Carsten Timmermann
@ctimmermann.bsky.social
Historian of Biology and Medicine. Science is culture, and long live the humanities. Director of @manchstm.bsky.social. Lapsed biochemist. Migrant. Rheinländer in 🇩🇪. Northerner in 🇬🇧. Gen X. Cyclist. Owned by dog. Often online. Here privately. He/him.
Pinned
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
November 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
I remember my father, who found out after Hiroshima what he’d spent his war doing in Oak Ridge. I remember George Rathjens and Spike Dubs, who likewise spent the rest of their lives trying to make war less likely. I remember my mother’s brother, who fought in the Pacific and never spoke about it.
November 9, 2025 at 11:22 AM
I remember my father, who found out after Hiroshima what he’d spent his war doing in Oak Ridge. I remember George Rathjens and Spike Dubs, who likewise spent the rest of their lives trying to make war less likely. I remember my mother’s brother, who fought in the Pacific and never spoke about it.
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
9th November. Always an odd day for anyone who has studied German history, but nothing about it is as weird as this.
My annual post about how the Morning Star reported the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
hatfulofhistory.com/2014/11/07/h...
November 9, 2025 at 9:57 AM
9th November. Always an odd day for anyone who has studied German history, but nothing about it is as weird as this.
The third letter very much resonates with conversations I’ve had with my sons and their friends - and with students. Most boys are ok, I think. Talk to them!
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Having open conversations with boys is key to fending off the manosphere threat | Letters
Letters: Siobhan Lyons says ignore the static that is social media and turn disillusionment into art, Dr Michael J Richardson thinks money, meaning and manhood should be topics of public conversation,...
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:56 AM
The third letter very much resonates with conversations I’ve had with my sons and their friends - and with students. Most boys are ok, I think. Talk to them!
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
I’m enjoying the book and am thinking about how I can use it to de-indoctrinate first-year biologists.
My little book on Schrödinger's famous classic 'What Is Life?' is out! Offering the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of the book's origins, reception, impact, and legacy, it uncovers Schrödinger's motivations in writing it, and shows how it has shaped our current understanding of the cell
<i>What Is Life?</i> Revisited
Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - <i>What Is Life?</i> Revisited
www.cambridge.org
November 8, 2025 at 11:19 AM
I’m enjoying the book and am thinking about how I can use it to de-indoctrinate first-year biologists.
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
WAC wrong-headedness - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
This weeks post is a sort of obituary for the BBC World Service Programme 'Science in Action' (@peaseroland.bsky.social) #scicomm makingsciencepublic.com/2025/11/07/s...
‘Science in Action’ is ending. Here is why that matters
The year is coming to an end and with it a radio programme that was a staple of science communication around the world: the BBC World Service’s ‘Science in Action’. This is rather symbolic, as scie…
makingsciencepublic.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:23 AM
This weeks post is a sort of obituary for the BBC World Service Programme 'Science in Action' (@peaseroland.bsky.social) #scicomm makingsciencepublic.com/2025/11/07/s...
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Very sad to hear about Jim Watson’s death. If you think he was always a racist you are wrong. He refused to support genes/IQ research in the 70s. He boycotted Greece because of the military coup in 1967 and he called for a boycott of meetings in Chicago after the police riot of 1968. 1/2
November 7, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Very sad to hear about Jim Watson’s death. If you think he was always a racist you are wrong. He refused to support genes/IQ research in the 70s. He boycotted Greece because of the military coup in 1967 and he called for a boycott of meetings in Chicago after the police riot of 1968. 1/2
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
If you believe either that Franklin discovered the double helix, and / or Watson and Crick stole her data, ask yourself how you know this. Then take a read of this article.
If I see one more stupid Rosalind Franklin take I'm going to lose my mind. Thank god for @matthewcobb.bsky.social and @nccomfort.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:32 AM
If you believe either that Franklin discovered the double helix, and / or Watson and Crick stole her data, ask yourself how you know this. Then take a read of this article.
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
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...)
Eff off Adobe Acrobat. Honestly.
November 7, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Eff off Adobe Acrobat. Honestly.
2 thoughts:
1) some interesting history of technology in this podcast
2) our pensions are toast
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/u...
1) some interesting history of technology in this podcast
2) our pensions are toast
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/u...
The Four Criteria for a Tech Bubble
Podcast Episode · Uncanny Valley | WIRED · 06/11/2025 · 40m
podcasts.apple.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:58 AM
2 thoughts:
1) some interesting history of technology in this podcast
2) our pensions are toast
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/u...
1) some interesting history of technology in this podcast
2) our pensions are toast
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/u...
Wes Streeting's comments on the racism experienced by health workers reminds me of the research by colleagues here at Manchester on the crucial role that immigrants have played since the inception of the NHS.
doi.org/10.1258/jrsm...
doi.org/10.1258/jrsm...
November 7, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Wes Streeting's comments on the racism experienced by health workers reminds me of the research by colleagues here at Manchester on the crucial role that immigrants have played since the inception of the NHS.
doi.org/10.1258/jrsm...
doi.org/10.1258/jrsm...
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
But first it's Dr Lewis Bremner's turn, next Tuesday (hosted jointly with the colleagues in East Asian Studies)
blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/2025/0...
blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/2025/0...
East Asian Studies and CHSTM Joint Seminar, 11 November 2025
Dr Lewis Bremner
The Heart of the Eye and the Heart of the Sun: The Struggle to Translate Science in Tokugawa Japan
blogs.manchester.ac.uk
November 5, 2025 at 2:57 PM
But first it's Dr Lewis Bremner's turn, next Tuesday (hosted jointly with the colleagues in East Asian Studies)
blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/2025/0...
blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/2025/0...
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Another seminar for your diaries: on 9 December we are welcoming Dr Angela Cassidy @angecass.bsky.social for a talk on the multiple lives of modern mycobacteria.
blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/2025/1...
blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/2025/1...
CHSTM Research Seminar, 9 December 2025
Dr Angela Cassidy
From shared to separated health - and back again? The multiple lives of modern mycobacteria
blogs.manchester.ac.uk
November 5, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Another seminar for your diaries: on 9 December we are welcoming Dr Angela Cassidy @angecass.bsky.social for a talk on the multiple lives of modern mycobacteria.
blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/2025/1...
blogs.manchester.ac.uk/chstm/2025/1...
University roofscape with helicopter
November 4, 2025 at 4:15 PM
University roofscape with helicopter
I love that the Cornerhouse is at the centre of it all. As it should be.
November 4, 2025 at 8:29 AM
I love that the Cornerhouse is at the centre of it all. As it should be.
Am I expected to?
November 3, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Am I expected to?
What?! I’m confused.
November 3, 2025 at 8:28 AM
What?! I’m confused.
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
JOB
Assistant Professor in the History of Knowledge Pre-1400,
University of Cambridge
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assista...
Assistant Professor in the History of Knowledge Pre-1400,
University of Cambridge
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assista...
Assistant Professor in History of Knowledge Pre-1400
Applications are invited for the position of Assistant Professor in History of Knowledge Pre-1400, in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. Please note
www.cam.ac.uk
November 1, 2025 at 5:44 PM
JOB
Assistant Professor in the History of Knowledge Pre-1400,
University of Cambridge
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assista...
Assistant Professor in the History of Knowledge Pre-1400,
University of Cambridge
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assista...
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
I've now republished my piece examining Katie Lam's claims about spoken English proficiency in the capital's schools on my personal Substack: davehillonlondon.substack.com/p/katie-lam-... #london #truelondon #conservatives
Katie Lam should learn London’s language
Recent comments about the capital's school children's English skills suggest the Tory MP from Kent must try harder
davehillonlondon.substack.com
November 2, 2025 at 10:28 AM
I've now republished my piece examining Katie Lam's claims about spoken English proficiency in the capital's schools on my personal Substack: davehillonlondon.substack.com/p/katie-lam-... #london #truelondon #conservatives