Melinda Baldwin

@mbaldwin.bsky.social

750 followers 160 following 140 posts

#histSTM studying scientific publishing, funding, and peer review. Associate prof @ UMD College Park. All opinions mine!

Videos

Philosophy 26%

Physics 22%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · 6d

Connect an unfamiliar laptop to the classroom projector.

Reposted by Fabián Muniesa, Melinda Baldwin

m. r. sauter @oddletters.bsky.social · 7d

hey!

hey!!!

if you are an academic of any rank in the critical tech studies space who cares about how money, finance, and business structures work in science and technology, i want to see your abstracts for a collected volume! they're due tomorrow!!!

https//oddletters.com/tech-money/

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 7d

If you follow me I'd love you to also follow @contingent-mag.bsky.social, the history magazine I co-edit. We pay all of our contributors and publish some neat stuff.

Our Series

Contingent publishes accessible, engaging, well-researched pieces on history, the work of doing history, and the community of people involved in that work. We’ve organized our content here by series t...

contingentmagazine.org

Reposted by Philip N. Cohen, Bruce D. Baker, Martin van Gelderen , and 2 more Philip N. Cohen, Bruce D. Baker, Martin van Gelderen, William Thomas, Melinda Baldwin

Holly Brewer @earlymodjustice.bsky.social · 13d

“This article urges a fresh view on [AI large language model] hallucinations by arguing that, rather than being errors in any conventional sense, they are evidence of a probabilistic system incapable of dealing with questions of knowledge.”

Rethinking Error: “Hallucinations” and Epistemological Indifference | Critical AI | Duke University Press

read.dukeupress.edu

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

Thony Christie @rmathematicus.bsky.social · 16d

There are very few surviving portrait of Johannes Kepler and each of them has a question mark hanging over it for some reason #histsci

thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/12/27/c...

An engraving of a portrait of Johannes Kepler from a 1620 painting that was given to the Strasbourg Library in 1627, artist unknown.

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Rosemary A. Joyce, Rebecca Tushnet , and 10 more Anna O. Law, Rosemary A. Joyce, Rebecca Tushnet, Dolly Jørgensen, Sebastian Karcher, Anna Grzymała-Busse, Tom Stoppard, Julie Novkov, Elizabeth Ewan, Aviel Roshwald, Constance Bantman, Melinda Baldwin, Steven H. Seggie

Karl Appuhn @appuhn.bsky.social · 21d

I think we need a mega thread of everyone's craziest archive stories.

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Philip N. Cohen, Robert C. Richards , and 10 more Anna O. Law, Philip N. Cohen, Robert C. Richards, Kevin Kenny, Duncan Bell, Jacob T. Levy, Margot C. Finn, Frederik Dhondt, Robert L. Tsai, David S. Tanenhaus, Aviel Roshwald, Karin Wulf, Melinda Baldwin

Holly Brewer @earlymodjustice.bsky.social · 24d

My forthcoming book—
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.

Cover will be added soon.

The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery

The King's Slaves

A provocative account of how empire and absolutism institutionalized slavery in America

press.princeton.edu

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · 25d

What's your email address, Andy? I can arrange for a copy.

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · 25d

I really enjoyed the book and learned a tremendous amount from it! I'm glad you appreciated the review -- the lines from The Squares that I quoted in that paragraph have stuck with me.

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

University of California Press @ucpress.bsky.social · 25d

Check out the new issue of "HSNS." online.ucpress.edu/hsns/issue/5...

Volume 55 Issue 4-5 | Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences | University of California Press

online.ucpress.edu

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · Dec 11

::cries in copy edits::

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · Dec 4

Someone sent this to me as proof that *i* am wrong about my own self.

Anyway, all of this fabricated. Just untrue and not even close to the direction of truth.

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Sara Wallace Goodman, Catherine J. Frieman , and 1 more Shannon Vallor, Sara Wallace Goodman, Catherine J. Frieman, Melinda Baldwin

Abe Goldfarb @abegoldfarb.bsky.social · Nov 30

when someone tells me not to use em dashes because AI uses em dashes

Scene from OFFICE SPACE with Michael Bolton replying to Samir Nagheenanajar:

“No way. Why should I change?
He's the one who sucks.”

Reposted by Steve Peers, Robert Black, Jonathan Hopkin , and 6 more Steve Peers, Robert Black, Jonathan Hopkin, Brooke Harrington, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Michael Evans, Juliet Johnson, Melinda Baldwin

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · Nov 24

One explanation for economic populism in the US is the recurring cycle of bubbles and bailouts that happens without any democratic input

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · Nov 22

So-called "smart" devices are pushed heavily for the holidays, but be mindful of what you're opting that gift recipient into. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Think Twice Before Giving Surveillance for the Holidays

With the holidays upon us, it's easy to default to giving the tech gifts that retailers tend to push on us this time of year: smart speakers, video doorbells, bluetooth trackers, fitness trackers,

www.eff.org

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · Nov 21

Something tells me this person does not, in fact, have trademarks on all of those phrases.

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · Nov 19

I agree. Summers has said repeatedly, both in public and private, that he believes women are not as smart or talented as men. He has no business in a classroom. FEEL FREE TO REPEAT THIS INSIGHT.

ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · Nov 19

I know that at this point it's a subplot in the Epstein files drama, but I feel compelled to point out, once again, that Larry Summers HAS NO BUSINESS teaching students at ANY university ever again!

My latest cries into the abyss, in @thenation.com

www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Why Is Larry Summers Still Employed?

The revelations about the economist’s attempts to pressure a women into a “relationship”—with guidance from Jeffrey Epstein—should finally disqualify him from teaching students.

www.thenation.com

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · Nov 19

This is it. This is exactly it. Even if you leave aside his objectionable behavior towards his female colleagues, how could a female student have equal opportunity to succeed in a class taught by someone who believes women are not as smart as men?

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Aaron Sojourner, Michael Zimmer , and 4 more Lisa W. Fazio, Aaron Sojourner, Michael Zimmer, Jason Lyall, Daniel Kuehn, Brooke Harrington, Melinda Baldwin

Prof Dynarski @dynarski.bsky.social · Nov 19

I have been feeling depressed and discouraged that this man has the power and influence he does at my school and in my profession

And I am a tenured professor at Harvard! How much more protected can I be?

Imagine how STUDENTS feel. Junior faculty. This quote nails it

Reposted by Felicity Callard, Lindsay M. Tedds, Dana R. Fisher , and 4 more Felicity Callard, Lindsay M. Tedds, Dana R. Fisher, Lisa Diedrich, Marcus Credé, Melinda Baldwin, Jesper Wulff

ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · Nov 19

Why Is Larry Summers Still Employed?

The revelations about the economist’s attempts to pressure a women into a “relationship”—with guidance from Jeffrey Epstein—should finally disqualify him from teaching students.

www.thenation.com

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · Nov 18

I vote he stays on the OpenAI board but never comes within a hundred yards of a student ever again.

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · Nov 18

Why is he still teaching?! That's where the students are!!!

Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · Nov 18

Larry Summers tells @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social
he’s stepping back from all public commitments in light of his messages with Epstein, saying he is “deeply ashamed” and hopes “to rebuild trust and repair relationships.”

He will continue teaching.

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Reposted by Jelena Subotić, Kathleen Kennedy, Catriona Seth , and 2 more Jelena Subotić, Kathleen Kennedy, Catriona Seth, Annette Yoshiko Reed, Melinda Baldwin

Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · Nov 18

Remember: they used thousands of academic books too! If you’re a scholar, check for your books too. This isn’t just novelists and pop writers, it’s academic books too!

Ars Technica @arstechnica.com · Aug 27

AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.

Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action

Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.

arstechnica.com

Reposted by Mary Feeney, Rosemary A. Joyce, Alan Richardson , and 7 more Mary Feeney, Rosemary A. Joyce, Alan Richardson, Margot C. Finn, Wolfgang Huber, Ann Bartow, Joanna L. Grossman, Annette Yoshiko Reed, Melinda Baldwin, Steven H. Seggie

Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · Nov 18

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, Melinda Baldwin

Fucking Bitch Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · Nov 17

I think the universities didn’t convey clearly enough to Larry Summers and Laurence Krauss that they were expected to get sexual harassment PREVENTION training

Reposted by Melanie C. Green, David Rosnick, Melinda Baldwin

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Nov 16

Bsky hasn’t heard the story about the time that I was giving a virtual colloquium to the Aspen Center for Physics in September 2020 and Lawrence Krauss, Geoff Marcy, Christian Ott all attended as a group

ACP now has a policy that would prevent this from happening, because of that incident 🔭

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · Nov 16

"She didn't want to text me late because she takes her early presentation very seriously" SHE WANTS YOU TO GO AWAY, LARRY

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · Nov 16

What in the actual hell. Econ seminars are rough enough on grad student presenters without a lecherous senior colleague hitting on you afterwards. I read this account and I recognize the behavior of someone who has NO interest in this man but also knows he can ruin her career.

Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · Nov 15

The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.

Reposted by Cas Mudde, Daniela Gabor, Lisa W. Fazio , and 35 more Cas Mudde, Daniela Gabor, Lisa W. Fazio, Jan W. Mueller, Richard S.J. Tol, Dorothy Bishop, Colin F. Camerer, David Brady, Jesse H. Kroll, Hugo Mercier, Rosemary A. Joyce, Caroline Krafft, Jacob Montgomery, Gernot Wagner, Smith, David R. Miller, Aaron Sojourner, Daniel Huppmann, Adrian Daub, Bessma Momani, Claudia Diehl, David J. Berri, Brian Keegan, David Rosnick, Sarah Roberts, Aija Leiponen, Mark Rice, Ann Bartow, Thomas Masterson, Leah Stokes, Nicole Guenther Discenza, Charles T. Mathewes, Annette Yoshiko Reed, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Melinda Baldwin, David Darmofal, Peter Jacobs

Marshall Steinbaum @econmarshall.bsky.social · Nov 15

The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.

Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · Nov 13

Her whole statement is just incoherent and I'm baffled. He preyed on girls who looked younger than they were, but also somehow those same girls looked legal to passerby? What is Kelly even arguing here??

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