New Light on the New OSTP Memo: An Interview with Dr. Alondra Nelson
Karin Wulf and Rick Anderson interview Dr. Alondra Nelson, acting director of the White House Office on Science & Technology Policy when the new OSTP memo was published.
Scientific Journeys: A Physicist Explores the Culture, History and Personalities of Science – A Book Review
Robert Harington reviews Fred Dylla’s book, Scientific Journeys: A Physicist Explores the Culture, History and Personalities of Science, a collection of prose pieces that portray the author’s approach to a world of science and the science of the world.
A Time Travel Guide to Ancient Rome
The Scholarly Kitchen has, over the years, offered significant resources for the potential time traveler. Here, a guide to visiting Ancient Rome.
What Universities — and Libraries, Researchers, and Publishers? — Owe Democracy
Universities need democracy, and vice versa. An important book shows the 20th century history of that relationship in the United States, and offers a prescription for what we do now that both are imperiled.
Reverse Engineering, the Cycle of Culture, and the Dark History of White Bread
The story of white bread’s rise and fall offers a lesson in the circular nature of manufacturing and consumer culture.
The Ghost of Publishing Past: George Gissing’s “New Grub Street”
A lesson in publishing’s past is provided by George Gissing’s Victorian Era novel.
10 Years of Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research: An Interview with the Scholarly Publishing Roundtable (Part 2)
An interview with principals of the Scholarly Publishing Roundtable, whose work significantly shaped the Holdren Memo on public access to federally-funded research.
10 Years of Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research: An Interview with the Scholarly Publishing Roundtable (Part 1)
An interview with principals of the Scholarly Publishing Roundtable, whose work significantly shaped the Holdren Memo on public access to federally-funded research.
The End of the iPod
This week marks the end of an era, as the iPod is officially discontinued.
Humanities and Graduate Education: The Crisis is Real, but Not New
A new study offers — surprise — mostly bad news about the state of Humanities graduate education. Even while we know how important humanistic perspectives are for, well, humanity.
Unreachable/ Unwritable Histories: Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe
First in a series on histories made difficult or impossible though war or climate disasters, this post features two historians of Russia and Eastern Europe.
Fraud and Peer Review: An Interview with Melinda Baldwin
Robert Harington and Melinda Baldwin discuss whether peer review has a role to play in uncovering scientific fraud.
“Common Knowledge” and How False Facts Become Entrenched
Some scientific “urban legends” get debunked in today’s video. How does incorrect “common knowledge” become established?
Revisiting: Historians in Historic Times
We are always living through history. For historians, though, the current moment is always a culmination. Revisiting a post from January 2021 in preparation for a series.
The Burden of Knowledge: A Historian Reviews Popular Period Movies
How infuriating is it to watch a movie about your area of expertise and realize just how wrong it is?