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Whipple Library

Department of History and Philosophy of Science
 
Read more at: 200 years of Scientific Publishing at the Cambridge Philosophical Society

200 years of Scientific Publishing at the Cambridge Philosophical Society

Advanced Research Fellow Dr Edwin Rose examines 200 years of Scientific Publishing at the Cambridge Philosophical Society. Click here to see this content in accessibility view , with full keyboard functionality and screen reader support. Alternatively, click the ellipsis menu below and select '...


Read more at: Discovering Past Readers

Discovering Past Readers

2022-23 MPhil student Eleanor Brittain looks at markings left by readers in Whipple Collection books Click here to see this content in accessibility view , with full keyboard functionality and screen reader support. Alternatively, click the ellipsis menu below and select 'accessibility view'.


Read more at: Learning that Incomparable Art in The Most Famous & Ancient Metropolis

Learning that Incomparable Art in The Most Famous & Ancient Metropolis

Zhiyu Chen, MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine student (2022-23), outlines the remarkable growth in the mathematical sciences in England, and how this development was reflected in London.


Read more at: Prohibition of Science: Banned Books and the Index Librorum Prohibitorum
Prohibition of Science: or, Banned Books and the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Being a New Display in the Whipple Library

Prohibition of Science: Banned Books and the Index Librorum Prohibitorum

Raphaëlle Goyeau, former library assistant (2021-2022) presents a selection of Banned Books in a new exhibition at the Whipple Library.


Read more at: Beets, Beets, Beets: Cambridge and the Rise of British Sugar Beet

Beets, Beets, Beets: Cambridge and the Rise of British Sugar Beet

Mark Chih-Wei Liang (MPhil in Health, Medicine and Society, 2021-22) presents the story of British sugar beet in a new exhibition at the Whipple Library.


Read more at: The Magic Lantern in Europe: From the Camera Obscura to the Earliest form of Cinema
Magic lantern image and title "The Magic Lantern: From the Camera Obscura to the Earliest form of Cinema" by Raphaëlle Goyeau

The Magic Lantern in Europe: From the Camera Obscura to the Earliest form of Cinema

Magic Lantern exhibition by Raphaëlle Goyeau, November 2021.


Read more at: Kelvin: More than just a unit of temperature
Glasgow University viewed from across the river Kelvin (black and white)

Kelvin: More than just a unit of temperature

Incoming HPS Part II student Heather Rowland explores the life and work of Sir William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907).


Read more at: A Bird's Eye View: Highlights from the History of British Ornithology in the Whipple Collection
The head of an ostrich and two owls sitting on a branch. Engravings.

A Bird's Eye View: Highlights from the History of British Ornithology in the Whipple Collection

Andrew Lorey shares highlights from the history of British ornithology in the Whipple Collection.


Read more at: Three Research Journeys
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Three Research Journeys

Former HPS MPhil students discuss research they undertook using books and objects from the Whipple Library, Whipple Museum and beyond.


Read more at: Conflicting Chronologies
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Conflicting Chronologies

Meira Gold explores some of the nineteenth century texts that debated the age, origin and development of early Egyptian civilisation and illuminates how Egyptian materials and labour informed these cross-disciplinary disputes.


Read more at: Curating the Chemical Elements
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Curating the Chemical Elements

In advance of the 150th anniversary of Mendeleev's publication of the periodic table, Karoliina Pulkkinen explores alternative ways in which the elements have been organised.


Read more at: Personifying Plague
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Personifying Plague

Exploring the ways plague has been imagined in the West, from the early modern to the present day.


Read more at: Marginalia
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Marginalia

A selection of books that have been annotated by readers both known and unknown


Read more at: Exploring Deep History
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Exploring Deep History

Exploring the history of geology, inspired by a donation to the Library by Professor Martin Rudwick.


Read more at: Staging the History of Science
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Staging the History of Science

Exploring theatrical representations of three major themes in the history of science.


Read more at: "...it is not difficult to define a BIRD. It is the only living animal which is clothed with feathers."
Woodpecker clinging to a pole

"...it is not difficult to define a BIRD. It is the only living animal which is clothed with feathers."

Exhibition featuring a selection of British Museum postcards and bird related books.


Read more at: Writing Science: Interpreters, educators, scholars
Margaret Bryan seated, with her children and various astronomical instruments

Writing Science: Interpreters, educators, scholars

Featuring material on a wide range of topics by women who were scholars, educators and interpreters of scientific information from the mid 18th to the early 20th centuries.


Read more at: The Leg Bone's Connected to the Knee Bone
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The Leg Bone's Connected to the Knee Bone

Exploring anatomy books in the collections.


Read more at: Books from the Collection of Sir George Howard Darwin
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Books from the Collection of Sir George Howard Darwin

Featuring items once owned by George Darwin, son of Charles, and related books in the Whipple’s collections.


Read more at: Colour Science
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Colour Science

Exploring the history of colour science as represented in the Whipple collections.


Read more at: Microscopy in Print: Books from the collection of Gerard L'Estrange Turner
Cover of M.C. Cooke's "One Thousand Objects for the Microscope"

Microscopy in Print: Books from the collection of Gerard L'Estrange Turner

Exhibiting material donated to the Whipple Library from Gerard L’Estrange Turner’s collection of microscope books.


Read more at: Exhibitions Archive

Exhibitions Archive

A selection of exhibitions prior to 2015.


Opening hours

Monday - Friday

09:15 - 19:00