It’s difficult to make a hero out of Edward Jenner, the doctor who developed one of the earliest types of vaccinations (for smallpox), but did so by experimenting on a nine-year old kid (James Phipps, the son of Jenner’s gardener). That kind of callousness fuels the fire of all sorts of negative stereotypes about scientists, […]
Barry James Marshall and His Ulcers Read More »
We all know (some of us might still be sad about it) that Pluto was demoted to a “dwarf-planet” status back in 2006. In other news, however (and mayhaps this could make up for Pluto’s decline), some scientists have speculated that another planet — known as Planet Nine — might be orbiting our sun.Ideas about
This statue of Spanish scientist and theologian Michael Servetus was only erected in Geneva in 2011, which I suppose is better late than never. And the reason we can be judgy here is because it was the Genevan government that had Servetus burned at the stake for religious heresy — and that had happened about
Michael Servetus, Scientist Killed by Religious Zealots Read More »
This is a photo from about 1930 of the “Relay Assembly Test Room,” from the factory known as the Hawthorne Works, operated by Western Electric and site of a famously studied phenomenon in psychology called “the Hawthorne Effect”.Starting in 1924, Western Electric sponsored a series of experiments on the effect of lighting and efficiency in
The Hawthorne Effect Read More »
The Victorians loved themselves a good Ancient Egyptian mummy, but it turns out that 16th and 17th century Europeans did too — as ingestible medicine. But let me not get ahead of myself.First, one must acknowledge the enormous usage of mummies that Victorians did indeed employ. Starting in the 16th century, “mummy brown” became prized
Victorian Mummy Consumption Read More »
This is one of my favorite illustrations from Medieval history, from _The Book of the Queen_, and shows Christine de Pizan (1364-1431) — the first woman professional writer in French — standing in a celestial sphere surrounded by the sun, moon, and stars. The miniature features a scene from an allegorical tale by de Pizan
Christine de Pizan and the Path of Long Study Read More »
This Ancient scientist was championed by intellectuals across time, and by the 1600s was known in Europe as one of the most important alchemists of Ancient history: Cleopatra “Chrysopoeia” the Alchemist (aka not the Pharaoh). Thought to have been active in the third century BCE, Cleopatra was praised in the early 1600s as being one
Cleopatra the Alchemist Read More »
Last on a series of posts on Victorian Egyptomania. One of the ways Victorians enjoyed themselves a good mummy was from the mummy unwrapping parties that became popular, beginning in 1821 when a man named Giovanni Belzoni did a highly publicized event near Piccadilly Circus that attracted over 2000 people. The fad took off from
Victorian Egyptomania Read More »
This is King Charles II of England and Scotland (d. 1685), dressed in very fancy clothes which made him look very civilized and not at all the sort of person who would consume crushed human skull as part of his medical regimen. But there you are, because, as it turns out, 17th-century English folks did
“The King’s Drops” of King Charles II Read More »
By the end of this post, you are likely to know more than you ever thought you would about an extremely coveted medical treatment popularized in Early Modern Europe: Human Skull Moss, aka “usnea”.It was made up of exactly what it sounds like — you can see an example here from the Berlin Botanical Museum.
Human Skull Moss – “Usnea” Read More »
This is “Arctium lappa,” aka burdock. Originally from Eurasia, it is now an invasive species in North America — this beautiful specimen was flowering yesterday in the Shenandoah National Park, and July and August are typical months when the spiny bulbs blossom in lavender and purple. Although burdock root has long been used in cuisines
Burdock in Shenandoah National Park Read More »
We hairless humans have been wearing clothing for a long, long time, but exactly when is hard to tell — paintings, statues, or fabrics that give evidence of our garb only appear long after scientists think we started dressing. A paper published by Toups et al. in the journal _Molecular Biology and Evolution_ in 2011
Dzudzuana Cave, human fabric, and skin lice Read More »
This is one folio from the precious “Blue Qur’an,” dating from about 850-950 CE. The indigo-dyed parchment is adorned with gold and silver lettering, a treasured example of the heights to which the Arabic-speaking Muslim world brought the art of calligraphy. The era in which this copy of the Qur’an was written overlaps with the
Al-Kindī, Calligraphy and Cryptography in 9th c Middle East Read More »
This Ancient Egyptian “shadow clock” dates to the Ptolemaic Period (330-306 BCE), but is representative of the earliest known timepieces. The earliest extant dates to about 1500 BCE, but this fragment is much more interesting to look at. Check out the parallel and oblique lines engraved on the sloping face: one would have placed a
The Earliest Timepieces from Ancient Egypt and the Hebrews Read More »
Europeans practiced cannibalism well into the 19th century, and one of the favored ways to consume their own kind happened with beheadings. Here you see close-ups of a 1649 painting by artist John Weesop called “An Eyewitness Representation of the Execution of King Charles I”. Notice in the second image the rush of people collecting
Cannibalism in Medieval to 19th-Century Europe Read More »
We who have been raised in a culture with microscopes and electronic microscopes take for granted the existence of a universe of minutiae that shape our surroundings (SARS-COV2, to pick an example we are all exhausted about). Before Antony van Leeuwenhoek developed his microscope around 1668, however, this was impossible.And so it was that a
William Ramesey’s Illustrations of Parasites Read More »
One of the biggest questions about our universe had long been just how big it is. Of course the stars we see are far away, but just how far was unknown for most of human history. Figuring out the answer to this question was an enormous challenge: it isn’t the case that the brightest stars
Henrietta Swan Leavitt and the “Standard Candle” Read More »
Back in school I didn’t understand that mathematics isn’t a bunch of static, objective “facts.” Rather, mathematicians work out their ideas in conversation with each other, and invent new concepts in the process. The manuscript you are looking at here was one of the most important math texts in history. Its author, Gerolamo Cardano, thought
Gerolamo Cardano’s “Ars Magna” Read More »
We might not realize it, but the Christian culture of today carries with it a footprint of the spiritual universe of the Ancient Mediterranean world. Although modern scientific models overlay most of our ideas about what the universe looks like, the pagan, Christian, and Jewish religions of Ancient Rome had undergone a sort of revolution
The Ancient Universe in Religion Read More »
The deep red color you see here decorated the wall of an Ancient Roman aristocratic villa in the first century BCE. The color was known as vermilion, and it was made of the mineral cinnabar, precious to Ancient and Medieval peoples. They loved the hue they could get by mixing it with various bases. But
Cinnibar and Dragons in the Ancient World Read More »
