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Charlotte Abney

@abney.bsky.social

Historian of chemistry, technology, Sweden; director of fellowships at the Science History Institute & teaching at Penn & writing about rare earths

106 Posts618 Follower 502 Folgt

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 3w ago

I would immediately be quite simply a liability the moment I set foot on the floor of the specialty CNC machine shop that makes, among other things, giant pieces of scenery for Broadway shows

Bethany Albertson@albertsonb2.bsky.social · 3w ago

Thought experiment- if you were suddenly appointed to do your sibling’s job, how badly would you suck at it?

Shannon K. Supple @mazarine.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Research fellowships at Yale’s Beinecke Library! 📜📚 First: Short-term Research Fellowship (2027-2028) For anyone not a student. (Students: see next post.) Application deadline is August 15, 2026. beinecke.library.yale.edu/programs/fel...

Short-term Research Fellowships

beinecke.library.yale.edu

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 4w ago

After last week’s run of 105*F days in Philly, I’m truly enjoying this morning in Scotland, the home of sweater weather. These are my ideal outdoor conditions (63*F and a gothic fog-mist situation).

A quiet Edinburgh side street with stone buildings and very limited visibility due to misty fog

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Registration is now open for our summer symposium, “The Global History of Modern Science, 1400-1914” Join us at @sciencehistory.org in Philadelphia on August 6 & 7 to discuss how modern science has been shaped through global cultural exchange! www.sciencehistory.org/cainconference

The Global History of Modern Science, 1400–1914

The 2026 Cain Conference will address the major issues involved in understanding how modern science has been created through a process of global cultural exchange.

sciencehistory.org

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · last mo.

🚨 The CHSTM is offering 13(!!) new dissertation completion fellowships! Each provides $15k for three months of research for PhD candidates at US schools. Residence at SHI is optional, but comes with a place in our research community also - we’d be delighted to welcome any fellows! More info here:

New Dissertation Completion Fellowships | Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine

chstm.org

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Philly residents to get free admission to the Barnes and Calder Gardens in July

It's America's birthday and you're getting gifts as the Barnes Foundation and Calder Gardens will offer free admission for Philly residents in July.

nbcphiladelphia.com

Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Calling all PhDs and ECRs who work on the history of material and visual culture of science - the Nuncius Essay Prize for 2026 is open for submissions until 31 August. Details here: brill.com/fileasset/do... #histSTM

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 2mo ago

🚨 There's an s today! 🚨 🐝

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The Global History of Modern Science, 1400–1914

The 2026 Cain Conference will address the major issues involved in understanding how modern science has been created through a process of global cultural exchange.

sciencehistory.org

EuChemS Division of History of Chemistry @euchems-histchem.bsky.social · 3mo ago

📝 Call for Papers: Fall Meeting of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry, 5-6 November 2026 at the Deutches Museum ⏰ Submissions due 31 May! www.ambix.org/shac-autumn-...

SHAC Autumn Meeting 2026 – Call for Papers - Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry

5 and 6 November 2026 at the Deutsches Museum, Munich, https://www.deutsches-museum.de/en SHAC is delighted to announce that its next meeting will take place at the Deutsches Museum, Munich. Following...

ambix.org

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 4mo ago

My work on the discovery of yttrium is finally out in the world! 😭

The first page of a chapter written by me, entitled
FINDING YTTRIUM: JOHAN GADOLIN AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DISCOVERY
doi.org/10.1142/9789819813858_0002

The cover of the new book Discovering the Elements: No Simple Stories, edited by Brigitte van Tiggelen and Annette Lykknes

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 4mo ago

My work on the discovery of yttrium is finally out in the world! 😭

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The APS is seeking applicants for a four-month fellowship this summer to research their garden and botanical collections! Applications due by April 19, fellow will ideally start in May. More info here:

amphilsoc.org

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 4mo ago

So I’ve got this protein bar that since Sept has now been to Manchester, Luxembourg, London, New Orleans, LA, and twice to Chicago. I just took it to Stockholm, and yesterday brought it back home safely again

ceej@ceej.online · 4mo ago

I’ve been trying to bring healthier snacks to the office which in effect has meant mostly just giving one specific apple a field trip

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Älskade Stockholm! Världens allra bästa stad 💙

In the foreground, a boat flying a Swedish flag; in the background, a view across the water to the Mariaberget overlook neighborhood of the Södermalm island of Stockholm

A cafe table with a vase of tulips, a blue plate with a braided cardamom bun, and an oat latte in a cut glass tumbler

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Fun fact: In Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm’s famous anti-tech speech basically quotes More Work For Mother …then completely ignores half the point

“No. I’ll tell you the problem with engineers and scientists. Scientists have an elaborate line of bullshit about how they are seeking to know the truth about nature. Which is true, but that’s not what drives them. Nobody is driven by abstractions like ‘seeking truth.’
"Scientists are actually preoccupied with accomplishment. So they are focused on whether they can do something. They never stop to ask if they should do something. They conveniently define such considerations as pointless. If they don’t do it, someone else will. Discovery, they believe, is inevitable. So they just try to do it first. That’s the game in science. Even pure scientific discovery is an aggressive, penetrative act. It takes big equipment, and it literally changes the world afterward. Particle accelerators scar the land, and leave radioactive byproducts. Astronauts leave trash on the moon. There is always some proof that scientists were there, making their discoveries. Discovery is always a rape of the natural world. Always.
"The scientists want it that way. They have to stick their instruments in. They have to leave their mark. They can’t just watch. They can’t just appreciate. They can’t just fit into the natural order. They have to make something unnatural happen. That is the scientist’s job, and now we have whole societies that try to be scientific.” He sighed, and sank back.
Ellie said, “Don’t you think you’re overstating–”
“What does one of your excavations look like a year later?”
“Pretty bad,” she admitted.
“You don’t replant, you don’t restore the land after you dig?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “There’s no money, I guess… .”
“There’s only enough money to dig, but not to repair?”

“Well, we’re just working in the badlands… .”
“Just the badlands,” Malcolm said, shaking his head. “Just trash. Just byproducts. Just side effects … I’m trying to tell you that scientists /want/ it this way. They want byproducts and trash and scars and side effects. It’s a way of reassuring themselves. It’s built into the fabric of science, and it’s increasingly a disaster.”
“Then what’s the answer?”
“Get ride of the intelligent ones. Take them out of power.”
“But then we’d lose all the advances—”
“What advances?” Malcolm said irritably. “The number of hours women devote to housework has not changed since 1930, despite all the advances. All the vacuum cleaners, washer-dryers, trash compactors, garbage disposals, wash-and-wear fabrics…Why does it still take as long to clean the house as it did in 1930?”
Ellie said nothing.
“Because there haven’t been any advances,” Malcolm said. “Not really. Thirty thousand years ago, when men were doing cave paintings at Lascaux, they worked twenty hours a week to provide themselves with food and shelter and clothing. The rest of the time, they could play, or sleep, or do whatever they wanted. And they lived in a natural world, with clean air, clean water, beautiful trees and sunsets. Think about it. Twenty hours a week. Thirty thousand years ago.”
Ellie said, “You want to turn back the clock?”
“No,” Malcolm said. “I want people to wake up. We’ve had four hundred years of modern science, and we ought to know by now what it’s good for, and what it’s not good for. It’s time for a change.”
“Before we destroy the planet?” she said.
He sighed, and closed his eyes. “Oh dear,” he said. “That’s the last thing I would worry about.”

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Richard de Nooy @richarddenooy.bsky.social · 5mo ago

This lunch includes all five of the main Dutch food groups: cheese, cucumber, geometry, boredom and sorrow, with most of the vitamin content provided by the soul-destroying view of endless flatness spilling off the far-flung horizon.

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 5mo ago

On the one hand, it sucks that my flights keep getting cancelled and I’m now stranded by this storm for at least two extra days now. I would much rather be at home. On the other hand, I guess I can think of worse places to be stuck right now

A photo of the campus of Pomona College on a bright and sunny day with snow capped mountains is the background

A screenshot of the weather forecast where every day is in the 60s and sunny

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Thinking of buying this pack of science enthusiasm decals for the absurdist humor of being……almost there

Image of a decal with a cartoon beaker containing a cheerful hedgehog and the number 6.022x10^23 (the number of particles in a mole)

Image of a sticker with a cartoon image of a splashing half a glass of water reading “Technically it’s always full” with the water labeled H2O and the air labeled O2

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 6mo ago

“yytrium”

BBC
What are rare earth elements?
Rare earth elements appear on the critical minerals lists of many countries.
With important electrical and magnetic qualities, rare earths consist of 17 elements in the lanthanide group of the periodic table, plus scandium and yytrium.
They are vital in microchips, which are crucial for almost every sector from defence to healthcare.
Other uses include:
Yytrium - laser technology used in communications and medical procedures
Neodymium - permanent magnets for electric vehicles and renewable energy
Lanthanum - rechargeable batteries
With the explosion of AI and green energy the demand for these minerals has soared and is expected to increase, according to the International Energy Agency.
However, despite their name, rare earth elements are not that rare. For example, neodymium is found at 20 parts per million in the Earth's crust, in comparison copper is at 27.

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Somewhat disorienting mix in my inbox this morning of being addressed as Professor by my students but as Ms. by various professors (despite my lengthy institutional email signature)

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 6mo ago

HSS Dissertation Travel Grant to support travel to sources for PhD students in history of science and technology working on their dissertation. Grants may be up to US$2,500. Grad students from any university are eligible Deadline Tuesday, March 31. hssonline.org/page/dissert... #HPS

2026 HSS Dissertation Travel Grant
Applications are Open
We are excited to
announce that applications for the new HSS Dissertation Travel Grant are now open.
This
grant supports dissertation research activities, with an emphasis on travel to sources, for PhD students in the history of science and technology working on their dissertation proposal or dissertation itself.
Graduate
student members from any university are eligible to apply. The application includes a two-page, single-spaced research proposal, two-page cv, a short budget detailing anticipated expenses, and a letter of support from a faculty member in the applicant's program.
Individual
grants may be up to US$2,500.
Applications
will be open until Tuesday, March 31.

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Gary

A tabby and white cat on a blue sofa, showing his belly with paw curled

A tabby and white cat on a blue sofa, showing his belly with paw and foot curled

A tabby and white cat on a blue sofa, showing his belly with paw holding outstretched legs

A tabby and white cat on a blue sofa, showing his belly with legs outstretched and paw curled over his eyes

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Applications for 2026-27 fellowships at @sciencehistory.org are still open until Jan 15, with recommendations due Jan 31! ⏰📚 Could your research benefit from time in our archives, rare books, instruments, and other collections? Find info about our fellowships and our guide for applicants here!

Science History Institute Fellowships

The Institute is home to the largest private fellowship program in the historical study of science, medicine, and technology in the United States.

sciencehistory.org

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 2y ago

It’s time to apply for fellowships at @scihistoryorg.bsky.social! ⏰ All apps are due January 15 ⏰ Rec letters for research fellowships are due January 31 (No rec letters for curatorial fellowships)

Charlotte Abney@abney.bsky.social · 2y ago

Applications are now open for 2025-26 fellowships at @scihistoryorg.bsky.social! We offer postdoc, dissertation, distinguished & short-term fellowships for researchers from anywhere in any fields w/ projects that can make use of our collections. Questions? Ask here!

Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Imagine if you were a sports fan but every year your team won the championship and you knew exactly when it would happen. #9LC

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 8mo ago

By a fluke of funding, I’ll be attending my first AHA in a few weeks. Event specific advice welcome! Friends, let me know if you’ll be there! And if you’d like to perhaps get a coffee and learn more about SHI fellowships, collections, scholarly programs, and academic partnerships :)

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Science History Institute Fellowships

The Institute is home to the largest private fellowship program in the historical study of science, medicine, and technology in the United States.

sciencehistory.org

Charlotte Abney @abney.bsky.social · 9mo ago

We are also currently hiring a curatorial fellow to work with the papers of Rosalind Franklin and others in the History of Molecular Biology Collection! This is a 2-year staff position in the archive with a salary of $55k/year and full benefits: www.sciencehistory.org/research/fel...

Charlotte Abney@abney.bsky.social · 9mo ago

For those with a scholarly interest in Franklin, Watson, and other pioneering researchers in molecular biology, @sciencehistory.org has just opened our new landmark collection of their papers, and applications for research fellowships are currently open: www.sciencehistory.org/hmbc