Brilliant opportunity to work in a fascinating and important role at @girtoncollege.bsky.social!
Historian of science || Admissions Tutor at Girton College, University of Cambridge || Singer, sailor, runner, father || "Always generous" – The New Yorker
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Brilliant opportunity to work in a fascinating and important role at @girtoncollege.bsky.social!
New podcast episode with the fascinating @sebfalk.com explaining how people in the Middle Ages knew a lot more than we give them credit for shows.acast.com/willy-willy-...
Thanks for the opportunity! JDN mostly wrote for academic audiences, but he was a regular contributor to @thetls.bsky.social & his reviews there are often worth reading. His "God's Clockmaker" is great. Enjoy The Big Hop! I certainly did.
…and this one’s out too: «So, Who Killed the Elephant?» Tracing African-European Entanglements in the ‘Global Middle Ages’! An essay adaptation of my 2023 @imc-leeds.bsky.social keynote — two case studies, four thoughts on how we might move forward in telling more global medieval (hi)stories.
@bookscribbler.bsky.social's "Media and the Mind" is a great book!
I had great fun thinking through these questions. (I love writing, but am not sure I'm very good at reading!) Always interested to hear other people's answers to these things!
Our exhibition, Curious Cures, is closed today (21 July). The Conservation team will spend the day checking the manuscripts and will do a page turn to protect them. This gives you the perfect excuse to come back and see what's new! Book your FREE tickets: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY
Some highlights from a brilliant access-all-areas tour of Durham Castle, courtesy of @durhammemsa.bsky.social Chair @charrathompson.bsky.social. Wish me luck with my keynote this morning!
Shocking that #BBCRadio4 #Today runs a long piece on ransomware attacks (incl discussion of M&S, Co-op etc) & DOESNT ONCE MENTION THAT A KEY PIECE OF NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE, the @britishlibrary.bsky.social, is still suffering after-effects from a cyber-attack in *2023* www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Shaimaa has a scholarship to do a PhD on Palestinian literature with me at @uoe-llc.bsky.social, but she's stuck in Gaza because the foreign office won't help. Please share. www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...
#Openaccess ftƿ!
Thanks!
Ah but that's because my co-author is called James Wade! Confusing, I know...
Nice write-up of The Song of Wade in @cnn.com Highlight has to be my co-author deploying the classic teacher response to a wacky student suggestion when asked if he might be related to a fictional character 😁 edition.cnn.com/2025/07/18/s...
So it's possible he left the family behind in Basra when he went to Egypt...?
Ah thanks!
Oh I'm not making any claim at all. I'm just saying that if we have a problem with him both having a son-in-law & living an ascetic lifestyle later in life, that may be our problem, not his
Yeah that might be a caricature... but it's always hard to judge what sort of character & relationships anyone might have had 1000 years ago, especially when (like almost everyone) we really know rather little about him. What's to stop an Erdös having a wife & children in 10th-century Basra?
Just found them on my hard drive! I knew I'd gotten them from somewhere...
FWIW, here's Sabra's article in the DSB. Of course even if we assume he was a loyal husband & father, lots of things could have happened that meant he didn't have a wife/daughter by his later life...
Ah yes, there he is!
I'm sure you're right. I only had time to photograph the pages, not actually read them carefully!
Where do you get the son-in-law info from? I have to admit I've not heard that before. Since I was passing my departmental library with a few mins to spare, here are some pages from Sabra's 1989 edition of the Optics
Or Nader el-Bizri
I can't remember anything from my reading of the Optics – & to be honest I'd be surprised if we know anything as the sources are so limited (of course, for the vast majority of people in that period we know nothing at all). The expert on this stuff is Mark Smith (history.missouri.edu/people/smith)
Hurrah - including a @girtoncollege.bsky.social Fellow too!
I could recommend one or two Middle English coaches... but I'm assuming they'll want some Anglo-Norman French too?
If it's 13th-century wolves you're after... www.cam.ac.uk/stories/song...
Wow, it seems 13th-century wolves are hot right now!
Some Latin, some Anglo-Norman French, some Middle English. Bring it on!
If you prefer it in thread form: bsky.app/profile/karl...
I've only done this once before but I guess I'd say: think about why you've been invited & what the organisers might hope you'll bring— & the angle between what you're known for & the theme of the conference. Is there a research methodology that's second-nature to you & might be fruitful for others?
Will do! And OK, I guess I should have a go at replying myself too...
This is a really great write-up of the Song of Wade in @404media.co www.404media.co/the-800-year... Thanks for your interest and meticulous reporting @beckyferreira.bsky.social !
Almost as satisfying as seeing an article I've co-written finally published: reading a brilliant blogpost -- by a scholar I hugely admire -- responding to our article & building on it really creatively 😍 Thank you @karlsteel.bsky.social! medievalkarl.com/general-cult...
Some useful replies to this -- and very well timed for the plenary I'm giving on Monday!
Always
This is a fun discovery, and congrats to Wade and Falk for it! I'm of course interested most of all in Alexander Neckam's calling Adam (the fella from Eden) "as if non-human" 1/6
I worked this up in to a blog post medievalkarl.com/general-cult... #medievalsky
This is great, thanks for sharing! We were of course influenced by your brilliant "How to Make a Human" (hopefully we cited it as appropriate!)
I didn't pay John* to say this (but I once brought a bag of treats for his dog, which is probably the best thing I've ever done for anyone) *the nicest man in early modern history, in case you were in any doubt
Ah that's very sweet! (might have to update my bio) And thanks for sharing 🥰
Nice to see the Song of Wade featured in the newspapers! I'm happy to be an "academic sleuth" – but I'm not a "scientist". *Humanities scholars can make discoveries too!*
If you caught me & James Wade (no relation) in the newspapers or on the radio & were wondering where's the real academic article, wonder no longer! Here it is, complete with the full transcription & translation so you can decide for yourself what it's all about academic.oup.com/res/advance-...
Scribes are human too. And let's be honest: who among us hasn't confused wynn [ƿ] with [y]? Well done, @sebfalk.com! www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/w...
Thank you! The article has now been published and is available on the RES website, so everyone can read the fragment in context & decide for themselves! (Or just recite the sermon & consider which animal they are...) academic.oup.com/res/advance-...
If you caught me & James Wade (no relation) in the newspapers or on the radio & were wondering where's the real academic article, wonder no longer! Here it is, complete with the full transcription & translation so you can decide for yourself what it's all about academic.oup.com/res/advance-...
Thanks! The sermon context is the main thing: references immediately following to different kinds of snakes made it seem more likely to us. The article is (belatedly) online now: academic.oup.com/res/advance-.... Full transcription and translation at the end.
Thank you Markus! (I'm glad I wasn't needed for the Chancellor election today, as my day ended up rather busy with all this...)
Thank you!
Thank you!
Thanks!
Thank you!
Great! All credit to Tom Almeroth-Williams in the @cam.ac.uk Comms Team for getting the media to pay attention
They don't call him the Vice Mistress of @girtoncollege.bsky.social for nothing
Can confirm
Thanks so much for your thoughtful reporting of this!
Medieval preacher invoked chivalric hero as a meme in sermon. "This is very early evidence of a preacher weaving pop culture into a sermon to keep his audience hooked." It also resolves a long-standing Chaucerian mystery. arstechnica.com/science/2025...
After 130 years, Cambridge #scholars have decoded a Chaucerian mystery – the frequently referenced Song of Wade was not a monster-filled epic but a chivalric romance. Drs James Wade and @sebfalk.com from @girtoncollege.bsky.social reveal all: www.cam.ac.uk/stories/song... #Latin #English
To quote the scholar (R.M. Wilson) who looked into that, "impossible to say." In fact there's very little that can be said with any certainty about this legend (including even whether Hildebrand really was the father of Wade)
It’s even made @arstechnica.com arstechnica.com/science/2025...
Starting a few seconds before 7:45 Now I know what you go through to get to work most mornings... 🥱
Ah so kind! Totally nerve-wracking, but luckily the Thought for the Day speaker was very gracious about my dig at preachers trying to be hip by referencing pop culture
I'm so thrilled to have this published! Starting from a chat over lunch at @girtoncollege.bsky.social, James Wade & I chipped away at this & have made some fascinating discoveries. The actual article should be published later today. In the meantime, more here: www.cam.ac.uk/stories/song...
Thank you!
Thanks Julia. Glad you caught my deer in the headlights moment...
Ah thanks! Yes, article should be published today: doi.org/10.1093/res/.... In the meantime, there's this (and a bit of other media coverage) www.cam.ac.uk/stories/song...
Struggling to find words...
Fascinating account of how the cracking of a mysterious lost language is leading to other discoveries.
Top marks to @paullay.bsky.social for suggesting putting Bede on a bank note.
Another decent day in NW8. A lot of nerves & edges on the way to 42-2. Anyone else here? #ENGvIND
Fair point. Not like me to overthink things and overestimate everyone else's propensity to do the same... 🤔
Doesn't everyone know this? I have no idea how I knew it Always shorten the link as far as possible – & if in doubt, give it a quick test to check it still works – before you share it
Lovely day to be at the cricket. Any other Skystorians here? #ENGvIND
There are three types of library users: the absent-minded dreamer (1), the busy and silent reader (2), and the one looking at the other two types (3). Which one are you? #bookhistory #skystorians
Seems like some folks are dismissing Bluesky today. Counterpoint: yesterday @stephenaj.bsky.social asked a question that, because @sebfalk.com replied, came to my feed and inspired a fun, nerdy, discussion about the Roman numeral for 40. We'd never met before. This is what we call "collaboration".
Paging #medieval #palaeography for an unfamiliar abbreviation of XL on an astrolabe at Merton College Oxford. Does this ring any bells in terms of date or place for @sebfalk.com or @eleonoraandriani.bsky.social? Or anyone else you can think of? (There’s nothing obvious in Cappelli online.) 1/3
Nope, it's new to me too! It almost seems to evolve even in the course of those five instances
Cliff!
I'm sure – I was mostly being silly! I've heard nothing but great things about it and hope to get around to it soon!
Thanks. Not sure whether a book about the ruthless brutal lust for power is what I need on holiday (I get enough of that at work)
I endorse the idea of prioritising pleasure in holiday reading. But what about non-fiction? What would be your non-fiction beach reads (or re-reads)? www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
Hmm it reminds me slightly of Ptolemaic equinoctial rings (see e.g. doi.org/10.1093/acpr...) but really hard to say with so little detail. Certainly the 5 divisions don't relate to anything in astronomy that I can think of (there were 7 planets, of course).
Hope you enjoy it! I can't promise planes though (unless you count Eilmer of Malmesbury) Well I suppose there is the plane of the horizon, the plane of the equator etc... oh no do I have Too Much Planes too?? 😱
Interesting! I've not read that one of hers. You might like the Norman book if you want more of that sort of thing
Thanks for writing a brilliant book! (I've no idea why it says "Sopwith Atlantic", by the way – that somehow snuck in after the proof I reviewed...)
Well @sebfalk.com is a bloody gent, that's all I can say
My review of two new books about early flight is now out in @thetls.bsky.social! As you can tell, I liked one of them more than the other... Online version via tinyurl.com/falk-TLS-flight
My review of two new books about early flight is now out in @thetls.bsky.social! As you can tell, I liked one of them more than the other... Online version via tinyurl.com/falk-TLS-flight
It worked!
Thanks. I heard (not sure where this was from) that they were trying to get a headstart on next term's inspections this term in order to lessen the rush...
Classic lunchtime in late June confidently anticipating an England batting collapse #ENGvIND
Interesting. Will there be inspections under the old framework next term? (And if not are they cramming in as many as they can in the remainder of this term?)
Glad you're enjoying it!
Sent the kids out. Next time I'll put a soundtrack on
A short thread starting from the published version of this piece on astrolabes, astrology and their digital representation and capture. “Starting from” rather than simply “restating” the article’s main points because it wasn’t intended to be the last word on its topic. (1/7)
"To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of government*; they make a wasteland and call it peace." *we usually translate 'imperium' as 'empire' for various reasons but it is worth remembering that in ancient Rome it meant a type of official, legally defined, government authority.
This was good! They didn't use ALL the recordings of me moaning about Swansea's infrastructure, but the programme firmly concluded we need environments that make cycling easy and make driving harder Can't think HOW they reached that conclusion 😇
Re-read it for the first time in 25 years recently. It is just so good! (The sequels fall off though, even for a cricket-lover like me)
