Will Thomas
@williamthomas.bsky.social
Director of Research in History, Policy, and Culture at the American Institute of Physics. Author of Rational Action: The Sciences of Policy in Britain and America, 1940-1960. Views expressed are my own.
Rushing to finish up things before I have to leave for Europe to go to this symposium. I am excited, because this series, launched at Fermilab in 1980, represents probably the most serious attempt we've had to rally physicists around creating a robust historical record.
Symposium program: Fourth International Symposium on the History of Particle Physics
AIP History Weekly Edition: November 7, 2025
www.aip.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Rushing to finish up things before I have to leave for Europe to go to this symposium. I am excited, because this series, launched at Fermilab in 1980, represents probably the most serious attempt we've had to rally physicists around creating a robust historical record.
But may I also point out that STS has always trafficked in themes long-trodden by religious intellectuals, as so ably documented in Andrew Jewett's Science Under Fire?
November 7, 2025 at 6:28 PM
But may I also point out that STS has always trafficked in themes long-trodden by religious intellectuals, as so ably documented in Andrew Jewett's Science Under Fire?
Folks, are we forgetting that Francis cited Haraway?
November 7, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Folks, are we forgetting that Francis cited Haraway?
75th anniversary. It's not top tier for me, but I don't think I can wipe off a dirty chef's knife without thinking, "Peter, Son of Adam, clean your sword!"
The First Time I Read ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:08 PM
75th anniversary. It's not top tier for me, but I don't think I can wipe off a dirty chef's knife without thinking, "Peter, Son of Adam, clean your sword!"
Reposted by Will Thomas
Physicist Richard Garwin, a giant in the field, died in May 2025 at age 97. Famous for designing the first hydrogen bomb, Garwin was also a prominent adviser—and occasional critic—of the US government. Three of his close colleagues examine his career for @physicstoday.bsky.social. #physics #histSTM
Remembering Richard Garwin, physicist and science adviser
The polymath scientist leaves behind a monumental legacy in both the scientific and political realms.
physicstoday.aip.org
November 5, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Physicist Richard Garwin, a giant in the field, died in May 2025 at age 97. Famous for designing the first hydrogen bomb, Garwin was also a prominent adviser—and occasional critic—of the US government. Three of his close colleagues examine his career for @physicstoday.bsky.social. #physics #histSTM
REMINDER: AIP's grant-in-aid program for research in history of the physical sciences has an application deadline coming up on November 15.
Awards are for up to $2,500, and we are able to offer up to $6,000 for oral histories with physicists in industry.
www.aip.org/aip/awards/h...
Awards are for up to $2,500, and we are able to offer up to $6,000 for oral histories with physicists in industry.
www.aip.org/aip/awards/h...
November 3, 2025 at 3:52 PM
REMINDER: AIP's grant-in-aid program for research in history of the physical sciences has an application deadline coming up on November 15.
Awards are for up to $2,500, and we are able to offer up to $6,000 for oral histories with physicists in industry.
www.aip.org/aip/awards/h...
Awards are for up to $2,500, and we are able to offer up to $6,000 for oral histories with physicists in industry.
www.aip.org/aip/awards/h...
Reposted by Will Thomas
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
Reposted by Will Thomas
@moiraweigel.bsky.social is great on this: www.boundary2.org/2020/07/moir...
Moira Weigel — Palantir Goes to the Frankfurt School
Moira Weigel This essay has been peer-reviewed by "The New Extremism" special issue editors (Adrienne Massanari and David Golumbia), and the b2o: An Online Journal editorial board. Since the election ...
www.boundary2.org
November 2, 2025 at 2:36 PM
@moiraweigel.bsky.social is great on this: www.boundary2.org/2020/07/moir...
Reposted by Will Thomas
The WSJ piece notably omits that Palantir CEO Karp holds a PhD in philosophy/social theory from Goethe University—home of the Frankfurt School—mentioning only his Haverford BA and Stanford JD.
In which Palantir recruits high school students for fellowships by telling them to skip college because its holds little value and then puts them through a cherry-picked curriculum that oddly resembles… college
The older I get the more I value conscientiousness over raw intelligence or anything like that — when someone has completed college that’s a stronger signal of being able to handle tasks in an independent environment on a consistent basis: www.wsj.com/business/pal...
November 2, 2025 at 2:34 PM
The WSJ piece notably omits that Palantir CEO Karp holds a PhD in philosophy/social theory from Goethe University—home of the Frankfurt School—mentioning only his Haverford BA and Stanford JD.
Reposted by Will Thomas
In which Palantir recruits high school students for fellowships by telling them to skip college because its holds little value and then puts them through a cherry-picked curriculum that oddly resembles… college
The older I get the more I value conscientiousness over raw intelligence or anything like that — when someone has completed college that’s a stronger signal of being able to handle tasks in an independent environment on a consistent basis: www.wsj.com/business/pal...
Palantir Thinks College Might Be a Waste. So It’s Hiring High-School Grads.
Tech company offers 22 teens a chance to skip college for its fellowship, which includes a four-week seminar on Western civilization
www.wsj.com
November 2, 2025 at 1:35 PM
In which Palantir recruits high school students for fellowships by telling them to skip college because its holds little value and then puts them through a cherry-picked curriculum that oddly resembles… college
Reposted by Will Thomas
This is one of the coolest things the history and library team at @aip.bsky.social is doing. If you have photos, please consider contributing! Future historians will thank you :)
Do you take snapshots of your everyday life as a physical scientist? @aip.bsky.social is soliciting photos from scientists at all career stages and disciplines from around the world to broaden its 30 000+ photo collection, which is used frequently by historians. #physics #astronomy #histSTM
Archivists seek photos of today's physical scientists
The goal of a new crowdsourcing effort is to build a more contemporary and inclusive visual record of the physical sciences community.
physicstoday.aip.org
October 31, 2025 at 4:55 PM
This is one of the coolest things the history and library team at @aip.bsky.social is doing. If you have photos, please consider contributing! Future historians will thank you :)
This symposium in Berlin next week looks amazing—wish I could be there!
Also, I'm most pleased with our accompanying photo selection here. Bohr, Meitner, and everyone else looking very cool at the 1920 "bonzenfreie" (no big-wigs) colloquium organized to get face time with the visiting Bohr.
Also, I'm most pleased with our accompanying photo selection here. Bohr, Meitner, and everyone else looking very cool at the 1920 "bonzenfreie" (no big-wigs) colloquium organized to get face time with the visiting Bohr.
Symposium program: Revisiting the History of Quantum Mechanics, Berlin, November 5–7, 2025
AIP History Weekly Edition: October 31, 2025
www.aip.org
October 31, 2025 at 2:26 PM
This symposium in Berlin next week looks amazing—wish I could be there!
Also, I'm most pleased with our accompanying photo selection here. Bohr, Meitner, and everyone else looking very cool at the 1920 "bonzenfreie" (no big-wigs) colloquium organized to get face time with the visiting Bohr.
Also, I'm most pleased with our accompanying photo selection here. Bohr, Meitner, and everyone else looking very cool at the 1920 "bonzenfreie" (no big-wigs) colloquium organized to get face time with the visiting Bohr.
Reposted by Will Thomas
The Phil-Sci Archive at Pitt is now pushing papers out on Bluesky. Follow the account below to see them
@philsci-archive.bsky.social
@philsci-archive.bsky.social
October 31, 2025 at 1:13 PM
The Phil-Sci Archive at Pitt is now pushing papers out on Bluesky. Follow the account below to see them
@philsci-archive.bsky.social
@philsci-archive.bsky.social
Reposted by Will Thomas
Do you take snapshots of your everyday life as a physical scientist? @aip.bsky.social is soliciting photos from scientists at all career stages and disciplines from around the world to broaden its 30 000+ photo collection, which is used frequently by historians. #physics #astronomy #histSTM
Archivists seek photos of today's physical scientists
The goal of a new crowdsourcing effort is to build a more contemporary and inclusive visual record of the physical sciences community.
physicstoday.aip.org
October 30, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Do you take snapshots of your everyday life as a physical scientist? @aip.bsky.social is soliciting photos from scientists at all career stages and disciplines from around the world to broaden its 30 000+ photo collection, which is used frequently by historians. #physics #astronomy #histSTM
Ooh, Simon Schaffer reader coming down the pike. I blogged through a good chunk of his oeuvre back in the day, which was really illuminating. Too bad they didn't include "The Show That Never Ends" (on perpetual motion), which is probably my favorite: doi.org/10.1017/S000... #HPS
Working Knowledge
Collects key articles by Simon Schaffer, one of the most important historians of science working today. Working Knowledge is the first English-language collection of essays by Simon Schaffer, coautho...
press.uchicago.edu
October 29, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Ooh, Simon Schaffer reader coming down the pike. I blogged through a good chunk of his oeuvre back in the day, which was really illuminating. Too bad they didn't include "The Show That Never Ends" (on perpetual motion), which is probably my favorite: doi.org/10.1017/S000... #HPS
Sorry for going on about this, but it's fascinating. This is an interesting recollection from @preskill.bsky.social about Stu Freedman's early reaction to an early divergence from the results he got with John Clauser in '72. A wry remark? A nod to Bohm? 🤷https://repository.aip.org/node/129433
October 28, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Sorry for going on about this, but it's fascinating. This is an interesting recollection from @preskill.bsky.social about Stu Freedman's early reaction to an early divergence from the results he got with John Clauser in '72. A wry remark? A nod to Bohm? 🤷https://repository.aip.org/node/129433
Side note: has anyone written about the history of physics at Technion? The department is founded in the mid-'50s and immediately gets Nathan Rosen of EPR fame, Red Scare refugee David Bohm, and Kurt Sitte, a Buchenwald survivor who was soon to be the first person in Israel convicted for espionage.
I'm doing a deep dive on the scholarship on entanglement-related experiments for our print Newsletter. While it was unquestionably marginal, there are just tons of touchpoints with mainstream physics. Joan Bromberg and Olival Freire were all over this 20 years ago and there's a lot of new stuff too.
October 28, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Side note: has anyone written about the history of physics at Technion? The department is founded in the mid-'50s and immediately gets Nathan Rosen of EPR fame, Red Scare refugee David Bohm, and Kurt Sitte, a Buchenwald survivor who was soon to be the first person in Israel convicted for espionage.
Reposted by Will Thomas
Interview: Historian of science Michael Gordin tells us why he and Diana Buchwald felt there was room for another book on Einstein, why fascination with Einstein remains high, and new areas of Einstein research. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/mich... #interview #einstein #historyofscience
Michael Gordin - Five Way Interview
Michael D. Gordin is Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History and Dean of the College at Princeton University. A specialist ...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Interview: Historian of science Michael Gordin tells us why he and Diana Buchwald felt there was room for another book on Einstein, why fascination with Einstein remains high, and new areas of Einstein research. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/mich... #interview #einstein #historyofscience
Reposted by Will Thomas
"For scholars everywhere, [her] research laid the bedrock for comprehensive, gendered studies of the history of women scientists within national contexts."
Today's #histSTM & #WomenInSTEM lunch read: @donluke.bsky.social reflects on Margaret Rossiter's contributions to #histsci for @aip.bsky.social
Today's #histSTM & #WomenInSTEM lunch read: @donluke.bsky.social reflects on Margaret Rossiter's contributions to #histsci for @aip.bsky.social
In memoriam: Margaret Walsh Rossiter, pathbreaker in “writing women into science”
AIP History Weekly Edition: October 24, 2025
www.aip.org
October 27, 2025 at 5:05 PM
"For scholars everywhere, [her] research laid the bedrock for comprehensive, gendered studies of the history of women scientists within national contexts."
Today's #histSTM & #WomenInSTEM lunch read: @donluke.bsky.social reflects on Margaret Rossiter's contributions to #histsci for @aip.bsky.social
Today's #histSTM & #WomenInSTEM lunch read: @donluke.bsky.social reflects on Margaret Rossiter's contributions to #histsci for @aip.bsky.social
Reposted by Will Thomas
Warning: If you read Churchman and related work by Ackoff, you may end up convinced that the one true science of ethics is management science done from a systems thinking perspective even if you don't really know what any of those words mean.
September 18, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Warning: If you read Churchman and related work by Ackoff, you may end up convinced that the one true science of ethics is management science done from a systems thinking perspective even if you don't really know what any of those words mean.
My account will boost any and all Churchman & Ackoff content and then talk your ear off about how, frustrated by their inability to influence the philosophy of science, tried to commander the nascent operations research profession and graft their vision onto it.
Case Western was poised to be the most important philosophy of science university in the world
The world if Churchman and Ackoff had gotten their "Institutes of Experimental Method" instead of ending up at business schools.
www.jstor.org/stable/185209
www.jstor.org/stable/185209
October 27, 2025 at 12:21 AM
My account will boost any and all Churchman & Ackoff content and then talk your ear off about how, frustrated by their inability to influence the philosophy of science, tried to commander the nascent operations research profession and graft their vision onto it.
Reposted by Will Thomas
The world if Churchman and Ackoff had gotten their "Institutes of Experimental Method" instead of ending up at business schools.
www.jstor.org/stable/185209
www.jstor.org/stable/185209
October 26, 2025 at 11:48 PM
The world if Churchman and Ackoff had gotten their "Institutes of Experimental Method" instead of ending up at business schools.
www.jstor.org/stable/185209
www.jstor.org/stable/185209
I am also coming around to the heretical* position that Dave Kaiser's How the Hippies Saved Physics may have done more harm than good. Noting that Sam Schweber felt this way: physicstoday.aip.org/reviews/how-...
*(If, like me, you learned a ton from Dave, who is totally the best)
*(If, like me, you learned a ton from Dave, who is totally the best)
October 24, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I am also coming around to the heretical* position that Dave Kaiser's How the Hippies Saved Physics may have done more harm than good. Noting that Sam Schweber felt this way: physicstoday.aip.org/reviews/how-...
*(If, like me, you learned a ton from Dave, who is totally the best)
*(If, like me, you learned a ton from Dave, who is totally the best)
In today's AIP History Weekly Edition, guest contributor Don Opitz looks at the multitudinous scholarly and professional contributions of the late Margaret Rossiter in creating a historiography of women in science. #HPS
In memoriam: Margaret Walsh Rossiter, pathbreaker in “writing women into science”
AIP History Weekly Edition: October 24, 2025
www.aip.org
October 24, 2025 at 2:28 PM
In today's AIP History Weekly Edition, guest contributor Don Opitz looks at the multitudinous scholarly and professional contributions of the late Margaret Rossiter in creating a historiography of women in science. #HPS
Working on something related to quantum entanglement, and suddenly realized that in 2008 I totally misunderstood what Joan Bromberg was doing with her 2006 Isis piece on Marlan Scully. It nicely turns tables on Forman's claim that "quantum electronics" distracted from foundational inquiries.
Historiographical Balance – Ether Wave Propaganda
rational-action.com
October 23, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Working on something related to quantum entanglement, and suddenly realized that in 2008 I totally misunderstood what Joan Bromberg was doing with her 2006 Isis piece on Marlan Scully. It nicely turns tables on Forman's claim that "quantum electronics" distracted from foundational inquiries.