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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 [...]

John Martin's 1837 The Country of the Iguanodon

The Country of the Iguanodon, by Gideon Mantell – Two Versions

“The Country of the Iguanodon” is Gideon Mantell’s attempt to imagine the paleoecology of dinosaurs. Transcripts of 1838 and 1851 descriptions. […]

Sample Medical Card for Croydon Schoolboys 1920s-1930s

Medical Cards for Croydon Schoolchildren 1920s-1930s

Historians must make more – and more creative – use of AI technologies for data analysis as well as for routine task of data sorting and transcription. To create a [...]

#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. [...]

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.

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 […]

HPSC0044 Science and the Publishing Industry

The publishing industry is enormous. It shapes science communication in fundamental ways. This module investigates publishing. How does it work? How does it enable, constrain, and challenge science communication? The module covers a wide range […]

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 […]

Second Brown Dog Statue, Battersea Park, London, UK. Joe Cain

Brown Dog Statue in Battersea Park London | EGP

Protests were sure to follow the unveiling of the brown dog statue in Battersea, London, in 1906 in Latchmere Recreation Ground. The little terrier had become the focus of an anti-vivisection campaign directed against Professor William Bayliss […]

Genetics: Sewall Wright Taught Me, volume 2. Edited by Joe Cain. ISBN 9781906267032

Genetics: Sewall Wright Taught Me, volume 2 | EGP

Sewall Wright taught throughout his long career. Between 1926-1955, he worked at the University of Chicago. During this time, he developed and taught both undergraduate and graduate courses. By the early 1930s, Wright’s teaching load […]

Professor Joe Cain

UCL Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology

Synthesis Period in Evolutionary Studies

Comparing Tempo and Mode (1944) with Major Features (1953) by George Gaylord Simpson

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

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

Patricide in the Repeated Assassination of George Gaylord Simpson

Sergei Sergeevich Chetverikov (1880-1959) Russian population geneticist

Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

George Baxter and the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

The Country of the Iguanodon, by Gideon Mantell – Two Versions

GenAI in Research

Medical Cards for Croydon Schoolchildren 1920s-1930s

#208 When Fieldwork Goes Wrong Go Public | WeAreSTS

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#205 Why Green Activism Must Turn Blue | WeAreSTS

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HPSC Modules 2026-27