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
Looks like the Lanark Museum was looking into how this might be removed and restored back in 2016. I suspect the costs were too high for them to attempt www.facebook.com/share/17qbER... See down the thread for more details of the history #histSTM 📜
A splendid cold walk to Fiddlers Gill to see the fab but rusting Victorian #Braidwood Telescope! Once part of the now long-gone Lanark Observatory, its optics are safe at the Lanark Museum. Sadly I see no hope in restoring this beauty tho, that's been long-abandoned in this field ☹️ #histsci 🔭🏴
January 4, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Looks like the Lanark Museum was looking into how this might be removed and restored back in 2016. I suspect the costs were too high for them to attempt www.facebook.com/share/17qbER... See down the thread for more details of the history #histSTM 📜
Hastily draped curtains, cheap gold-sprayed wedding venue chairs and social media feed on the big screen. classy
Several of the photos have Twitter up on a screen in the background but I can’t make out what search term appears
January 3, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Hastily draped curtains, cheap gold-sprayed wedding venue chairs and social media feed on the big screen. classy
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
My favorite fact about the year's 1st meteor shower is that it is named after an obsolete constellation!
Quadrans Muralis (the wall-mounted quadrant) was proposed by Jérôme Lalande in 1795 and was well-established when the #Quadrantids received their name in the late 1830s.
#histSTM #astronomy 🗃️🔭
Quadrans Muralis (the wall-mounted quadrant) was proposed by Jérôme Lalande in 1795 and was well-established when the #Quadrantids received their name in the late 1830s.
#histSTM #astronomy 🗃️🔭
January 3, 2026 at 6:58 PM
My favorite fact about the year's 1st meteor shower is that it is named after an obsolete constellation!
Quadrans Muralis (the wall-mounted quadrant) was proposed by Jérôme Lalande in 1795 and was well-established when the #Quadrantids received their name in the late 1830s.
#histSTM #astronomy 🗃️🔭
Quadrans Muralis (the wall-mounted quadrant) was proposed by Jérôme Lalande in 1795 and was well-established when the #Quadrantids received their name in the late 1830s.
#histSTM #astronomy 🗃️🔭
Never has the casual use of "literally" been more apposite
Trump tells Fox News he watched the overnight capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife "literally like I was watching a television show".
"If you would've seen the speed, the violence, it was an amazing thing," Trump says.
"If you would've seen the speed, the violence, it was an amazing thing," Trump says.
January 3, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Never has the casual use of "literally" been more apposite
A farewell to St Abbs (yesterday, about 3:45 pm)
January 3, 2026 at 10:46 AM
A farewell to St Abbs (yesterday, about 3:45 pm)
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
Sometime in the mid-1780s, Robert Barker was out for a walk on Calton Hill when he had an idea to record the cityscape - the entire 360 degree view from one spot.
On Capital Collections you can see the resulting wonderful panoramic view and see how Edinburgh looked 200 years ago!
zurl.co/OulZl
On Capital Collections you can see the resulting wonderful panoramic view and see how Edinburgh looked 200 years ago!
zurl.co/OulZl
January 3, 2026 at 10:36 AM
Sometime in the mid-1780s, Robert Barker was out for a walk on Calton Hill when he had an idea to record the cityscape - the entire 360 degree view from one spot.
On Capital Collections you can see the resulting wonderful panoramic view and see how Edinburgh looked 200 years ago!
zurl.co/OulZl
On Capital Collections you can see the resulting wonderful panoramic view and see how Edinburgh looked 200 years ago!
zurl.co/OulZl
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
Good Morning and welcome to another episode of regime change by the USA. The US seems to be militarily trying to get rid of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro right now. There are reports of US ground forces in action. However, watch the Cubans too. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
The US Is Attempting Regime Change In Venezuela
Watch Cuba
open.substack.com
January 3, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Good Morning and welcome to another episode of regime change by the USA. The US seems to be militarily trying to get rid of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro right now. There are reports of US ground forces in action. However, watch the Cubans too. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
Exciting skies tonight (view from the Creel Path, St Abbs)
January 1, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Exciting skies tonight (view from the Creel Path, St Abbs)
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
Earlier in the year, we worked with the Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh who told the story of Edinburgh as a City of Industry, focused on the Incorporated Trades, an organisation which was established in the 1500s and still continues today.
Find out more on Our Town Stories -
zurl.co/YXnaV
Find out more on Our Town Stories -
zurl.co/YXnaV
December 30, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Earlier in the year, we worked with the Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh who told the story of Edinburgh as a City of Industry, focused on the Incorporated Trades, an organisation which was established in the 1500s and still continues today.
Find out more on Our Town Stories -
zurl.co/YXnaV
Find out more on Our Town Stories -
zurl.co/YXnaV
I've downloaded this for some trepidatious new year listening
Its hard to talk sense about progress - with many others I had a go .... @kingschostm.bsky.social @kingshistory.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - What Happened to Progress?, Forward Thinking
From technology to the climate to the global order, has human progress gone into reverse?
www.bbc.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I've downloaded this for some trepidatious new year listening
Yesterday's Part 1 on Newton portraits is here: thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/12/25/c... Tomorrow is Kepler! #histSTM
December 26, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Yesterday's Part 1 on Newton portraits is here: thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/12/25/c... Tomorrow is Kepler! #histSTM
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
Do you enjoy my periodic rantings on Isaac Newton's alchemical citations? If so, take a look at my shiny new article on our improved #TEI encoding system of Newton's citations & what we can learn from some preliminary analyses of the data!
#BookHistory #histsci (tldr in 🧵)
doi.org/10.14434/tc....
#BookHistory #histsci (tldr in 🧵)
doi.org/10.14434/tc....
A Bibliographical Framework for Citation Analysis of Isaac Newton’s Alchemical Manuscripts: Alexandra E. Wingate
| Textual Cultures
doi.org
December 22, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Do you enjoy my periodic rantings on Isaac Newton's alchemical citations? If so, take a look at my shiny new article on our improved #TEI encoding system of Newton's citations & what we can learn from some preliminary analyses of the data!
#BookHistory #histsci (tldr in 🧵)
doi.org/10.14434/tc....
#BookHistory #histsci (tldr in 🧵)
doi.org/10.14434/tc....
Music, materials, weather and climate - a great story about a set of organ record books from the 1960s to now. Are there older ones? When did recording temperature and humidity become a common part of the tuner's practice? www.theguardian.com/environment/... #histSTM #envhist
Organ-tuning books in English churches provide notes on a warming climate
Researchers have realised the records are a ‘goldmine’ to study changes in environmental conditions
www.theguardian.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Music, materials, weather and climate - a great story about a set of organ record books from the 1960s to now. Are there older ones? When did recording temperature and humidity become a common part of the tuner's practice? www.theguardian.com/environment/... #histSTM #envhist
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
It will surprise nobody that the cataloguing system that is slopwashing like this turns out to be Primo.
(If you're not sure what system your university library uses: have you ever searched for a book and been offered three pages of links to reviews instead? That was Primo too.)
(If you're not sure what system your university library uses: have you ever searched for a book and been offered three pages of links to reviews instead? That was Primo too.)
When viewing the fake article in Google scholar on my university network, there is a link to access the article via my uni's library. That link sends me to a library page that makes fake article appear real... Turns out library page is made programmatically from info on Google scholar 🤦
December 21, 2025 at 8:31 AM
It will surprise nobody that the cataloguing system that is slopwashing like this turns out to be Primo.
(If you're not sure what system your university library uses: have you ever searched for a book and been offered three pages of links to reviews instead? That was Primo too.)
(If you're not sure what system your university library uses: have you ever searched for a book and been offered three pages of links to reviews instead? That was Primo too.)
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
THREAD.
My parents' cat Bridget vanished. As the weeks dragged on they became ever more worried, so to distract himself my dad began to paint Bridget's adventures, imagining her travelling through time and popping up at some of art & music's most important moments.
I've collected his work here...
My parents' cat Bridget vanished. As the weeks dragged on they became ever more worried, so to distract himself my dad began to paint Bridget's adventures, imagining her travelling through time and popping up at some of art & music's most important moments.
I've collected his work here...
December 20, 2025 at 9:21 AM
THREAD.
My parents' cat Bridget vanished. As the weeks dragged on they became ever more worried, so to distract himself my dad began to paint Bridget's adventures, imagining her travelling through time and popping up at some of art & music's most important moments.
I've collected his work here...
My parents' cat Bridget vanished. As the weeks dragged on they became ever more worried, so to distract himself my dad began to paint Bridget's adventures, imagining her travelling through time and popping up at some of art & music's most important moments.
I've collected his work here...
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
This report in Nature on the costs of competing for & administering scientific grants is shocking: "In other words, European taxpayers will have spent more on the funding process than on the funding itself, and the scientific ecosystem has been drained." www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪
Point of no returns: researchers are crossing a threshold in the fight for funding
With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.
www.nature.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:46 PM
This report in Nature on the costs of competing for & administering scientific grants is shocking: "In other words, European taxpayers will have spent more on the funding process than on the funding itself, and the scientific ecosystem has been drained." www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪
Come for the spoon-fed cat, stay for the film history that puts Birth of a Nation in its place
When they claim "first closeup" I presume they mean "edited closeup" because many of the first films were just closeups and nothing else.
But edited closeups were pioneered and popularized in 1900 by George Albert Smith to capture two important things: his cats and his wife's legs.
But edited closeups were pioneered and popularized in 1900 by George Albert Smith to capture two important things: his cats and his wife's legs.
December 19, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Come for the spoon-fed cat, stay for the film history that puts Birth of a Nation in its place
I am on leave! Met the last deadline of the year. Ignoring the deadlines piled up for January. The #histSTM toys advent calendar continues until 24 Dec: www.instagram.com/p/DScYD2WjJW...
Rebekah Higgitt on Instagram: "Day 19 in the @nationalmuseumsscotland Science & Technology #toys #adventcalendar
This toy set - Optic Vision - was made by FIM Optics in the German Democratic Republi...
4 likes, 0 comments - rebekahhiggitt on December 19, 2025: "Day 19 in the @nationalmuseumsscotland Science & Technology #toys #adventcalendar
This toy set - Optic Vision - was made by FIM Optics in ...
www.instagram.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:36 PM
I am on leave! Met the last deadline of the year. Ignoring the deadlines piled up for January. The #histSTM toys advent calendar continues until 24 Dec: www.instagram.com/p/DScYD2WjJW...
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
Special issue (OA) of British Art Studies on James VI & I, including a multi-authored section on the Ramsay-Kerr watch @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social main--britishartstudies-29.netlify.app/issues/29/
(see also www.nms.ac.uk/discover-cat...)
(see also www.nms.ac.uk/discover-cat...)
A watch for King James VI and I's favourite | National Museums Scotland
In around 1615, James VI and I presented his favourite courtier, Robert Kerr, Earl of Somerset, with an elaborate pendant watch. Within a year, Kerr had sp
www.nms.ac.uk
December 18, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Special issue (OA) of British Art Studies on James VI & I, including a multi-authored section on the Ramsay-Kerr watch @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social main--britishartstudies-29.netlify.app/issues/29/
(see also www.nms.ac.uk/discover-cat...)
(see also www.nms.ac.uk/discover-cat...)
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
The most complete skeleton of a woolly mammoth unearthed in Michigan is to be found in the Museum of Natural History, Andrews University. The museum's located in Price Hall, named for young-Earth creationist George McCready Price (who's discussed at length in my book doncha know) #FossilFriday
December 19, 2025 at 8:07 AM
The most complete skeleton of a woolly mammoth unearthed in Michigan is to be found in the Museum of Natural History, Andrews University. The museum's located in Price Hall, named for young-Earth creationist George McCready Price (who's discussed at length in my book doncha know) #FossilFriday
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
Are you a professor planning to incorporate THE INTERMEDIARIES (medical #history, Weimar, #Jewish history, #transgender history, #LGBTQ fighting Nazis) into your course? I have pdf to share, additional teaching materials, images, and resources for use. Please ping me.
wwnorton.com/books/978132...
wwnorton.com/books/978132...
December 18, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Are you a professor planning to incorporate THE INTERMEDIARIES (medical #history, Weimar, #Jewish history, #transgender history, #LGBTQ fighting Nazis) into your course? I have pdf to share, additional teaching materials, images, and resources for use. Please ping me.
wwnorton.com/books/978132...
wwnorton.com/books/978132...
Amazing use of drones to collect whales' blow to test for pathogens. Very sad to see what they're finding
December 19, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Amazing use of drones to collect whales' blow to test for pathogens. Very sad to see what they're finding
Special issue (OA) of British Art Studies on James VI & I, including a multi-authored section on the Ramsay-Kerr watch @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social main--britishartstudies-29.netlify.app/issues/29/
(see also www.nms.ac.uk/discover-cat...)
(see also www.nms.ac.uk/discover-cat...)
A watch for King James VI and I's favourite | National Museums Scotland
In around 1615, James VI and I presented his favourite courtier, Robert Kerr, Earl of Somerset, with an elaborate pendant watch. Within a year, Kerr had sp
www.nms.ac.uk
December 18, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Special issue (OA) of British Art Studies on James VI & I, including a multi-authored section on the Ramsay-Kerr watch @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social main--britishartstudies-29.netlify.app/issues/29/
(see also www.nms.ac.uk/discover-cat...)
(see also www.nms.ac.uk/discover-cat...)
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
18th-century, French, Newtonian physicist, Gabrielle-Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet who was born on 17 December 1706 #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/a...
thonyc.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/a...
A feminist Newtonian
Any major new scientific theory experiences a period of reception after publication in which it is examined, questioned, subject to criticism and put to the test. During this period, which can and …
thonyc.wordpress.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:37 AM
18th-century, French, Newtonian physicist, Gabrielle-Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet who was born on 17 December 1706 #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/a...
thonyc.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/a...
Reposted by Rebekah Higgitt
Sir Humphry Davy, English chemist, pioneered electrolysis, discovered new elements & alkali metals, invented miner’s safety lamp, born #OTD 1778.
Portrait by Thomas Phillips 1821
National Portrait Gallery
Royal Institution
Portrait by Thomas Phillips 1821
National Portrait Gallery
Royal Institution
December 17, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Sir Humphry Davy, English chemist, pioneered electrolysis, discovered new elements & alkali metals, invented miner’s safety lamp, born #OTD 1778.
Portrait by Thomas Phillips 1821
National Portrait Gallery
Royal Institution
Portrait by Thomas Phillips 1821
National Portrait Gallery
Royal Institution