Support Our Mission - A Peek at the Peak Magazine
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December is a month for taking stock of the year that’s ending and looking forward to the year ahead. As we head into the final month of 2020, plans are well underway for next year’s activities—whether they are virtual, in person, or a combination of both. Tomorrow is #GivingTuesday, and we hope you’ll consider making a donation to help us continue creating content and presenting programs that tell the stories of science. Later this week we conclude our three- part series, Deciphering the Past: Transcription Hour, with a look back at the minutes from an American Philosophical Society meeting held in 1780. Support Our Mission Join us tomorrow—December 1, 2020—for #GivingTuesday, a day when nonprofits all over the world take to social media to encourage people to pause in their holiday shopping and give back to their favorite causes. Understanding the impact of science in our daily lives has never been more important. That’s why the Science History Institute is committed to creating content that adds perspective to our current
events by exploring the intersection of science and society. Help us continue our work by making a GivingTuesday donation now. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to read and share your favorite stories of science using the hashtag #GivingTuesday. Virtual Programs & Events Lunchtime Lecture Series Mining Language: Racial Thinking, Indigenous Knowledge, and Colonial Metallurgy in the Early Modern Iberian World Wednesday, December 2, 2020 Watch on YouTube 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m. EST Allison Bigelow, the Tom Scully Discovery Chair Associate Professor of Spanish in the department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese at the University of Virginia, presents this week’s virtual Lunchtime Lecture. Using visual analysis, historical linguistics, and translation case studies, Bigelow’s talk will outline methods of documenting indigenous knowledge production in the gold and silver industries of the 16th-century Caribbean and the 17th-century Andes.
Detail of APS meeting minutes dated June 16, 1780. American Philosophical Society Deciphering the Past: Transcription Hour Thursday, December 3, 2020 Register Now 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m. EST The Science History Institute and the American Philosophical Society (APS) invite you to join us online for part three of our three-part workshop series on deciphering historical documents throughout time. APS fellow Julie Fisher leads our final session, where we’ll learn all about the APS—the oldest learned society in the United States—and its mission of “promoting useful knowledge.” Join us as we transcribe a page of minutes taken at an APS meeting held in 1780. Lunchtime Lecture Series Shadows of Whiteness: Colonialism, Nationalism, and Racial Sciences in the Middle East Wednesday, December 9, 2020 Watch on YouTube 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m. EST Elise K. Burton, a historian of the life sciences in the modern Middle East, presents our next virtual Lunchtime Lecture. Burton will
discuss her forthcoming book, Genetic Crossroads: The Middle East and the Science of Human Heredity, set for release in January 2021 from Stanford University Press. Distillations Immunization record Fads and Faith: Belief vs. Fact in the Struggle for Health We explore how faith, a desire for easy answers, and a lack of trust in medical science shape two modern trends. Listen to the podcast >> Making Gemstones How hard can it be to make a gemstone? Plenty hard. People have been trying for almost 2,000 years, but success finally beckoned in 19th-century France. Read the article >>
Scientist Spotlight Line engraving of Antoine Lavoisier by Louis Jean Desire Delaistre, after a design by Julien Leopold Boilly. Blocker History of Medicine Collections, Moody Medical Library, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier Considered the “father of modern chemistry,” Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) played a key role in the promotion of the Chemical Revolution in the 18th century. He was a meticulous experimenter who established the law of conservation of mass, determined that combustion and respiration are caused by chemical reactions with what he named “oxygen,” and helped systematize chemical nomenclature, among many other accomplishments. The Institute’s biennial Franklin-Lavoisier Prize bears his name. Read Lavoisier’s biography >> Stay Connected Visit sciencehistory.org/learn and discover the stories of science. Resources and activities include virtual exhibitions, role-playing games for students, and Zoom backgrounds to download for your next online meeting. Comments, suggestions, or questions? Contact
us at enews@sciencehistory.org. Science History Institute | 315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
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