"the simple fact that we know that ignorance has a history, even if merely as the 'dark' side of knowledge, suggests that historians should find out how to write it" ✍️ Lukas M. Verburgt & Peter Burke on writing the history of ignorance, from the JHoK Blog archive (2021)

Why Write the History of Ignorance?

No one would like to be called a “Professor of Ignorance,” yet we know that ignorance has a history. This suggests that historians should find a way to write it.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

How did people in Renaissance Europe perceive the night sky? What did they see when they looked at the Milky Way? ✍️ Stefan Zieme from the JHoK Blog archive (2021): blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org/2021/11/17/t... 🖼️ Adam Elsheimer, The Flight into Egypt, 1609 (Alte Pinakothek München, CC BY-SA 4.0)

How did people in Renaissance Europe perceive the night sky? What did they see when they looked at the Milky Way? ✍️ Stefan Zieme from the JHoK Blog archive (2021): blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org/2021/11/17/t... 🖼️ Adam Elsheimer, The Flight into Egypt, 1609 (Alte Pinakothek München, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Debates about the importance of the humanities versus the natural sciences in education are nothing new, writes @isakhammar.bsky.social — though the dominant view in early 19th-century Europe might come as a surprise to us today. ✍️ One from the JHoK Blog archive (2021)

Natural Science as Humanistic Knowledge: Negotiating Epistemic Legitimacy in Sweden, 1800–1850

Scientists, physicians, and state officials argued that the mental and moral development of students resulted from studying nature—just like their peers in philology and classical languages.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

📣Join us for the 3rd History of Knowledge Conference, "Decentering the History of Knowledge"! The event will take place in Utrecht on 25-27 August 2027. 📝A call for papers will follow in Fall 2026. For more information: 1) Register with "hokconference27@uu.nl" 2) Visit: www.uu.nl/en/news/thir....

Third International History of Knowledge Conference

The History of Knowledge Conference brings together scholars from a variety of backgrounds to further develop the field and its impact on other disciplines and society. The theme of this year’s confer...

uu.nl

In JHoK's first 2026 article, Dr. Anne Eriksen studies the Norwegian Fisheries’ Journal not only as an information container, but as an instrument shaping how knowledge is "arranged, given shape, processed, and transformed". Read the full article here: journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view....

Holding back for future gain — @sebastianfelten.bsky.social on how archives and bureaucracy aided “sustainable” investment strategies in Amsterdam and Saxony ✍️ From our own JHoK Blog archive (2021) blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org/2021/09/15/e...

Extraction with Restraint: Data Practices in Eighteenth-Century Mining

Holding back for future gain: How archives and bureaucracy aided “sustainable” investment strategies in Amsterdam and Saxony.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

Vacancy: assistant managing editor 💼 JHoK is looking for an assistant editor (0.1 fte) to start on 1 June 2026 for 6 months. Employment can be prolonged following positive evaluation and continued registration as a student. More information at: journalhistoryknowledge.org/announcement...

Lund University is promoting new engagement opportunities for history of knowledge scholars. Want to know more? See on their webpage: 🍃 Spring Seminar Series: newhistoryofknowledge.com/2026/02/03/s... 🌞 Doctoral Summer School in the History of Knowledge: newhistoryofknowledge.com/advisory-boa...

📚CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Journal for the History of Knowledge is now receiving proposals for the Special Issue 2028. The submission deadline is 1 May 2026. All information is available on our website: journalhistoryknowledge.org/announcement...

"Whenever you use ChatGPT, every text or image that it produces has emerged from a process of gradually correcting errors in predicting sequences of words. In a very real sense, error...is redefining language itself." ✍️ Our latest blog post from @alexcampolo.bsky.social

Why We Should Take Errors Seriously in the Age of AI

Alexander Campolo explores how the concept of error has changed throughout history, right up to the current age of artifical intelligence.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

✍️ New on the JHoK blog: @alexcampolo.bsky.social on why we should take errors seriously in the age of AI

Why We Should Take Errors Seriously in the Age of AI

Alexander Campolo explores how the concept of error has changed throughout history, right up to the current age of artifical intelligence.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

The JHoK 2025 special issue "Knowledge and Power: Projecting the Modern World" is now out in full! The issue is accompanied by the seven blog posts, where authors reflect on their articles and share a behind-the-scenes look at the research process. 📖 Happy reading! 1/8

✍️ New on the JHoK blog: Vera Keller, @tedmccormick.bsky.social & @whitmerkelly.bsky.social reflect on their recent special issue and what this early 19th-century print tells us about the enduring features of projecting.

Hatching Schemes in The School of Projects

The guest editors of 2025’s special issue on projects in the history of knowledge explore what an early 19th-century print tells us about the enduring features of projecting.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

📣 We are pleased to announce the selection of the 2027 Special Issue, "The Making of Colonial Knowledge and its Afterlives in Dutch Universities", with guest editors Larissa Schulte Nordholt and Ligia Giay. 📚 Have a peek at the Issue's abstract: journalhistoryknowledge.org/announcement....

Knowledge, power or economic resources: what paves the way for the "public good"? Professor William Cavert's Special Issue article investigates "how natural knowledge could be harnessed by the state and applied to productivity" in 18th century England: journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view....

"For Grew, and for his contemporaries...that which could not be counted (joy? community? stress? virtue? love?) mattered as little as the punishments which would be required to force people to improve themselves." Our latest blog post from @williamcavert.bsky.social 👇

The Economy versus the People in Eighteenth-Century England

When did discussions of “the economy” begin, and why? William Cavert takes us to 18th-century England to explore the “improvement” literature of the time.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

When did discussions of “the economy” begin, and why? In our latest blog post @williamcavert.bsky.social takes us to 18th-century England to explore the "improvement" literature of the time👇

The Economy versus the People in Eighteenth-Century England

When did discussions of “the economy” begin, and why? William Cavert takes us to 18th-century England to explore the “improvement” literature of the time.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

"The Improvement Police," my article on a scheme, c. 1700, to force people to use new scientific knowledge to make their government rich, is out in a fantastic issue on Projects, edited by @tedmccormick.bsky.social, Vera Keller, and Kelly Whitmer. journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view...

I have a new paper out in @jhokjournal.bsky.social - "Loss: A notion of error in machine learning." It attempts to draw some wider historical comparisons than are perhaps usual. I would love to know what you think. journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view...

New blog post! "Perfectly crystalline, geometric, and apparently rational, this tiny object radiates power captured from the mighty rivers dammed throughout the Pacific Northwest and in the streams of capital pouring out of the nation’s financial center." Vera Keller on Projects & Great Designs 👇

The Paper Power of Projects: Great Designs and Making America “Great” Again

Like the vintage paperweight that sits on her desk, historiographical “Great Designs” are entombed in the amber of a particular moment, writes Vera Keller.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

"While established systems safeguard journal articles, books, and research data, no comparable infrastructures exist for scholarly blogs. As a result, an essential part of academic communication risks slipping out of the historical record..." The case for preserving scholarly blogs 👇

The case for preserving scholarly blogs - Impact of Social Sciences

Poor preservation threatens the scholarly blogging ecosystem. What makes scholarly blogs sustainable and how can these practices be promoted?

blogs.lse.ac.uk

"Instead of the projector, perhaps the time has now come to blame projecting itself — or at least to approach it more critically." @whitmerkelly.bsky.social reflects on the ubiquitous category of the "project" in today's world, and what we can learn from attitudes in 18th-century Germany.

What Makes a Project Good or Bad? Lessons from Early Eighteenth-Century Germany

Anyone who has ever written an academic project proposal will recognise the demands in this early 18th-century German work, writes Kelly J. Whitmer.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

A very engaging read!

jhokjournal.bsky.social@jhokjournal.bsky.social · 9mo ago

New blog post alert! @whitmerkelly.bsky.social tell us what we can learn from attitudes towards projects and 'project-making' in the 18th-century German lands #histknow

New blog post alert! @whitmerkelly.bsky.social tell us what we can learn from attitudes towards projects and 'project-making' in the 18th-century German lands #histknow

What Makes a Project Good or Bad? Lessons from Early Eighteenth-Century Germany

Anyone who has ever written an academic project proposal will recognise the demands in this early 18th-century German work, writes Kelly J. Whitmer.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

In the early 18th century, German-speaking planners placed work as a precondition for helping young people reach happiness. What role could institutions play to facilitate this pursuit? Read more from Professor Kelly Whitmer's full Special Issue article: journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view...

"Researching unrealized projects of the past like Atlantropa and the Panatomic Canal is far from trivial. Contrary to what a snooty historian once told me at a conference, it is not true that 'any one of us fools can study the history of failed projects!' " Read more in our latest blog post👇

From Chance Encounters to Fresh Insights: Serendipity at Work in Historical Research

Christine Keiner on how a chance find in Panama inspired her latest research on the unrealised “Panatomic Canal”.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

"Researching unrealized projects of the past like Atlantropa and the Panatomic Canal is far from trivial. Contrary to what a snooty historian once told me at a conference, it is not true that 'any one of us fools can study the history of failed projects!' " Read more in our latest blog post👇

From Chance Encounters to Fresh Insights: Serendipity at Work in Historical Research

Christine Keiner on how a chance find in Panama inspired her latest research on the unrealised “Panatomic Canal”.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

New blog post alert! Christine Keiner writes about how a chance find in Panama inspired her recent research on the so-called "Panatomic Canal".

From Chance Encounters to Fresh Insights: Serendipity at Work in Historical Research

Christine Keiner on how a chance purchase from Panama inspired her latest research on the unrealised “Panatomic Canal”.

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

How did Peaceful Nuclear Explosives (PNEs) inspire infrastructure engineering during the Cold War, and how did they interact with the knowledge of indigenous communities in Panama? Check out Professor Christine Keiner's insightful Special Issue article: journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view....