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Katy Duncan 🍉

@katysduncan.bsky.social

Postdoc at the Royal Institution. Interested in all things old and science-y. Probably drinking coffee.

91 Posts271 Follower156 Folgt
Royal Institution@rigb.org · 3w ago

ARCHIVIST Q&A TIME 🗃️ 🧪 We've been the home of science for over 200 years. Our collection is a treasure trove of science history...and we want to share the best bits with you! Now is your chance to pick Fran's brain and ask your questions—we'll answer a selection in a video! Pop your Qs below 👇

Fran is a young woman with short blond hair. She's standing in the Ri archive, which is lit by sodium bulbs which give the room a yellow tint. She is smiling and holding a piece of paper with text saying "ask the archivist"
Katy Duncan 🍉@katysduncan.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Happy birthday to David Attenborough! 🎉 One of the few to have ever come out on top against the unholy trinity of live tv, children, and animals… take a look back at his 1973 @rigb.org Xmas Lectures, & check out a never before seen transcript of the missing lecture 4! www.rigb.org/explore-scie...

Sir David Attenborough at the Royal Institution

To celebrate Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday, we have compiled all his greatest contributions to the Royal Institutio

rigb.org

Katy Duncan 🍉@katysduncan.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Lovely little @rigb.org archive find - in the back of James Dewar’s pamphlet for his 1883 Juvenile Lectures on Alchemy & its relation to Modern Science is this wonderful pull-out timeline of physical and chemical philosophers… beginning with “Hermes??” and (of course) finishing with Faraday 🧪

Archive desk, zoomed out, showing archival papers, focusing on a flap at the back of a late 19th century booklet. It is next to an archive box and there are two “weight” snakes securing them to the table. Copyright Royal Institution Archives DE11/3/1A zoomed in image of the flap “Chronology of Physical & Chemical Philosophers” Copyright Royal Institution Archives DE11/3/1
Royal Institution@rigb.org · 5mo ago

"It looks magic, but it's not, it's good science" 🦋 For 36 years, Bill Coates was the master of science demonstrations behind the Christmas Lectures. (1/2)

King's CHoSTM@kingschostm.bsky.social · 5mo ago

📣Interested in pursuing a postgraduate degree in the history of STM? Wishing to apply to our Hans Rausing Scholarship? Then this webinar is for you! Pursuing a research degree in the history of STM Thursday 12 March 17.00-18.00 (GMT) Register via Eventbrite ⬇️ #histsci #histtech #histmed #histstm

Webinar: Pursuing a research degree in the history of STM

A webinar to orient prospective students on pursuing an MA and PhD in the history of STM, and how to apply to the Hans Rausing Scholarship.

eventbrite.co.uk

Katy Duncan 🍉@katysduncan.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Tipper was incredible - not only was she a Research Assistant in the DFRL at @rigb.org in the early 1920s, but simultaneously worked at the Royal School of Mines AND assisted GI Taylor at @cambridgephysics.bsky.social

Admirable Women@admirablewomen.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Metallurgist Constance Tipper was born #OTD in 1894. Her groundbreaking work on the brittle fracture of metals saved countless lives during #WWII & laid foundational principles for modern fracture mechanics. First female FT faculty member at Cambridge Dept of Engineering (1949). #WomenInSTEM (1/2)

Black-and-white historical portrait of Constance Tipper, the pioneering English metallurgist and crystallographer. She is gazing directly at the camera with a calm, intelligent, and composed expression. Tipper has short, neatly styled dark hair parted on the side with soft waves framing her face. She wears a patterned blouse or dress with a high collar, evoking early-to-mid-20th-century professional women's attire. The soft lighting highlights her determined features against a plain, neutral background, capturing her as a trailblazing scientist whose work on brittle fracture revolutionized materials engineering and saved lives during and after World War II.
Royal Institution@rigb.org · 6mo ago

Fantastic news: our historic lecture Theatre is set for a major refurbishment later this year, thanks to support from The Wolfson Foundation! The works will include new seats, restoration of the iconic lecture desk, state-of-the-art audio-visual infrastructure and accessibility enhancements.

A toolbox resting on the lecture desk in the Ri Theatre
Katy Duncan 🍉@katysduncan.bsky.social · 8mo ago

At Cambridge I worked with @whipplemuseum.bsky.social and @chuarchives.bsky.social to explore why Bacon’s cell ended up in space 🚀 from Grove’s letter we see that the basic principles were the same - tho the composition of the Bacon’s nickel membrane was kept under the official secrets act 🤫

Royal Institution@rigb.org · 9mo ago

This once-overlooked invention from the 1800s was crucial in getting astronauts to the Moon 🌕 Follow us behind the scenes in the Ri Archives as @katysduncan.bsky.social uncovers the history of the Grove voltaic cell.

Katy Duncan 🍉@katysduncan.bsky.social · 10mo ago

I definitely recommend *chequing* out the finer details of this note if you have one! Lots of lovely little science details (even if the xmas lectures year turned out to be wrong…) And rumour has it the men in the front row of the audience are from the Bank of England 🤔

Royal Institution@rigb.org · 10mo ago

Did you ever notice this TINY detail on the old £20 notes? 💸 @katysduncan.bsky.social brings us back behind the scenes in the Ri archives to uncover some *noteworthy* fun facts.