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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. […]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 […]

2026-27 Modules

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, […]

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 […]

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.’ […]

Tiger in UCL Grant Museum of Zoology - cover for Cain - No Ordinary Space

No Ordinary Space: UCL Grant Museum | EGP

UCL’s Grant Museum of Zoology moved to the Thomas Lewis Room in UCL’s Rockefeller Building in 2011. No Ordinary Space is a book designed to answer popular historical questions about the room, the building, and […]

Professor Joe Cain

UCL Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology

Synthesis Period in Evolutionary Studies

Biodynamica, published by Basile J. Luyet

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

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

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

One Hundred and One Mendelians – Buttolph (2008)

Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

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

Ruskin’s 1854 Critique of Crystal Palace (Sydenham)

GenAI in Research

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

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

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

Recent Posts

HPSC Modules 2026-27

HPSC0155 Science Communication Final Project

HPSC0011 STS Perspectives on Big Problems

HPSC0097 Research Project

Open Access Titles | Euston Grove Press

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

Eoörnis pterovelox gobiensis (Eoornis) | EGP

No Ordinary Space: UCL Grant Museum | EGP