Homepage | Professor Joe Cain

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. […]

G. Ledyard Stebbins’s (1950) Variation and Evolution in Plants. Title page

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

G. Ledyard Stebbins‘ (1906-2000) book, Variation and Evolution in Plants, was published in 1950 by Columbia University Press in their Columbia Biological Series. This book played an important part in [...]

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 […]

HPSC0010 History of Modern Science

This page is in development. Please return in September 2026. Until then, please enjoy these cartoons. What are these?

Physiological Genetics: Sewall Wright Taught Me, volume 3. Edited by Joe Cain. ISBN 9781906267049

Physiological Genetics: Sewall Wright Taught Me, volume 3 | 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 […]

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 […]

Philip Henry Gosse (1854) Handbook to the Marine Aquarium - Euston Grove Press ISBN 9781906267186 | starfish in aquarium at London Zoo ZSL

Handbook to the Marine Aquarium, 1856 Manual | EGP

This handbook to the marine aquarium was one of the first manuals with practical instructions for constructing, stocking, and maintaining a marine fish tank, and for collecting plants and animals to stock that tank. It’s […]

Professor Joe Cain

UCL Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology

Synthesis Period in Evolutionary Studies

Columbia Biological Series, 1894-1974

Sergei Sergeevich Chetverikov (1880-1959) Russian population geneticist

Genetics and the Origin of Species (1937) by Theodosius Dobzhansky

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

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

Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

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

Guide to Crystal Palace and Park from 1871 | EGP

GenAI in Research

Society for the Study of Speciation: Bibliographic Analysis using LLM

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

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Bernissart Iguanodons in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels

Recent Posts

HPSC Modules 2026-27

HPSC0009 Introduction to History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science

HPSC0155 Science Communication Final Project

HPSC0010 History of Modern Science

Open Access Titles | Euston Grove Press

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

Guide to Crystal Palace and Park from 1871 | EGP

Handbook to the Marine Aquarium, 1856 Manual | EGP