Aliens and the Enlightenment
In the 18th century the existence of extraterrestrial life went from debatable hypothesis to fundamental tenet of Enlightenment thought.
Science & Technology
The Extraordinary Rise and Inexplicable Decline of Lit & Phils
The Literary and Philosophical Society was once ubiquitous, allowing minds to meet and views to collide. Their disappearance has left more questions than answers.
A Brief History of English Numeracy
The people of late medieval and early modern England were almost universally numerate. Is our ability to count the thing that makes us human?
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and the Making of Stars
What are stars made of? When a young astronomer upset standard explanations for the formation of the solar system, the establishment told her she was wrong – then stole her findings.
The Death of a Mnemonist
Solomon Shereshevsky died on 1 May 1958. He dreamt of being a hero but achieved greatness of another kind.
‘Impossible Monsters’ by Michael Taylor review
Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin and the War between Science and Religion by Michael Taylor revels in the tangles of Victorian thought.
Measuring the Shape of the Earth
Was the Earth flatter around the poles or the Equator? In 1735 two expeditions set out to settle a matter of national pride.
Maria Graham and the Valparaíso Earthquake
An earthquake in Chile and the observations of eye-witness Maria Graham caused open hostility among 19th-century geologists.
Solving the Riddle of Reproduction
Where does new life come from? According to one theory that held sway until the 18th century, it’s all been there from the very beginning.
Glory or Gravity?
John Hutchinson and Isaac Newton were both devout scholars who believed that the natural world and God were inextricably linked. The similarities ended there.