Jon Agar
@jonagar.bsky.social
historian of modern science and technology
Today at @stsucl.bsky.social History of Science Reading Group we discussed a chapter in Richard Whatmore's The End of Enlightenment, ‘Chapter Three: Shelburne, his circle and the end of Britain’, Penguin, 2023. (Suggested by Frank James) www.penguin.co.uk/books/444281...
The End of Enlightenment
The Enlightenment is popularly seen as the Age of Reason, a key moment in human history when ideals such as freedom, progress, natural rights and constitutional government prevailed. In this radical r...
www.penguin.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Today at @stsucl.bsky.social History of Science Reading Group we discussed a chapter in Richard Whatmore's The End of Enlightenment, ‘Chapter Three: Shelburne, his circle and the end of Britain’, Penguin, 2023. (Suggested by Frank James) www.penguin.co.uk/books/444281...
On 28th October at @stsucl.bsky.social History of Science Reading Group we chatted about David Stack's ‘Alfred Russel Wallace’s Darwinian Opposition to Eugenics’, Journal of the History of Biology (2024) 57, pp. 557–579 doi.org/10.1007/s107... (suggested by Norberto Serpente)
Alfred Russel Wallace’s Darwinian Opposition to Eugenics - Journal of the History of Biology
This article revisits the question of Alfred Russel Wallace’s relationship to eugenics and explores the basis of Wallace’s consistent rejection of attempts to label him a eugenicist. Whereas some scho...
doi.org
November 11, 2025 at 12:16 PM
On 28th October at @stsucl.bsky.social History of Science Reading Group we chatted about David Stack's ‘Alfred Russel Wallace’s Darwinian Opposition to Eugenics’, Journal of the History of Biology (2024) 57, pp. 557–579 doi.org/10.1007/s107... (suggested by Norberto Serpente)
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?
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❤️ 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?
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❤️ to vote
November 5, 2025 at 1:35 PM
3) Sniffer dog workshop, Vienna?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
2) Electro-magnetic capability?
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❤️ 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?
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❤️ to vote
November 5, 2025 at 1:32 PM
1) Queen Salote of Tonga’s missing insignia?
❤️ to vote
❤️ to vote
October 2025: 16,046 files released at the National Archives, three-quarters of which are WW2 WO records (how many still to go?!)
Lots of FCO files on Hong Kong from 1995 (two years before handover, so a busy time)
But which new file from August-October 2025 looks most curious…?
Lots of FCO files on Hong Kong from 1995 (two years before handover, so a busy time)
But which new file from August-October 2025 looks most curious…?
November 5, 2025 at 1:29 PM
October 2025: 16,046 files released at the National Archives, three-quarters of which are WW2 WO records (how many still to go?!)
Lots of FCO files on Hong Kong from 1995 (two years before handover, so a busy time)
But which new file from August-October 2025 looks most curious…?
Lots of FCO files on Hong Kong from 1995 (two years before handover, so a busy time)
But which new file from August-October 2025 looks most curious…?
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:
I did not know that. Thanks!
November 3, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I did not know that. Thanks!
That’s the end of this, ahem, long synthetic 🧵of things I’ve seen at the British Textile Biennial
Credit to all the inspiring work of curators, artists and teams behind #btb25
Credit to all the inspiring work of curators, artists and teams behind #btb25
November 3, 2025 at 10:50 AM
That’s the end of this, ahem, long synthetic 🧵of things I’ve seen at the British Textile Biennial
Credit to all the inspiring work of curators, artists and teams behind #btb25
Credit to all the inspiring work of curators, artists and teams behind #btb25
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)