The next glimpse of The Elizabeths, a collection of ministories about and by historians of the elemental world who never existed but should have, is now up on the site. You can find this third little history by Elizabeth Sanders, a historian of liquids, by heading over to “The History of Perfume.” For more on the project, check this out. Continue reading The History of Perfume: A Little Story
Nicole Starosielski’s new book brings an environmental and ecological consciousness to the study of digital media and digital systems, and it is a must-read. The Undersea Network (Duke University Press, 2015) looks carefully and imaginatively at the geography of undersea cable networks, paying special attention to the materiality of network infrastructure and its relationships with the histories of the Pacific. The book revises what we think we know … Continue reading The Undersea Network: An Interview
Shellen Wu’s new book is a fascinating and timely contribution to the histories of China, science, technology, and the modern world. Empires of Coal: Fueling China’s Entry into the Modern World Order, 1860-1920 (Stanford University Press, 2015) brings readers into the nineteenth century industrialization of China, when coal became the “fuel of a ‘new’ imperialism.” Wu’s book asks how China came to matter in a new modern world … Continue reading Empires of Coal: An Interview
I’ve just posted the next wee peek at The Elizabeths, a collection of little stories about and by historians of the elemental world who never existed but should have. You can find this second little history by Elizabeth Sanders, a historian of liquids, by heading over to “The History of Sweat.” For more on the project, check this out. Continue reading The History of Sweat: A Little Story
I’ve just posted the first little glimpse from The Elizabeths, a collection of little stories about and by historians of the elemental world who never existed but should have. You can find the first little history by Elizabeth Sanders, a historian of liquids, by heading over to “The History of Dew.” For more on the project, check this out. Continue reading The History of Dew: A Little Story
There’s a new storypost up at “Reading Notes: The Intertwining – The Chiasm”: this is the first in what will be a series of origin stories for color-constellations. Check out the new story by clicking the link (in red) embedded below for “with which it forms a constellation.” There you’ll find a link to the first constellation, “Bailey’s Moonburn.” “And, now that I have fixed it, if … Continue reading with which it forms a constellation
Paul A. Christensen’s new book is a thoughtful ethnography of drinking, drunkenness, and male sociability in modern urban Japan. Focusing on two major alcohol sobriety support groups in Japan, Alcoholics Anonymous and Danshukai, Japan, Alcoholism, and Masculinity: Suffering Sobriety in Tokyo (Lexington Books, 2014) explores the ways that admitting to and living with alcoholism in Japan challenges prevailing norms of masculinity and sociability, and looks carefully at its … Continue reading Japan, Alcoholism, and Masculinity: An Interview
Drugs exist that are meant to help people feel better. The doctors who prescribe them might believe that they work, while their patients do not. In explaining the drugs to their patients, should those doctors use the medical terminology they themselves use – which might not be immediately understandable to their patients – or should they translate the description into terms more comfortable and familiar … Continue reading Eating Drugs: An Interview
Sarah Franklin’s new book is an exceptionally rich, focused yet wide-ranging, insightful account of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the worlds that it creates and inhabits. Biological Relatives: IVF, Stem Cells, and the Future of Kinship (Duke University Press, 2013) treats IVF as a looking-glass in which can see not only ourselves, but also transformations in modern notions of biology, technology, and kinship. In addition to a … Continue reading Biological Relatives: An Interview
The pages of Matthew C. Hunter’s wonderful new book are full of paper fish, comets, sleepy-eyed gazes, drunk ants, and a cast full of fascinating (and sometimes hilarious) members of the experimental community of Restoration London. Wicked Intelligence: Visual Art and the Science of Experiment in Restoration London (University of Chicago Press, 2013) maps the visual traces of drawing, collecting, and building practices between 1650 and 1720 to … Continue reading Wicked Intelligence: An Interview
Carla Nappi 