Prof. Dr. Omar W. Nasim

Omar W. Nasim is an historian of science and technology. Trained in philosophy and physics, his work focuses on scientific practices and techniques surrounding observation, such as drawing and notetaking; but also on histories of technologies as mundane as the pencil and paper or as celebrated as photography. His interests extend to science’s relationships to philosophy and art. And over the years, Nasim has taught a broad range of courses, ranging from the history of photography, the idea of the ‘savage,’ and the ‘tools of empire’; all the way to French philosophy of science, science and controversy and scientific visualization.

Nasim’s first book, Bertrand Russell and the Edwardian Philosophers: Constructing the World (2008) examined the emergence of early analytic philosophy in Britain, particularly through the lens of lesser-known figures and the history of psychology, logic, and mathematics. It won the Bertrand Russell’s Society’s book of the year award for 2009. His second book, Observing by Hand: Sketching the Nebulae in the Nineteenth-Century (2013) is the result of detailed archival and historical work, used to disclose the rich and productive links between the acts of drawing, seeing and knowing. This book won the prestigious History of Science Society’s Pfizer Award for Outstanding Scholarly Book in 2016.

Currently he is working on two book projects: One is a short book on the epistemic and moral economies of the astronomer’s observing chair; and the other is a monograph on the history of photography in astronomy. Nasim is also busy with a large-scaled project on role of the ornamental arts in the history of science.

Nasim has held fellowships with the Vossius Center for History of Humanities and Sciences in Amsterdam, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the Kunsthistorisches Institute in Florence, the Newton International Fellowship at Oxford University, the Chair for Science Studies at the ETH-Zurich, the NCCR’s Iconic Criticism project at the University of Basel, and the DAAD graduate exchange fellowship at the University of Konstanz. And besides being a Lecturer for the history of modern science and technology at the University of Kent, he was also a visiting lecturer at the department of art history at the University of Basel.

As the Professor for the History of Science at the University of Regensburg, Nasim is keen on supervising Masters and Doctoral students, particularly those interested in such areas as: the history of the observational sciences (astronomy, natural history, etc.); history and philosophy of science; history of scientific photography; history of scientific drawing practices; history of note-taking; histories of the relationship between science and philosophy; and the relationship between science and art.

vita

Academic Posts and Fellowships

2016-present

University of Regensburg (Germany)

Professor for the History of Science

Institute of Philosophy

2017

University of Amsterdam

Senior Research Fellow

Vossius Center for History of Humanities and Sciences (Holland)

2017

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (Germany)
Visiting Scholar

Department II: Lorraine Daston

2014-2016

University of Kent (England)

Lecturer in the History of Modern Science and Technology

School of History

2014

University of Oxford (England)

Newton International Fellow (British Academy)

Faculty of History

2014

University of Basel (Switzerland)

Visiting Lecturer

Department of Art History

2011

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (Germany)

Visiting Scholar

Department II: Lorraine Daston

2009-2014

ETH Zurich (Switzerland)

Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow

Chair for Science Studies

2009-2013

University of Basel (Switzerland)

Research Fellow (SNF)

Iconic Criticism (Eikones)

2008-2009

Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence (Italy)

Postdoctoral Fellow of project Knowledge in the Making

Directorship of G.Wolf

2007-2008

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (Germany)

Postdoctoral Fellow of project Knowledge in the Making

Department III: Hans-Jörg Rheinberger

2005-2006

University of Konstanz (Germany)

DAAD Graduate Exchange Fellow

Department of Philosophy: Jürgen Mittelstraß

2000-2005

University of Toronto (Canada)

Lecturer, Tutor and TA

Department of Philosophy

Education

2012

ETH Zurich (Switzerland)

Habilitation

venia legendi: History of Science

2007

University of Toronto (Canada)

Doctorate in Philosophy

Supervisors: Ian Hacking and Alasdair Urquhart

2000

University of Manitoba (Canada)

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

Honors Program

Publications

Books

The Astronomer's Chair: A Visual and Cultural History (MIT Press, 2021 in press)

Emergence of Analytic Philosophy and a Controversy at the Aristotelian Society, 1900-1916, Guest editor of special issue of the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Virtual Issue, No. 2, 2014

Observing by Hand: Sketching the Nebulae in the Nineteenth Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013)

Notieren, Skizzieren. Schreiben und Zeichnen als Verfahren des Entwurfs, edited with Karin Krauthausen (Zürich/Berlin: Diaphanes, 2010)

Bertrand Russell and the Edwardian Philosophers: Constructing the World (Palgrave
MacMillan, 2008)

Journal Articles and Contributions to Books

“Hybrid Photography: Cases from Astronomy,” in Hybrid Images, eds. Stefanie Klamm, Sara Hillnhüter and Friedrich Tietjen, under review at Bloomsbury Press.

“Photography is not Alone,” in Practicing Photography in the Sciences, eds. Kelley Wilder and Geoff Belknap, under review at University of Chicago Press.

“Handling the Heavens: Things and the Photo-Objects of Astronomy,” in Photo-Objects: Photographs as Research Objects, for special virtual edition at the KHI, forthcoming.

“James Nasmyth on the Moon; Or on Becoming a Lunar Being Without the Lunacy,” in special issue of Nuncius: Journal of the Material and Visual History of Science, forthcoming.

“The Labour of Handwork in Astronomy: Between Drawing and Photography in Anton Pannekoek.” in Anton Pannekoek (1873-1960): Ways of Viewing Science and Society Modernism in Science, Radical Politics and Art, eds. Jeroen van Dongen and Chaokang Tai (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2017), forthcoming.

“Making Invisible: The Other Side of Scientific Visualization,” in Re-Thinking Visualization: a multidisciplinary attempt at the concept, eds. by Erna Fiorentini and James Elkins (Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2017) forthcoming.

“Observatorium,” in Handbuch Wissenschaftsgeschichte, eds M. Sommer, C. Reinhardt, and S. Müller-Wille (Stuttgart: Metzler Lexikon-Verlag, 2017) pp. 180-92.

“Astrophotograpfie und John Herschels ‚Skelette’” in Zeigen und/oder Beweisen?: Die Fotografie als Kulturtechnik und Medium des Wissens, ed. Herta Wolf (Berlin: Akademie Verlag’s Series: Studies in Theory and History of Photography, 2016) pp. 157-78.

“Introduction: Emergence of Analytic Philosophy and a Controversy at the Aristotelian Society, 1900-1916,” in Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, ed. Omar W. Nasim, virtual issue, No. 2, 2014, pp. 10-30.

“Was ist historische Epistemologie?” in Nach Feierabend, eds. M. Hagner and C. Hirschi, (Zürich/Berlin: Diaphanes, 2013) pp. 123-144.

“Extending the Gaze: The Temporality of Astronomical Paperwork,” in Science in Context, 2013, 26: 247-277.

“On Scribbles in Space,” in Über Kritzeln: Graphismen zwischen Schrift, Bild, Text und Zeichen, eds. Christian Driesen, et. Al (Zürich/Berlin: Diaphanes, 2012) pp. 71-90.

“Observing by Hand,” in Rheinsprung 11: "Zur Händigkeit der Zeichnung," eds. Hana Gründler, Toni Hildebrandt, Omar Nasim, and Wolfram Pichler, Virtual Issue, 2012, 66-74.

“The Spaces of Knowledge: Bertrand Russell, Logical Construction, and the Classification of the Sciences,” in British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 2012, 20: 1163-1182.

“Nebulae,” in Eine Naturgeschichte für das 21. Jahrhundert, eds. Azzouni, Brandt, Gausemeier, et al. (Berlin: Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, 2011) pp. 165-66.

“The ‘Landmark’ and ‘Groundwork’ of Stars: John Herschel, Photography and the Drawing of Nebulae,” in Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, 2011, 42: 67-84.

“Zeichnen als Mittel der ‘Familiarisation’ zur Erkundung der Nebel im Lord Rosse-projekt,” in Notieren, Skizzieren. Schreiben und Zeichnen als Verfahren des Entwurfs, eds. Karin Krauthausen and Omar Nasim (Zürich/Berlin: Diaphanes, 2010) pp. 159-88.

“Papiertechniken im Labor. Interview mit Hans-Jörg Rheinberger,” in Notieren, Skizzieren. Schreiben und Zeichnen als Verfahren des Entwurfs, eds. Karin Krauthausen and Omar Nasim (Zürich/Berlin: Diaphanes, 2010) pp. 139-58.

“Observation, Working-Images, and Procedure: the ‘Great Spiral’ in Lord Rosse’s Astronomical Record Books and Beyond,” in British Journal for the History of Science, 2010, 43: 353-389.

“Explaining G.F. Stout’s Reaction to Russell’s ‘On Denoting’,” in Russell vs. Meinong: the Legacy of "On Denoting”, eds. Nicholas Griffin and Dale Jacquette (London: Routledge Press, 2009) pp.101-112.

“On Seeing an Image of a Spiral Nebula: From Whewell to Flammarion,” in Nuncius: Journal of the History of Science, 2009, 24:393-414.

“Bertrand Russell's July 1915 Letter on Sense-Data,” in Bertrand Russell Society Quarterly, May-November, 2009, 142-144:35-38.

“Beobachtungen mit der Hand: Astronomische Nebelskizzen im 19. Jahrhundert,” in Daten sichern: Schreiben und Zeichnen als Verfahren der Aufzeichnung, ed. Christoph Hoffmann (Zürich/Berlin: Diaphanes Verlag, 2008) pp. 21-46.

“Observations, Descriptions, and Drawings of Nebulae: A Sketch,” in Max Planck Institute for History of Science Pre-Print Series. No. 345, Berlin: 2008.

Reviews, Reports and Review Essays

Review of: Artificial Darkness: An Obscure History of Modern Art and Media by Noam M. Elcott, University of Chicago Press, 2016, in British Journal for the History of Science, in preparation.

Review of: Science from Sight to Insight: How Scientists Illustrate Meaning, by Alan G. Gross and Joseph E. Harmon, University of Chicago Press, 2014, in HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 6:1 2016 pp. 168-71.

Review of: G. F. Stout and the Psychological Origins of Analytic Philosophy,
M. van der Schaar, Macmillan 2013, in Dialectica 49:1 2015.

Essay Review of: Discovery and Classification in Astronomy: Controversy and Consensus by Steven J. Dick, Cambridge University Press, 2013, in Metascience 23:3 2014.

Review of: An Introduction to Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy by David Mills Daniel and Megan Daniel, in Russell: The Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies 30:2, 2011.

Review of: Mulla Sadra and Metaphysics: Modulation of Being by Sajjad H. Rizvi, in Journal for Islamic Philosophy (Special Issue) 6, 2010.

Review of: Surrealism, Art and Modern Science by Gavin Parkinson, in: Nuncius 24 (2009), pp.244-46.

Report on: “What (Good) is Historical Epistemology?” Reprint in Arbeitsgemeinschaft historischer Forschungseinrichtungen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. No. 187, 2008.

Report on: The International Conference “What (Good) is Historical Epistemology?” 24-26 July 2008, in The Reasoner, 2:9, September 2008.

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