NO. 111: OCTOBER 2016

ISSN: 1751-8261 MAGAZINE OF THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE

Contents

Choose Your Science Story 1-3

Undead Science Stories 4-5

Scientific Wives & Woes 6-7

Down the Hadron Collider 8-9

Taking London’s Pulse 10

Fossils & Fictionalisation 11-12

Grant Report 13

Conference Report 14 The future of travel and exploration? A fictional poster for travel to Europa, as created by Interview - Adam Mosley 15 NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Image courtesy of Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech BJHS, Viewpoint, BSHS info. 16 What is your future, Editorial

I history? This issue features a variety of science stories. We begin with a story for you to A choose-your-own History of Science adventure from the participate in, as told by Amanda Rees Unsettling Scientific Stories team. (1-3): complete the quest to get a History of Science project up and running! An Remember: only YOU can choose your article by Thony Christie follows (4-5), with make it possible for you to change the future destiny... examples of the sort of stories that won’t – if only you can gather together the tools and May your journey be blessed by the Lady stop running, though historians of science weaponry you’ll need to succeed. Subtilitae and Lord Venatus, and may you believe they should be long dead. avoid the pit where the monster Dipsaeolian Shock and sensation were used in Do you lurks with the snake Suimendax fictional and non-fictional science stories. 1. Open your Notebook and start searching all of the Academy for Concepts, Methods Ann Loveridge shows the perils of loving Walk with Chronos, friend a scientist in 19th-century novels (6-7), and and Colleagues? Ross MacFarlane talks about how real Lon- These are dark times for the Academy. Many 2. Go for coffee with fellow inhabitants of doners were transformed into characters of your Colleagues have fallen in its defence, your Corridor to Discuss the Issues Again? in a very creative report on the healthcare delivering their last lecture in the teeth of the 3. Become disturbed by a tearful Student hardships they faced (10). three unsleeping Monsters that stalk its Cor- seeking Succor? Kanta Dihal talks about science sto- ridors: Plans That Are Not Thoroughly Thought ries for the young, exploring how even Through, Someone In Central Admin’s Vanity If you’ve chosen (2), Suimendax’s snares lie quantum physics has made its way into Project, and Low-Level Omnipresent Malaise. ahead. If (3), you must wait till tomorrow to tantalising tales (8-9). I’m also delighted The Overlords have decreed that More is once start the Quest – but remember, sometimes to welcome back former Viewpoint editor again Less. The Stipend for all is reduced. tomorrow never comes. Melanie Keene, who explains how a real Many Students are arriving and must be If you’ve chosen (1), you may continue. scientist has been immortalised in fiction Supervised through the Labyrinths of Halls, for children (11-12). Seminars and Required Reading to the sunny First, you must understand what the underly- Contributions to the next issue should uplands of Genuine Intellectual Engagement. ing Aim of your Quest actually is. On one level, be sent to [email protected] by 15th But you have been given the opportunity your plan is to investigate the role that science December. for one Heroic Quest – to understand how the and technology have played in creating this past thought about and created the future, history of the future that you will write. But both in fiction and in fact. Making a further Alice White, Editor beyond this, you must also figure out a way imaginative leap, you wonder if it might even to both protect Human Knowledge from 2 Viewpoint No. 111

A futuristic vision from 1829: the advance of technology leads to rapid transport, sophisticated tastes among the masses, mechanization, and extravagant building projects. Etching by W. Heath (using the pseudonym Paul Pry). Courtesy of the Wellcome Library. the twin assaults of Arrogance and Wilful Three will explore the well-trodden paths of rooms, with its unanticipated – and wholly Ignorance, and to add to her treasure in the the Case Study, seeking to carve out knowl- unintended – consequences. The future, these humble spirit of Knowing You Might Have edge of the Victorians and Edwardians, White Champions will show, was becoming fearful. Missed Something. Heat/Cold War and Environment, Complexity, But what of the other three Objects? They Catastrophe. are more unusual and are proving harder to Do you These Champions will explore the ways in define – although they each promise much 1. Collect a Huge Pile of Books and Paper which science and technology were deployed greater opportunities for you to hit your Vital Downloads: many more than you can in thinking about the future at different points Targets. You hesitate. The Case-Study is, after realistically read? during the long technological 20th century. all, the chief Weapon of the Academy. The 2. Put together a team of Crack Colleagues They will investigate how the dazzling displays snake Suimendax enlists her meretricious and with them hatch your plan to Catch and spectacular experiments of scientist-per- henchfolk, the twins Volens and Sordidus the Vital, but Elusive, targets of Impact, formers encouraged the development of what Cogitandi, to whisper in your ear that these Outreach, Intellectual Respectability and could be called a culture of futurism, in fiction, three Objects are surely enough to fulfil your International Significance? in fact and in a variety of different spaces. quest… 3. Decamp to the local Hostelry for Ale to More prosaically, they will consider how ideas sooth your throat and fevered brow? of improvement, reform and progress were Do you gradually replaced by notions of planning and 1. Agree. The mystic Gateway to Research If you’ve chosen (1) or (3) Dipsaeolian and crisis, as prospective limitations on resources is close now, and near closing: you have Suimendax will certainly savour your flesh. (economic, physical, historic) became plain. done enough. The Case Study Champions If (2) you may proceed. These case studies will show how early opti- will ride alone and the three remaining mism become considerably blunted, as fears Objects will disappear back into the Mists Congratulations! You’ve surmounted the of political or military defeat became overlaid of Might Have Been. first obstacles. Now, things become seri- by the awareness of looming natural disaster. 2. Disdain their wiles. Protecting and ous. You decide that your quest will seek six Confidence in technological, or technocratic increasing Knowledge alone will not Objects, and you appoint six Champions in progress was increasingly confronted, in Defend the Academy: you must also their pursuit. novels, films, research papers and committee reach out to the Real World and even, if Viewpoint No. 111 3

you’re brave enough, the Overlords. The you want to tell about the past’s future. You Champions will ride out to the Gateway identify Past Periodicals, Prospecting Futures as Six or None. and Presenting Choices. 3. Temporise. Maybe one more Object - you The first of these Three will use the Archive might just slip through the Gateway? – it will seek out evidence of how science was BSHS Notices historically deployed in journals and maga- If you chose (1), you find the Gateway slams zines throughout the long twentieth century shut against you. You return, abashed to your in order to imagine the future. It will treat HSS Conference Corridor, and seek to pursue and protect cartoons and advertisements with the same There’s still time to register for the annual Knowledge in the time you can clutch back respect it proffers to editorials and articles: all HSS conference, to be held this year at from Supervision. Maybe next year, you’ll be go to shape science in the public mind. The the Westin Peachtree Plaza in downtown braver. If you chose (3), you pass the Gateway, second will turn to Focus Groups, and join sf Atlanta, Georgia, 3–6 November 2016. but are trapped in Triage: you must battle reading groups and individuals in their own Online registration will be available it out with the other souls who had Good intrepid journeys through fiction. It will listen through 23 October 2016. Non-members Ideas Backed Up with Solid Plans, but simply and talk with them about how and why stories are encouraged to join the Society and Weren’t Distinctive Enough. Dispirited, the of the future matter: it eschews arrogance, enjoy discounted meeting registration. Corridor and Supervision await you and your preferring instead to aim at stimulating con- For more information, visit: time will be nibbled away by the Rats of Large versations on which relationships of equality hssonline.org/meetings/2016-hss-annual- and Small Admin Jobs. with lay experts can be built. The third – meeting/ If (2), you may proceed. Ethnographic Role-Play, invites publics to use And to register, go to: their imaginations to investigate the histories hssweb.org/registration/ The three remaining Objects are ones that of 20th-century scientific decision making, take you out of the Academy and force you and to decide on the choices that they would to figure out how your Quest makes sense in make, were they living in those histories. It the Real World. You need to look directly at will constantly seek feedback from its users, so IUHPST Essay Prize how people – expert and lay – used science to it can study both how people use science to think about the future in the past. You need think about the future, and how non-histori- The International Union of History and to figure out how to find out about how lay ans utilise historical knowledge. Together, the Philosophy of Science and Technology people – who are each expert in their own Three will wonder what a Citizen History of (IUHPST) invites submissions for the first field, even if they have no official credentials Science might look like. IUHPST Essay Prize in History and Philoso- – are using science to think about the future Your identification of the six elements of phy of Science. This prize competition now. And you need to know how present your quest is deemed worthy by Those Who seeks to encourage fresh methodological day populations react to the historical stories Stand The Other Side of the Gateway. You and thinking on the history and philosophy of your colleagues are given science as an integrated discipline. the resources you need to Entries in the form of an essay of seek them out and bring 5,000–10,000 words in English are invited, them home. addressing this year’s prize question: But remember, on your “What is the value of philosophy of sci- Quest, you must fight to ence for history of science?” retain your Purity and Clarity. The award will carry a cash prize of As you pursue your Objects, 1,000 U.S. dollars and, in addition, the cost you and your Colleagues of hotel accommodation for attending must constantly seek dif- the 25th International Congress of His- ferent ways of fitting them tory of Science and Technology in Rio de together, and considering Janeiro (23-29 July 2017). how each could be used to Entries for this essay prize are invited improve the other. The tools from anyone, without restriction of age, of Reflexivity and Self-Criti- nationality or academic status. cism are essential weapons Entries for the prize competition should in the never-ending fight be submitted in pdf format by email to against Dipsaeolian and the Chair of the Joint Commission, Prof. Suimendax. But gentle Lubri- Hasok Chang, Department of History dum is always there to help. and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge. Email: [email protected]. TO BE CONTINUED. Any queries should also be directed to him. The deadline for submission is 30 THERE’S STILL A FUTURE November 2016. TO CREATE. Get in Touch!

If you have a history of science confer- ence, event, prize, etc., get in touch with “We’ll All Be Happy Then”. Cartoon depicting technological Amanda Rees us to help publicise or possibly even fund luxuries of the future, by Harry Grant Dart, 1911. University of York it. Details on www.bshs.org.uk Image in the public domain. [email protected] 4 Viewpoint No. 111

Myths, Zombies and History of Science Story Telling Thony Christie discusses the science stories that just won’t die, and explores the origins of some of these myths.

If I get asked what I do, the formal answer is head. Yet Galileo knew that I am a contextual narrative historian of very well that he did science, which is just a fancy way of saying not have the required that I’m a history of science storyteller. How- empirical proof. He ever, I take great care to ensure that the stories never directly claimed that I tell are as historically and factually accu- to be able to prove rate as possible. Unfortunately, the history of that the cosmos was science is plagued with copious myths, many heliocentric but relied of which although thoroughly debunked on instead, in his writings, numerous occasions live on as, what I call, his- on propaganda and tory of science zombies, the undead scourge polemic, of which he of the discipline. was an undeniable Perhaps the most persistent of all history of master. His observa- science myths, particularly in North America, tions, and those of is the assertion that medieval Europeans other early telescopic believed that the world was flat. This is most observers,* refuted often claimed in connection with either certain aspects of Columbus’ discovery of America or Magellan’s Aristotelian cosmology circumnavigation of the globe. and a pure Ptolemaic Educated Europeans had known that the geocentric astronomy world was a sphere since the 5th century BCE but they did not and both Aristotle and Ptolemy provided deliver any proof that empirical evidence for this. In the Middle Ages, the cosmos was helio- when Aristotle’s teachings were omnipresent, centric. During the first almost nobody who was educated believed half of the 17th century, anything else. This has been explained time the available scien- and again by historians, but in recent times tific evidence most President Obama, American National Public strongly supported Radio and Elizabeth May (leader of the Cana- some form of Tychonic dian Greens) have all expounded the myth in geo-heliocentric public. system and not a helio- The transition from the geocentric view centric one. of the world to the heliocentric one is a rich The geocentric field for history of science myths. We get told contra heliocentric constantly that Copernicus didn’t publish his mythology is a core De revolutionibus for many years because he argument in a much feared the reaction of the Church. In reality, bigger history of sci- leading Catholic prelates were urging him to ence myth that there publish and the Pope’s secretary even offered has been some sort of to pay the costs of having a fine copy made fundamental existen- of his manuscript. He was, in truth, reluctant tial battle between to publish because in his earlier Commentari- science and religion olus he had promised to deliver proof for his through the ages. theories and he knew that he could not fulfil Actually, this myth is a that promise. product of the 18th and Moving forward through time, it is a very 19th centuries, which common claim that Galileo had delivered proof for the heliocentric hypothesis using his Another persistent telescope, and that those who still opposed it * myth is that Galileo was only did so on bigoted religious grounds. This A round earth with men walking upon it. As depicted by Gossouin the only person astute supposed truth is frequently used by neo- de Metz in Image du monde, circa 1320-1325. enough to point a tel- atheists to beat religious believers around the Image courtesy of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. escope at the heavens. Viewpoint No. 111 5

interestingly is when the flat earth myth first emerged. Its two most well know-proponents were the Americans John William Draper, with his History of the Conflict between Reli- gion and Science (1874), and Andrew Dickson White, with his A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896). The flat earth myth was most widely propagated by another American, Washington Irving, in his largely fictional but purportedly factual biography of Christopher Columbus, A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, published in 1828. Irving also presented his Columbus as butt- ing heads with a bigoted Catholic Church: a piece of pure fiction. The Draper-White (or conflict) thesis, as it is generally known by histori- ans of science, has become deeply ingrained in the fabric of Western cul- ture over the last two hundred years. One can often find even leading intellectuals expounding it as gospel truth and also accusing historians of science, who try to correct them, of being religious apologists. Because of the religious and politi- The structure of the universe following the hypothesis of Tycho Brahe from Andreas cal history of England in the Early Cellarius: Harmonia macrocosmica seu atlas universalis et novus, totius universi creati Modern period, it is quite common to find cosmographiam generalem, et novam exhibens, 1661. Image in the public domain. British intellectuals taking snide potshots at those especially hated storm-troupers of the Counter Reformation, the Jesuits, as being ern period, producing many excellent and lent school report. Strangely enough, it is particularly anti-science. This is highly ironic, important practitioners of science in their this school report that is the origin of the as the Jesuits provided the best mathemati- own ranks and amongst their students. In the myth. In Germany, students are not graded cal/scientific education in the Early Mod- 17th century, Marin Mersenne, Pierre Gassendi by letters but by the numbers one to six, with and René Descartes were all Jesuit one being the equivalent of an A-grade and educated, as were many others. It six the equivalent of an F. However Einstein was the Jesuit astronomers of the took his high school diploma in Switzerland, Collegio Romano (the Jesuit Univer- where the grading system was, in his times, sity), who provided the very necessary the exact reverse of the German one, with six experimental confirmation of those at the top and one at the bottom: Einstein’s early telescopic observations made high school diploma is full of sixes! German by Galileo and published by him, to authors, assuming the German grading great acclaim, in his Sidereus Nuncius system, thought that he had failed nearly all in 1610. They even held a banquet his subjects! And so a myth that refuses to die in Galileo’s honour in the Collegio was born through a simple but understand- Romano to celebrate those discover- able error. ies and their discoverer; this is hardly I dedicate much of my history of science evidence of a religious based anti- story-telling to trying to dispel the myths and science attitude. drive stakes through the hearts of the zombies There are, unfortunately, many but it is mostly the equivalent of trying to other widespread myths of science, push water up a very steep slope with a tea not all of them old or religious. A strainer and I don’t really have any hopes of modern non-religious myth that pops winning the battle in the near future. up at regular intervals (and even gets repeated by educationalists, who should know better) is that the legendary physicist, Albert Einstein, Thony Christie regarded as one of the greatest Freelance Scholar Einstein as a child circa 1894 intellects who ever lived, was bad at Image in the public domain, Blogs as The Renaissance Mathematicus, and is school. Einstein was actually almost courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. creator, proprietor & editor of Whewell’s Gazette a straight-A student with an excel- [email protected] 6 Viewpoint No. 111

Women, Sensationalism, & Science Ann Loveridge discusses marriage and vivisection in 19th-century novels.

Eleven p.m. - A Scientific Conversazione, with wonderful intellectual-looking beings... who smell musty bones with unpronounceable names, and make extraordinary instruments whiz round. From Twice round the clock; or, The hours of the day and night in London by George Augustus Sala & William McConnell (1859). Image in the public domain courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Wilkie Collins’s novel Heart and Science (1883) ence within the confines of a Late-Victorian herself with the “zoophyte fossils” and had and Florence Marryat’s An Angel of Pity (1898) marriage. successfully “dissected the nervous system of both engage with the theme common to nov- Collins addresses this topic with his offering a bee”. els that accompany vivisection: the imperfec- of the amateur scientist, Mrs Maria Gallilee, Mrs Gallilee’s characterisation is presented tion of marriage. Lynn Crocket identifies anti- who is portrayed as an object of derision and as a scientific narrative that would have been vivisection novels as regularly portraying the mockery. She is a woman led amiss from her familiar to the professional audience that Col- vivisector as a “man unfit for decent female domestic duties by her scientific obsession. lins had addressed in his preface: his “Readers companionship” (6) and disastrous marriages Biology and physics are her choice of subjects in Particular”. She attends lectures on “radiant were a regular feature of sensation fiction. and these topics position Mrs Gallilee as hold- energy into sonorous vibrations”, “Diather- George MacDonald’s Paul Faber: A Surgeon ing a recreational interest outside of the elite mancy of Ebonite” and she is knowledgeable (1878), Sarah Grand’s The Beth Book (1897) and science of physiology. Her committed support about “Geographical Botany and “coprolites ... G Colmore’s Priests of Progress (1908) are prime to further the “march of science” echoes that the fossilised ingestations of extinct rep- examples that depict scientific ambition as of religious fanaticism. This is borne out by her tiles. Collins here thoughtfully intersperses despoiling of marriage. Collins and Marryat conspicuous declarations and callous remarks fragments of scientific discourse to validate look sideways from the vivisector’s character more than by any purposeful scientific Mrs Gallilee’s claim to scientific culture and to offer two diverse literary creations of the enquiry but with perseverance, she managed although Patricia Murphy argues that it is scientifically astute woman and her co-exist- within the space of one year to familiarise possible to read Mrs Gallilee as the “foolish Viewpoint No. 111 7

imitation” of the male scientist, been well educated: having virtue. It is fair to presume that Rose is a thinly her interests clearly show received a medical degree veiled characterisation of Dr Anna Kingsford how women engaged from Edinburgh “with (1846-1888): the first woman to obtain a with the natural world honours” in an exami- medical degree from Paris. Both women are through the learning nation where “half quoted as offering their own bodies to be experience of public the men candidates “operated upon” instead of their poor patients lectures. failed”. She criticized and tortured animals. It is through the the wife’s tradi- Ironically for both Mrs Gallilee and Rose, it conversaziones tional role as she is their domestic, not their scientific life, that where Mrs Galli- did not “want to they are most isolated. Although Murphy con- lee is “at home to see all [her] study tends that Collins’s novel “carves no space in science” that she and experience which a woman can follow scientific interests”, truly indulges wasted”, but both Mrs Gallilee and Rose push against the in her art. The Rose accepted separation of feminine morality from male conversazione the hand of the science. Antivivisection novels often suggest was an integral ‘celebrated’ phys- that vivisection is condemned for separating part of leisurely iologist Quinten individuals from their sympathies, but Collins class life and Lesquard on the and Marryat suggest that a woman’s place in these events were understanding science can act as a positive force and bring social gatherings that the marriage people together. where the enlight- would open for her ened middle-class of “a larger sphere of Ann Loveridge th the latter 19 -century A . usefulness, an oppor- Canterbury Christchurch University n in circulated. As Samuel n a tunity for deeper study, [email protected] a m K o J. M. M. Alberti has i d and the acquirement of n c observed, people attended gs li more knowledge”. Works Cited: fo ub these events not only to see rd. e p After the discovery that Image in th Alberti, Samuel J. M. M. “Conversaziones and the the spectacle but also to be seen her husband is a vivisectionist, Experience of Science in Victorian England” Journal themselves and “to be part of the show”. By she refused to bear his child and in an act of Victorian Culture. 8:2 (2003): 208-230. interacting with the demonstrations, Mrs Gal- of cruel retribution, Lesquard vivisected her Collins, Wilkie. Heart and Science. 1883 Ed. Steve lilee was able to forge her own sophisticated pet dog, Bran. By mercifully killing Bran, she Farmer. Plymouth: Broadview, 1996. cultural identity. accidentally wounded her husband who Crockett, Lynne. Victorians and Vivisection: Fictions of Suzanne Le-May Sheffield has suggested contracted erysipelas and became “scarcely Pain from the Fin de Siècle. Diss. Saarbrucken: VDM, 2009. that “women who took part in excessive human”. Rose’s nursing restores her hus- intellectual activity ... were thought to put band’s health and leads to his renouncing of Le-May Sheffield, Suzanne. Women in Science: Social at risk their chances for reproduction and vivisection. Marryat uses the courtship plot to Impact and Interaction. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers motherhood”, challenging the separate- depict the terrible consequences of the moral Uni Press. 2006. spheres ideology of late-Victorian feminin- degradation experienced by the vivisector. Marryat, Florence. An Angel of Pity. [a Tale]. London: ity. Florence Marryat’s heroine Rose Gordon The novel clearly presents Rose’s influence as Hutchinson & Co. 1898. clearly rejected these strictures and did not the primary reason for Lesquard’s change of Murphy, Patricia. In Science’s Shadow: Literary Con- consider personal feelings a sufficient basis heart, and it articulates women’s special role: structions of Late Victorian Women. London: Uni of for matrimony. Unlike Mrs Gallilee, Rose had to embody the selflessness that is a moral Missouri Press, 2006. BJHS Book Reviews Update The British Journal for the History of Science is expanding its book reviews section. Over the coming months we will be looking to publish more book reviews, as well as essay reviews on the state of historical research in various fields and on specific issues. Taking two or more recent publications in tandem and utilising a longer essay style format, essay reviews offer the opportunity to explore a developing historiography or set of historical problems. They often provide readers with an invaluable guide to the questions and con- cerns that shape areas of research. One recent review essay, Tim Boon’s ‘Sounding the field’, shows how insights and interests from HPS, STS, musicology and cultural studies have found new form in the study of sound, providing a rich interdisciplinary perspective on the relation- ship between sound and culture. Along with essay reviews the journal continues to publish individual reviews of the latest contributions to the history of science, technol- ogy and medicine, providing the community with a vital resource. The books reviews section offers researchers an opportunity to engage in the scholarly discussion on the research that shapes our discipline. We are eager to see that this discourse is open to scholars at various stages of their careers, from doctoral students and postdocs to established academics. For more information on the book review section, along with the lists of books received by the journal and information for potential reviewers, head over to BJHS’s page on the Cambridge Journals website.

Don Leggett, BJHS Book Reviews Editor 8 Viewpoint No. 111

Scientific storytelling: quantum physics books for children

Even very complex concepts from quantum physics are brought to life in children’s stories, explains Kanta Dihal.

It seems that no topic is too difficult to communicate to children. Popular sci- ence books written for a young audi- ence go far beyond the school cur- riculum, and have covered topics such as deadly illness, evolution, and even quantum physics. Children’s books on quantum physics usually rely on fictional stories the reader is already familiar with. Russell Stan- nard’s Uncle Albert and the Quantum Quest (1994), aimed at children aged 10+, uses the story of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Image from Wonderland (1865). “Down the Microscope The protagonist, a and what Alice found young girl named there” from Brighter Gedanken, can Biochemistry Journal, enter the thought December 1923. bubbles of her uncle Wellcome Library, Albert, a famous ref. L0070073 physicist – modelled on Albert Einstein, for choosing this setting. series of children’s books that cover advanced of course. In his thought bubbles, Gedanken Even so, the Wonderland setting is helpful topics in physics: co-authored with her father, can enact thought experiments: Uncle Albert for both Gedanken and the young reader: , the George series started asks Gedanken to find out what atoms are both know the bottle labelled ‘Drink Me’ will with George’s Secret Key to the Universe in 2007 made of, and she observes that they have change Gedanken’s size, and indeed, it makes and has recently reached its fifth instalment, both particle- and wave-like properties at very her small enough to observe the quarks inside George and the Blue Moon (2016). In the first small scales. Uncle Albert makes this particular an atom! The White Rabbit and the Cheshire instalment, eight-year-old George discov- thought experiment take place in Wonder- Cat help her perform experiments: while the ers that he has new neighbours: the world- land. Perhaps surprisingly, Gedanken is not White Rabbit is nervous, making Gedanken do famous astrophysicist Eric, clearly modelled very happy when she discovers this: shouting all the work, the Cheshire Cat is more knowl- on Stephen Hawking, and his daughter, Annie. that “Nobody reads that old fuddy-duddy stuff edgeable and helps her. Together, they go on adventures throughout these days!” she calls her uncle old-fashioned Novelist has also written a the universe aided by Eric’s computer Cosmos, Viewpoint No. 111 9

who is sentient and can open portals to dis- This makes the story tant parts of the universe. an allegory for the way in The George books thus fit into a tradition which quantum physics of rocketship adventure stories for children, overthrew classical phys- which harks back to the early twentieth cen- ics in the early twentieth tury. The storyline of each book is riddled with century. Notably, this book references to specific scientific content, which does not attempt to explain is further explained in separate informative quantum physics the way sections. the previously mentioned The George series is notable for includ- works do: instead, it is a ing contributions from well-known real-life fictionalised narration of scientists, including Stephen Hawking himself. the historical development Popularisations, certainly those for children, of the field. As this is a are not necessarily written to communicate comic, Fong has chosen not the author’s own scientific findings: for a to break up the narrative young audience, those could easily be too with explanatory sections complex. Hawking, however, introduces some as the Hawkings have done, of his most important findings in the very first and instead presents an book in the George series: the structure of immersive story from which black holes, and . the readers are not asked Hawking radiation is a quantum mechanical to disengage themselves phenomenon usually not taught below uni- until the end: entertain- versity level. George encounters it in a science ment is the main purpose fiction-like setting: Eric, who has been swal- of the book. Fong aims to lowed by a black hole, is slowly radiated out familiarise his readers with again - and Cosmos is able to assemble him the concept of quantum from these individual particles. Eric emerges physics from a young age again from the computer, all his memories onwards and make this a intact; the only error Cosmos made is that Eric memorable experience. is now wearing the wrong glasses. These three book series This content refers to a very recent scientific are notable for not making debate: the black hole information-loss para- the reader an active agent. dox. Different interpretations of this paradox Whereas the hands-on ele- Above and below: Images of Qubit from The Quantum by Hawking and Stanford physicist Leonard ment of science is usually Bunny, courtesy of Otto Fong. Susskind led to what the latter in 2008 called vital to science books for ‘the Black Hole War’. Interestingly enough, children, there are unfor- George’s adventure assumes Susskind’s tunately no quantum interpretation of the black hole information mechanics experiments paradox: information is not irretrievably lost which can safely be per- in a black hole. This indicates that Hawking formed by a young reader. admits to having lost this so-called war, and Therefore, the fictional is now on Susskind’s side. Although Hawking component of the stories had publicly admitted that information does becomes more important leak out of black holes at a press conference as the practical execution in 2004, George’s Secret Key to the Universe becomes impossible. Rather was Hawking’s first popular work since this than participate in it, the admission. Thus, a children’s book reflects the reader is encouraged to outcome of a cutting-edge scientific dispute observe and enjoy a familiar A third quantum physics book for chil- story, that is made just dren hails from Singapore: Otto Fong’s The strange enough again to be Quantum Bunny (2015) is a comic book that fascinating. incorporates quantum physics in a rework- ing of the fable of the East Asian legend of the Monkey King. Just as Stannard uses an Alice in Wonderland setting with which British children will in one way or another be familiar, Fong uses a story his Singaporean audience will have grown up with. In the original legend the Monkey King rebelled against Heaven and was imprisoned under a mountain by the Bud- dha; in this comic, the Quantum Bunny, called Qubit, rebels against the palace of the Sky Kanta Dihal Emperor, Albert Einstein. The bunny is indeed St Anne’s College, trapped under a mountain – in a Large Hadron University of Oxford Collider, where he is studied. [email protected] 10 Viewpoint No. 111

John and Mary & London’s Pulse Ross MacFarlane reveals how stories about the health of Londoners were sometimes surprisingly creative. The annual reports of British Medical Officers questions of parks of Health have long been recognised as an and open spaces in important resource in the history of British Barking…” or “John public health. But do these reports – which was talking to me consist of summaries by Medical Officers of one day as to why so Health (MOH) of their activities in their locali- many of the nurses ties - tell stories? Do the authors of these local to be found at clinics government reports - highly statistical at- were Health Visi- tempts to track outbreaks of infectious disease tors…”. Mary even and mortality rates - ever try and tweak their attends a lecture data-driven formula? where “where a man Evidence from Wellcome Library’s London’s had very stoutly Pulse digitisation project – which has made declared that all the over 5500 reports for London freely available improvements in online – suggests at least one MOH tried to health of the public inject an element of creativity into his annual were entirely due to reports. improved social con- In his introduction to his Report for 1948, ditions…and had the MOH for Barking, C Leonard Williams, nothing to do with wrote: the development of the medical services” It is to emphasise the spirit of the present – an incident which age that I have made this a personal report allows Williams to go in which I want to tell you something of into great detail on the lives of John and Mary, of the problems the beneficial role of which they brought to me, and what is more, the Medical Officer of their difficulties and something of their since their formation conversations with me. in 1846. The cover of C. Leonard Williams’ 1948 Medical Officer of Health A debate over a Report. Courtesy of the Wellcome Library. There are thousands of Johns and Marys proto-McKeown thesis in Barking, and it is through this book that indicates the interest- I would like to speak to each one of them, ing – and sometimes surprising - content to orthodox lines”. and it is to these Johns and Marys that I have be found in this report: given 1948 saw the Whilst this detail suggests that for Williams dedicated this Report. creation of the National Health Service, the stories and science could only go so far, his report captures Williams’s thoughts on this reports are an indication of how MOH reports John and Mary are young, recently married matter too. are shaped by the personality of their author and about to start a family. They are living Williams’s tweaking of the reporting format and also suggests considering MOH reports with Mary’s mother and want a house of their was no one-off: his 1947 report consists of as slightly more creative forms of writing than own. Their encounters with local health ser- questions and answers on the health of Bark- they perhaps been given credit for. vices allow Williams to enlarge from his arche- ing (a format he would use again in 1950). typal couple’s experiences to report on wider Williams had been MOH for Barking since Ross MacFarlane topics such as housing, maternity services, 1927 - was he altering the format his method Wellcome Library district nursing and dental services. of trying to inject an element of freshness into [email protected] Williams tries to be as creative as possible his job? in how he manages to meet John and Mary: Thirty-five pages into the 1948 Report, in one section he stands next to John on an Williams writes: “There were many other Referenced Resources over-crowded commuter train (which gives questions put to me by John and Mary to do Digitised Medical Officer of Heath Reports for Williams an opportunity to talk about the with what we call environmental health, but London deleterious health effects of such travel). As their questions were not of the same personal wellcomelibrary.org/londons-pulse the report continues, things become more interest and incidentally, did not cover all that contrived: “John asked me to address a I would wish to write on the subject. I am, The 1948 Barking report meeting in which he was interested in the therefore, continuing this Report on more wellcomelibrary.org/moh/report/b19784387 Viewpoint No. 111 11

“She sells sea-shells”: Mary Anning & the history of science for children Melanie Keene discusses the various different ways in which fossil-hunter Mary Anning has been introduced to children.

As a story, it has it all: a seaside setting, impov- erished beginnings, a lightning strike, mon- strous creatures, a tragic death, fame if not fortune, and even a little dog. No wonder tales about 19th-century fossil-hunter Mary Anning have been told to rapt young audiences over the past one hundred and fifty years. During this time, different aspects of her story have been emphasised by children’s writers and illustrators: she has metamor- phosed from a juvenile ‘Columbus’ of the ichthyosaur ‘fossil furies’ to a scatological ‘coprolite queen’ who should best be remem- bered for her expertise in ‘fossilized bits of poo’. Anning’s appealing life has evidently been an effective means to draw in new generations, but what wider lessons can its treatment teach us about ways to present the history of science to children? The purpose of writing such histories could be said to be to encourage children’s partici- pation in scientific activities, and Anning is no exception. Highlighting her young age when she made her famous early discoveries has been common, from Chatterbox’s 1869 article on ‘The Little Fossil-Gatherer’ to The Fossil Girl picture book in 1999. Sometimes the first literal lightning strike when a baby, and the metaphoric coup de foudre upon meet- ing the stony eye of an extinct sea-dragon a decade later, have been the only parts of her life discussed. Thankfully, 1920s children were encouraged to emulate the second of these actions rather than the first, going out into nature to seek ‘treasure’ lurking anywhere in the surrounding environment, whether ‘sticking out of a cliff or lying under a hedge.’ There was ‘no need’, authors urged, ‘to imagine that you have to be old before you can be a Anning as depicted on the cover of the weekly magazine Chatterbox in 1869. discoverer’; indeed, finding ‘curiosities’ was the Image made available in the public domain by the University of California & Google. proper province of the ‘sharp eyes of a child’. Children could also mimic Anning as exactly the Natural History Museum: Anning and her have practised the sciences, but whose traces as possible to maximise their chances of specimens featured prominently in a 1937 remain unearthed, her story the striking scientific success: in 1881 The Girls’ Own Paper Children’s Newspaper guide. Today children polished specimen on display. As she was a recommended to ‘Pansie’, a correspondent, can virtually participate in several types of working-class woman living in the early nine- that she try fossil-hunting at Lyme Regis, Anning-inspired scientific activity, including teenth century, the ‘unlikely’ fact of Anning’s where Anning ‘made her splendid discover- identifying embedded species, or cleaning scientific expertise has long been emphasised ies’. (Pansie should take a ‘chisel and hammer’ rocks for sale to well-to-do customers, via a by her biographers. Some have cast her as a with her to open the blue lias ‘in layers, like BBC History web game. ‘History VIP’ or even a ‘Superhero of Science’, slates’, but she should ‘beware of the sudden Anning can also be used to introduce to but others have introduced her as part of a falls’ of rocks from the cliffs.) Children could children the many women, members of the wider community, one admittedly remark- also experience geology as part of a visit to working classes, and people of colour who able women who can help us think about all 12 Viewpoint No. 111

the unrecorded humour, as in comic artist Kate Beaton’s recent rock-botherers riff on Kelis: ‘My fossils bring all the boys to who have haunted the yard, and they’re like: you still can’t join shore and moor. the Geological Society of London’. It is clear Both the first full that Anning is today credited as being one of 1925 book-length the people who ‘helped create the notion of a treatment of The prehistoric world’, her global influence going Heroine of Lyme far beyond a Dorset beach; or, as Chambers’s Regis and picture Journal had it in an 1857 article, bringing ‘two book Stone Girl very important entries in the world’s bulky Bone Girl (1999) catalogue – watering-places and geology –’ acknowledge the into existence. But Anning’s later life, after that role of local ‘quar- exceptional childhood, reminds us that such rymen’, and of her lasting fame was not guaranteed. father’s skill and In these ways, exploring the histories of sci- influence, along- ence we tell to children can put historiograph- side Anning’s hero- ical considerations and storytelling choices ism; latterly, her into clear forms: like a Lyme Regis palaeon- relationship with tologist confronting an expanse of blue lias, the Philpot sisters superfluous material must be chipped away to has also fruitfully excavate the bones of the story beneath. What been mined. kind of story is found and circulated is up to us Other texts to decide. highlight Anning’s sometimes fraught relationships with members of the contemporary sci- entific community, whether to uphold a received hierar- chy, as in the 1923 account which claimed that ‘Dean Buckland worked out the story. He could explain where Mary Ann could not’ (Anning An autographed letter concerning the discovery of plesiosaurus, with granted neither Melanie Keene a sketch of the plesiosaurus, from Mary Anning. title nor surname); Homerton College, Cambridge Image courtesy of the Wellcome Library, image reference L0022370. or for more pointed [email protected] The Dana Research Centre & Library The Science Museum’s splendid Dana Research Centre and Library was launched during its inau- gural research conference in March 2016. This marked the culmination of several years of change as the Museum’s Library collections were moved from their former home shared with Imperial College to the Museum’s stores at Wroughton, near Swindon. The closure of the old library allowed staff to plan for a new library. The result is a beautiful, relaxing and inspirational space, designed by Coffey Architects, that has received many positive reviews from architects, librarians and researchers. Visitors have been impressed by the continuity of design and attention to detail which makes the experience of using the library very rewarding. The library is a physical manifestation of the Museum’s strong commit- ment to research and scholarship. There are 18 reading desks, around 6000 volumes of books and journals in the history and bi- ography of science, technology and medicine, access to the new library and archive catalogues and to other electronic resources. Readers can consult archives and library material transported from Wroughton. For opening times, access to catalogues and other information see http://www. sciencemuseum.org.uk/library. The Wroughton reading room remains open by prior appointment for researchers to consult large quantities of material. Nick Wyatt, Head of Library & Archives Viewpoint No. 111 13

Exhibiting ‘the Other’ in Scotland’s human zoos Gemma Wilson describes her research into human zoos and Scottish identity, work made possible by a BSHS Undergraduate Dissertation report.

On 2 May, 1911, the Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art and Industry, opened its doors to an eagerly awaiting public. The exhibition was held in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Interior of the West African Village at the Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art and Indus- Park, and marked the try, 1911. Reproduced by courtesy of Clemens Radauer, city’s third attempt to www.humanzoos.net enhance Scotland’s in- dustrial, technological, and imperial prestige, were invited to view the various ‘dusky’ tribes by considering their role in Scotland’s great and construct a coherent, Scottish national of West Africa, in what the souvenir guide exhibitions, focusing on the aforementioned identity. accompanying the exhibit purported to be an Exhibition of 1911, before turning to those Located at one end of the exhibition authentic reconstruction of ‘bush life’. They held on a lesser-scale within the nation’s grounds were the Palaces of Industry, History, were able to experience, at first-hand, those smaller localities, through a case study of the and Art, the Concert Hall, and the Kelvin Hall. ‘characteristic features of tropical savagery’ several Inuit men who were transported from At the opposite end, in the Entertainment Sec- found in the colonies, and so frequently the Arctic to Scotland on Scottish whaling tion, visitors were offered an array of attrac- recorded in explorers’ accounts. vessels, and exhibited throughout the country tions, including a Mountain Slide, Joy House, Such human exhibitions, now commonly in an attempt to showcase Arctic life to an Joy Wheel, and a Mountain Scenic Railway, referred to as ‘human zoos’, proliferated immensely curious public. the latter of which proved the most popular throughout Scotland during the nineteenth I am very grateful to have been awarded exhibit, with an estimated 1,285,000 visitors. and early-twentieth centuries, and were part the BSHS grant. It has helped tremendously In second place, drawing 900,000 visitors, was of a worldwide phenomenon that has, until with my research, allowing me to gain access a more peculiar exhibit, dubbed ‘the West Afri- very recently, been neglected by historians. to invaluable primary material in the Brit- can Village’. The mock village was comprised Scholars including Pascal Blanchard and ish Newspaper Archives, Glasgow’s Mitch- of mud huts, a Common Hall, a Mosque, and Nicolas Bancel have helped to highlight the ell Library, Dundee’s Central Library, and a kitchen. It was inhabited by approximately significance of human zoos, as racially- and Dundee’s McManus Collections Unit. Visiting one hundred West African ‘natives’, coerced imperially-driven exhibits designed to dis- these archives was a thoroughly enjoyable into leaving their homelands and recruited by seminate hierarchical racial theories to the experience, and helped to develop my histori- Messrs. Erhlich and Singer of London, provid- wider public, and manipulate Western percep- cal research skills. ers and concessionaries for public entertain- tions of not only themselves, but also ‘Others’, ments. For six months, the natives, dressed in a bid to promote Western supremacy and, in their regional garments and surrounded in turn, legitimise imperial expansion. by their national ornaments and artefacts, My dissertation locates the human zoo were instructed to carry out their daily lives, within a strictly Scottish context, and explores perform songs and dances, wrestle, and the implications of these human exhibitions Gemma Wilson exhibit their various arts and crafts to a crowd for Scottish national identity, colonialism, and University of Aberdeen of curious onlookers. For a small fee, visitors attitudes towards ‘exotic’ Others. It begins [email protected] 14 Viewpoint No. 111

Images courtesy of Coreen McGuire.

3 Societies Meeting University of Alberta, 22-25 June 2016

after the appropriate welcome lectures apart from Erika Dyck’s to enjoy, with and acknowledgement to the Lawrence Principe and Aileen Fyfe repre- First Nation peoples who had senting HSS and BSHS respectively. Both of lived on the land before, the the remaining plenaries posed important opening lecture began. Erika methodological questions for historians of sci- Dyck’s paper on government- ence. Lawrence Principe’s paper on the results This July, BSHS members travelled to Edmon- imposed population control in the north of of his own alchemical experimentations ton for the eighth Three Societies Meeting, Canada explored the control of indigenous uncovered a rich seam of historiographical ore joining with colleagues from the Canadian bodies in politically and geographically with regard to how historians of science can Society for the History and Philosophy of Sci- disparate regions. Dyck focused on the effect uncover past scientific practice and knowl- ence, and the History of Science Society (USA). of eugenics based policy in a cultural context edge. Aileen Fyfe’s fascinating longue durée of The city, being the second furthest north that has been little explored, demonstrat- the Publishing the Philosophical Transactions city of over a million people (the furthest ing the difficulty of recovering Inuit women project at St Andrews emphasised that taking north is Saint Petersburg), was fairly remote voices from history. It was a suitably Canadian a similarly longue durée approach to one’s own for virtually every attendee, but we were all beginning to proceedings, but with material research can bring out long term trends and made to feel very welcome throughout the to interest all. conclusions that are often unavailable to nar- conference by Lesley Cormack and her team The next day saw the concurrent sessions rowly focused research. of volunteers. begin. With six sessions running simultane- Aside from the academic, there was plenty Delegates had been gradually trickling in ously there was no shortage of choice, with of socialising. The Art Gallery of Alberta in the days before the conference and several a range of both subject and time periods on proved to be a stunning host for a recep- – including myself – had enjoyed the stun- offer for delegates. Some personal highlights tion from both an architectural and artistic ning scenery of Jasper National Park. Unfor- were: Suman Seth’s paper on naval medicine standpoint. The collection of First Nation art tunately, I did not spot a bear in its natural in the 18th century, Geoff Bil on native plant was one of the conference highlights, though habitat, but on arrival at the opening plenary names and print culture, Noah Moxham on the one-free-drink policy did make me yearn I was treated to the scene of three societies Henry Oldenburg, and Edwin Rose on Hans for the more homespun efforts of most British worth of historians of science in their natural Sloane’s cataloguing. There were also several conferences – with a tiny table of cheap plonk habitat: lecture halled and renewing acquaint- organised panels, with ‘Transitions of Power: unmanned and, most importantly, free. But, ances, making introductions and shuffling cultural biographies of electricity in Russia, of course, things are different over there, and through the pages of the programme. Then, India, and Britain’ (Natalia Nikiforova, Animesh the conference was nevertheless a wonderful Chatterjee, Paul Cole- opportunity to mix with historians that would man) and ‘Editors and be otherwise rarely met in person. Travelling Referees at Learned all that way had certainly been worth it and Society Journals in the the banquet on the final evening topped pro- 20th Century’ (Roberto ceedings off. Though I left the next day several Lalli, Camilla Mork others stayed to spend some time in Jasper Rostvik, Charlotte Bigg, National Park: I believe that Rupert (Cole) saw Michael Barany) being a bear. the best I attended. With three societies Richard Bellis present, there were University of Leeds two more plenary [email protected] Viewpoint No. 111 15

The Viewpoint Interview

Adam Mosley is Associate Professor at the University of Swansea, and has recently completed a Dibner Fellowship at the Huntingdon Library, California.

He is also now the BSHS Conferences Committee Chair.

Who or what first turned you towards the Which historical person would you most like What would you do to strengthen the his- history of science? to meet? tory of science as a discipline?

I was torn between the sciences and the I feel I know a lot about the character of two Actually, I don’t consider history of science a humanities when it came to choosing my of my historical subjects, Brahe and Kepler, discipline at all! For me, it’s a subdiscipline of A-levels, but ended up plumping for the already, so I think I’d like to meet someone who history… I think the language of disciplinar- sciences with some history (AS level) and is a bit more mysterious: Johannes de Sacro- ity has become rather distorted in contem- Latin (GCSE) on the side. I think I would bosco. I could then find out where he was born, porary academic discourse, particularly in have changed degree after my first year of for example, and other things to which we relation to the idea of ‘interdisciplinarity’, science at university - I missed history too don’t know the answer. which though ill-defined is usually pre- much - had it not been possible for me to sented as always and necessarily goo . The study history and philosophy of science in What are your favourite history of science implication seems to be that merely practis- my second year. books? ing (or being trained in) a single discipline is no longer good enough. This is a situation What’s your best dinner-table history of There are lots of authors I admire, but the most that suits funders in a time of budget- science story? useful books in my library, the ones that I return ary discipline, but does not, I think reflect to again and again, are the annotated editions academic realities. As someone who studies It’s a dead heat between Johannes Kepler’s and/or translations of primary sources. disciplines and their evolution over time, I design for a drinks-dispensing planetarium think we shouldn’t lose sight of the virtues and the sad tale of the elk Tycho Brahe How do you see the future shape of the his- and purposes of disciplinary configurations. procured as a gift for a prince, which died en tory of science? And ‘multidisciplinarity’ seems like a more route after it drank too much beer and fell coherent notion and achievable goal to me down some stairs. I think we’re in reasonable shape at the mo- than ‘interdisciplinarity’… ment, but I’d like to see historians of science use What has been your best career moment? our particularly privileged perspective more in If you did not work in the history of science, debates about higher education and academic what other career might you choose? Best is hard to pick… But I’ve just returned development. We’re especially well placed to from a nine-month stint in California as a know when practitioners of the humanities I suspect I would have ended up practising Dibner Fellow at the Huntington Library, and should stand in solidarity with those in the sci- the law if I hadn’t become a historian of sci- that was an all-round great experience. ences, and when differences in funding models, ence. But being an antiquarian book dealer working patterns, and other ways of being and would suit me more. And worst? knowing would be appropriate.

I’ve occasionally struggled to prepare conference papers that I’m happy with, but stood up and opened my mouth regard- less… I try not to do that any more. 16 Viewpoint No. 111

The British Journal for the History of Science Forthcoming papers include:

• Jessica Ratcliff, ‘Travancore’s Magnetic Crusade: Geomagnetism and the Geography of Scientific Production in a Princely State’ • Janis Antonovics and Jacobus Kritzinger, ‘A translation of the Linnaean dissertation, “The Invisible World”’

A special selection in honour of the 25th anniversary of publication of Misia Landau’s Narratives of Human Evolution, edited by Amanda Rees, featuring: • Matthew R. Goodrum, ‘The Beginnings of Human Paleontology: Prehistory, Craniometry, and the “Fos- sil Human Races”’ • Paige Madison, ‘The Most Brutal of Human Skulls: Measuring and Knowing the First Neanderthal’ • Amanda Rees, ‘Stories of Stones and Bones: disciplinarity, narrative and practice in British popular prehistory, 1911-1935’ • Oliver Hochadel, ‘Spain’s Magic Mountain: Narrating Prehistory at Atapuerca’ www.bshs.org.uk/publications/bjhs

Viewpoint: the Magazine of the BSHS Contributions All contributions and correspondence should be sent to the Editor, Alice White, Wellcome Trust, Gibbs Building, 215 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE; [email protected]. Electronic communication is preferred. Viewpoint is issued three times a year – in February, June and October. The next issue will be in February and the deadline for copy is 15th December.

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