astronomical Sciences Grants Reduced by Over 50% in Fiscal Year 2026

An analysis of new awards suggests that as of 26 August 2026, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued 57% fewer awards in the astronomical sciences in the current fiscal year compared to the ...

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

A case of epistemic virtues in the wild? "Whether an atlas maker idealizes an image to capture the essentials in the name of truth-to-nature or refuses to erase even the most incidental detail in the name of objectivity ... is a decision enforced by an ethos as well as by an epistemology."

press.princeton.edu

Objectivity

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