Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
historian of modern science and technology
Nettle-leaved Bellflower (under the box woods) and Clustered Bellflower (in the chalk grassland at the top), still flowering, on Box Hill.
Interesting bellflower seed heads too #wildflowerhour
Interesting bellflower seed heads too #wildflowerhour
November 9, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Nettle-leaved Bellflower (under the box woods) and Clustered Bellflower (in the chalk grassland at the top), still flowering, on Box Hill.
Interesting bellflower seed heads too #wildflowerhour
Interesting bellflower seed heads too #wildflowerhour
With 56,000 others to watch Arsenal Women robbed of a win against Chelsea
November 8, 2025 at 2:35 PM
With 56,000 others to watch Arsenal Women robbed of a win against Chelsea
6) (last one) Lewes Prison disturbances?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
November 5, 2025 at 1:38 PM
6) (last one) Lewes Prison disturbances?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
5) the Precautionary Principle?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
November 5, 2025 at 1:36 PM
5) the Precautionary Principle?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
4) Police search of Royal Cape Observatory, 1966?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
November 5, 2025 at 1:36 PM
4) Police search of Royal Cape Observatory, 1966?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
3) Sniffer dog workshop, Vienna?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
November 5, 2025 at 1:35 PM
3) Sniffer dog workshop, Vienna?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
2) Electro-magnetic capability?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
November 5, 2025 at 1:34 PM
2) Electro-magnetic capability?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
1) Queen Salote of Tonga’s missing insignia?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
November 5, 2025 at 1:32 PM
1) Queen Salote of Tonga’s missing insignia?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
September 2025: 14,749 files released at the National Archives, again lots of WW2 War Office records.
Also hundreds of MoD local maps of Northern Irish towns and borders, from 1969 onwards.
Plus thousands of born-digital Land Registry docs, including this excitingly self-referential one
Also hundreds of MoD local maps of Northern Irish towns and borders, from 1969 onwards.
Plus thousands of born-digital Land Registry docs, including this excitingly self-referential one
November 5, 2025 at 1:25 PM
September 2025: 14,749 files released at the National Archives, again lots of WW2 War Office records.
Also hundreds of MoD local maps of Northern Irish towns and borders, from 1969 onwards.
Plus thousands of born-digital Land Registry docs, including this excitingly self-referential one
Also hundreds of MoD local maps of Northern Irish towns and borders, from 1969 onwards.
Plus thousands of born-digital Land Registry docs, including this excitingly self-referential one
August 2025: 16,013 files, 6095 of which are WW2 War Office personnel files, plus thousands of defunct company records, the oldest dating from 1864:
November 5, 2025 at 1:19 PM
August 2025: 16,013 files, 6095 of which are WW2 War Office personnel files, plus thousands of defunct company records, the oldest dating from 1864:
5) also at Haworth Art Gallery: a room of Ivan Forde’s works. He’s from New York, and does frankly amazing things with cyanotype, using materials repurposed from marine waste with Bionic Yarn
180 years after Anna Atkins, a link that is implied rather than made explicit
180 years after Anna Atkins, a link that is implied rather than made explicit
November 3, 2025 at 10:45 AM
5) also at Haworth Art Gallery: a room of Ivan Forde’s works. He’s from New York, and does frankly amazing things with cyanotype, using materials repurposed from marine waste with Bionic Yarn
180 years after Anna Atkins, a link that is implied rather than made explicit
180 years after Anna Atkins, a link that is implied rather than made explicit
Terylene was also marketed at men
Knife-edges on ledges!
A rave on the ocean wave!
Knife-edges on ledges!
A rave on the ocean wave!
November 3, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Terylene was also marketed at men
Knife-edges on ledges!
A rave on the ocean wave!
Knife-edges on ledges!
A rave on the ocean wave!
Here’s me, 1977, wearing Crimplene trousers (stars? flowers?) looking into a pond in a wood outside Stevenage
(I still look into ponds quite a lot)
(I still look into ponds quite a lot)
November 3, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Here’s me, 1977, wearing Crimplene trousers (stars? flowers?) looking into a pond in a wood outside Stevenage
(I still look into ponds quite a lot)
(I still look into ponds quite a lot)
You may, if you are of a certain age, react nostalgically to the Terylene and Crimplene sample designs and colours
These are from Lancaster printers Standfast and Barracks, mid-1960s
These are from Lancaster printers Standfast and Barracks, mid-1960s
November 3, 2025 at 10:27 AM
You may, if you are of a certain age, react nostalgically to the Terylene and Crimplene sample designs and colours
These are from Lancaster printers Standfast and Barracks, mid-1960s
These are from Lancaster printers Standfast and Barracks, mid-1960s
“Who says a girl’s a tender flower
You won’t find us in an ivory tower
Breakaway girls don’t stay home with the chattels
They’ve got Bri-Nylon to win their battles”
(“Bri-Nylon” = British Nylon, another patriotically branded synthetic fibre. This time associated with, um, Norman invasion?)
You won’t find us in an ivory tower
Breakaway girls don’t stay home with the chattels
They’ve got Bri-Nylon to win their battles”
(“Bri-Nylon” = British Nylon, another patriotically branded synthetic fibre. This time associated with, um, Norman invasion?)
November 3, 2025 at 10:23 AM
“Who says a girl’s a tender flower
You won’t find us in an ivory tower
Breakaway girls don’t stay home with the chattels
They’ve got Bri-Nylon to win their battles”
(“Bri-Nylon” = British Nylon, another patriotically branded synthetic fibre. This time associated with, um, Norman invasion?)
You won’t find us in an ivory tower
Breakaway girls don’t stay home with the chattels
They’ve got Bri-Nylon to win their battles”
(“Bri-Nylon” = British Nylon, another patriotically branded synthetic fibre. This time associated with, um, Norman invasion?)
Lots of interesting objects.
Here’s Ermen and Roby’s Terylene sewing thread
(Ermen & Roby used to be Ermen & Engels.
Engels as in Friedrich Engels)
Here’s Ermen and Roby’s Terylene sewing thread
(Ermen & Roby used to be Ermen & Engels.
Engels as in Friedrich Engels)
November 3, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Lots of interesting objects.
Here’s Ermen and Roby’s Terylene sewing thread
(Ermen & Roby used to be Ermen & Engels.
Engels as in Friedrich Engels)
Here’s Ermen and Roby’s Terylene sewing thread
(Ermen & Roby used to be Ermen & Engels.
Engels as in Friedrich Engels)
And for ICI it is unashamedly about OIL and MODERN BRITAIN
Left: infographic ‘Treasure from oil’, ICI Magazine 1957
Right: ICI educational posters, ‘Terylene a great British discovery’ and ‘Britain turns to Terylene’, 1956
New Elizabethan, “defiant modernism”(©️Science Museum) vibes
Left: infographic ‘Treasure from oil’, ICI Magazine 1957
Right: ICI educational posters, ‘Terylene a great British discovery’ and ‘Britain turns to Terylene’, 1956
New Elizabethan, “defiant modernism”(©️Science Museum) vibes
November 3, 2025 at 10:10 AM
And for ICI it is unashamedly about OIL and MODERN BRITAIN
Left: infographic ‘Treasure from oil’, ICI Magazine 1957
Right: ICI educational posters, ‘Terylene a great British discovery’ and ‘Britain turns to Terylene’, 1956
New Elizabethan, “defiant modernism”(©️Science Museum) vibes
Left: infographic ‘Treasure from oil’, ICI Magazine 1957
Right: ICI educational posters, ‘Terylene a great British discovery’ and ‘Britain turns to Terylene’, 1956
New Elizabethan, “defiant modernism”(©️Science Museum) vibes
Patented as Terylene (and in fluffed up form as Crimplene) it is made and promoted by ICI as the last word in modern fabrics.
Here’s Terylene fibre being made, in a glorious expression of modern production at ICI Billingham. (Photo by Walter and Rita Numberg)
Here’s Terylene fibre being made, in a glorious expression of modern production at ICI Billingham. (Photo by Walter and Rita Numberg)
November 3, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Patented as Terylene (and in fluffed up form as Crimplene) it is made and promoted by ICI as the last word in modern fabrics.
Here’s Terylene fibre being made, in a glorious expression of modern production at ICI Billingham. (Photo by Walter and Rita Numberg)
Here’s Terylene fibre being made, in a glorious expression of modern production at ICI Billingham. (Photo by Walter and Rita Numberg)
Whinfield and Dickson work at the research department of the Calico Printers Association at Broad Oak Printworks in Accrington
It had been a site of 18th/19th innovation, so immediately this discovery is read as resurgent Lancashire industrial invention
“Englands bread hangs by Lancashire thread”
It had been a site of 18th/19th innovation, so immediately this discovery is read as resurgent Lancashire industrial invention
“Englands bread hangs by Lancashire thread”
November 3, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Whinfield and Dickson work at the research department of the Calico Printers Association at Broad Oak Printworks in Accrington
It had been a site of 18th/19th innovation, so immediately this discovery is read as resurgent Lancashire industrial invention
“Englands bread hangs by Lancashire thread”
It had been a site of 18th/19th innovation, so immediately this discovery is read as resurgent Lancashire industrial invention
“Englands bread hangs by Lancashire thread”
One more story: we’re going to Haworth Art Gallery in Accrington for the Terylene story.
Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson make the first polyester fibres in 1941. Nice to see an early sample, on loan from the Society of Dyers and Colourists
Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson make the first polyester fibres in 1941. Nice to see an early sample, on loan from the Society of Dyers and Colourists
November 3, 2025 at 9:36 AM
One more story: we’re going to Haworth Art Gallery in Accrington for the Terylene story.
Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson make the first polyester fibres in 1941. Nice to see an early sample, on loan from the Society of Dyers and Colourists
Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson make the first polyester fibres in 1941. Nice to see an early sample, on loan from the Society of Dyers and Colourists
unexpected wrapped musical instrument morbid theme!
(L) Throup’s worsted wool moulded modular sousaphone case from ‘The funeral of New Orleans’
(R) a shrouded ophicleide, on a monument erected in 1860 by members of the Accrington Brass Band to the memory of one of their musicians, Adam Westwell
(L) Throup’s worsted wool moulded modular sousaphone case from ‘The funeral of New Orleans’
(R) a shrouded ophicleide, on a monument erected in 1860 by members of the Accrington Brass Band to the memory of one of their musicians, Adam Westwell
November 2, 2025 at 8:35 PM
unexpected wrapped musical instrument morbid theme!
(L) Throup’s worsted wool moulded modular sousaphone case from ‘The funeral of New Orleans’
(R) a shrouded ophicleide, on a monument erected in 1860 by members of the Accrington Brass Band to the memory of one of their musicians, Adam Westwell
(L) Throup’s worsted wool moulded modular sousaphone case from ‘The funeral of New Orleans’
(R) a shrouded ophicleide, on a monument erected in 1860 by members of the Accrington Brass Band to the memory of one of their musicians, Adam Westwell
3) on to the installation of Aitor Throup’s designs
think: football casual/Blake’s-7-security-heavy/outdoor-goth-wear
all in a ruined cinema in Burnley
Enjoyably atmospheric and pretentious
think: football casual/Blake’s-7-security-heavy/outdoor-goth-wear
all in a ruined cinema in Burnley
Enjoyably atmospheric and pretentious
November 2, 2025 at 8:26 PM
3) on to the installation of Aitor Throup’s designs
think: football casual/Blake’s-7-security-heavy/outdoor-goth-wear
all in a ruined cinema in Burnley
Enjoyably atmospheric and pretentious
think: football casual/Blake’s-7-security-heavy/outdoor-goth-wear
all in a ruined cinema in Burnley
Enjoyably atmospheric and pretentious
Third Biennial exhibit at Queen Street Mill Textile Museum was a multi-media thing - film of Balbir Singh dance company dancing with fabrics and digit-y dots, projected on to more fabric so you get receding images. Dir. Tim Smith
Very good.
Here’s a snippet, not the best bit, but gives the gist
Very good.
Here’s a snippet, not the best bit, but gives the gist
November 2, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Third Biennial exhibit at Queen Street Mill Textile Museum was a multi-media thing - film of Balbir Singh dance company dancing with fabrics and digit-y dots, projected on to more fabric so you get receding images. Dir. Tim Smith
Very good.
Here’s a snippet, not the best bit, but gives the gist
Very good.
Here’s a snippet, not the best bit, but gives the gist
Second is Crystal Bennes’s ‘When computers were women’, which features CERN data woven by Jacquard looms.
Bit familiar - at least to a historian of tech - as an idea and a result, but nice to see a CERN punched card
Bit familiar - at least to a historian of tech - as an idea and a result, but nice to see a CERN punched card
November 2, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Second is Crystal Bennes’s ‘When computers were women’, which features CERN data woven by Jacquard looms.
Bit familiar - at least to a historian of tech - as an idea and a result, but nice to see a CERN punched card
Bit familiar - at least to a historian of tech - as an idea and a result, but nice to see a CERN punched card
For the Biennial there are three exhibits. The first is Sarah Rosalena. ‘Standard candle’ and ‘Expanding axis’ mix up early 20th C astronomy with beadwork and yarns.
Here are Mount Wilson images of galaxies/stars rendered with beads
Here are Mount Wilson images of galaxies/stars rendered with beads
November 2, 2025 at 4:52 PM
For the Biennial there are three exhibits. The first is Sarah Rosalena. ‘Standard candle’ and ‘Expanding axis’ mix up early 20th C astronomy with beadwork and yarns.
Here are Mount Wilson images of galaxies/stars rendered with beads
Here are Mount Wilson images of galaxies/stars rendered with beads