Category: Uncategorized
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A Weaver Becomes a Historian: Reproduction as a Historical Method
I was sitting in a lab wearing a white coat, while getting introduced to the process of making ink. At first, just like anyone would, I found myself being transported back to when I was sixteen, in a random chemistry class at high school. But then, all of a sudden, a different memory got triggered,…
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MEISJE! DENK AAN JE TOEKOMST: Van wetenschappelijk onderzoek tot podcast
“Do not kill, do not take life, but prevent.” Deze woorden zijn afkomstig van Margaret Sanger (1879-1966), de Amerikaanse pionier op het gebied van anticonceptie. Door anticonceptiemiddelen en informatie hierover te verspreiden, probeerde Sanger het aantal abortussen in de Verenigde Staten terug te dringen. Abortus bleef namelijk in de twintigste eeuw in de Verenigde Staten,…
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Een vijftiende-eeuws vrouwenlichaam ontleed
Toen de lade van de archiefkast openging en het document zichtbaar werd, leek het op het eerste gezicht niet meer dan een gehavend blad uit vervlogen tijden. We keken naar het enige middeleeuws archiefstuk van Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in Leiden, afkomstig uit de verzameling van de Nederlandse arts Jan Gerard de Lint. De online catalogus van…
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De ‘levenslijn’ van Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens schreef in 1669: ‘… door het trekken van een kromme lijn, waarop ik met den passer het leven afmeet van elken willekeurigen persoon, [zie ik] b.v. dat gij, op uw leeftijd van 38 jaar, nog ongeveer 19 jaren en 4 maanden leven kunt’ Met deze woorden introduceerde Christiaan het wonderlijke hulpmiddel dat hij…
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A Last Resort: Legitimizing Medical Experiments in the Colony
It is something that is considered to be self-evident today: in order to test a new pharmaceutical drug, a randomized controlled trial should be set up and the informed consent of those participating is needed. Before the Second World War, however, few such guidelines existed in print. Rather, medical ethics were implicit and flexible. This…
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‘A number of curious entomological works’
This story is published simultaneously by Gauronica (blog Special Collections of the University Library of the University of Groningen) and Shells and Pebbles. Recently, a number of colleagues from other university libraries visited us in Groningen. As usual, we did our very best to show them the beautiful objects we have in our Special Collections.…
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“Eenige merkwaardige entomologische werken”
Dit verhaal is gelijktijdig gepubliceerd door Gauronica (weblog Bijzondere Collecties van de Universiteitsbibliotheek van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) en Shells and Pebbles. Ik had onlangs een aantal collega’s van andere universiteitsbibliotheken te gast bij ons in Groningen. En, zoals vaker, dan doen we ons best om te laten zien wat voor moois we wel niet in…
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Lessons from the history of the DSM-III
In 1973, in cities across the United States, eight healthy pseudo-patients walked into unsuspecting psychiatrist’s offices. Following a brief interview, they were all admitted to different psychiatric wards. The instructions the experimenters gave were simple: each pseudo-patient should report a single symptom to psychiatrists, namely that they occasionally heard a disembodied voice say “thud”. As…
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An Interview with Paul Ziche: History of Science Today
This is the first in our series of interviews with current historians and philosophers of science. In these interviews, our guests are asked to reflect on the current status of the field, how we might be able to contribute to contemporary debates, what their own research interests are, and how these interests inform their worldview.…
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Shells and Pebbles Summer Picks
This post officially marks one full academic year since our team took over the editorship for Shells & Pebbles. We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading along. As editors, we lurk behind the scenes, but we wanted the chance to connect with you, our readers, and emerge a bit from the shadows. So, we decided to…
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Might and Right: The Trope of Wonder Weapons in Historical and Popular Imagination
This year’s wars and the role of technology in them give us good reason to reflect on the trope of “wonder weapons.” Several recent articles talk about Russia’s use of drones and glide bombs in Ukraine in terms of wonder weapons, referring specifically to weapons used by the Nazis. The phrase has been used systematically…
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Voorjaarsbijeenkomst Gewina: Menselijke resten in musea
Een lange periode hadden weinig mensen er moeite mee als overblijfselen van lichamen in musea tentoongesteld werden. De afgelopen jaren is er echter steeds meer discussie of het tentoonstellen van menselijke resten wel ethisch verantwoord is. Zo wordt er betwijfeld of het nog wel van deze tijd is om iemands overblijfselen tentoon te stellen wanneer…
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Astrophotography and the Founding of the Astronomical Institute in Amsterdam
After more than a decade of working in Berlin and Bremen as one of the main theorists of the German Social Democratic Party, Anton Pannekoek (1873-1960) was excited when, in 1918, he was offered the position of assistant director of the Leiden Observatory, where he could pursue his old passion of astronomy. The conservative Dutch…
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Telescope Celebrity Culture
On 11 July 2022, the wait was finally over. In a carefully choreographed presentation, the President of the United States himself revealed the first image made by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): a ‘deep field’, showing galaxies from the infancy of the universe. The next day, several more images were released, including the stunning…
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Zomerstop / Summer break
Shells&Pebbles houdt een pauze in de zomer en is volgende maand weer terug. Schrijf je in voor de nieuwsbrief of volg ons op Twitter (@ShellsAndPebbles) als je een seintje wilt krijgen! o-o-o There will be no posts in the following weeks, since we are on vacation. We will resume our regular schedule next month; if…
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4 new posts from naturalhistories
For today, instead of publishing a new article, we have brushed up some older ‘shells and pebbles’ from a friendly blog: Ilja Nieuwland, Robert-Jan Wille and Andreas Weber, the authors of naturalhistories.net, are moving their and our favorite posts to ShellsAndPebbles. You can find the first batch of posts (4 in total) below. Have fun!
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Herfstvakantiedienstregeling / No post today
Door een foutje in de redactiekalender is er vandaag geen artikel. Volgende week gaat Shells&Pebbles weer verder! // Due to a mistake in our schedule, there is no blog update today. We will be back next week!