Tag: history of science
-
Hamblin Wins the Davis Prize of the History of Science Society
I have scheduled this post ahead of time, because I can’t contain my enthusiasm, yet I’ve agreed to hold off talking about it until the prizewinners are announced. But I’m delighted to report that my book Arming Mother Nature has won the 2016 Helen Miles Davis and Watson Davis Prize, from the History of Science…
-
Scientists who Collaborate with the Military
A memorable scene in the 1983 film The Dead Zone provides an ethical justification for actions that harm innocent people. The protagonist presents his friend and psychiatrist with a well-worn hypothetical query: If he could travel back in time to pre-Nazi Germany, would he kill the young Hitler? His friend responds cannily, “I’m a…
-
Where should historians send policy-relevant scholarship?
Here’s a fairly mundane post but on a subject that I could use some advice about. And I imagine it touches on a question that others face. It’s the holiday season and I am in limbo, with time to think about publication strategies and next steps in my academic life. My book Arming Mother Nature is still…
-
Science vs. Technology Smackdown: Have We Survived the 1950s?
On a recent trip to Mexico I had a conversation that totally perplexed me about my academic life and work. An accomplished scholar from Europe asked me if I, as a historian of science, ever considered reading anything in the history of technology. “Yes, of course,” was my answer. She followed up with something like,…
-
Wikileaks and Information Control
As a historian of science and technology, I am fascinated by Wikileaks. But I’m also guilty of benefiting from it as a scholar, because I’ve used the cables for research in my work, much in the same way that I’ve used the Pentagon Papers for research. As a scholar, it’s impossible to resist punching keywords…
-
My O'Sullivan Memorial Lecture on nuclear technology is now online
Back in November, I wasn’t sure if anyone would mind that I used Wikileaks for historical research. Some might have called it unpatriotic. But I should have expected that no one seemed to mind (or care?). I did it because I was about to give a lecture on the promotion of nuclear technology, and found…
-
Let's Get Realpolitik about the Global Environment
As we head into the London summer Olympics of 2012, we can pause to reflect upon what happened four years ago in Beijing, as one of the world’s largest-scale polluters cleaned up its capital for the moment when all eyes were upon it. It seems like we will see countless flashbacks of that memorable opening…
-
Finding Perspective on Nuclear Concerns
This was the cover story in my local paper, part of the flurry of media attention about my work after the Fukushima disaster. I had very mixed emotions about gaining such local notoriety (something any scholar enjoys, especially when kids see their dad on the front page of the paper!), when the real hardship and…
-
Nuclear historian: 'Science without history is just ignorance'
Complete with mushroom cloud, this piece about my work appeared in the online edition of KATU Portland. It is based on a press release about Fukushima and my work. It has been interesting to see this story make its way around the web and be edited in the most minor ways to be published as…
-
Impact of Radiation on Ocean Water may be Seen in Long Term
Recently I was interviewed by a reporter for the China-focused newspaper The Epoch Times to discuss the Fukushima incident. Here is the article, with a link to the whole thing (free to read): — Since the first explosion occurred at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on March 12, steam and smoke carrying radioactive…
-
What will our Energy Legacy Be?
I recently wrote an opinion piece for The Oregonian, in response to the nuclear crisis in Fukushima, Japan. Here is the start of it (with a link to the rest of it, which you can read for free). Comments appreciated! The earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan is a potent reminder of how vulnerable…
Jacob Darwin Hamblin 