Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
historian of modern science and technology
Philosophy
28%
Physics
19%
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· 12h
Ecologies of Resilience: The Many Colonizations of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), c. 1200–present
Abstract. The history of Rapa Nui has often been told as a cautionary tale meant to reflect on the destructive tendencies of our own civilization, but it l
doi.org
Today at @stsucl.bsky.social #histsci Reading Group we discussed @guanoguy.bsky.social et al ‘Ecologies of Resistance: the Many Colonizations of Rapa Nui’, AHR, 2024, doi.org/10.1093/ahr/... & @farsouthhistory.bsky.social ‘Shaky Claims’, Isis, 2024, doi.org/10.1086/733152 (ht Jordan Goodman)
Here I am.
In the small open cluster of Critical Data and Technology Studies Bluesky users
The galaxies of Political Science and Canadian Progressive Media loom in the night sky
Further away are Italian Progressives and Plant Science galaxies
On the Western edge of the Bluesky universe
In the small open cluster of Critical Data and Technology Studies Bluesky users
The galaxies of Political Science and Canadian Progressive Media loom in the night sky
Further away are Italian Progressives and Plant Science galaxies
On the Western edge of the Bluesky universe
Two early ones for #wildflowerhour: Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) and Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa). Both looking a bit soggy. Hackney Marshes
Today at @stsucl.bsky.social History of Science Reading Group we discussed Moira Donovan’s 'How AI is helping historians better understand our past' MIT @technologyreview.com (2023), and the AHA @historians.org Guiding Principles for AI in History Education
(ht for suggestions: Norberto Serpente)
(ht for suggestions: Norberto Serpente)
Reposted by Jon Agar, Michael H. Whitworth
Sad news in the UK #histSTM community - my former University of Kent colleague and admired historian of 19thC energy physics and steam ocean navigation, Crosbie Smith, died at the weekend following a short illness. We owe him a great deal.
www.kent.ac.uk/history/peop...
www.kent.ac.uk/history/peop...
What is Science and Technology Studies?
YouTube video by UCL Science and Technology Studies
www.youtube.com
A neat short video that introduces our Science and Technology Studies degree programmes at @stsucl.bsky.social
Please share if you like what we do! #histsci #philsci #sts
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYYE...
Please share if you like what we do! #histsci #philsci #sts
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYYE...
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· 10d
London’s first battery-powered rechargeable train arriving on its first day. Greenford station
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· 12d
Tracing change in the public perception of plants: insights from archives and social media in China
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
by Xu et al.
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
by Xu et al.
The decline of Chinese bryophilia
Reposted by Jon Agar
Tracing change in the public perception of plants: insights from archives and social media in China
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
by Xu et al.
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
by Xu et al.
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· 14d
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
Today at @stsucl.bsky.social History of Science Reading Group we discussed Samantha Muka, 'From Silent Partner to Permanent Institution: the New York Aquarium as an Invisible Scientific Institution, 1902–1967', Isis (2025) (ht Janet Browne & Jordan Goodman)
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· 16d
Perhaps the least thrilling RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch I’ve done
But thanks to the woodpigeon, for turning up
But thanks to the woodpigeon, for turning up
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· 16d
At the Hawaiian exhibition at the British Museum. Feeding my Hawaiian bird obsession
Here’s an ‘o’o drawn by John Webber on Cook’s 3rd voyage 1770s
Here’s an ‘o’o drawn by John Webber on Cook’s 3rd voyage 1770s
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· 18d
Any good suggestions for STS lit/resources for thinking about “tech bros” and what they want?
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· 21d
Under Vernacular Bushels: Language as Science Policy in the Reorganisation of Nordic Scientific Publication, 1960–1980 | Contemporary European History | Cambridge Core
Under Vernacular Bushels: Language as Science Policy in the Reorganisation of Nordic Scientific Publication, 1960–1980 - Volume 35
doi.org
Today @stsucl.bsky.social History of Science Reading Group we discussed Jenny Beckman's, 'Under vernacular bushels: language as science policy in the reorganisation of Nordic scientific publication, 1960–1980', @conteurohistory.bsky.social doi.org/10.1017/S096.... (Suggested by Emmeline Ledgerwood)
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· 28d
Just wasted half an hour in Google streetview trying to find transistor-shaped street sculptures outside the site of the original Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory at 391 San Antonio Road. They’ve vanished
Got lost. Now stuck in car park. It’s hot and sunny
Anyone know what happened to them?
Got lost. Now stuck in car park. It’s hot and sunny
Anyone know what happened to them?
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· Jan 9
It’s the best view of the best mountain from the best train in the world
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· Jan 8
The winner of the vote among new National Archives files released in Nov-Dec 2026 was this one: COAL 30/568: British Coal Art and Artefacts 1986-1995
This one is interesting!
Buckle up for coal mining, an unexpected Indiana Jones reference, and a big METAPHOR for privatisation
1/n
This one is interesting!
Buckle up for coal mining, an unexpected Indiana Jones reference, and a big METAPHOR for privatisation
1/n
The surprising story of the contents of the winning file (no. 2, on how valuable was British Coal’s art collection) is told by me here: bsky.app/profile/jona...
Reposted by Jon Agar
Lang Rabbie
@langrabbie.bsky.social
· Jan 8
Stand - Collections Online | Museum Wales
Stand or plinth for the Mitchell-Hedges silver trophy (the vase presented by the county of Denbigh t...
museum.wales
The plinth with the list of winning first aid teams is also in their collection but apparently not on display. museum.wales/collections/...
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· Jan 8
But, hang on, what’s this!
Here is the Mitchell-Hedges Trophy in the Amgueddfa Cymru/Museum Wales collection!
Saved! (But did they have to pay?)
museum.wales/collections/...
Here is the Mitchell-Hedges Trophy in the Amgueddfa Cymru/Museum Wales collection!
Saved! (But did they have to pay?)
museum.wales/collections/...
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· Jan 8
The file ends with the Coal Board Corporation about to sell off the (mining family) silver
🏴☹️
🏴☹️
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· Jan 8
The National Museums and Galleries of Wales (which does not have that money to hand) make a counteroffer
It’s a “highly significant heritage object, of great importance to the history of Wales, and subsequently to the coal industry during the period of nationalisation”
Perhaps for free as a gift?
It’s a “highly significant heritage object, of great importance to the history of Wales, and subsequently to the coal industry during the period of nationalisation”
Perhaps for free as a gift?
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· Jan 8
The Coal Board Corporation offer it to the National Museums and Galleries of Wales
But, wringing their hands, they say they have “a statutory duty to dispose of assets on the best possible terms”
It’s pure silver. It’s worth £250,000
(This selling of silver is the METAPHOR for privatisation)
But, wringing their hands, they say they have “a statutory duty to dispose of assets on the best possible terms”
It’s pure silver. It’s worth £250,000
(This selling of silver is the METAPHOR for privatisation)
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· Jan 8
But what about the Mitchell-Hedges silver trophy for coal mine first aid?
In 1994, Mitchell-Hedges’ daughter (not the skull one, surely) is inquiring about it…
Whitehall, bless them, says ”it is essential that we do the proper thing and do not allow the trophy to become ‘lost’ on privatisation”
In 1994, Mitchell-Hedges’ daughter (not the skull one, surely) is inquiring about it…
Whitehall, bless them, says ”it is essential that we do the proper thing and do not allow the trophy to become ‘lost’ on privatisation”
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· Jan 8
He is perhaps most well-known for the “Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull”, that he claims his adopted daughter found in (what is now now) Belize in 1924
(he almost certainly purchased it from a dealer in the 1940s. It was almost certainly recently made)
This is the unexpected Indiana Jones reference
(he almost certainly purchased it from a dealer in the 1940s. It was almost certainly recently made)
This is the unexpected Indiana Jones reference
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· Jan 8
Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges was an “adventurer”, a traveler and teller of tall tales. At one stage he is captured by Pancho Villa in Mexico. He has a radio show.
Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
· Jan 8
It had been presented by Mr Mitchell-Hedges to his friend, coal chairman Lord Hyndley in the 1940s
It was awarded for a while to the miners who mined the most coal, as a kind of spur to productivity
Then it became a yearly prize in a First Aid competition, which continued right up to 1990s
It was awarded for a while to the miners who mined the most coal, as a kind of spur to productivity
Then it became a yearly prize in a First Aid competition, which continued right up to 1990s