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 of Philosophy. 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 

2024

The Problem of the Earth's Figure: Measurement, Theory, and Evidence in Physical Geodesy. [Dissertation]  University of Cambridge Repository. 

2024

With Aja Watkins: 

What is Philosophy of the Geosciences? Philosophy Compass.

2023

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]

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