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Sketch of Dinner in Iguanodon Model as remembered by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, 1862. Source: Letter from Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins to Edward James Alfred Trimmer, 27 August, British Library Add MS 50150 f215. Photo: ProfJoeCain CC BY NC.

Remembering Dinner in the Dinosaur: Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins’ 1862 Sketch

Near the end of August 1862, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins (1807-1894) wrote to Edward Trimmer (1827-1904) with a brief mention of the New Year’s Eve dinner in Iguanodon mould. The letter [...]

John Ruskin (1854) The Opening of the Crystal Palace. Title page

Ruskin’s 1854 Critique of Crystal Palace (Sydenham)

John Ruskin did not like the new Crystal Palace Sydenham when it opened in 1854. In Opening of the Crystal Palace (1854), he launches his critique, arguing that while the glass structure [...]

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. […]

George Gaylord Simpson’s (1953) The Major Features of Evolution. Title page

Major Features of Evolution (1953) by George Gaylord Simpson

George Gaylord Simpson‘s (1902-1984) book, Major Features of Evolution, was published in 1953 by Columbia University Press in their Columbia Biological Series. This book played an important part in the [...]

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 […]

HPSC0011 STS Perspectives on Big Problems

The theme for 2026-27 will be “Food”. “Science and technology are two of the most important drivers of our world. As a field of study, STS is organised to interpret those activities in the past, […]

HPSC0041 Dissertation

Undergraduates in UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS) undertake final year projects resulting in dissertations or research reports. Students undertake a research project largely of their own design in the field of science […]

Cumberland Clark. 1929. Shakespeare and Science. ISBN 978-1-906267-39-1.

Shakespeare and Science: Biology, Physics, Chemistry and More from the Bard | EGP

Cumberland Clarke’s Shakespeare and Science is a monumental compilation of the William Shakespeare’s many references to natural and celestial phenomena, including a careful study of the Bard’s interest in, and dramatic use of, natural phenomena. […]

George Baxter print showing Crystal Palace 1854 Sydenham view from the north

Guide to Crystal Palace and Park from 1871 | EGP

The Crystal Palace Company published a Guide to Crystal Palace and Park nearly every year in the first few decades after opening their attraction in Sydenham in 1854. These guides described main attractions – especially […]

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.’ […]

Professor Joe Cain

UCL Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology

Synthesis Period in Evolutionary Studies

Descended from Darwin – Context for the Evolutionary Synthesis

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

Major Features of Evolution (1953) by George Gaylord Simpson

Exploring the Borderlands of Evolutionary Synthesis

One Hundred and One Mendelians – Buttolph (2008)

Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

Remembering Dinner in the Dinosaur: Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins’ 1862 Sketch

Ruskin’s 1854 Critique of Crystal Palace (Sydenham)

GenAI in Research

Society for the Study of Speciation: Bibliographic Analysis using LLM

Major Features of Evolution (1953) by George Gaylord Simpson

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Crystal Palace Dinosaurs – Rare 1968 Pamphlet – 150,000,000 B.C.

Recent Posts

HPSC Modules 2026-27

HPSC0028 History of Life Sciences

HPSC0011 STS Perspectives on Big Problems

HPSC0041 Dissertation

Open Access Titles | Euston Grove Press

Shakespeare and Science: Biology, Physics, Chemistry and More from the Bard | EGP

Guide to Crystal Palace and Park from 1871 | EGP

Eoörnis pterovelox gobiensis (Eoornis) | EGP