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rossbrooks.co.uk
Beautiful plate, grim subject: parasitic castration of bees by Stylops, a genus of twisted-wing parasites. It accompanies French zoologist Jean Pérez's 1886 description of the phenomenon. 🐝🗃️

Source: Biodiversity Heritage Library

#histbio #histsci #hstm #sts #nature #bees @biodivlibrary.bsky.social
Colour plate with 18 separate figures depicting different stages of parasitic castration of various Andrena bees by Stylops, a genus of obligately endoparasitic insects. Top left: an uninfected male Andrena trimmerana. Top right: an infected male Andrena trimmerana exhibiting external characteristics of a female.
October 1, 2026 at 10:09 AM
bhgross144.bsky.social
This afternoon’s #histSTM hammock read: Jessica Riskin’s new biography of Lamarck!

Listen to Riskin discuss her writing process in this @draftingthepast.bsky.social interview: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdrh...

#histSTM #histbio #booksky 📚🗃️📜
August 19, 2026 at 7:48 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Grab it while you can! Definitely one for collectors of all things Queer Darwin* . . .

* An admittedly small, but growing, community.

#histbio #histsci #sts #histsex #queerhistory 🌈🦋🗃️
historytoday.com History Today @historytoday.com · Aug 17
The August issue of History Today leaves shelves this week.

Featuring: Caesar and Cicero, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles Darwin on gender, Brazil’s free press, and more.

Find out what else is inside and order it directly from our store at www.historytoday.com/magazine
August 17, 2026 at 2:37 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
I would have been *first* in that queue . . . 🤩🌈🦋

News Chronicle, 25 October 1938.

#gynandromorph #skystorians #1930s #histbio #histsci #sts #queer #queerhistory #nature
Newspaper article headlined 'QUEUE TO SEE A BUTTERFLY'. The text reads: 'An English cabbage butterfly may fetch a record price at an auction today at Steven's, Covent Garden, where insect collections have been sold at the rate of one or two a month for the past 150 years. Entomologists and agents for British and foreign museums queued up to examine it yesterday. Officially described as "a magnificent and unique dimorphous and gynandromorphous specimen," it looked exactly like the common garden variety, except that the left wing was lemon-yellow and the right creamy-white. A minimum price of about £50 for it was mentioned to the News Chronicle by Mr. O. J. Janson, insect expert to Steven's for half a century. Nine cabinets will be sold. One contains 20,000 butterflies of 1,200 kinds.'
August 5, 2026 at 9:11 AM
duhe.bsky.social
Clearly the best way to understand Mayr... #histbio
gregpriest.bsky.social Greg Priest @gregpriest.bsky.social · Jul 5
Ernst Mayr was born OTD in 1904.

“Most scientific problems are far better understood by studying their history than their logic.”

🧠🗃️🌱🐋🦋🦫🧪 #HistSTM #PhilSci
Caricature of Mayr by David Levine for the New York Review of Books.
July 5, 2026 at 7:25 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Not long to go until the greatest history of science conference ever convenes in #Edinburgh. Lots of queer-themed papers to look forward to. I'll be speaking as part of this panel, which starts at 9:15am on Tuesday 14 July. 🌈🐠🎓🌱🗃️

hssonline.org/page/Edinbur... #ESHS-HSS #histbio #histsci #lgbtq

1/2
Listing for conference panel. It reads: 175. The Double Life of Sex: Queer and Feminist Interventions into the History of Biology Organized Session 9:15 am to 10:45 am, Tuesday 14 July EICC: Floor, Level 0 - Tinto Suite Participants: Uncovering the Hetero in Heterosis: Eugenics, Mendelism, and the Structural Valuation of Difference Yingchen Kwok, University of Pennsylvania Queer Genealogies of Cross-sexual Transfer Ross Brooks, Oxford Brookes University Migratory Desires: Ecological Imperatives and the Plasticity of Sex Banu Subramaniam, Wellesley College Session Organizer: Yingchen Kwok, University of Pennsylvania Chair: Rachel Mason Dentinger, University of Utah
July 4, 2026 at 9:17 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Read an excerpt from my forthcoming book!

Just posted on Yale University Press's website: yalebooks.yale.edu/2026/06/10/a... @yalepress.bsky.social @yalebooks.bsky.social #books #booksky #histbio #histsci #queerhistory #PrideMonth #Darwin 🌈📚🗃️
An Excerpt: Darwin and the Queer Origins of Life - Yale University Press
While Charles Darwin's theories acknowledged the diversity and fluidity of sex in nature, he often framed queer and intersex traits as anomalies through the lens of his own social prejudices.
yalebooks.yale.edu
June 11, 2026 at 8:11 AM
lignedescience.social.sciences.re.ap.brid.gy
Dommage, encore un colloque passionnant que je découvre au dernier moment : ça commence mercredi 20, soit après-demain)...
Je me console avec le livret des abstracts (où manque mystérieusement la première journée).
#paris #agenda #histsci #Histbio […]

[Original post on social.sciences.re]
Les territoires de la génétique : nouvelles perspectives Colloque Mercredi, 20 mai 2026 Amphithéâtre Pierre-Gilles de Gennes - Bâtiment Condorcet
May 18, 2026 at 11:35 AM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Day 2 of MBL #histbio Seminar Reconstructing Extinct Organisms & the History of Life: A fantastic start to the day with @wiserthanddt.bsky.social talk on "Caution, Speculation, & Epistemic Standards in Reconstruction" leading to a great discussion of benefits & costs. #HPS ⚒️ #paleosky 🦖
SCIENCE VoL. LXIII MAY 7, 1926 No. 1636 CONTENTS The Value of Outrageous Geological Hypothese: PROFEASOR W. M. DAVIS. 463 Opportunities for Bescarch at the Oceanographical Inatitute of Monaco: De. ATEraTOx SEDELL. 468 Scientifto Seents: Award of Bellocatipe dy the Charles 4. Coffe Foundation; Gifta to the Case School of Applied Scimee; The New Solar Obereatory in Southeat Africa; The Mille College Meeting of the Pacifo Dicition of the American desociation. 469 Scientife Notes and News. 471 Uniceraity and Educational Notes. 475 Discurion and Correrpondence: Antos Future of Geology: PRoTzason Pleiatoome Occurrence co: B. H. PALMER. ut: DE. ARTHUR THE VALUE OF OUTRAGEOUS GEOLOGICAL HYPOTHESES' MerrIxos of geological societies in these modern days are often somewhat prosaic as compared to those of an earlier time wben the limits as well as the methods of geological speculation were less defined than now, and when contradictory differences of opinion were commonly expressed even with regard to fundamental ideas concerning the conditions and processes of earth history. That was a time when tbe scientife imagination, not so much hampered as it is now by standardized principles, was accustomed to roam with little restraint over the unexplored Selds of geological investigation; a time wben the facts regarding the earth's crust had been gatbered from a relatively small part of its surface, when a theory was thought to be established if it explained nothing more than the facts which it had been inrented to explain, and when lively discussion as to the merite of rival theories too often degenerated into polemical diatribes between rival tbeorists. W. M. Davis defending speculation in 1926
May 15, 2026 at 9:18 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Day 1 of MBL #histbio Seminar Reconstructing Extinct Organisms & the History of Life: Jane Maienschein talking about history of the annual history of biology seminar series at MBL (begun in 1987): cbs.asu.edu/history-biol... #HPS
Room of approx 30 participants around seminar tanles looking at presentation.
May 15, 2026 at 12:17 AM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Heading to @mblscience.bsky.social today for a week long #histbio seminar Doug Erwin & I organized on "Reconstructing Extinct Organisms & History of Life" Although a closed workshop, not public talks, I'll share some highlights throughout week
⚒️ #HPS #paleosky #paleobio

cbs.asu.edu/mbl/2026reco...
History of Biology Seminars Date Thu, 05/14/2026 - 12:00 - Tue, 05/19/2026 - 12:00 2026:Reconstructing Extinct Organisms & the History of Life. Image: Paleontological Chart, Edward Hitchcock, 1840, pre-Darwinian “tree of life” for plants and animals; public domain
May 13, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Thanks to Jessica Lombard for this great review of Death, just out in the QRB

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/cjgyz...

#philsci
#histbio
#aging
www.dropbox.com
May 9, 2026 at 9:11 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Ahead of Bi-Curious George's new show 'Snail Trail' @morethanadodo.bsky.social on Saturday, here are some lovely snails! 🐌🏳️‍🌈🐌🏳️‍⚧️🐌

'Mating of Snails' from Histoire naturelle générale et particulière des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles (1820-51).

#snails #animals #queer #nature #histbio #histsci 🗃️
B&W plate titled 'Accouplement des Limaçons' from Histoire naturelle générale et particulière des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles (1820-51) by French naturalists André-Etienne de Ferussac and Gérard Paul Deshayes. It features seven figures, two depicting copulating snails and the others showing different parts of snail reproductive anatomy. Source: Biodiversity Heritage Library
May 7, 2026 at 9:09 AM
dsbrooks.bsky.social
A fantastic talk is coming up next week, definitely consider dropping by! I've had a sneak peek of the content and it's looking to be amazing! (details for joining in thread) #hps #philsci #histbio
roto-rub.bsky.social RUB History & Philosophy of Science @roto-rub.bsky.social · Apr 23
Two great events next week! Reading group on Monday with a paper on Soviet plant philosophy by Isabel Jacobs: crmep.co.uk/articles/jac...
And on Thursday, we welcome @petinozappala.bsky.social in our Lecture Series who will talk about canalization in #HPBio.
#HistSci #PhilSci
Poster for the talk by Alejandra Petino Zappala (Ruhr-University Bochum), entitled "Canalization, Stabilizing Selection and Evolution: A Case of Conceptual Gatekeeping in 20th Century Evolutionary Biology?". It will take place on Thursday, 30 April 2026, at 6 pm (CET) in GA 3/143 and will be streamed via Zoom.
April 25, 2026 at 2:29 PM
I’m glad to share my new book on organisms, biology and Kant:

When Metaphysics meets Biology. Kantian approaches to Concept of Organism. (Routledge)

The book is open access so you can download the pdf, read, share

#philsci #evobio #philbio #histbio #kant

www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mon...
April 21, 2026 at 2:20 PM
I was thrilled to read this great review of my book Death by Gordon McOuat in the JHB
Thanks Gordon !

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#philbio #histbio #philsci #evobio #aging
Philippe Huneman: Death: Perspectives from the Philosophy of Biology - Journal of the History of Biology
Journal of the History of Biology -
link.springer.com
April 17, 2026 at 9:06 AM
localmicrobes.bsky.social
So exciting to see this published! Thanks to Anna-Ursula Happel and Jo-Ann Passmore @mucosal-group.bsky.social for the invitation. Check it out! #hpbio, #histbio, #philbio link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Ethical design as a prerequisite for translational microbiome science - Microbiome
Human microbiome research is expanding globally, yet remains dominated by samples, institutions, and leadership from the Global North. This imbalance undermines scientific validity, as microbiomes are...
link.springer.com
April 7, 2026 at 6:43 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
It's #Easter Sunday! 🌱

No cute bunnies or lambs in my files, I'm afraid. But I do have a *lot* of queer chickens. 🥚🏳️‍🌈🐤🏳️‍⚧️🐔

Here's a domestic hen with male plumage, described in the Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society in 1821.

#queer #birds #histbio #histsci #sts #HappyEaster 🗃️
B&W plate (with considerable age tanning) of what looks like a cockerel, but the caption reveals that it is a 'Domestic Hen with Male Plumage.'
April 5, 2026 at 9:24 AM
localmicrobes.bsky.social
We had a great day at Micropia in Amsterdam. We are convinced, microbes are the best! #hpbio #histbio #philbio 🦠 🔬@utrechthps.bsky.social
March 18, 2026 at 4:32 PM
rossbrooks.co.uk
I'm looking forward to celebrating the achievements of historian of science Dan Kevles in Oxford next week. I'll be talking about the mercurial associations between the pursuit of eugenics through the 20th century and ideas about sex selection.

#histbio #histsci #sts @oxmedhum.bsky.social 🗃️
Front cover of the December 1928 edition of the New York-published popular science magazine Science and Invention. Under the headline 'Can We Control Sex?' the image features a god-like man carrying a test tube reaching towards a group of young children. It's really quite creepy.
March 11, 2026 at 9:47 AM
Finally ! My book on metaphysics/biology soon out
And open access #philsci #kant #histbio #organism

www.routledge.com/When-Metaphy...
March 8, 2026 at 9:22 AM
rossbrooks.co.uk
Awesome! ✨

#histbio #histsci #sts #glams #museums #1920s 🗃️
thelabandfield.bsky.social Dr Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social · Mar 6
New paper in @britornitholclub.bsky.social - Paige Langle and I highlight (and confirm the identity!) of the only North American record of the now-extinct Slender-billed Curlew (1/4) bioone.org/journals/bul... #ornithology
The only North American record of the extinct Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris Alexander L. Bond, Paige R. Langle Abstract An historical record of the extinct Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris from Ontario, Canada, is quite exceptional, being the only North American record. Its inclusion in North American, Canadian, or Ontarian avifaunal lists is patchy, and the specimen has not been assessed against current identification criteria. We show that the specimen is extant, in the collection of the Buffalo Museum of Science, and is indeed a Slender-billed Curlew. Here, we compile the history of the specimen and its collector in the wider context of the ornithology of the Niagara Region.
March 7, 2026 at 10:27 AM
duhe.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/genetics/adv... #histbio #hps
Reflections on the Human Genome Diversity Project: a conversation with Marcus W. Feldman, Henry T. Greely, and Mary-Claire King
Abstract. The Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP) began in 1991 as an initiative to study genetic variation from human populations worldwide. In 2002, th
academic.oup.com
February 22, 2026 at 9:10 AM
localmicrobes.bsky.social
You can join us tomorrow at 15:30 CET for our reading group!
We will be reading “The Allure of Microbiome Research: Promises of Holism and the Potential for Cruel Optimism,” by Tine Fiis, Louise Whiteley, and Adam Bencard. Join the meeting here: teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-joi... #philbio #histbio
Join conversation
teams.microsoft.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:52 PM
localmicrobes.bsky.social
There is still time to send an abstract for our special issue in the South African Journal of Science! Find the call for abstracts for The human diversity dilemma: Navigating the intersection of microbiomes, ethics and society in Africa here: sajs.co.za/call-human-d... #philbio #histbio
January 29, 2026 at 12:02 PM