Category Archives: History

June 8, 1783: How the “Laki-eruptions” changed History

Posted on June 8, 2013 by

“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 “Völuspa“, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Geology, History | Leave a comment

Newton’s Alchemy and early Geochemistry

Posted on March 17, 2013 by

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 interest in this early predecessor of chemistry he … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemistry, Geology, Philosophy | Leave a comment

What Kepler and Newton really did.

Posted on February 5, 2013 by

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]

Posted in astronomy, History | Leave a comment

How Forensic Seismology investigates into Ship-Disasters, Terrorist-Attacks and secret Nuclear Tests

Posted on January 13, 2013 by

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 the Automatic System of the ship the time of collision … Continue reading →

Posted in Geology, Science | Leave a comment

Christmas Trilogy 2012 Part III: What to do if your mother’s a witch.

Posted on December 27, 2012 by

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, as a Protestant living and working in Catholic territory, to … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, History | Leave a comment

Christmas Trilogy 2012 Part II: Charles and Ada: A tale of genius or of exploitation?

Posted on December 26, 2012 by

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 nothing against this celebration and have actively supported it on this blog … Continue reading →

Posted in History, mathematics | Leave a comment

Christmas Trilogy 2012 Part I: Did Isaac really victimise Stephen?

Posted on December 25, 2012 by

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, when he was chatting over breakfast with … Continue reading →

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Pseudo-science, proto-science, pre-science or just plain science?

Posted on December 22, 2012 by

Having posted my recent article on the history of pseudo-science and science I went off to bed. Whilst I was wrapped in the arms of Morpheus an interesting little debate was taking place on my twitter stream. One of the participants thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Astrology, History, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Killed by Homeopathy

Posted on December 8, 2012 by

The mathematician, philosopher and logician George Boole died on the 8th December 1864. What most people don’t realise is that he was in all probability killed by homeopathy. [curious?]

Posted in History, logic, mathematics | Leave a comment

Humanity’s interest in the so-called pseudo-sciences has not always been bad for science

Posted on November 27, 2012 by

In a recent piece on her excellent Guardian Science blog, The H Word, my #histsci soul sister Rebekah “Becky” Higgitt asked, “Is there a rising tide of irrationality?” summarising her opinion with the following subtitle: Despite claims that pseudoscientific views are on the … Continue reading →

Posted in History | 1 Comment