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Punch's Almanack for 1855 cartoon titled, "A visit to the antediluvian reptiles at Sydenham – Master Tom strongly objects to having his mind improved".

Punch 1855 Cartoon Visiting Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

Punch, or The London Charivari, was a British weekly magazine famous for its illustrated commentary and satire of politics and culture across the nineteen century and twentieth century. Mr Punch [...]

Crystal Palace Park, by George Baxter (1854), with sculptures by Waterhouse Hawkins and landscaping by Paxton. Baxter process print

George Baxter and the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

The famous 1854 print by George Baxter of Crystal Palace and Park at Sydenham is a favourite for those who explore the history of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs. The post investigates [...]

#208 When Fieldwork Goes Wrong Go Public | WeAreSTS

Today, an experiment: can Generative AI replace this podcast? There’s a new feature in the GenAI service, Google Notebook LM, that creates an audio discussion about texts you give it. [...]

Illustration of "ring species" concept, or Rassenkreis

Society for the Study of Speciation: Bibliographic Analysis using LLM

I provide data for an LLM-based analysis of the short-lived Society for the Study of Speciation (SSS), organised by Alfred Emerson, through three documents. […]

2026-27 Modules

HPSC0009 Introduction to History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science

This page is in development. Please return in September 2026. Find out more.

HPSC0155 Science Communication Final Project

UCL’s Science Communication MSc degree culminates in a science communication project of the student’s own design. This project is documented by a project proposal in Term 3 and a final product submitted near the end […]

HPSC0028 History of Life Sciences

A historical survey of the biological sciences from the Enlightenment to the present. What are the big names and big ideas? How were they received at the time and appropriated later? Who’s been ignored and […]

Cain 2007 Regular Contact With Anyone Interested - Dobzhansky and friends on his new car

Regular Contact with Anyone Interested: Documents of Society for the Study of Speciation | EGP

Organising the Society for the Study of Speciation was a simple affair in 1939. The job of implementing its vision fell upon the entomologist Alfred Emerson, recruited to serve as Secretary. ‘The need was felt by […]

Eoörnis pterovelox gobiensis (Eoornis) | EGP

Meet Eoörnis (Eoornis), the woofen-poof. As the author explains, ‘Through countless ages and successive civilizations this remarkable bird has been the symbol of speed, stamina, grace of line, proportion of members, and beauty of motion.’ […]

William Jennings Bryan arrives in Dayton, Tennessee for the 1925 Scopes Trial

Last Message of William Jennings Bryan (Scopes Trial) | EGP

As the Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial came to an end in July 1925, William Jennings Bryan expected to deliver the prosecution’s closing argument. Procedural tactics by the defence prevented this. The trial ended without the long-awaited […]

Professor Joe Cain

UCL Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology

Synthesis Period in Evolutionary Studies

Historical Significance of George Gaylord Simpson’s Tempo and Mode in Evolution (1944)

Evolution: Sewall Wright Taught Me, volume 1 | EGP

Variation and Evolution in Plants (1950) by G. Ledyard Stebbins

Tempo and Mode in Evolution (1944) by George Gaylord Simpson

Physiological Genetics: Sewall Wright Taught Me, volume 3 | EGP

Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

Punch 1855 Cartoon Visiting Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

George Baxter and the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

GenAI in Research

#208 When Fieldwork Goes Wrong Go Public | WeAreSTS

Society for the Study of Speciation: Bibliographic Analysis using LLM

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Queen Victoria Visited Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

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HPSC Modules 2026-27