Professor Liba Taub
BA, MA, PhD
Fellow (C), Senior Tutor, Director of Studies, Tutor
College Roles
- Professorial Fellow (C)
- Senior Tutor
- Director of Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (Parts II and III)
- Assistant Tutor (Undergraduates)
University Roles
- Professor of History and Philosophy of Science
- Director and Curator of Whipple Museum of the History of Science
Contact
Telephone: +44 (0) 1223 335709
Email: lct1001@cam.ac.uk
Biography
I came to Cambridge in 1995, as Curator of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, part of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, and became a Fellow of Newnham College in 1996.
I was thrilled to come to Newnham, not least because as a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma in the 1980s, I had studied history of chemistry using a book published by Newnham’s College Lecturer in Chemistry (1893-1912), Ida Freund: The study of chemical composition. An account of its method and historical development, with illustrative quotations (CUP, 1904).
I was, and continue to be, inspired by the women of Newnham College.
Research Interests
History of early science, particularly ancient Greek and Roman astronomy, physics and meteorology; history of scientific instruments. I am currently completing a book considering the different genres used in Greco-Roman antiquity to communicate about scientific ideas and mathematics (including poetry, letters, encyclopedia, commentaries and biographies). My previous books include: Aetna and the Moon: Explaining Nature in Ancient Greece and Rome (2008), Ancient Meteorology (2003), and Ptolemy’s Universe: The Natural Philosophical and Ethical Foundations of Ptolemy’s Astronomy (1993).