I am interested in the premodern sciences, broadly construed, and the ways in which people’s understanding of nature and natural processes (both then and now) influences how they understand themselves as actors in the world, as well as how they understand the kinds of things that are possible, likely, or impossible in that world. I have written extensively on the intersections between astronomy, astrology, weather prediction, and calendars in antiquity, on science, theology, and law in Roman science and Roman philosophy, on the very idea of a ‘Roman’ science, and on premodern theories of the origins of life (especially spontaneous generation), among other topics. I am currently working on a major research project with Sergio Sismondo (Queen’s University) on the topic of Epistemic Corruption (https://www.epistemiccorruption.com/).

I have published three monographs with two more in the works: Astronomy, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World (Cambridge, 2007), What Did the Romans Know? (Chicago, 2012), and Creatures Born of Mud and Slime (Hopkins, 2017). Forthcoming are Science in the Ancient World (Chicago) and Corruption and Progress in Ancient Science (Princeton). I also co-edited (with A.D. Morrison and A. Sharrock) Lucretius: Poetry, Philosophy, Science (Oxford, 2013). I have published and spoken widely on a range of other topics, including: scientific experiment, garlic and magnets, the Antikythera mechanism, bees, atomism, scientific translation, computational photography, sundials, intoxicants, divination, and the central importance of the humanities.

I received my PhD in History and Philosophy of Science and Technology from the University of Toronto. I have taught at Queen’s University (Canada), the University of Manchester, the University of King’s College (Halifax), and held visiting positions at the University of Melbourne and the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.

Fall 2026-AS.040.372 Plato's Mathematical Cosmos