معرفی
Nick Hopwood is Professor of History of Science and Medicine at the University of Cambridge, currently on research leave until September 2024. He is affiliated with the Department of History and Philosophy of Science and serves as Co-chair of Cambridge Reproduction. His academic journey began after postdoctoral work in developmental biology, leading him to become a teaching officer at Cambridge in 1998, where he won a Pilkington teaching prize in 2006.
His research focuses on visual communication in the history of biological and medical sciences, with particular expertise in reproduction, embryology, anatomy, and evolution. Originally working on German-speaking Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries, his research increasingly encompasses Britain and the United States across a broader historical span from 1750 to the present. Hopwood is currently writing Dramas of Development: Imaging the Human Embryo Series and The Many Births of the Test-Tube Baby: Proof and Publicity in Claims to a Breakthrough, the latter supported by a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship (2021-2024).
His publication record demonstrates remarkable breadth and depth in the history of reproduction and embryology, with his 2015 book Haeckel's Embryos: Images, Evolution and Fraud winning the History of Science Society's Suzanne J. Levinson Prize. His most recent work explores diverse topics including the visual culture of abortion activism, the history of IVF, and conceptual frameworks in developmental biology.
- Suzanne J. Levinson Prize for best book in history of life sciences
- Highly commended for SHARP DeLong Book History Prize
- Shortlisted for BSHS John Pickstone Prize
- Pilkington teaching prize (2006)
Hopwood has supervised numerous PhD students working on diverse topics including anatomy history, scientific societies, heart transplants in media, flu as a viral disease, teratology, blood donation, pregnancy testing, transgenic mice, and the midlife crisis. He co-directs the Ischia Summer School on the History of the Life Sciences and serves as President-Elect of the International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology. He also chairs the oversight group for the Nuffield Council on Bioethics public dialogue on the 14-day rule for human embryo research, demonstrating his engagement with contemporary ethical issues in reproductive science.
