Hi, welcome to my website!
I am Miguel, a philosopher and historian of science, currently based at the University of Cambridge as a Postdoctoral Fellow of the British Academy. In Fall 2025, I will be joining Boston University as Assistant Professor. You will often find me busy writing my book (under contract at Oxford University Press), which is tentatively titled "Newton's Open Problem: Earth's Figure and Universal Gravitation." In it, I reconstruct how we tested the 'universal' applicability of the law of gravitation - the most daring claim in Newton's Principia - by studying the equilibrium shapes of celestial bodies (primarily the one beneath our feet). My other research explores the philosophies of measurement and statistics, as well as the foundations and limits of quantification in science. You can use this website to discover my research and teaching. Of course, you can also reach out to me directly.
If you have little time, you can find basic information about my recent publications and upcoming talks by simply scrolling down.
Thank you for your interest in my research!
upcoming and recent talks
14-17 Nov 2024
Topic: Should We Align Quantitative Measures With Stakeholder Values?
Occasion: Philosophy of Science Association Conference
@ New Orleans
14-17 Nov 2024
[With Cristian Larroulet Philippi, Alisa Bokulich, Susan Hough, and Teru Miyake]
Topic: Symposium on Philosophy of Seismology
Occasion: Philosophy of Science Association Conference
@ New Orleans
16-19 Oct 2024
[With Aja Watkins]
Topic: The Future of Philosophy of the Geosciences
Occasion: Past, Present and Future of Philosophy of Science Conference
@ University of Minnesota
9-12 Jul 2024
Topic: Why C. S. Peirce Became A Frequentist
Occasion: Congress of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science
@ University of Vienna
31 Jan 2024
Topic: What Philosophers and Scientists Get Wrong About Quantification
Occasion: Invited Talk
@ Boston University
30 Nov 2023
Topic: How to Test a Law of Nature: Earth's Shape and Universal Gravitation
Occasion: Du Châtelet Prize Workshop: Laws and Symmetries in the Practice of Physics
@ Duke University
forthcoming and recent publications
Forthcoming
Should We Align Quantitative Measures with Stakeholder Values? Philosophy of Science.
Forthcoming
With Alisa Bokulich and Matilde Carrera:
Rising Tides and the Method of Residues: Anomaly-Driven Research in the Geosciences. Carol Cleland and Michael Dietrich (eds.) Anomalies in Science. Springer.
2024
The Problem of the Earth's Figure: Measurement, Theory, and Evidence in Physical Geodesy. [Dissertation] University of Cambridge Repository.
2023
The Epistemic Privilege of Measurement: Motivating a Functionalist Account. Philosophy of Science 90.
2022
Newton as Geodesist: The Problem of the Earth's Figure and the Argument for Universal Gravitation.* Newsletter of the American Physical Society (Oct).
*Winner of the 2022 APS History and Philosophy of Physics Essay Price
contact: mo459@cam.ac.uk
23
The Promises and Pitfalls of Precision: Random and Systematic Error in Physical Geodesy, 1800-1910. Annals of Science. [Special Issue: Promises of Precision, ed. Sibylle Gluch]