Rebekah Higgitt
@rhiggitt.bsky.social
Historian of science; Principal Curator of Science at National Museums Scotland & Hon Fellow, STIS, Uni of Edinburgh. VP British Society for the History of Science #histSTM. Views own.
Formerly known as @beckyfh
https://teleskopos.wordpress.com/profile
Formerly known as @beckyfh
https://teleskopos.wordpress.com/profile
"it too often chooses not to think at all, because it’s easier, and safer- the intellectual crouch position. But that is precisely because it has been so terrified by the criticism it receives" - the criticism from the right, that is.
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:15 PM
"it too often chooses not to think at all, because it’s easier, and safer- the intellectual crouch position. But that is precisely because it has been so terrified by the criticism it receives" - the criticism from the right, that is.
I'm pretty sure that creating a less-than-healthy polity is exactly what some of those attacking the BBC and other parts of civil society want
The BBC simply is not a robust, independent institution.
Those who clap and cheer at these resignations are only having a short-term fillip - for this capitulation indicates a less-than-healthy wider polity.
Those who clap and cheer at these resignations are only having a short-term fillip - for this capitulation indicates a less-than-healthy wider polity.
November 10, 2025 at 9:30 AM
I'm pretty sure that creating a less-than-healthy polity is exactly what some of those attacking the BBC and other parts of civil society want
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
File under "Have you no decency"
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 10, 2025 at 9:03 AM
File under "Have you no decency"
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
This #MapMonday we've #MoreMaps for you to explore. We've just added Survey of India half-inch to the mile maps, published between 1915 and 1948, to our website. These cover most of India and Myanmar in colourful detail. maps.nls.uk/additions/#187 #India #HistoricMaps
November 10, 2025 at 9:01 AM
This #MapMonday we've #MoreMaps for you to explore. We've just added Survey of India half-inch to the mile maps, published between 1915 and 1948, to our website. These cover most of India and Myanmar in colourful detail. maps.nls.uk/additions/#187 #India #HistoricMaps
"let’s find a governance structure for the BBC that equips it to handle complex editorial decisions robustly and expertly. The BBC is in a mess—but not necessarily the mess you think."
Written before the BBC resignations but this by @arusbridger.bsky.social is really worth reading. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
The BBC has bigger impartiality problems than its coverage of Trump
It is the BBC’s entire governance structure–rather than individual stories–that should cause most concern
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:36 AM
"let’s find a governance structure for the BBC that equips it to handle complex editorial decisions robustly and expertly. The BBC is in a mess—but not necessarily the mess you think."
On the materiality of Linnaean fieldwork. Very interesting comment on the apparent absence of telescopes - they cannot have been rare, as there were plenty for maritime and military use. Or were things like telescopes and guns essential expedition kit not worth a mention in this context? #histSTM
NEW ESSAY: The Story No. 8 | Fieldwork – The Linnaean Way | Writing and Drawing during Naturalist Journeys: Part 2. www.ikfoundation.org/itextilis/th...
November 10, 2025 at 8:01 AM
On the materiality of Linnaean fieldwork. Very interesting comment on the apparent absence of telescopes - they cannot have been rare, as there were plenty for maritime and military use. Or were things like telescopes and guns essential expedition kit not worth a mention in this context? #histSTM
The BBC has always been remarkable in reporting on itself, and this contains some remarkable accusations about the BBC Board (with other, 'balancing', viewpoints). I wonder if its journalists will be able to continue to do this king of thing
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Katie Razzall: A seismic moment that shows rift at top of BBC
There may be more to this than meets the eye, says the BBC's culture and media editor.
www.bbc.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:11 AM
The BBC has always been remarkable in reporting on itself, and this contains some remarkable accusations about the BBC Board (with other, 'balancing', viewpoints). I wonder if its journalists will be able to continue to do this king of thing
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
Okay, here are some first reflections on Watson.
Watson's life is a tragedy, really of Shakespearean proportions. He did not, as most bios will tell you, do one great thing when he was young and then collect laurels for it for the next 60 years. His career arc was unlike any in science.
Watson's life is a tragedy, really of Shakespearean proportions. He did not, as most bios will tell you, do one great thing when he was young and then collect laurels for it for the next 60 years. His career arc was unlike any in science.
November 8, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Okay, here are some first reflections on Watson.
Watson's life is a tragedy, really of Shakespearean proportions. He did not, as most bios will tell you, do one great thing when he was young and then collect laurels for it for the next 60 years. His career arc was unlike any in science.
Watson's life is a tragedy, really of Shakespearean proportions. He did not, as most bios will tell you, do one great thing when he was young and then collect laurels for it for the next 60 years. His career arc was unlike any in science.
Last morning in Tallinn, with views over and under the city walls (as I wandered the long corridors of the subterranean bastion, I began to wonder where/when/if I'd come out!).
November 9, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Last morning in Tallinn, with views over and under the city walls (as I wandered the long corridors of the subterranean bastion, I began to wonder where/when/if I'd come out!).
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
National Trust council elections saw a defeat for the Restore Trust campaign.
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
Voting results from the AGM
Read about the National Trust's 2025 Annual General Meeting and the results from the day.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
November 8, 2025 at 11:50 PM
National Trust council elections saw a defeat for the Restore Trust campaign.
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
35k members voted to re-elect a slate of council candidates endorsed by the nominations committee
12k - 13.5k voted for candidates on Restore Trust slate
Non-slate candidated
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
I wanna invite Pope Leo to my Intro to Science and Technology Studies class
November 7, 2025 at 6:04 PM
I wanna invite Pope Leo to my Intro to Science and Technology Studies class
I finally paid a visit to Tartu Old Observatory today, and saw Struve's Fraunhofer telescope (lovingly conserved but Paolo Brenni)
November 8, 2025 at 3:20 PM
I finally paid a visit to Tartu Old Observatory today, and saw Struve's Fraunhofer telescope (lovingly conserved but Paolo Brenni)
Look out for this later #histSTM
(And on Franklin, about whom lots of myths are circulating today, read this: www.nature.com/articles/d41...)
(And on Franklin, about whom lots of myths are circulating today, read this: www.nature.com/articles/d41...)
November 8, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Look out for this later #histSTM
(And on Franklin, about whom lots of myths are circulating today, read this: www.nature.com/articles/d41...)
(And on Franklin, about whom lots of myths are circulating today, read this: www.nature.com/articles/d41...)
This was a fascinating read, and in some ways jarring after having recently read James Robertson's novel Joseph Knight, which also features the Wedderburns (though little more than a mention of Robert)
‘Wedderburn wrote of insurrection as the most efficient path to emancipation.’
Chris Townsend on the Black abolitionist and antislavery campaigner.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Chris Townsend on the Black abolitionist and antislavery campaigner.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Chris Townsend · On Hopkins Street: Radical Robert Wedderburn
For a brief time in the 1810s and 1820s, Robert Wedderburn embodied the possibility of common ground between the two...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 3:20 PM
This was a fascinating read, and in some ways jarring after having recently read James Robertson's novel Joseph Knight, which also features the Wedderburns (though little more than a mention of Robert)
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
Mamdani: "We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him."
November 5, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Mamdani: "We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him."
A bus, a plane, a train, a tram, a ferry and a taxi later, I have made it to Tallinn!
November 4, 2025 at 5:42 PM
A bus, a plane, a train, a tram, a ferry and a taxi later, I have made it to Tallinn!
Less than a year in post, and in the context of strike action
Whoa Rebecca Lawrence has resigned as Chief Executive of @britishlibrary.bsky.social. Sorry that this might mean more turmoil at an institution that is a critical part of UK research infrastructure
www.bl.uk/about/press/...
www.bl.uk/about/press/...
British Library Board statement
The British Library Board has announced that Rebecca Lawrence has stepped down as Chief Executive.
www.bl.uk
November 4, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Less than a year in post, and in the context of strike action
Helsinki! It's been brief...!
November 4, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Helsinki! It's been brief...!
Just passing through Helsinki en route to the ferry to Tallinn (my first time in either Finland or Estonia). Time to have a Runeberg torte, though! Named after the national poet: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runeber...
November 4, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Just passing through Helsinki en route to the ferry to Tallinn (my first time in either Finland or Estonia). Time to have a Runeberg torte, though! Named after the national poet: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runeber...
"a magisterial new biography" - congrats @matthewcobb.bsky.social! #histSTM
Book review 📚 Sex, drugs and the conscious brain: Francis Crick beyond the double helix
go.nature.com/4oJQAra
go.nature.com/4oJQAra
Sex, drugs and the conscious brain: Francis Crick beyond the double helix
A thoroughly researched account of the history and relationships that shaped the scientist who co-discovered the structure of DNA.
go.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:21 AM
"a magisterial new biography" - congrats @matthewcobb.bsky.social! #histSTM
For the #histSTM list
CFP: “Embodied Knowledge Practices in the Early Modern World”
Conference at the University of Amsterdam
Monday, 15 June 2026
How do material conditions shape how & what we know about the natural world?
#earlymodern #C18L
1/6
Conference at the University of Amsterdam
Monday, 15 June 2026
How do material conditions shape how & what we know about the natural world?
#earlymodern #C18L
1/6
November 4, 2025 at 7:11 AM
For the #histSTM list
A story of verdigris in your bonbons, German chemist Frederick Accum at the Royal Institution and an interesting little twist at the end #histSTM
Caution: Poisonous Candy! - A Consultant Chemical Analyst's fight for food safety in Regency London: regency-explorer.net/comfits/
November 4, 2025 at 5:53 AM
A story of verdigris in your bonbons, German chemist Frederick Accum at the Royal Institution and an interesting little twist at the end #histSTM
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
I’m at the British Textile Biennial, with exhibits and events in Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn etc.
Theme this time is invention and innovation, so plenty of #histsci and #histech among the new fibres and Lancashire looms.
Some of the things I’ve seen…
Theme this time is invention and innovation, so plenty of #histsci and #histech among the new fibres and Lancashire looms.
Some of the things I’ve seen…
Stack of Jacquard loom cards, about two meters in length at Queen’s Street Mill, near Burnley
By my calculation about 120kb of data
By my calculation about 120kb of data
November 2, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Feeling very sorry for the 35-year-old man who, presumably, witnessed the knife attack on the train last night and then found himself arrested as a suspect
November 2, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Feeling very sorry for the 35-year-old man who, presumably, witnessed the knife attack on the train last night and then found himself arrested as a suspect
"RIP: Kingdom of Treats 2022 - 2025 [Edinburgh and London branches]. It is survived by millions of pounds in unpaid taxes that may never be recovered."
A mixed bag of news in your inbox!
*Why “admin charge” could replace “service charge” on your London restaurant bill
*The missing link between London snail farms and western government contracts awarded during the Iraq war
*RIP KINGDOM OF TREATS
www.londoncentric.media/p/admin-char...
*Why “admin charge” could replace “service charge” on your London restaurant bill
*The missing link between London snail farms and western government contracts awarded during the Iraq war
*RIP KINGDOM OF TREATS
www.londoncentric.media/p/admin-char...
Goodbye service charge, hello 'admin fee'
Plus: The difficulty of sourcing live snails for a London restaurant and a tribute to one of London's leading American candy shops.
www.londoncentric.media
November 2, 2025 at 11:07 AM
"RIP: Kingdom of Treats 2022 - 2025 [Edinburgh and London branches]. It is survived by millions of pounds in unpaid taxes that may never be recovered."