I am a Philosophy Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology (SPA) at the University of Exeter, UK. I completed my PhD in 2015 at the University of Otago in New Zealand, focusing on the scientific methodology of Isaac Newton. Before moving to Exeter, I spent two years as an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Nottingham (2016-2018).
I am interested in Isaac Newton’s methodology in both historical and philosophical contexts. I ask, how ought we understand his scientific achievements and what are the upshots for theoretical accounts of science? My approach incorporates the tools and ideas of contemporary philosophy of science, balanced with a sensitivity to historical context. This gives my research a distinctive reach into both contemporary issues in the philosophy of science and to the history of ideas.
I have been carrying out my research as part of a team studying the emergence of experimental philosophy in the early modern period. I make regular contributions to the project blog, ‘Early Modern Experimental Philosophy’.
I grew up in Melbourne, Australia and have studied and taught at the Universities of Melbourne, Otago, Sydney, Bucharest, Calgary and Nottingham. I have also been a visiting scholar at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Australian National University and University of Cambridge.