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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 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. […]

George Gaylord Simpson’s (1944) Tempo and Mode in Evolution. Title page

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

George Gaylord Simpson‘s (1902-1984) book, Tempo and Mode in Evolution, was published in 1944 by Columbia University Press in their Columbia Biological Series. This book played an important part in [...]

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. […]

HPSC0097 Research Project

Postgraduate taught students in UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS) undertake summer research projects resulting in dissertations or research reports. Professor Joe Cain supervises some students in this work, as do all academic […]

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, […]

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 […]

Brown Dog and His Memorial (Battersea, London) | EGP

In 1907, London medical students protested over a statue raised to a little brown dog. Bonfires burned late into the night. Large groups marched through the streets clashing with police. Gangs were arrested trying to […]

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. […]

Sewall Wright Taught Me - Evolution - lecture notes Robert E Sloan

Sewall Wright Taught Me series: Evolution, Genetics, Physiological Genetics | EGP

The mathematical population geneticist and evolutionary biologist 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. […]

Professor Joe Cain

UCL Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology

Synthesis Period in Evolutionary Studies

New Evidence on Dobzhansky 1936 “Jesup” lectures

JBS Haldane’s Mathematical Theory of Natural and Artificial Selection (1924-1934)

Systematics and the Origin of Species (1942) by Ernst Mayr

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

George Gaylord Simpson (1902-1984) bibliography

Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

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

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

GenAI in Research

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

Society for the Study of Speciation: Bibliographic Analysis using LLM

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