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Diarmid Finnegan

Reader in Human Geography, Queen's University Belfast
My research interests include the cultural history and geography of the life and earth sciences, with a particular emphasis on religious responses to scientific developments in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. My earliest work examined the reception of glacial theory in Victorian Edinburgh, investigated the historical geographies of Scottish natural history societies in the period 1831-1900 and, with Charles Withers and Rebekah Higgitt, explored the role of geography in the work of the British Association for the Advancement of Science from 1831 – c.1933. My book on natural history societies in Victorian Scotland was published by Pickering & Chatto in 2009 and was awarded the Frank Watson Book Prize for Scottish History in 2011. In 2014, I completed a two-year AHRC-funded project on science in nineteenth-century Belfast. I have also written about the mix of metaphysics and science in the writings of the geologist James Croll and the reception of ideas about human evolution in the context of religious debates about the creation of Eve (rather than Adam). More recent work has centred on public speech as a situated mode of interaction between science and culture in the nineteenth century. A monograph on this subject examining the lecture tours of five British celebrity scientists in Gilded Age America published by the University of Pittsburgh Press has recently appeared. With Professor David N. Livingstone, I have now completed a 27 month project investigating debates about evolution and theology in the early twentieth century. This is part of a larger John Templeton Foundation-funded project on conjunctive explanations in science and religion (CESAR). I am currently at the early stages of writing a biography of Scottish evolutionist and evangelist, Henry Drummond.

Economy

Trump-Xi Summit 2026: U.S.-China Trade War Tensions and Tariff Talks

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in May 2026 during his first trip to China in eight years a high-stakes diplomatic visit arriving amid one of the most turbulent periods in...

U.S. Futures Drop as Trump Issues Iran Military Deadline, Oil Prices Jump

U.S. stock index futures pulled back Sunday night as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East intensified, pushing oil prices sharply higher after President Donald Trump issued a military ultimatum to Iran over access to...

Strait of Hormuz Disruption Sparks Global Oil Supply Fears

Growing concerns over a potential global oil shortage have resurfaced as escalating Middle East tensions disrupt energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the worlds most strategically vital oil transit routes....

Oil Prices Surge as U.S.-Iran Conflict Threatens Global Supply

Global oil prices climbed sharply on Monday following the Easter holiday weekend, driven by escalating tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran that continue to rattle international energy markets. The ongoing...

Morgan Stanley: Fed Rate Cuts Still on Track Despite Oil-Driven Inflation

Morgan Stanley believes the Federal Reserve will push forward with interest rate cuts in 2026, even as rising oil prices temporarily inflate headline inflation figures. According to the banks analysts, the current...

Politics

Trump's "Easter Miracle" Rescue Sparks Church-State Debate

The dramatic rescue of a U.S. airman from Iran over the Easter weekend has ignited a national conversation about the role of religion in American military and foreign policy. President Donald Trump called the operation an...

Iran Rejects Trump's Hormuz Ultimatum, Threatens Wider Trade Disruption

Iran has firmly pushed back against U.S. President Donald Trumps latest threats over the Strait of Hormuz, dismissing his ultimatum and introducing new conditions that could further destabilize global trade routes. The...

Trump Issues Deadline for Iran to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Amid Escalating Conflict

President Donald Trump has set an 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time Tuesday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, one of the worlds most critical oil shipping routes, warning of severe military consequences if the demand...

U.S. Commandos Execute Daring Rescue Mission Deep Inside Iran

In one of the most audacious military operations in recent American history, U.S. special operations forces successfully extracted a stranded American weapons specialist from deep within Iranian territory. The mission,...

Ukraine Launches Massive Drone Offensive Across Russia, Knocking Out Power to Hundreds of Thousands

Russias military reported intercepting 148 Ukrainian drones within a three-hour window on Sunday evening, marking one of the more significant aerial campaigns in recent months. Air defence units neutralized the unmanned...

Science

NASA Artemis II: First Crewed Moon Mission Since Apollo Takes Four Astronauts on 10-Day Lunar Journey

NASAs Artemis II mission launched Wednesday, marking humanitys return to crewed lunar exploration for the first time since the Apollo era. Carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, this historic 10-day mission...

NASA's Artemis II Mission: First Crewed Lunar Journey Since Apollo

NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission

The four astronauts chosen for NASAs Artemis II mission have touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the beginning of final launch preparations for the first crewed lunar journey in over 50 years. NASA...

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

Technology

Samsung Electronics Eyes Record Q1 Profit Amid AI-Driven Chip Boom

Samsung Electronics is on track to report a historic first-quarter operating profit of approximately 40.5 trillion won ($26.9 billion), representing a six-fold year-over-year increase, according to a consensus estimate...

Elon Musk Ties SpaceX IPO Access to Mandatory Grok AI Subscriptions

Elon Musk is reportedly making Grok subscriptions a prerequisite for banks and advisers involved in SpaceXs highly anticipated initial public offering. According to the New York Times, citing insiders familiar with the...

MATCH Act Targets ASML and Chinese Chipmakers in New U.S. Export Crackdown

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has unveiled the MATCH Act, a landmark piece of draft legislation designed to tighten export restrictions on advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment destined for China. The...

Microsoft's $10 Billion Japan Investment: AI Infrastructure and Data Sovereignty Push

Microsoft is set to pour approximately $10 billion into Japan between now and 2029, channeling funds into data center expansion and artificial intelligence infrastructure to meet the countrys growing demand for data...

Australia's Social Media Ban for Under-16s Sparks Global Movement

Australias landmark social media ban for users under 16, which took effect in December, is reshaping digital policy conversations worldwide. Countries including Spain and Malaysia have signaled interest in adopting similar...