Recreating lemon biskeats

This semester my Women and Medicine class (HSCI 3243) is working on manuscript recipe books written by early modern English women, a project I’ve blogged about before (see here and here). Many of my students are planning to recreate culinary recipes from these books, so I was inspired to try one myself, both because IContinue reading “Recreating lemon biskeats”

Early modern English Food

This semester in History of Science to the Age of Newton (HSCI 3013), students worked in groups to research and recreate seven different foods that were eaten (or drunk) by English men and women in the 16th and 17th centuries: chocolate, pumpkin pie, rice pudding, ginger bread, marmalade, syllabub and coffee. The point of thisContinue reading “Early modern English Food”

Sewing in the classroom

When I discovered that the University of Oklahoma’s Fabrication Laboratory had an embroidery machine (an Entrepreneur Pro X PR1050X 10-Needle Home Embroidery Machine, to be precise), I immediately started scheming about how to use this in my history of science from antiquity to Newton survey. Earlier in the semester, I had students in this classContinue reading “Sewing in the classroom”

Thirty early modern women in science

For Women’s History month, I tweeted about a different early modern woman in science every day. Here’s a storify of those tweets. I thought it might be useful, in the longer format of a blog post, to provide some references for those wishing to find out more about these women. This is not intended asContinue reading “Thirty early modern women in science”

Aristotle in Hypertext

One of my favorite moments in teaching the history of science are the days when we discuss an assigned reading by Aristotle, and half the students are looking through the text on their phones. I love the juxtaposition of ancient text and modern technology. This experience got me thinking about how students today, or maybeContinue reading “Aristotle in Hypertext”

Indigenous Knowledge & the Scientific Revolution

In August of 2015, the Galileo’s World exhibit opened at the University of Oklahoma.  The exhibit highlights the University’s outstanding collection of rare scientific texts, including every book Galileo ever published (and two that include writing in his own hand), as well as the works of many of his predecessors, contemporaries and followers. The exhibitContinue reading “Indigenous Knowledge & the Scientific Revolution”

Anatomy and Wikipedia

This semester in my HSCI 3013 class (History of Science to the Age of Newton), I tried a new type of assignment: I asked students to edit Wikipedia articles. I got most of my inspiration and technical assistance for this project from my colleague Dr. John Stewart. Dr. Stewart has done projects like this inContinue reading “Anatomy and Wikipedia”

Cooking in the Classroom; or, how to make a Hedge Hogg

This semester I tried a new type of assignment in my HSCI 3013 class. I had students transcribe and analyze recipes from an early modern English manuscript recipe book held by and digitized by the Wellcome Library in London.  You can find the catalog record, and link to the digital version of MS 8097 here.  According to theContinue reading “Cooking in the Classroom; or, how to make a Hedge Hogg”