This leading international journal publishes scholarly papers and review articles on all aspects of the history of science. History of science is interpreted widely to include medicine, technology and social studies of science. BJHS papers make important and lively contributions to scholarship and the journal has been an essential library resource for more than thirty years. It is also used extensively by historians and scholars in related fields. A substantial book review section is a central feature. There are four issues a year, comprising an annual volume of over 600 pages.
Research articles
The place of Edward Gresham's Astrostereon (1603) in the discussion on cosmology and the Bible in the early modern period BARBARA BIENIAS The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 417–442 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000345 Published Online on 1 October 2020
‘An attempt to trace illusions to their physical causes’: atmospheric mirages and the performance of their demystification in the 1820s and 1830s FIONA AMERY The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 443–467 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000369 Published Online on 1 October 2020
Voyaging towards the future: the brig Rurik in the North Pacific and the emerging science of the sea ALEXANDRA BEKASOVA The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 469–495 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000448 Published Online on 1 December 2020
Natural history in the physician's study: Jan Swammerdam (1637–1680), Steven Blankaart (1650–1705) and the ‘paperwork’ of observing insects SASKIA KLERK The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 497–525 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000436 Published Online on 29 October 2020
The ciné-biologists: natural history film and the co-production of knowledge in interwar Britain MAX LONG The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 527–551 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000370 Published Online on 14 October 2020
Forum: New Perspectives
Two BSHS online alternatives to conventional conferences TIM BOON, CHARLOTTE SLEIGH The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 553–554 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000473 Published Online on 18 November 2020
‘Research sharing’ using social media: online conferencing and the experience of #BSHSGlobalHist JEMMA HOUGHTON, ALEXANDER LONGWORTH-DUNBAR, NICOLA SUGDEN The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 555–573 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000485 Published Online on 1 December 2020
Innovation in a crisis: rethinking conferences and scholarship in a pandemic and climate emergency SAM ROBINSON, MEGAN BAUMHAMMER, LEA BEIERMANN, DANIEL BELTEKI, AMY C. CHAMBERS, KELCEY GIBBONS, EDWARD GUIMONT, KATHRYN HEFFNER, EMMA-LOUISE HILL, JEMMA HOUGHTON, DANIELLA MCCAHEY, SARAH QIDWAI, CHARLOTTE SLEIGH, NICOLA SUGDEN, JAMES SUMNER The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 575–590 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000497 Published Online on 18 November 2020
Book reviews
Erika Lorraine Milam, Creatures of Cain: The Hunt for Human Nature in Cold War America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019. Pp. 408. ISBN 978-0-6911-8188-2. $29.95 (hardcover). Matthew R. Goodrum The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 591–593 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000503 Published Online on 13 January 2021
Sabine Clarke, Science at the End of Empire: Experts and the Development of the British Caribbean, 1940–62. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2018. Pp. 224. ISBN 978-1-5261-3138-6. £80.00 (hardback). Sandip Kana The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 593–594 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000515 Published Online on 13 January 2021
Ben Marsh, Unravelled Dreams: Silk and the Atlantic World, 1500–1840. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Pp. xiv + 487. ISBN 978-1-1084-1828-7. £29.99 (hardback). Patricia Fara The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 594–596 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000527 Published Online on 13 January 2021
Wendy Gonaver , The Peculiar Institution and the Making of Modern Psychiatry, 1840–1880. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019. ISBN 978-1-4696-4844-6. $32.95 (paperback). Christopher M. Blakley The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 596–597 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000539 Published Online on 13 January 2021
Michael D. Barton, Janet Browne, Ken Corbett and Norman McMillan (eds.), The Correspondence of John Tyndall, vol. 6: The Correspondence, November 1856–February 1859. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018. Pp. lviii + 537. ISBN 978-0-8229-4533-8. $125.00. (hardback). William H. Brock The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 598–599 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000540 Published Online on 13 January 2021
Sergei Belyakov , Liquidator: The Chernobyl Story. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2019. Pp. 188. ISBN 978-9-8132-2868-9. £25.00 (paperback). Joshua McMullan The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 599–600 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000552 Published Online on 13 January 2021
Chris Thorogood and Simon Hiscock, The Botany of Gin. Oxford: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 2020. Pp. 102. ISBN 978-1-8512-4553-6. £15.00 (hardback). Wythe Marschall The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 600–602 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000564 Published Online on 13 January 2021
Kerri Andrews, Wanderers: A History of Women Walking. London: Reaktion Books, 2020. Pp. 303. ISBN 978-1-7891-4342-3. £14.99 (hardback). Roger Smith The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 602–603 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000576 Published Online on 13 January 2021
Roger D. Launius, Reaching for the Moon: A Short History of the Space Race. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2019. Pp. 256. ISBN 978-0-3002-3046-8. $30.00 (hardback). Osnat Katz The British Journal for the History of Science, Volume 53 / Issue 4, December 2020, pp 603–604 doi: 10.1017/S0007087420000588 Published Online on 13 January 2021