Now out: How did earthquakes come to have a (quantitative) size? How can we quantify without experimental control? @cristianlarph.bsky.social and I answer both questions and show their implications for human science measurement.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#philsci #histsci #seismology
Since Trump returned to office, the Education Department’s civil rights office has not resolved a single racial harassment investigation.
It sends a message that “people impacted by racial discrimination ... don’t matter,” one attorney said.
(Published Dec. 2025)
My linocut portrait of Gladys West with 3 satellites important to her career in indigo in from of world map with satellites tracks in blue.
#BlackHistoryMonth is a great time to celebrate #mathematician & #geodesist Gladys West (née Brown 1930-2026). Shown with 3 satellites important to her career + tracks: Seasat, GEOS-3 & a GPS satellite. 🧪🐡👩🏾🔬🧮⚒️ #histsci Her work using math to precisely model the shape of Earth laid groundwork for GPS!
Phi-Geo research group members Mason Majszak, Matt Brewer, Matilde Carrera, & Kailyn Smith seated around a table in a restaurant with snowy Boston street outside the window.
BU PHILOSOPHY OF THE GEOSCIENCES RESEARCH GROUP logo
Phi-Geo Research Group Lunar New Year lunch
bokulich.org/%cf%86-geo-g...
Rümeysa Öztürk got her PhD yesterday, roughly nine months after being released from ICE custody.
Dr. Rümeysa Öztürk!
“Historically, Black philosophical traditions emerged less from philosophy departments than from Black intellectual culture — churches, newspapers, political movements, labor struggles, and independent study.”
ABSTRACT. Although the urgency of our present environmental crises is not in doubt, claims that we are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction are highly controversial. Our aims here are, first, to shed philosophical light on this scientific debate—the many conceptual and methodological challenges involved in answering this scientific question—and, second, to offer new perspectives on what the value of asking this question has been, and if that value persists. We argue that a straightforward answer to the question of whether we are experiencing a mass extinction is undermined by the challenges in defining ‘mass extinction’, uncertainties in past and present diversity assessments, and data incommensurabilities. Further, an excessive focus on the mass extinction framing can be unhelpful to conservation efforts, leading us to miss out on the many other valuable insights that Earth’s deep time can offer in guiding our future.
From the latest issue:
Are We in a Sixth Mass Extinction? The Challenges of Answering and Value of Asking
– Federica Bocchi, Alisa Bokulich, Leticia Castillo Brache, Gloria Grand-Pierre & Aja Watkins
Abstract in alt text or read it here:
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
#philsci #philsky
Boston/Cambridge folks,
ICA is #free today.
Go see "Say It Loud"✊🏾
Founded in 1977 by artist, educator & activist Dana C. Chandler Jr., the African American Master Artists-in-Residence Program (AAMARP) at @northeasternu.bsky.social is one of oldest residency programs for Black artists in the U.S.
"This is not only about "data privatization." It is a struggle over who gets to know, in detail, how climate risks are distributed and changing—and therefore who gets to prepare, to profit, and to decide" #philsci 🧪
#MorganMade
Valerie Thomas invented the patented illusion transmitter, a 3D imaging technology.
She was one of only two women to graduate with a degree in physics from Morgan State University in 1964.
Working at NASA, she managed the development of the image processing system for Landsat, the first satellite to send multispectral images of the Earth from space.
Working at NASA, she managed the development of the image processing system for Landsat, the first satellite to send multispectral images of the Earth from space.
Valerie Thomas invented the patented illusion transmitter, a 3D imaging technology.
A strong advocate for science education, she has worked to expand opportunities in STEM for women and underrepresented students.
https://awis.org/historical-women/valerie-thomas/
#WomenInSTEM #BlackHistoryMonth
The idols of white empiricism
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Delighted to share the news that my wonderful #HPS colleague @miguelohn.bsky.social has been appointed the next Director of the BU Center for Philosophy & History of Science, beginning July 1st. Congrats Miguel!
www.bu.edu/cphs/about/
linocut portrait of Katherine Johnson in a upward gradient of raspberry to purple ink (she is a Black woman in a shirt dress, with pearls, glasses and a watch, holding a pencil, facing left with her arms out on an unseen table like she was writing, looking at the viewer over her right shoulder). Behind her on the right is the Project Mercury rocket with capsule and launch trajectory in black. Beside her on right is the Earth in blue with two images of the Moon in silver above to show the trajectory for the Apollo Lunar Module.
#BlackHistoryMonth is a great time to celebrate mathematician and NASA scientist Katherine Johnson (née Coleman; 1918 – 2020). 🧪🐡👩🏾🔬🧮🎢 #histsci One of the first Black women employed as a NASA scientist (and its predecessor NACA), she was known for her mastery of complex manual calculations of orbital
Ernest Everett Just (1883–1941) was a Black American biologist who researched marine invertebrate reproduction, including sea urchins, marine worms, and sand dollars. #marinebiology #blackhistory #histsci #blackhistorymonth
Jordon King was told "no" 40 times looking for a professor to mentor him. Now he's researching the Everglades, inspiring thousands on social media, and showing young people that scientists don't all look the same. When barriers try to stop us, we break through them anyway.
This is the month and year to capitalize that B when referring to Black persons or populations or people. And for those in the back….. we do not say “Blacks” EVER #Blacksky #BHM365
Happy Black History Month!
GPS pioneer and mathematician Gladys West has died. She was 95.
After 56 years, Indiana University is canceling the MLK dinner hosted by their Black Student Union.
"The university’s Committee on Academic Freedom, Responsibility and Tenure voted 8-0 that Texas A&M 'had no justification for dismissing' McCoul and 'failed to follow required procedures at multiple stages,' according to a Sunday statement from the Texas A&M chapter of the AAUP."
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Texas A&M decided to publicly cancel my Ethics class, and share a false statement that I declined to provide information, which made it impossible for [them ] to request an exemption. See for yourself, if this statement is true.
They are getting creative!
further statement from Dr. Leonard Bright
More on the sudden and unexpected cancellation of Dr. Leonard Bright's class...
@adamlmahoney.bsky.social and @capitalb.bsky.social have consistently been doing some of the best reporting on data centers and environmental racism, btw. If you want to support independent journalism, throw them a couple of dollars if you can
Kids Can Press company logo and logo and image of Franklin character with statement text,”Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity. We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly contradicts these values.”
Thank you!
Thinking about Octavia Butler’s mantra “so be it. See to it.”
