I am a historian of science, capitalism, and museums. With a technical background in molecular evolution and ecology, my research explores how large-scale social institutions like capitalism and imperialism shape what is known about Earth and its many inhabitants.
I am currently researching the deep history of Lakotan treaty lands. If you would like to learn more, you can read this co-authored article (with Craig Howe) or listen to this interview with South Dakota Public Radio.
My book -- Assembling the Dinosaur: Fossil Hunters, Tycoons, and the Making of a Spectacle -- uses the history of dinosaurs to examine how the ideals, norms, and practices of modern capitalism shaped popular science during America's Long Gilded Age. If you are interested, please check out this interview with 1A, or this short animation by TED-ed. In addition, I also co-edited the 2018 issue of Osiris on the theme of "Science & Capitalism: Entangled Histories."
I am also working on a number of other projects. These range from the political history of dragon bones to the organization of a capitalist marketplace. My work also engages with debates about the repatriation of fossils, how the concept of organization traveled between biology and economics, and the imperial project to make Earth, itself, into an object of scientific knowledge. To learn more, please visit my pesonal website: https://sites.google.com/view/lukasrieppel/
