I am profoundly appreciative of Joe Holloway for accepting and editing an essay of mine entitled “Using Places and Plaques to Teach the History of Science.” My piece appeared in Viewpoint: Magazine of @bshsnews.bsky.social 138 (summer 2026), 2–3. bshs.org.uk/viewpoint-no...

Thank you to all those who participated in our ICE Conference 2026 yesterday! Shoaib Ahmed Malik, Majid Daneshgar and I had to alter the schedule for July 7: Julio César Cárdenas Arenas, Julia Tomasson, Nazir Khan and Hani Ahmed Zewail will speak between 12 and 2pm. divinity.ed.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

I owe dozens of individual thank-yous to all those who submitted an abstract to the Islamic Colloquia of Edinburgh (ICE) Conference 2026 on “The Histories of Islam and Science.” Shoaib Ahmed Malik, Majid Daneshgar and I had great difficulty selecting the speakers. divinity.ed.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

I thank everyone involved in reviewing my application for Membership in the International Astronomical Union (after 2 years of me being an Associate). I am immensely grateful to @susanne-m-hoffmann.bsky.social, Chair of @iau-wgsn.bsky.social, for encouraging me to apply. www.iau.org/Profile?ID=4...

Jazāka Allāhu Khayran “May God reward you with goodness,” Abdullah Ansar, for reviewing Shoaib Ahmed Malik’s and my edited book on Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life (@bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social): “a timely, innovative, and largely successful intervention” muse.jhu.edu/pub/197/arti...

My utmost appreciation goes to James Campbell for interviewing me for the “In Conversation” podcast of @intellectbooks.bsky.social. On June 3, 2026, we spoke on Google Meet about the Journal of Gulf Studies and my work more generally. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTSq...

I am most appreciative of @sfritzsche.bsky.social and her colleagues for organizing the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA) Annual Conference. On June 20, 2026, I will present “A History of Teaching Science with Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century.” sfra.org/conferences/...

I could not be any prouder of my daughter Maria today. Her stellar class teacher, Miss Maryam Aslam, informed Jeanne Vaz and me this morning that Maria won the BSME Primary Writing Event 2026 in the category of year 1–2. The competition attracted entries from 45 schools. app.smore.com/n/ag2f6v

I am deeply appreciative of Nicholas Campion for featuring my @springer.springernature.com book Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for a second time. After reviewing it in the JAHH, he recommended it again in the Editorial of Culture and Cosmos 28 (2024). www.cultureandcosmos.org/pdfs/28/28_C...

Five years’ worth of applause for Mustafa Nasar for finishing his doctoral dissertation on representations of the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf. It was an exceptional privilege for me to serve as his second supervisor at @unibas.ch. nahoststudien.philhist.unibas.ch/en/doktorat/...

Many congratulations and بہت بہت مبارک ہو to Fariha Ahmed on completing her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) thesis in Design at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar! Together with Diane Derr and Rab McClure, I had the distinct honor of serving on Fariha’s committee. scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/8352/

Meine herzlichen Glückwünsche and my heartfelt congratulations to my daughter Maria on being among the finalists of DESS Has Got Talent for this year! She entered the competition by playing a piano piece by Daniel Steibelt called “Sonatina.” app.smore.com/n/kdvbg

I am in wonderful company when I thank Hureyre Kam for inviting me to join the Editorial Board of his new book series on Islam, Science and Ethics of Emerging Technologies. It is published by Trivent under its Transhumanism imprint. trivent-publishing.eu/120-islam-sc...

For the second time in days, I am obliged to say thank you to Mahjoob Zweiri and Emilie Rutledge. After first inviting me to join the Editorial Board of the @intellectbooks.bsky.social Journal of Gulf Studies, they appointed me as one of their Associate Editors www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-g...

Herzlichen Dank and thanks from the heart to @susanne-m-hoffmann.bsky.social for entrusting me with the role of General Councillor of @iau-wgsn.bsky.social. It is an exceptional honor and privilege for me to collaborate with brilliant scholars from across our planet. exopla.net/star-names/g...

Thank you to Emilie Rutledge, the Managing Editor of our @intellectbooks.bsky.social Journal of Gulf Studies, for asking Mahjoob Zweiri and me for our thoughts on a call for papers she proposed! We are soliciting submissions for a special issue on the Iran war www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-g...

Doppelter Glückwunsch and double congratulations to my daughter Maria! She achieved first place in her class in the DESS Primary Creative Writing Competition 2026. Moreover, she is one of three whose writing has been entered into the larger BSME competition. app.smore.com/n/qd82ty

Words cannot describe how grateful I am to @samhfranz.com for editing a manuscript of mine for publication in the @historyscience.bsky.social Newsletter 55, no. 2 (April 2026). My piece is entitled “How to Revolutionize Your Survey Course in the History of Science.” hssonline.org/blogpost/198...

Around twice a year, it is time for me to give thanks in my role as book review editor of the Journal of Arabian Studies. Guillemette Crouzet, Neil Partrick, Nora Derbal, @thomasjuneau.bsky.social and Tobias Zumbraegel all contributed pieces to volume 15, issue 2. www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjab20/1...

A few thank-yous in advance to everyone who is part of my panel 5 on “Cultural Production” at the conference on Muslim Futures on April 17, 2026. They include Delia Cortese, Glaire Anderson and @vjumamel.bsky.social as well as Nathaniel Greenberg. islamicstudiescenter.gmu.edu/events/17717

My thanks to reviewers of my books are often delayed, as I don’t find out about their pieces. This is the case with Hureyre Kam, who reviewed Shoaib Ahmed Malik’s and my @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social volume Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life www.buchgestaltung-online.de/Leseproben/L...

Grazie infinite and endless thanks to Lisa Scalone and her colleagues at @springer.springernature.com for believing in my book Teaching Science Through Science Fiction: A Story of Innovation in the Classroom and Beyond. It is scheduled for publication in August 2026 link.springer.com/book/9783032...

The greatest gratitude is due to @aljazeera.com for supporting our Doha Debates Podcast. Soraya Salam hosted the discussion between @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social, Hamza Karamali, Nick Pope and me. Ruby Zaman, Dagna Gallinger Maksym and many others made this possible. www.aljazeera.com/video/doha-d...

Kull al-shukr (كل الشكر) “all the thanks” to Amjad Atallah and his colleagues at Doha Debates for recording a podcast with @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social, Hamza Karamali, Nick Pope and me. Guided by our host Soraya Salam, we discussed “Are we alone in the universe?” dohadebates.com/doha-debates...

March 24, 2026: Lots of thanks, شكراً جزيلاً (shukran jazīlan), and سپاس فراوان (sepās-e farāvān) to Emilie Rutledge and Mahjoob Zweiri for inviting me to join the Editorial Board of the Journal of Gulf Studies (@intellectbooks.bsky.social). www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-g...

Triple thanks to Farichah Naily Faizah, Muslimah Paxia ilyas, and Siti Mardiyah for reviewing Shoaib Ahmed Malik’s and my edited volume Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life (@bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social). The trio calls our book an “essential resource.” doi.org/10.1080/1474...

I owe an extraordinary debt of gratitude to @anthony-nairn.bsky.social for having Shoaib Ahmed Malik and me in discussion with one another. Our episode of In Conversation, a series @the-issr.bsky.social, centers on pedagogy and the classroom. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOJP...

On the heels of the completion of the annual report of our @iau-wgsn.bsky.social, I am delighted that the paper with our research finds has been published. You can find them on pages 1026–38 of the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage (JAHH) 28, no. 4 (December 2025). doi.org/10.3724/SP.J...

A heaven full of gratitude to everyone who volunteers their services to @iau-wgsn.bsky.social. @susanne-m-hoffmann.bsky.social, our Chair, uploaded our Annual Report for 2025, of which she, Clive Ruggles and I are the main authors. exopla.net/star-names/g...

Thanks are four years overdue to Arif Babul. Back in February 2022, he published a review of my @ibtauris.bsky.social book Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life in The Observatory 142, no. 1286. Arif wrote that my “survey is impressively comprehensive.” www.obsmag.org/issues/publi...