Academic Area of Specialization

I wouldn't do that

But alas.. doxxing..

I tend to latch on to a particular topic and I slide into something connected to it. My passion for pirates led me to read the C S Forrester 'Hornblower' books, then to an obsession with Horatio Nelson, and finally to an interest in the Napoleonic period in general. My big interests in history are Napoleonic, Late Roman and Byzantine and 'Dark Age' Britain. I wrote 6 articles on Napoleonic cavalry, 3 online and 3 in print journals, one of them won a prize.

That's so cool ^^

Medical history is really interesting but I feel queasy reading about some of it lol.

It's crazy all the different treatments that were used say hundred years ago when there was no pain meds. 

Sounded really horrible times to need treatment:-/ 

They did do public autopsies, and rats did spread the plague, yes- via their fleas. There was person to person transmission as well, I think, because it tended to make people quite... oozy.

There's a lot of stuff in medical history that makes for pretty grim reading, actually. But a big part of why I like it so much is that there are so many stories about how people fixed things too. Joseph Bazalgette's new sewers that sorted out the Great Stink of 1858 is a favourite of mine!

 Intriguing... 

It’s way more catchy than you’ll be able to guess..

NAS88864 said:

What is your specialist subject, the thing that makes you feel happiest and eager learning about? That makes life feel better?

I don't have one and I'm not 'academic'.

Women present differently to men and I read on this forum quite a lot of comments (based on incorrect assumptions) that appertain to men, not women.

'The different way in which girls and women present under the following headings have been identified below; social understanding, social communication, social imagination which is highly associated with routines, rituals and special interests. Some examples are:

• Girls are more able to follow social actions by delayed imitation because they observe other children and copy them, perhaps masking the symptoms of Asperger syndrome (Attwood, 2007).
• Girls are often more aware of and feel a need to interact socially. They are involved in social play, but are often led by their peers rather than initiating social contact. Girls are more socially inclined and many have one special friend.
• In our society, girls are expected to be social in their communication. Girls on the spectrum do not ‘do social chit chat’ or make ‘meaningless’ comments in order to facilitate social communication. The idea of a social hierarchy and how one communicates with people of different status can be problematic and get girls into trouble with teachers.
• Evidence suggests that girls have better imagination and more pretend play (Knickmeyer et al, 2008). Many have a very rich and elaborate fantasy world with imaginary friends. Girls escape into fiction, and some live in another world with, for example, fairies and witches.
• The interests of girls in the spectrum are very often similar to those of other girls – animals, horses, classical literature – and therefore are not seen as unusual. It is not the special interests that differentiate them from their peers but it is the quality and intensity of these interests. Many obsessively watch soap operas and have an intense interest in celebrities.

The presence of repetitive behaviour and special interests is part of the diagnostic criteria for an autism spectrum disorder. This is a crucial area in which the male stereotype of autism has clouded the issue in diagnosing girls and women.'

https://autismhampshire.org.uk/about-autism/women-and-girls-on-the-autism-spectrum

Hehe sorry ^^

There's a few I'd love to go back to the Vikings

I'd like to see the Romans and also Victorian Britain.

I'd go back to see the world trade centre towers before the tragedy

I'd like to go back before I was born and see my mum and what she was like when she was younger :) 

DeSpereaux said:

I have a pretty interesting last name, that lent itself well to WW2 propaganda

Churchill? (just kidding!) 

Goodness, Goosey!! That's a big question for a Tuesday morning!

I'll have a think while I'm at work...

What about you? Would you time travel if you could?

Pegg what part of history is your fav?

If you could time travel where would you go? :–) 

NAS88864 said:

reading their job title is the most exciting part of it but I couldn’t do that on all of them

The problem can be made worse because some jobs then don't exist any more, like a Marine Dealer, for example - and also because the enumerator used a lot of abbreviations - imagine if you had, say, 200 households to collect data from, and a third of them had the same job! The ubiquitous Gen. Lab. for example - in any urban setting, there were a great many of those...

NAS88864 said:

everyone had coat of arms back then. Is that right

Yeah, it can look like that... everyone didn't, but societal changes had created the middle class, simply put - and they wanted to have the stuff that the aristocracy had, build the houses, get the arms, etc. 

Fashionable acquisition, like people do now. 

That's a great thing to do rescuing stray cats. Hard to believe some people will actually just dump them...can be a very sad world.

Getting a good diet is super hard work.

I don't eat a lot but sometimes I just stop eating if I'm not liking it and the effects can be so unpleasant.

When I feel down about things I watch happy videos on YouTube :) 

Which era in history interests you most? 

I was listening about the Aztecs last night at my driving job and apparently they had a zoo in their city. In the 14th century I think it was, before anywhere in Europe did. They had a big cat room that was quite creepy because it was decorated in idols and the cats were fed parts of the sacrifices. One of the Spanish invaders wrote that it was like seeing hell. 

It’s so interesting that you say that Biology and History have been your passions that have remained with you through life. I love the way our personalities work this way. That we are so unique in our combination of interests. I think that my passions all link through my ceramics. So because clay is out of the ground I love Geology and Archaeology and ancient civilizations. I think at the heart of my personality is an earthiness. As I’m getting older it’s getting more powerful. Like wanting to be outside. I love how the personality is like an engineered machine and all the parts work like clockwork. The brain sitting inside a car that it drives through life. Our interests the shell to protect us from the chaos of the world. 

I think reading the censuses must be one of the most exciting things you can do in life. Especially when it’s about your ancestors. It’s like opening presents at Christmas. Ok now I know why they are so hard to decipher. Thank you for that. It’s frustrating sometimes because reading their job title is the most exciting part of it but I couldn’t do that on all of them. But then sometimes I’d look at a later or earlier census, in a different hand writing and be able to read it. 

When I tried to do my moms family tree it went all the way back to the 15th century. I was absolutely stunned. Everyone started having a coat of arms next to their names. First I thought it just be because they were really rich but then I decided everyone had coat of arms back then. Is that right? 

Natural history and history. My first obsessions were big cats and (after reading Treasure Island) pirates. The two interests of animals/biology and history have proceeded in tandem through my life. As I could see more opportunities in biology than history (I never wanted to teach) as a potential career, that is the way I went.

OMG newspapers! Don't get me started!

One of the best research gifts of recent times for me has been access the millions of pages of digitized newspapers! I'm such a fan!

It makes family history easier to research for people...although mostly I'm researching other stuff for fun.

Then updating Wikipedia..

Cats really are stunning. I rescue stray ones. Poor things are mistreated by humans, left to breed rampantly. Thrown out on the streets. Awww I’ll take more time to look at the geese next time I go to the park. We have the Canada geese and then the brown ones with orange beaks there.
it’s so hard. I tried going Vegan before and was exhausted and could hardly do Yoga. I see videos of factory farmed chickens sometimes and feel horrific. Animal cruelty is the one thing that gives me instant feelings of dread and despair. I don’t feel that way about humans. 

I have a pretty interesting last name, that lent itself well to WW2 propaganda, so my family history searches uncovered that my family members children and citizens and wartime stories, were often in newspapers in wartime.. so I’m quite fortunate in the history department..