H-Sci-Med-Tech: New posted content
X-POSTED REVIEW: Karahalis on Gregory, 'Going Nuclear: How Atomic Energy Will Save the World'
Gregory, Tim. Going Nuclear: How Atomic Energy Will Save the World. : Pegasus Books, 2025. 362 pp. $29.95 (cloth), ISBN 9781639369393.
Reviewed by Georgianna Karahalis (Montana State University)
Published on H-Environment (July, 2026)
Commissioned by Daniella McCahey (Texas Tech University)
Printable Version: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=62693
If net-zero emissions initiatives are the solution to the climate crisis, then the solution to the climate crisis is nuclear energy. According to nuclear chemist Tim Gregory, the climate will improve as the human species moves toward more reliable, efficient, and emissions-free sources of electricity. Gregory offers an ardent defense of nuclear energy, arming the reader with evidence ranging from the history of radiation to contemporary issues regarding the reliability of renewable resources and statistical analysis of social perceptions and impacts of energy resources. He provides an engaging and highly knowledgeable explanation of the wider narrative of radioactivity and energy production that demonstrates his passionate belief that the future of humanity—on earth and among the stars—relies on nuclear energy. ...
Call for Papers Beyond Borders: Global Histories of Transboundary Rivers International Online Workshop University of Ostrava, Czech Republic; November 19-20, 2026 [Announcement]
Czechia
Call for Papers
Beyond Borders: Global Histories of Transboundary Rivers
International Online Workshop
University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
November 19-20, 2026
More than 300 river basins cross international borders, providing freshwater, energy, transportation, food, and ecosystem services for billions of people. Yet transboundary rivers are far more than shared natural resources. They are political, technological, legal, ecological, and diplomatic spaces where states, engineers, scientists, international organizations, and local communities have negotiated competing visions of development, sovereignty, environmental protection, and cooperation.
Although transboundary rivers have attracted growing scholarly attention, research remains fragmented across disciplines. Environmental historians have explored changing human–river relationships; historians of technology have examined hydraulic engineering and infrastructure; historical geographers have analysed river landscapes and territorial change; scholars of Science and Technology Studies (STS) have investigated expertise and knowledge production; political scientists and scholars of international relations have focused on water diplomacy and international institutions; legal scholars have examined international water law; while hydrologists and water-governance researchers have developed sophisticated frameworks for understanding river basin management. Yet these conversations often do not intersect.
This workshop starts from the premise that understanding transboundary rivers requires genuine interdisciplinary dialogue. Rather than treating rivers simply as environmental systems or geopolitical boundaries, we invite participants to explore them as dynamic socio-environmental systems shaped simultaneously by ecology, infrastructure, science, law, diplomacy, economics, and politics.
Building upon the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) project An Environmental History of Transboundary Rivers in Cold War East-Central Europe, the workshop seeks to expand regional scholarship into a broader comparative and global conversation. It aims to establish an international interdisciplinary network dedicated to the historical study of transboundary rivers and to identify new directions for collaborative research at the intersection of environmental history, history of technology, geography, international law, political science, STS, and water governance.
We welcome contributions from scholars working in:
Environmental History
History of Technology
History of Science
Historical Geography
Science and Technology Studies (STS)
Water History
Environmental Humanities
Political Ecology
International Relations
International Environmental Law
Environmental Governance
Hydrology and Water Governance
Geography
Anthropology
Sociology
Environmental Planning
We welcome proposals on topics including, but not limited to:
Comparative histories of transboundary river basins
International river commissions and basin organizations
Environmental governance across political borders
Water diplomacy and international cooperation
Rivers during the Cold War
Hydraulic engineering, dams, and river regulation
Navigation and inland waterways
Flood protection and disaster management
Pollution, water quality, and environmental monitoring
Fisheries, wetlands, and aquatic ecosystems
Hydrological science, environmental expertise, and knowledge production
International organizations and shared waters
Climate change and the historical governance of river basins
Colonial and postcolonial river governance
Indigenous and local perspectives on transboundary rivers
Comparative and global approaches to river history
Rivers, sovereignty, and international environmental law
Methods and concepts for interdisciplinary river research
Studies covering all world regions and historical periods are welcome.
Format:
The workshop will be held in online format.
Rather than focusing exclusively on completed research, we particularly encourage proposals presenting original archival research, conceptual interventions, comparative perspectives, methodological reflections, and work in progress.
The workshop is designed to maximize discussion and exchange across disciplines. Each paper will receive substantial time for discussion, and the programme will conclude with a roundtable on future directions in the interdisciplinary study of transboundary rivers.
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Submission
Please submit:
an abstract of 300–500 words
a short biography (100 words)
to: ce...@osu.cz
Submission deadline: 15 September 2026
Notification of acceptance: 1 October 2026
Organizers:
Department of History
Centre for Economic and Social History
University of Ostrava
Supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR).
Extended CFP: Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science (SAHMS) Virtual Student Conference [Announcement]
SAHMS is seeking individual paper and panel abstracts for its 2026 virtual student conference. We welcome submissions from graduate students, medical students, and others pursuing postgraduate education. Submissions can address topics related to the historical understanding of science and medicine, as well as closely related topics. Papers concerning all historical periods and global perspectives are encouraged.
Submissions for individual papers can be made online via Google Forms.
The NEW deadline for submissions is Friday, July 31, 2026.
All participants and attendees are responsible for paying conference registration fees.
For further information about this meeting or SAHMS in general, please visit our website: https://sahms.wildapricot.org/. For questions, please email sahmsco...@gmail.com.
Vicki Daniel, President of SAHMS
Health & Urban Environment Working Group 2026-27 [Announcement]
Run through the Consortium for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, the Health & the Urban Environment Working Group brings together scholars from the subfields of urban history, environmental history, and history of medicine/public health to consider the deep interconnections between health and urban environments. Our goal is to create conversations in a space dedicated to sharing methodologies and works-in-progress. We welcome scholars working on any geography or time period with a commitment to engaging with new ideas and questions that will advance our understanding about how the health of populations, and the urban environments in which they live, have been historically co-produced.
If you have a piece you would like to get feedback on, whether in progress or recently published, submit your information and abstract through our Google Form: https://forms.gle/apZWEDJWbFLKFSjN7. Reach out to one of our co-conveners with any questions. Submission deadline is Friday, August 21.
Kristin Brig-Ortiz: kris...@wustl.edu
Michael Holleran: holl...@utexas.edu
Evan Roberts: erob...@umn.edu
Hagley History Hangout Podcast - New Episode - Susquehanna Steam: Three Centuries of Speculation in Northeastern Pennsylvania with Nancy Campbell [Announcement]
Hagley History Hangout Podcast - New Episode - Susquehanna Steam: Three Centuries of Speculation in Northeastern Pennsylvania with Nancy Campbell
Tune in here or wherever you find your podcasts: https://www.hagley.org/research/history-hangout-nancy-campbell
From the 1750s to the present day, Salem Township in northeastern Pennsylvania has been a site of financial speculation and the social changes it sets in motion.
In her latest book project, Dr. Nancy Campbell, professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, uncovers the many superimposed layers of speculation and extraction that have left Salem Township with a complex series of social legacies and infrastructures. From land wars and coal mines, to nuclear plants and data centers, Campbell traces three centuries of speculation in one small location.
In support of her research Dr. Campbell received funding from the Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society at the Hagley Museum and Library. For more information, and more Hagley History Hangouts, visit us online at hagley.org.
To make a donation underwriting this program and others like it please visit our donations page.
Dr. Gregory A. Hargreaves
Assistant Director
Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society
Hagley Museum and Library
The 