Welcome to FreakTakes

Eric Gilliam from FreakTakesOct 24, 2026

Welcome to FreakTakes!

This Substack was originally designed with those who run/fund research organizations in mind. And that is a very large contingent of this Substack’s readers, but I’m excited that a more general audience also seems to like the pieces.

They’re deep cuts, but the pieces are dedicated to exploring something that is missing from most popular science histories, a sense of precisely how the best scientific organizations from history operated. In their most boring interpretation, you could think of these pieces as administrative histories. But, with that goal in mind, I try to keep things fun.

If you have a friend who you think will like these histories, please share the pieces with them! And if you run/fund a research operation yourself, please feel free to reach out. I write these pieces with you in mind.

You’re all the best,

-Eric

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