Sebastian Fernandez-Mulligan

Sebastian is a PhD candidate in the History of Science & Medicine Program. His research focuses on the exchange of mathematics and metaphors between physics and social theory in the twentieth century. His dissertation constructs a history of entropy in American science, art, and economics. It examines how scientific debates over the definition of entropy in statistical mechanics, information theory, and complexity theory became coupled to moral claims about work and waste amid twentieth century environmental concerns.

Before arriving at Yale, Sebastian worked as a researcher in condensed matter physics.  He studied non-equilibrium electronic states, with the goal of understanding the interplay between magnetism and topology in candidate materials for high-efficiency electronics. His historical research has been published in Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences.