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Christmas Trilogy 2012 Part I: Did Isaac really victimise Stephen?
Isaac Newton was not a nice man. When he was holding court in a London coffee house dispensing wisdom and his mathematical manuscripts to his acolytes he was probably friendly and magnanimous. Also,...
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Christmas Trilogy 2012 Part II: Charles and Ada: A tale of genius or of...
This year Ada Lovelace Day, a celebration of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fuelled by the Finding Ada website and twitter account took off big time. Now I have...
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Christmas Trilogy 2012 Part III: What to do if your mother’s a witch.
Johannes Kepler certainly lived in interesting times in the sense of the old Chinese curse. Born 27th December 1571 he lived through the most intensive phase of the Counter-Reformation being forced,...
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Giants Shoulders #55: Three Days Left!
You have just three days to submit those #histsci, #histmed and #histtech blog posts to the history of science blog carnival Giants Shoulders’ #55 which will be hosted by Lisa Smith (@historybeagle) at...
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How Forensic Seismology investigates into Ship-Disasters, Terrorist-Attacks...
The collision of the cruise ship “Costa Concordia” on January 13, 2012 was recorded by the seismograph station “Monte Argentario“, situated on the Italian mainland. From the eyewitness testimony and...
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Curiosities, Utilities and Authority – Giants’ Shoulders #55
The 55th edition of the history of science blog carnival Giants’ Shoulders, “Curiosities, Utilities and Authority”, has been posted by this month’s host Lisa Smith (@historybeagle) at The Sloanes...
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What Kepler and Newton really did.
This has been a good week for people getting the history of astronomy in the seventeenth century wrong. [to find out what they got wrong go here] Filed under: astronomy, History
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Carnivals
Giants’ Shoulders #56 the history of science blog carnival is being hosted by Michael Barton @darwinsbulldog at The Dispersal of Darwin on 16th February. Submit your favourite #histsci, #histtech &...
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Giants’ Shoulders #56 The Giant Edition
Michael Barton (@darwinsbulldog) has posted a positively gigantic edition of Giants’ Shoulders the history of science blog carnival on his blog The Dispersal of Darwin. It contains enough good bloggage...
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Newton’s Alchemy and early Geochemistry
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) is today remembered for his contributions to optics, mechanics and gravity, but as a typical polymath of his time he was also interested in alchemy. And through his...
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June 8, 1783: How the “Laki-eruptions” changed History
“The sun fades away, the land sinks into the sea, the bright stars disappear from the sky, as smoke and fire destroy the world, and the flames reach the sky.” The End of the World according to the...
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In Search of Punt
The expedition to the land of gold, also referred as Punt, from a relief in the temple of Queen Hatshepsut. The ships are loaded in a harbor of unknown location with precious gifts for the Pharaoh and...
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Geologizing Asses
“Humanity’s genius is to have always had a sense of its weakness. The physical energy and strength, with which nature insufficiently endowed humans, is found in animals that help them to discover new...
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Granite Wars – Episode I: Fire & Water
In 1820 the Italian engineer Count Giuseppe Marzari-Pencati (1779-1836) published a short article about the stratigraphic succession found near the small village of Predazzo. At the “Canzoccoli”...
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Granite Wars – Episode II
“Inside the globe [there] exist mysterious forces, whose effects become apparent on the surface. Eruptions of vapors, glowing lava and new volcanic rocks…[]” Alexander von Humboldt At the end of the...
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Newton’s Philosopher’s Stone
“the magisterium“the magisterium, our great work, the stone” “The Alchemist” Act 1. Scene 4 Today we remember Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) for his contributions to optics, mechanics and astronomy, but...
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A.R. Wallace on Geology, Great Glaciers and the Speed of Evolution
When Charles Darwin published “The Origin of Species” in November 1859 geologists were still discussing the age of the earth. Deep time was an essential prerequisite to explain the recent biodiversity...
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When Rock Classification was hard…
Talc – Gypsum – Calcite – Fluorite – Apatite – Feldspar – Quartz – Topaz – Corundum – Diamond - “Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness ” should be familiar to rock-hounds and earth-science students alike...
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A Concise History of Geological Maps: From Outcrop to the first Map
March 23, 1769 marks the birthday of pioneering stratigrapher William Smith, who is also credited with creating the first useful geological map, however like many other great accomplishments also...
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Article 8
Whewell’s Gazette Your weekly digest of all the best of Internet history of science, technology and medicine Editor in Chief: The Ghost of William Whewell Volume #1...
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