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' generalizability of Newton's law beyond orbital motions - the most daring claim in the Principia - by studying the equilibrium shapes of celestial bodies (primarily the one beneath our feet). My other research explores the foundations and limits of quantitative measurement 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
27-29 Mar 2025
Topic: Quantification in Seismology
Occasion: 10th Integrated History and Philosophy of Science Conference
@ California Institute of Technology
26 Mar 2025
Topic: Micro Matters: Empirical Challenges to Newton's Law before 1905
Occasion: Workshop on the Historical and Conceptual Relationship between Macro- and Microphysics
@ Einstein Papers House, California Institute of Technology
29 Jan 2025
Topic: Testing the Universality of Gravitation
@ Institute for Philosophical Research, UNAM Mexico City
4 Dec 2024
Topic: Newton's Law and Earth's Figure: Geodesy's Place in Celestial Mechanics
Occasion: Colloquium of the Institute of Physics, its History and Didactics
@ University of Flensburg
14-17 Nov 2024
Topic: Should We Align Quantitative Measures With Stakeholder Values?
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
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