Reetta Sippola
@reettasippola.bsky.social
Cultural history detective
researching material agency & more-than-human encounters on Captain Cook´s third voyage. Also flirting with environmental history, space, history of science, knowledge making, maps and sea charts. Loves cucumber.
researching material agency & more-than-human encounters on Captain Cook´s third voyage. Also flirting with environmental history, space, history of science, knowledge making, maps and sea charts. Loves cucumber.
Pinned
Reetta Sippola
@reettasippola.bsky.social
· Oct 18
#SaturdayScholar play with #aiimage depicting my #PhD chapter on #animalagency #walrus!
Can you spot the one who is not part of the Royal Navy but appointed to the #Cookvoyage to draw pictures? I love the way AI figured out the meaning of different style hats on the officers of the ship. #chatCPT5
Can you spot the one who is not part of the Royal Navy but appointed to the #Cookvoyage to draw pictures? I love the way AI figured out the meaning of different style hats on the officers of the ship. #chatCPT5
“Oh what a treat of a source detail! I’m revealing it here because it won’t fit into my dissertation. #mondaymotivation
The #explorer Thomas James decided one November morning in 1633 to cut his hair and #beard short, because it was rather annoying that his face was constantly full of #icicles:
The #explorer Thomas James decided one November morning in 1633 to cut his hair and #beard short, because it was rather annoying that his face was constantly full of #icicles:
November 24, 2025 at 5:24 PM
“Oh what a treat of a source detail! I’m revealing it here because it won’t fit into my dissertation. #mondaymotivation
The #explorer Thomas James decided one November morning in 1633 to cut his hair and #beard short, because it was rather annoying that his face was constantly full of #icicles:
The #explorer Thomas James decided one November morning in 1633 to cut his hair and #beard short, because it was rather annoying that his face was constantly full of #icicles:
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
I want to go!
2026 Canadian History & Environment Summer School is going to Prince Edward Island!!
The theme of CHESS 2026 is Climate & History. Keynotes by @dagomardegroot.bsky.social & Liza Piper.
Apply to attend the PREMIER Canadian #EnvHist Event by 30 November 2025.
niche-canada.org/2025/10/20/c...
The theme of CHESS 2026 is Climate & History. Keynotes by @dagomardegroot.bsky.social & Liza Piper.
Apply to attend the PREMIER Canadian #EnvHist Event by 30 November 2025.
niche-canada.org/2025/10/20/c...
CHESS 2026: Climate & History - Call for Participants
We are pleased to invite applications to attend the 2026 Canadian History & Environment Summer School.
niche-canada.org
October 21, 2025 at 9:54 PM
I want to go!
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
Bold Against Blue. #lighthouse #seascape #coast #maritime #nautical #navigation #coastalview #oceanlife #oceanlove #seaside #summerdays #exploreireland #smartphonephotography #photography
September 19, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
HMS King George V on arctic duty in WW2. Churchill called the convoy route to Murmansk in the Soviet arctic the “worst journey on earth,” with good reason. U-boats, air attack, surface raiders and of course the cold.
My novel 'The Wolves in Winter' is set here.
#Arctic #WW2 #RoyalNavy
My novel 'The Wolves in Winter' is set here.
#Arctic #WW2 #RoyalNavy
October 8, 2025 at 8:13 AM
HMS King George V on arctic duty in WW2. Churchill called the convoy route to Murmansk in the Soviet arctic the “worst journey on earth,” with good reason. U-boats, air attack, surface raiders and of course the cold.
My novel 'The Wolves in Winter' is set here.
#Arctic #WW2 #RoyalNavy
My novel 'The Wolves in Winter' is set here.
#Arctic #WW2 #RoyalNavy
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
Corner of a hand-stitched sail from the 1800s. Every warship had a sailmaker who played a vital role in making and maintaining the huge number of sails required to power the ship in all weathers.
#Ageofsail #RoyalNavy #Tallships
#Ageofsail #RoyalNavy #Tallships
July 15, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Corner of a hand-stitched sail from the 1800s. Every warship had a sailmaker who played a vital role in making and maintaining the huge number of sails required to power the ship in all weathers.
#Ageofsail #RoyalNavy #Tallships
#Ageofsail #RoyalNavy #Tallships
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
Also known as a back quadrant or Davis staff, the backstaff was used for measuring the altitude of the sun. It had a significant advantage over the earlier cross-staff: it allowed the user to measure the altitude of the sun without looking directly at it.
#maritimehistory #AgeOfSail #history
#maritimehistory #AgeOfSail #history
October 17, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Also known as a back quadrant or Davis staff, the backstaff was used for measuring the altitude of the sun. It had a significant advantage over the earlier cross-staff: it allowed the user to measure the altitude of the sun without looking directly at it.
#maritimehistory #AgeOfSail #history
#maritimehistory #AgeOfSail #history
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
Perustimme blogin, jossa julkaisemme 800 tarinaa Turun historiasta vuoteen 2029 mennessä. Tervetuloa seuraamaan! #turku800
blogit.utu.fi/turku800/
blogit.utu.fi/turku800/
800 tarinaa Turun historiasta | Ihmisiä, hetkiä, tarinoita
blogit.utu.fi
October 17, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Perustimme blogin, jossa julkaisemme 800 tarinaa Turun historiasta vuoteen 2029 mennessä. Tervetuloa seuraamaan! #turku800
blogit.utu.fi/turku800/
blogit.utu.fi/turku800/
#SaturdayScholar play with #aiimage depicting my #PhD chapter on #animalagency #walrus!
Can you spot the one who is not part of the Royal Navy but appointed to the #Cookvoyage to draw pictures? I love the way AI figured out the meaning of different style hats on the officers of the ship. #chatCPT5
Can you spot the one who is not part of the Royal Navy but appointed to the #Cookvoyage to draw pictures? I love the way AI figured out the meaning of different style hats on the officers of the ship. #chatCPT5
October 18, 2025 at 11:46 AM
#SaturdayScholar play with #aiimage depicting my #PhD chapter on #animalagency #walrus!
Can you spot the one who is not part of the Royal Navy but appointed to the #Cookvoyage to draw pictures? I love the way AI figured out the meaning of different style hats on the officers of the ship. #chatCPT5
Can you spot the one who is not part of the Royal Navy but appointed to the #Cookvoyage to draw pictures? I love the way AI figured out the meaning of different style hats on the officers of the ship. #chatCPT5
Fascinating work of Dr. Sara Caputo will be discussed online next Weds evening (6:30pm London time)! My #posthumanistic research has been quite inspired by her views on the #tracks on the water and on #seacharts. www.rgs.org/events/upcom...
#HakluytSociety #maritimehistory
#HakluytSociety #maritimehistory
Lightning at sea in the 18th and 19th centuries
Dr Sara Caputo's EGR Taylor lecture 2025 will discuss how lightning shaped the maritime world drawing on sources from Britain and western Europe.
www.rgs.org
October 3, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Fascinating work of Dr. Sara Caputo will be discussed online next Weds evening (6:30pm London time)! My #posthumanistic research has been quite inspired by her views on the #tracks on the water and on #seacharts. www.rgs.org/events/upcom...
#HakluytSociety #maritimehistory
#HakluytSociety #maritimehistory
This rearly seen draft image of the #walrushunt scene by #JohnWebber (1778) received delightful discussion in #maritimebritain conference last week.
🦄 'Sea horse' was widely used to mean 'walrus' in the 17th and 18th C English; compare with Norwegian and Icelandic words like morse and rosmarus
🦄 'Sea horse' was widely used to mean 'walrus' in the 17th and 18th C English; compare with Norwegian and Icelandic words like morse and rosmarus
September 28, 2025 at 1:36 PM
This rearly seen draft image of the #walrushunt scene by #JohnWebber (1778) received delightful discussion in #maritimebritain conference last week.
🦄 'Sea horse' was widely used to mean 'walrus' in the 17th and 18th C English; compare with Norwegian and Icelandic words like morse and rosmarus
🦄 'Sea horse' was widely used to mean 'walrus' in the 17th and 18th C English; compare with Norwegian and Icelandic words like morse and rosmarus
I was trialing my #PhD arguments last week in the
@MaritimeBritain project´s conference in #Southampton. Thanks all delegates for allowing me to pick your brains about #counternarrative to #heroism using #animalhistory #captaincook
#incookcompany #maritimehistory #18thC
@MaritimeBritain project´s conference in #Southampton. Thanks all delegates for allowing me to pick your brains about #counternarrative to #heroism using #animalhistory #captaincook
#incookcompany #maritimehistory #18thC
September 28, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I was trialing my #PhD arguments last week in the
@MaritimeBritain project´s conference in #Southampton. Thanks all delegates for allowing me to pick your brains about #counternarrative to #heroism using #animalhistory #captaincook
#incookcompany #maritimehistory #18thC
@MaritimeBritain project´s conference in #Southampton. Thanks all delegates for allowing me to pick your brains about #counternarrative to #heroism using #animalhistory #captaincook
#incookcompany #maritimehistory #18thC
#faffe Kiinnostava tutkimus Suomessa parin vuosisadan aikana bongatuista lajeista tänään ulkona! Julkaisun yhteydessä luennoitiin digitutkimuksen teosta ja tulosten merkityksestä samalla teosta slaideilla selaillen - onpa kaunis kirja! Onnea!! @utu.fi #kulttuurihistoria #sanomalehtiarkisto
March 28, 2025 at 10:47 AM
#faffe Kiinnostava tutkimus Suomessa parin vuosisadan aikana bongatuista lajeista tänään ulkona! Julkaisun yhteydessä luennoitiin digitutkimuksen teosta ja tulosten merkityksestä samalla teosta slaideilla selaillen - onpa kaunis kirja! Onnea!! @utu.fi #kulttuurihistoria #sanomalehtiarkisto
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
📢NEW MANY-HEADED MONSTER SERIES📢
Today I introduce 'Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England', a series that celebrates the relaunch of the brilliant 'British Printed Images to 1700' database and showcases historians' use of printed images.
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...
Today I introduce 'Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England', a series that celebrates the relaunch of the brilliant 'British Printed Images to 1700' database and showcases historians' use of printed images.
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...
February 24, 2025 at 7:56 AM
📢NEW MANY-HEADED MONSTER SERIES📢
Today I introduce 'Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England', a series that celebrates the relaunch of the brilliant 'British Printed Images to 1700' database and showcases historians' use of printed images.
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...
Today I introduce 'Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England', a series that celebrates the relaunch of the brilliant 'British Printed Images to 1700' database and showcases historians' use of printed images.
🗃️ #Skystorians
manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
Finished a draft chapter today for my little book Listening to #EarlyModern Travel writing. The chapter is 'Earwitnessing and the authentication of experience' and it argues that travel writing was not just an eyewitness genre; that 'seeing' was a multisensory experience... (1/2)
March 11, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Finished a draft chapter today for my little book Listening to #EarlyModern Travel writing. The chapter is 'Earwitnessing and the authentication of experience' and it argues that travel writing was not just an eyewitness genre; that 'seeing' was a multisensory experience... (1/2)
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
Another fascinating #EarlyModern #Bookhistory conference to apply for, this time held at the National Library of Lithuania. Deadline: 30th of April!
💙📚📜 #rarebooks
#printhistory
💙📚📜 #rarebooks
#printhistory
📢 Call for Papers! Join us at Acutus et Argutus: Early Modern Print Culture in Motion 📚✨ Dive into the dynamic world of book history and print culture. Submit your proposals by 30 April 2025. More info: konferencijos.lnb.lt/acutus-et-ar...
#CFP #AcademicConference #EarlyModernStudies
#CFP #AcademicConference #EarlyModernStudies
March 18, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Another fascinating #EarlyModern #Bookhistory conference to apply for, this time held at the National Library of Lithuania. Deadline: 30th of April!
💙📚📜 #rarebooks
#printhistory
💙📚📜 #rarebooks
#printhistory
Asian kulkua kun jatkuvasti pohditaan: tässä eräs tiiviisti esitetty kommentti pituuspiirin mittaamisesta 1700-luvulla #longitude #earlymodern #seacharts journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/chro...
Chronometers, charts, charisma: on histories of longitude - Science Museum Group Journal
journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk
March 17, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Asian kulkua kun jatkuvasti pohditaan: tässä eräs tiiviisti esitetty kommentti pituuspiirin mittaamisesta 1700-luvulla #longitude #earlymodern #seacharts journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/chro...
Kun eurooppalaiset aina nimesi ‘uusia’ paikkoja kaveriensa tai tapahtumien mukaan, niin arvaa missä Cook sai reissun parhaan dinnerin? #inCookCompany #maphistory
March 9, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Kun eurooppalaiset aina nimesi ‘uusia’ paikkoja kaveriensa tai tapahtumien mukaan, niin arvaa missä Cook sai reissun parhaan dinnerin? #inCookCompany #maphistory
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
This is such a good thread, and meshes with the reasons I don't use GenAI tools to even brainstorm, much less write first drafts of anything. Why would I want to steer my thinking away from my own unique ideas and toward some probabilistic algorithm trained on who knows what parts of the internet?
January 27, 2025 at 7:14 PM
This is such a good thread, and meshes with the reasons I don't use GenAI tools to even brainstorm, much less write first drafts of anything. Why would I want to steer my thinking away from my own unique ideas and toward some probabilistic algorithm trained on who knows what parts of the internet?
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
Come and hear all about “Food history as history of knowledge: preservation technologies in the #EarlyModern #LowCountries” from the fab @mariekehendriksen.bsky.social
Friday 31 January, 17:30 (UK time), @ihr.bsky.social or on zoom. All welcome! www.history.ac.uk/events/food-...
Friday 31 January, 17:30 (UK time), @ihr.bsky.social or on zoom. All welcome! www.history.ac.uk/events/food-...
January 24, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Come and hear all about “Food history as history of knowledge: preservation technologies in the #EarlyModern #LowCountries” from the fab @mariekehendriksen.bsky.social
Friday 31 January, 17:30 (UK time), @ihr.bsky.social or on zoom. All welcome! www.history.ac.uk/events/food-...
Friday 31 January, 17:30 (UK time), @ihr.bsky.social or on zoom. All welcome! www.history.ac.uk/events/food-...
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
Note that what is being tested here is not even what most academic historians would recognize as worth asking, but just basic ‘facts’ (compiled by a research team then cross compared to genAI multiple choice responses). It can’t pass school rote learning, it sure AF can’t do independent research 🗃️
“I thought the AI chatbots would do a lot better,” said del Rio-Chanona, corresponding author of the study and assistant professor at UCL. “History is often viewed as facts, but sometimes interpretation is necessary to make sense of it.”
Where does one even start....🗃️
www.earth.com/news/ai-stru...
Where does one even start....🗃️
www.earth.com/news/ai-stru...
AI struggles to understand human history and fails miserably when tested
The study, which is the first of its kind, evaluates the historical knowledge of leading AI models such as ChatGPT-4, Llama, and Gemini.
www.earth.com
January 24, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Note that what is being tested here is not even what most academic historians would recognize as worth asking, but just basic ‘facts’ (compiled by a research team then cross compared to genAI multiple choice responses). It can’t pass school rote learning, it sure AF can’t do independent research 🗃️
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
Paint me
Like one of your French girls
Like one of your French girls
January 23, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Paint me
Like one of your French girls
Like one of your French girls
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
And for the history nerds, I wrote about the idea of agency in environmental history, in a retrospective of Walter Johnson’s stunner On Agency
academic.oup.com/jsh/article-...
academic.oup.com/jsh/article-...
On the Agency of Environmental History
Abstract. Twenty years ago, Walter Johnson warned historians not to rely on a concept that let both user and audience alike feel better without doing bette
academic.oup.com
December 27, 2024 at 5:58 PM
And for the history nerds, I wrote about the idea of agency in environmental history, in a retrospective of Walter Johnson’s stunner On Agency
academic.oup.com/jsh/article-...
academic.oup.com/jsh/article-...
Reposted by Reetta Sippola
Monday! Book presentation of our new textbook Environmental History. Online and free, welcome #envhist @eseh.bsky.social
Join us on Monday for the @eseh.bsky.social environmental history today seminar! #envhist
January 22, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Monday! Book presentation of our new textbook Environmental History. Online and free, welcome #envhist @eseh.bsky.social
I study #human-walrus encounters as a part of my doctoral research, thus all the #walrus things in my feed. #animalhistory #animalagency
January 24, 2025 at 12:42 AM
I study #human-walrus encounters as a part of my doctoral research, thus all the #walrus things in my feed. #animalhistory #animalagency