Wasteland wrap-up #86

The bulk of the last week was spent in Edinburgh, Scotland, for the annual meeting of the History of Science Society (which was co-located with the European Society for the History of Science). I gave a talk (more about that after the fold, below), and was a discussant for a panel on global nuclear history, and otherwise spent time going to some talks and meeting with friends and colleagues. I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Edinburgh Castle. I did not tour it, or the city — I was really just there for the conference. But I saw it when I walked around between events, meals, etc.

I did not come away with a real sense of what Edinburgh was like as a city, as I was really there just for the conference. I did drink some Scotch and some haggis, as one does. (I have had haggis before. The haggis I had in Edinburgh was not the best haggis I have ever had, but it was fine.) I thought the architecture was all a bit grim and austere for my tastes. I did appreciate that it was a lot less hot than Paris — it was around 60ºF/15.5ºC while it was 90ºF/32ºC in Paris. I was actually cold at times, owing to my lack of having brought appropriate clothing for the weather. Which was a nice break.

I had the oddest hotel room, as a hotel very close to the hotel. When one entered the room (see below), it looked like it was a small, European-style room with a large window. But… there was no window. It is a fake window. Behind the curtain is a blank wall. The “sunlight” spilling over the top is an LED strip. Super strange. I did not mind it too much — I just used the room to sleep — but there was a strange internal prickling in my mind, which for no very rational reason abhorred the idea of a windowless room/tomb.

Ceci n'est pas une fenêtre / This is not a window.

I had many people at the conference ask me what I was working on next, which is standard academic-speak (and also a little annoying when one has only recently published a book and moved to another country), but it did give me an oppo…