Christopher Heaney

@chrheaney.bsky.social

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Historian of science in Americas @ Penn State, writer, and editor. Wrote CRADLE OF GOLD on Machu Picchu. New book EMPIRES OF THE DEAD on Inca mummies and American anthropology. Words in the New Yorker, The Atlantic, NYT. Dreams in comics.

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I'll be back in Cambridge, MA next Monday to talk at MIT. I'll get into how "ancient trepanation" or cranial surgery was given an existence via 19th and 20th century "ancient Peruvian" and "Inca" examples, and the political stakes of it becoming "Andean." history.mit.edu/.../trepanni...

So honored by this review by Marco Avilés of Empires of the Dead in El País: "Through Inca mummies, Heaney unravels colonization, capitalism and the birth of anthropology, revealing the impacts of pre-Hispanic ancestors on the living." english.elpais.com/culture/2024...

I'll be in Boston/Cambridge Tuesday to talk at Harvard (CGIS South, S-050, at 5:15 on Tuesday) about how to remember the entangled history of American and Peruvian anthropology, and accounting for its remains. Looking forward to the conversation.

I'm sitting with the contrast between this great stat on NAGPRA's acceleration and the incredible news that Penn "repatriated" 19 Black Philadelphians collected by Samuel George Morton by secretly burying them. 1/ propublica.org/article/sena...

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Current reading: @chrheaney.bsky.social excellent new book 'Empires of the Dead: Inca Mummies and the Peruvian Ancestors of American Anthropology'. To say I'm enjoying it is an understatement.

There will be an online feed. Interested in the history of archaeology and medicine in the Andes and Americas? : www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEpE...

Thrilled to be giving the public lecture tonight on the 3 burials of Julio César Tello at the annual meeting of the Institute of Andean Studies. In the Bay Area? Dwinelle 145, on Cal’s campus in Berkeley at 7!

If you're at #aha24 check out Empires of the Dead at Oxford University Press's table! Charmed to see it on the banner. @ahahistorians.bsky.social

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Lots of good stuff in the Xmas @londonreview.bsky.social. My favourites: @jamesmeek.bsky.social on Peter Biskind on TV's recent golden age. Colin Kidd on Claire Rydell on America on John Locke. @artcrimeprof.bsky.social on @chrheaney.bsky.social on Incan mummies. 1/2

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In addition to punching Nazis and working behind enemy lines in WWII, Jack Kirby was the 'Argo' artist. He drew the concept art for 'Lord of Light', the fake science fiction film that helped the CIA rescue the Tehran hostages in 1976. Kirby did not phone that shit in. You can find it all online.

Thanks to those in the replies who pointed out that Lego seems to swooping in on a tellurium (h/t, @rhiggitt.bsky.social) that already exists! a.co/d/fDdkfGh

Calling all historians of science -- Lego is releasing what's basically a orrery: www.lego.com/en-us/produc...

Amazon.com: MISINI Solar Systm Building Kit,865/pcs MOC C71004W Bricks for Kids and Adults,Contains ...a.co Amazon.com: MISINI Solar Systm Building Kit,865/pcs MOC C71004W Bricks for Kids and Adults,Contains Moon Earth and Sun Orrery Model : Toys & Games

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Christopher Heaney

Lego is a Danish company, right? Release the 38,291-piece Tychonic geoheliocentric version, you unpatriotic cowards!

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L: Joseph Wright of Derby, A Philosopher Lecturing on an #Orrery (1766) R: LEGO System A/S of Billund, An Aspiring Philosopher Demonstrating a Tellurium (As @rhiggitt.bsky.social notes, an orrery features the entire solar system) #histsci #histSTM #sciart #astronomy #STEM #LEGO 📜🗃️🔭

Calling all historians of science -- Lego is releasing what's basically a orrery: www.lego.com/en-us/produc...

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Christopher Heaney

We'd call it a tellurium rather than an orrery (focus on the earth-sun system rather than solar system)

Calling all historians of science -- Lego is releasing what's basically a orrery: www.lego.com/en-us/produc...

In World History since 1500 this Fall I had students do a graphic history project in place of a final! One-page comics, based on primary and secondary sources. We even printed a compilation! Here's my fave on the Haitian Revolution, by Nicholas Bobinski (who gave me permission to share it).

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Happy early solstice! The first review of Empires of the Dead is in, and I'm so honored that it's by the great @artcrimeprof.bsky.social for the @londonreview.bsky.social!

I had the privilege of reviewing Christopher Heaney's wonderful book on the fascinating, sometimes infuriating, sometimes hilarious, and always surprising history of modern encounters with the ancient Andean dead for the London Review of Books. Highly recommend! www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Erin L. Thompson · Even the Eyelashes: Inca Mummieswww.lrb.co.uk The Chinchorro culture began mummifying their dead in what is now southern Peru and northern Chile around 6000 BCE,...

Happy early solstice! The first review of Empires of the Dead is in, and I'm so honored that it's by the great @artcrimeprof.bsky.social for the @londonreview.bsky.social!

Erin L. Thompson · Even the Eyelashes: Inca Mummieswww.lrb.co.uk The Chinchorro culture began mummifying their dead in what is now southern Peru and northern Chile around 6000 BCE,...

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A year from now, I’ll be releasing a book about the first center for #transgender rights, surgery, support—1918-1933. It follows the story of trans pioneer Dora Richter, her Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, and the fight against Nazi oppression. The fight continues: www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

The Forgotten History of the World's First Trans Clinicwww.scientificamerican.com The Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin would be a century old if it hadn’t fallen victim to Nazi ideology

Feeling grateful for the amazing audience for my book at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia on Monday—especially the Peruvian doctors who came out to hear about the recognition of pre-Hispanic Andean surgery. Also, the 1st time my work was advertised in a bathroom stall. Achievement unlocked!

The CHSTM community of historians of science has been so important for my work. I'm excited to be talking online today (Thursday, Dec.7, 12pm EST) about the writing of Empires of the Dead, and Peruvian mummies and museums, with its wonderful working group on Latin America: chstm.org/latin-america

Next Monday in Philadelphia, I'll be talking on the history of Andean medicine, anthropology and the collection of Inca and Peruvian ancestors at the Mütter Museum. See you there?

On Dec. 11 I'll be speaking at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia on Inca and Andean trepanation and the collection of ancestral remains from Peru in America's museums. Am grateful for the opportunity. Philadelphia folks, see you there? muttermuseum.org/events/heali...

Healing Incas: Peruvian Surgery and the Recovery of Scientific Ancestorsmuttermuseum.org Before the late nineteenth century, the most successful cranial surgeons in world history were the Inca and Andean trepanners of pre-Hispanic Peru.

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Day 2 of #HSS23 is upon us, starting with the History of Science and Knowledge in Latin America Forum at 9am, which will honor Lydia Crafts and Diana Montaño, and feature a roundtable with Marcos Cueto, Gabriela Soto Laveaga, and Diana Heredía. Come! 1/ t.co/G9N22VKdHO

Very excited for this one!

Really looking forward to seeing and listening to the plenary lecture by @nickytheprof.bsky.social at this weekend's History of Science Society meeting! This is on Friday btw! #histsci

Panels for #HSS23 start today. See the googledoc round up below, but here's also a quick thread on ones of interest for Latin Americanists -- if I miss one, please add it! 1/

Hello, #histsci and#histSTM crew! Going to #HSS23 and want that good work on the Latin American history of science, knowledge, technology and medicine? Our interest Forum has a roundup. Make sure to check out our sponsored panel and business meeting Friday! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

History of Science and Knowledge in Latin America (SKLAC) Forum events and Latin America-related pan...docs.google.com History of Science and Knowledge in Latin America (SKLAC) Forum events and Latin America-related panels of interest, Nov. 8-12, 2023. [Updated by Christopher Heaney, [email protected], 8 Nov.] (PLEASE C...

Good morning, #histsci/#histSTM friends! I've set up a new feed (HSS 2023) where scholars can share their thoughts about this year's History of Science Society meeting using #HSS2023 or #HSS23. To follow the conversation: Click Feeds, search for "HSS 2023", and click the + sign.

Have a car trip ahead? This is wild to type, but Empires of the Dead is now an audiobook, read by the great Christian Barillas of Modern Family. I'm honored. You can listen to how Inca mummies became the Peruvian ancestors of anthropology here: www.audible.com/pd/Empires-o...

I love Pasts Imperfect (and appreciate the shout-put to my work in this one). But the real draw is the great essay taking down the misuse of stoicism by techbros.

The new Pasts Imperfect is out! This week, @sentantiq.bsky.social takes down Broicism (= Corporate love of Stoicism). Then, a new medieval tattoo in the Sudan, open access books on Bronze Age Scripts, ancient Queer icons, new ancient world journals & more! pastsimperfect.substack.com/p/pasts-impe...

Pasts Imperfect (11.2.23)pastsimperfect.substack.com The Stoicism Renaissance, Medieval Tattoos, Historical Queer Icons, and More