Danny Robb
@invertingvision.com
Writing about history of science, exploration, and technology. Interested in photography + robotics in lunar and planetary science, oceanography, cryosphere.
Work in JSTOR Daily, Aeon, Atlas Obscura, The Space Review.
History Blog: invertingvision.com
Work in JSTOR Daily, Aeon, Atlas Obscura, The Space Review.
History Blog: invertingvision.com
Pinned
James Webb, Vannevar Bush, and Basic Research in Space
In November 1962, NASA administrator James Webb wrote a letter to President John F. Kennedy after a contentious meeting about the Apollo program. In that meeting, they had litigated the overall goal of the US space program, and arrived at a sort of agreement in principle. They both wanted the United States to achieve “preeminence …
invertingvision.com
After becoming NASA admin, James Webb reached out to Vannevar Bush for advice. They had been exchanging letters since the battle over the NSF, discussing the future of science in the US. Bush's response was not encouraging.
#histsci 🗃️ #NASA
invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...
#histsci 🗃️ #NASA
invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...
Reposted by Danny Robb
This rather epic edited collection is now on the Palgrave site! To be published in April 2027!
I'm thrilled to be included alongside so many stellar thinkers and friends like @thehistoriann.bsky.social . #Pacifichistory #maritimehistory #skystorians 🗃️
I'm thrilled to be included alongside so many stellar thinkers and friends like @thehistoriann.bsky.social . #Pacifichistory #maritimehistory #skystorians 🗃️
The Palgrave Handbook of Global Oceanic Encounters throughout History
This handbook examines oceans, seas, beaches, bays and estuaries where cultures and species meet, focused on Pacific, Indian and Australasian histories.
link.springer.com
November 3, 2026 at 10:51 AM
This rather epic edited collection is now on the Palgrave site! To be published in April 2027!
I'm thrilled to be included alongside so many stellar thinkers and friends like @thehistoriann.bsky.social . #Pacifichistory #maritimehistory #skystorians 🗃️
I'm thrilled to be included alongside so many stellar thinkers and friends like @thehistoriann.bsky.social . #Pacifichistory #maritimehistory #skystorians 🗃️
Reposted by Danny Robb
It's the season for the gales of November. So reposting by inexplicable popular demand:
The Wreck of the Spacecraft Cassini
The Wreck of the Spacecraft Cassini
November 2, 2026 at 9:41 PM
It's the season for the gales of November. So reposting by inexplicable popular demand:
The Wreck of the Spacecraft Cassini
The Wreck of the Spacecraft Cassini
Reposted by Danny Robb
Going to get earnest again for a sec, but I feel so privileged to play even a small role in telling this story. It's one for the ages.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATwz...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATwz...
JPL at 90: A Legacy of Exploration, A Future of Discovery
YouTube video by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
www.youtube.com
November 2, 2026 at 5:13 AM
Going to get earnest again for a sec, but I feel so privileged to play even a small role in telling this story. It's one for the ages.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATwz...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATwz...
Reposted by Danny Robb
My favourite frontispiece is Kepler's from the Tabulae Rudolphinae (Rudolphine Tables) published in Ulm in 1627.
thonyc.wordpress.com/2023/12/27/c...
thonyc.wordpress.com/2023/12/27/c...
Christmas Trilogy 2023 Part 3: A picture worth a thousand words
Johannes Kepler was a very prolific author but there is an aspect to his major books that usually doesn’t receive enough attention. As well as the torrent of words that poured from his pen, his boo…
thonyc.wordpress.com
November 2, 2026 at 6:27 AM
My favourite frontispiece is Kepler's from the Tabulae Rudolphinae (Rudolphine Tables) published in Ulm in 1627.
thonyc.wordpress.com/2023/12/27/c...
thonyc.wordpress.com/2023/12/27/c...
Reposted by Danny Robb
One of my all-time favorite frontispieces comes from Giovanni Battista Riccioli's Almagestum novum (1651), which literally weighs the merits of the Copernican & Tychonic solar systems!
Bill Ashworth wrote an excellent analysis here: www.lindahall.org/about/news/s...
#histSTM #histsci #astronomy 🔭🗃️
Bill Ashworth wrote an excellent analysis here: www.lindahall.org/about/news/s...
#histSTM #histsci #astronomy 🔭🗃️
November 1, 2026 at 8:37 PM
One of my all-time favorite frontispieces comes from Giovanni Battista Riccioli's Almagestum novum (1651), which literally weighs the merits of the Copernican & Tychonic solar systems!
Bill Ashworth wrote an excellent analysis here: www.lindahall.org/about/news/s...
#histSTM #histsci #astronomy 🔭🗃️
Bill Ashworth wrote an excellent analysis here: www.lindahall.org/about/news/s...
#histSTM #histsci #astronomy 🔭🗃️
Reposted by Danny Robb
This…is…not Sparta! But it is my 300th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share widely to support all this great work, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ +
blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
#ScholarSunday Thread 300! (11/1/26) – Black and White and Read All Over
This…is…not Sparta! But it is my 300th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share widely...
blackwhiteandread.com
November 1, 2026 at 1:02 PM
This…is…not Sparta! But it is my 300th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share widely to support all this great work, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ +
blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
Reposted by Danny Robb
"Osteographia, or The Anatomy of the Bones" (1733), by William Cheselden, contains highly detailed skeletons of people and animals. 🧵
#histsci 🗃️ #SciArt #science #history
First, “The three famous skeletons in Vesalius…all of them are drawn from skeletons whose bones were very ill put together.”
#histsci 🗃️ #SciArt #science #history
First, “The three famous skeletons in Vesalius…all of them are drawn from skeletons whose bones were very ill put together.”
October 31, 2026 at 4:23 PM
"Osteographia, or The Anatomy of the Bones" (1733), by William Cheselden, contains highly detailed skeletons of people and animals. 🧵
#histsci 🗃️ #SciArt #science #history
First, “The three famous skeletons in Vesalius…all of them are drawn from skeletons whose bones were very ill put together.”
#histsci 🗃️ #SciArt #science #history
First, “The three famous skeletons in Vesalius…all of them are drawn from skeletons whose bones were very ill put together.”
October 31, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Danny Robb
If you can help us get there for December, we'd appreciate it (you can give as little as $3!) but we know it's tough for everyone, so if you can't donate, you can support us by sharing our magazine with people you know--especially historians working off the tenure track.
Contingent Simpsons Fundraiser | Contingent, Inc. (Powered by Donorbox)
Since our December 2019 Star Wars issue, Contingent has always published a special six-article themed issue to close out the year. Last year, a grant allowed us to grow our December issue for the...
donorbox.org
October 30, 2026 at 3:26 AM
If you can help us get there for December, we'd appreciate it (you can give as little as $3!) but we know it's tough for everyone, so if you can't donate, you can support us by sharing our magazine with people you know--especially historians working off the tenure track.
Reposted by Danny Robb
Contingent Magazine pays its writers. It always has. It's paid hundreds of contingent historians over the last eight years. It's always been donor-funded, and most of those donors? Contingent historians themselves.
For the first time, we're not sure we can pay for a full December issue.
For the first time, we're not sure we can pay for a full December issue.
October 30, 2026 at 3:22 AM
Contingent Magazine pays its writers. It always has. It's paid hundreds of contingent historians over the last eight years. It's always been donor-funded, and most of those donors? Contingent historians themselves.
For the first time, we're not sure we can pay for a full December issue.
For the first time, we're not sure we can pay for a full December issue.
Reposted by Danny Robb
The decline of mathematics in late Antiquity and the Early Modern Period and its rise under Islam a sketch #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2026/10/30/t...
thonyc.wordpress.com/2026/10/30/t...
Take it to the limit one more time – a history of calculus VII
Having looked at the various developments of the method of exhaustion as produced by the ancient Greeks and independently by the ancient Chinese, which can seriously be considered as a sort of prot…
thonyc.wordpress.com
October 30, 2026 at 8:53 AM
The decline of mathematics in late Antiquity and the Early Modern Period and its rise under Islam a sketch #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2026/10/30/t...
thonyc.wordpress.com/2026/10/30/t...
Reposted by Danny Robb
OTD in 1836, Charles Darwin, just back from the Beagle, met Charles Lyell for the first time. L had been an inspiration to D and would become a scientific mentor.
(IMO, tho, the young D’s notion of scientific explanation owes as much to Herschel and Babbage as to Lyell).
🐋🌱🧪 #histSTM #evobio
(IMO, tho, the young D’s notion of scientific explanation owes as much to Herschel and Babbage as to Lyell).
🐋🌱🧪 #histSTM #evobio
October 29, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Danny Robb
For a brief period in Alexandria, scholars practiced dissection-and perhaps even vivisection-on human subjects. Two of them, Herophilus and Erasistratus, described what they found in great detail.
#histSTM #histmed 🗃️
From a couple years back:
daily.jstor.org/the-anatomis...
#histSTM #histmed 🗃️
From a couple years back:
daily.jstor.org/the-anatomis...
The Anatomists of Ancient Alexandria - JSTOR Daily
Cultural forces under the Ptolemaic dynasty briefly allowed scholars like Herophilus to practice dissection—and possibly vivisection—on human subjects.
daily.jstor.org
October 29, 2026 at 3:43 PM
For a brief period in Alexandria, scholars practiced dissection-and perhaps even vivisection-on human subjects. Two of them, Herophilus and Erasistratus, described what they found in great detail.
#histSTM #histmed 🗃️
From a couple years back:
daily.jstor.org/the-anatomis...
#histSTM #histmed 🗃️
From a couple years back:
daily.jstor.org/the-anatomis...
For a brief period in Alexandria, scholars practiced dissection-and perhaps even vivisection-on human subjects. Two of them, Herophilus and Erasistratus, described what they found in great detail.
#histSTM #histmed 🗃️
From a couple years back:
daily.jstor.org/the-anatomis...
#histSTM #histmed 🗃️
From a couple years back:
daily.jstor.org/the-anatomis...
The Anatomists of Ancient Alexandria - JSTOR Daily
Cultural forces under the Ptolemaic dynasty briefly allowed scholars like Herophilus to practice dissection—and possibly vivisection—on human subjects.
daily.jstor.org
October 29, 2026 at 3:43 PM
For a brief period in Alexandria, scholars practiced dissection-and perhaps even vivisection-on human subjects. Two of them, Herophilus and Erasistratus, described what they found in great detail.
#histSTM #histmed 🗃️
From a couple years back:
daily.jstor.org/the-anatomis...
#histSTM #histmed 🗃️
From a couple years back:
daily.jstor.org/the-anatomis...
In the early 60s, James Webb worked hard to make sure science was incorporated into the US space program, although he faced indifference and opposition.
October 29, 2026 at 1:30 PM
In the early 60s, James Webb worked hard to make sure science was incorporated into the US space program, although he faced indifference and opposition.
Reposted by Danny Robb
After becoming NASA admin, James Webb reached out to Vannevar Bush for advice. They had been exchanging letters since the battle over the NSF, discussing the future of science in the US. Bush's response was not encouraging.
#histsci 🗃️ #NASA
invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...
#histsci 🗃️ #NASA
invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...
James Webb, Vannevar Bush, and Basic Research in Space
In November 1962, NASA administrator James Webb wrote a letter to President John F. Kennedy after a contentious meeting about the Apollo program. In that meeting, they had litigated the overall goal of the US space program, and arrived at a sort of agreement in principle. They both wanted the United States to achieve “preeminence …
invertingvision.com
October 28, 2026 at 1:28 PM
After becoming NASA admin, James Webb reached out to Vannevar Bush for advice. They had been exchanging letters since the battle over the NSF, discussing the future of science in the US. Bush's response was not encouraging.
#histsci 🗃️ #NASA
invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...
#histsci 🗃️ #NASA
invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...
Reposted by Danny Robb
University of Arizona: Soft and Stretchy or Rock Solid? New Modeling Study Sheds Light on How Earth Got Its Moon news.arizona.edu/news/soft-an...
Soft and stretchy or rock solid? New modeling study sheds light on how the Earth got its moon
Historically, computer simulations modeling collisions between protoplanetary bodies have treated them largely as fluids. A new study suggests taking into account the material strength of solid bodies...
news.arizona.edu
October 28, 2026 at 8:00 PM
University of Arizona: Soft and Stretchy or Rock Solid? New Modeling Study Sheds Light on How Earth Got Its Moon news.arizona.edu/news/soft-an...
After becoming NASA admin, James Webb reached out to Vannevar Bush for advice. They had been exchanging letters since the battle over the NSF, discussing the future of science in the US. Bush's response was not encouraging.
#histsci 🗃️ #NASA
invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...
#histsci 🗃️ #NASA
invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...
James Webb, Vannevar Bush, and Basic Research in Space
In November 1962, NASA administrator James Webb wrote a letter to President John F. Kennedy after a contentious meeting about the Apollo program. In that meeting, they had litigated the overall goal of the US space program, and arrived at a sort of agreement in principle. They both wanted the United States to achieve “preeminence …
invertingvision.com
October 28, 2026 at 1:28 PM
After becoming NASA admin, James Webb reached out to Vannevar Bush for advice. They had been exchanging letters since the battle over the NSF, discussing the future of science in the US. Bush's response was not encouraging.
#histsci 🗃️ #NASA
invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...
#histsci 🗃️ #NASA
invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...
Wild: “MRO is actually old enough that some of those stars have moved across the night sky—very slightly, but they have moved,” says Paul Fieseler... The tiny misalignments confused the spacecraft, and last year, engineers had to send up an updated map to keep MRO oriented into the future."
I'm a sucker for a long-lived spacecraft, so it was a real pleasure to write for @wired.com about what it takes to survive a couple decades at Mars 🧪 🔭
NASA’s Oldest Martian Spacecraft Have Been Running for Decades. Here’s How
Two orbiters have long outlasted their expected lifespans and completely reshaped our understanding of the Red Planet, all while operating 140 million miles from Earth.
www.wired.com
October 28, 2026 at 11:37 AM
Wild: “MRO is actually old enough that some of those stars have moved across the night sky—very slightly, but they have moved,” says Paul Fieseler... The tiny misalignments confused the spacecraft, and last year, engineers had to send up an updated map to keep MRO oriented into the future."
Reposted by Danny Robb
As Halloween is round the corner we thought we’d share some medieval skeletons.
A thread… 🧵 💀
A thread… 🧵 💀
October 27, 2026 at 3:44 PM
As Halloween is round the corner we thought we’d share some medieval skeletons.
A thread… 🧵 💀
A thread… 🧵 💀
Reposted by Danny Robb
How could Bluesky's upcoming spaces feature (a bit like communities) be useful to the astronomy community? 🔭☄️
Someone other than me should make one for astro PhD students. Someone should also make one for LGBTQ+ astronomers. I wonder what else?
Someone other than me should make one for astro PhD students. Someone should also make one for LGBTQ+ astronomers. I wonder what else?
we have an idea for communities in the app that we're calling "spaces" — places where people can gather around shared interests or social groups.
here's a peek at some early prototypes. these are explorations, not polished or final.
looking for feedback, esp from community builders 👀
here's a peek at some early prototypes. these are explorations, not polished or final.
looking for feedback, esp from community builders 👀
the bsky team is working on various ideas for creating smaller social spaces in the app.
which use case is most interesting to you?
1. posting into "topics" that organize public posts
2. posting into "communities" or "groups" that can be public or private
3. posting directly to your followers only
which use case is most interesting to you?
1. posting into "topics" that organize public posts
2. posting into "communities" or "groups" that can be public or private
3. posting directly to your followers only
October 27, 2026 at 7:18 PM
How could Bluesky's upcoming spaces feature (a bit like communities) be useful to the astronomy community? 🔭☄️
Someone other than me should make one for astro PhD students. Someone should also make one for LGBTQ+ astronomers. I wonder what else?
Someone other than me should make one for astro PhD students. Someone should also make one for LGBTQ+ astronomers. I wonder what else?
Reposted by Danny Robb
Mario Jurić is announcing a possible dwarf planet, 2026 ED138, discovered by @rubinobservatory.org right now at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RVO...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RVO...
October 27, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Mario Jurić is announcing a possible dwarf planet, 2026 ED138, discovered by @rubinobservatory.org right now at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RVO...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RVO...
Reposted by Danny Robb
Meet our Solar System's newest dwarf planet candidate: 2026 ED138!
Orbiting past Pluto, scientists found it in NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory data from earlier this year. Early analysis suggests it's ~600–1500 km across, one of the largest found past Neptune!🔭🧪
🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-f...
Orbiting past Pluto, scientists found it in NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory data from earlier this year. Early analysis suggests it's ~600–1500 km across, one of the largest found past Neptune!🔭🧪
🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-f...
October 27, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Meet our Solar System's newest dwarf planet candidate: 2026 ED138!
Orbiting past Pluto, scientists found it in NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory data from earlier this year. Early analysis suggests it's ~600–1500 km across, one of the largest found past Neptune!🔭🧪
🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-f...
Orbiting past Pluto, scientists found it in NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory data from earlier this year. Early analysis suggests it's ~600–1500 km across, one of the largest found past Neptune!🔭🧪
🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-f...
Reposted by Danny Robb
October 24, 2026 at 8:10 AM