Hi, welcome to my website

I am Miguel, a philosopher and historian of science, currently based at the University of Cambridge and affiliated with The Royal Institution and the Φ-Geo research group at Boston University. My research focuses on the philosophy of measurement and statistical inference, the history and philosophy of physics and earth science, and, occasionally, the role of values in scientific research.  You can use this website to discover my research and teaching, a full CV, and some impressions of academic life. 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!


Me, during the daily pandemic walk in a forest near my hometown Göttingen, photographed by my partner Maria.

upcoming and recent talks

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

28 Oct 2023

[with Alisa Bokulich & Matilde Carrera]

Topic: Solid-Body Tides and the Epistemology of Anomaly-Driven Research

Occasion: Rethinking Anomalies in Science Workshop 

@ University of Pittsburgh

28 Aug - 1 Sep

Topic: Recovering a Lost Arc in the History Statistical Inference: Geodetic Statistics from Laplace to Peirce

Occasion: Fifth AIP Early Career History of Physics Conference

@ University of Copenhagen / Niels Bohr Archive

6 & 10 Jul 2023

[with Cristian Larroulet Philippi]

Topic: Is Physical Measurement Relevantly Similar to Human Science Measurement?

Occasion: British Society for Philosophy of Science Conference & Measuring the Human Workshop

@ University of Bristol / University of Cambridge

8-10 Jul 2023

Topic: Approximation as Severe Testing: Laplace's Geophysical Argument for Particle-to-Particle Gravitation

Occasion: 21st European Conference on Foundations of Physics

@ University of Bristol 

16 Apr 2023

Topic: Newton as Geodesist: The Problem of the Earth's Figure and the Argument for Universal Gravitation

Occasion: History & Philosophy of Physics Award Lecture, April Meeting of the American Physical Society

@ Hilton Minneapolis

forthcoming and recent publications 

Forthcoming

The Epistemic Privilege of Measurement: Motivating a Functionalist Account. Philosophy of Science. philsci-archive preprint 

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]

2023

With Aja Watkins:

Review of 'Naomi Oreskes: Science on a Mission'.  British Journal for  the Philosophy of Science

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

2022

Pluralizing Measurement: Physical Geodesy’s Measurement Problem and its Resolution, 1880-1924.* Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science A 96.

*Winner of the 2021 Du Châtelet Price in Philosophy of Physics 

2021

 Theodolites at 20000 Feet: Justifying Precision Measurement during the Trigonometrical Survey of Kashmir, 1855-65. Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science (online preprint).

contact: mo459@cam.ac.uk