James Stark

📣Exciting News 📣
Dates & host institution for the SSHM Biennial Conference #SSHM2026 are confirmed!
Save the Date in your planners 📅
Theme and CFPs to follow later
#histmed #medhumanities #histSTM

Sloped off a bit early today before the evening plenary, but not before a chance to showcase my support for the history/philosophy of marine science…. Even whales can reach for the moon! #ISHPSSB2025

And bringing the session to an end is a cool-sounding paper from Andrea Núñez Casal, who is talking about “Re-embodying Resistance.” She’ll be bringing the concept of “microbiomisation” to bear on concepts of gender and class, via “more-than-human” studies #ISHPSSB2025

@crinamoreno.bsky.social is first in the second session of “Microbes and Gender” panel. A fascinating account of discovery in beta-lactamase research, focusing on Clara Roy and Karen Bush. Fascinating to see this as a connection between clinical microbiology and experimental biology #ISHPSSB2025

And lastly we have Maria Santesmases presenting work done with Isabel Rodriguez on “Plasmids and Gender: from Antimicrobial Resistances to Molecular Genetics, 1960s-1990s”.

*Adopting some modern terminology to make sense of what is philosophical project was.

(Otherwise it’s hard to situate him in the wider “modernisation”/“Westernisation” project of the Meiji Period.)

In this session, we now have Marta Velasco Martín, who is taking about “Rubella virus and women: gendered vulnerabilities and relationships” and joins us virtually. She begins with a striking global map about the distribution of endemic Rubella: Africa and S, E and SE Asia almost exclusively.

Honda highlights how Kumagusu foregrounded “wisdom-knowledge” (“science required for society to civilise”), which had to reflect key principles about human flourishing, knowing, and immersion in nature #ISHPSSB2025 #hps #philbio #histbio

If you are a multi species enthusiast, see here! #ISHPSSB2025 #histbio #histsci #HPS

Eiko Honda offers us amazing insights into Minakata Kumagusu (1867-1941), who elaborated a “cellular metaphysics” through his investigations of slime mould in 1890s. He challenged binaries by drawing on both science and Buddhist philosophy, and critiqued materialism #ISHPSSB2025

Could not agree more - gender, race, politics: all enriched by centering the microbe in our thinking! #ISHPSSB2025

“From the co-construction of gendered hierarchies of laboratory work to that of human-microbe relationships and mutual resistances, the focus on gender provides renewed approaches to histories and cultures for a social microbiology.”

Just waiting for “Microbes and Gender” to get started - such an exciting session in prospect! The organisers say…

Sadly some technical troubles for the third talk, by Matt Brewer, who was all locked and ready to go for a comparative paper between biological and geological classification 😔 #ISHPSSB2025

Feeling really ropey this morning, so grateful to be able to join the Classification panel remotely. Super first paper from George Alexandrou exploring classification of cell types, and it’ll be followed by two Matthews - Slater and Barker - on “norm-driven” classification #ISHPSSB2025 #philbio

A pleasure. Your paper stimulated some great discussion! Fascinated to see where the research leads.

A super, jam-packed first full day of #ISHPSSB2025! Rounding it off with a jaunt around Boavista to grab some food and a beer, including some lovely street art, evening sunshine, and squawking gulls overhead. (Spotted a very fine U. Porto stained glass window at our conference venue too!)

Muka: marine historical research is not separate from, but integral to, broader histories of the sciences and can reveal more about transnational political, social, geographical issues.

And now Sam Muka is up, discussing the somewhat thin historiography of marine science. What value is there in a sub-field which foregrounds marine science, in contrast to terrestrial histories of science? #ISHPSSB2025

And first up @elisj.bsky.social kicks us off. Do we need a philosophy of marine science? He starts with the sense that there is no such thing as “marine science”… Whatever we take this to mean by that, do we need a specific philosophical approach/approaches to it?

To finish off Day 1, a first “mini-plenary” on the history, philosophy and social studies of marine science aka. “Discovering the Sea”. Let’s dive in! #ISHPSSB2025

Kirsh: Scientists who worked there also spoke about their emotional connection to the desert, being moved “spiritually and intellectually” by the sacred nature of the space.

And, finally for this panel, Nurit Kirsh on Desert Exploration by the Hebrew University from 1927-67. Expeditions from this British-founded institution went out to collect, identify and classify. She argues: “systematic research dominated biology until WWII” #ISHPSSB2025

A 1930s sketch of an “artificial whale” (!!!) for extracting krill from the ocean! 🌊

Actually, Zi Yun’s paper is about eating plankton, and attempts to extract its nutritional value in the mid-C20. Still fascinating, with US and UK figures exploring its potential as a source of emergency sustenance, assessing breakdown of plankton’s nutritional composition (and taste!) #ISHPSSB2025

Up next, Zi Yun Huang, who is talking about “Tiny Lives that Float in Water: Historical Ontologies of Animalcule, Infusoria, and Plankton”. Love some vintage microbial terminology! #ISHPSSB2025

@merikatariina.bsky.social kicks off the next session on “Oceans and Deserts”. She starts with a great question: “what is a good life for an animal?” She’s interested in tensions between captivity and the wild. We’re going to be hearing about dolphins! #ISHPSSB2025

In “Concepts and Principles for the New Biology: Development, Disruption and Normalization”, some provocative questions about whether changes caused by disruption should inevitably be thought of as “negative” or a “loss”. Mix of historical, philosophical and experimental papers at #ISHPSSB2025

Excellent forward-planning! It is a delicious sandwich, but weighs heavy…

Superb. If it’s anything like the experience I had on Friday you might need a mid-afternoon nap…! Absolutely delicious, highly indulgent.