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London · Museums · Science · Mores · People
The celebrated English philosopher, thinker, sociologist, jurist and plain eccentric Jeremy Bentham bequeathed his body to be mummified
The celebrated English philosopher, thinker, sociologist, jurist and plain eccentric Jeremy Bentham bequeathed his body to be mummified. In the first place, he had been fascinated by mummification since his youth; in the second, he was an atheist; besides which, he possessed a fine sense of humour and was convinced
NB! · Museums · Observations · Science
Seventeenth-century telescope made of recycled paper with Latin text at the Jan Sobieski exhibition in Vienna
A seventeenth-century telescope is on display at the Jan Sobieski exhibition in Vienna. I do not know the story of its origin, but on closer inspection it is plain that the instrument is made of recycled paper with Latin text
Archaeology · Science · People
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The Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences has announced the death, in his 83rd year, of the distinguished scholar Lev Vladimirovich Koltsov, Doctor of Historical Sciences and leading researcher in the Department of the Stone Age. I offer my condolences to his family and friends. __________________________
NB! · Museums · Science · Mores
The Gymnasticon: An Eighteenth-Century Upright Exercise Bicycle
Archive · Science · Mores · Society
The Meaning of “Heterosexual” in Dorland’s Medical Dictionary of the Early 20th Century
Dorland's Medical Dictionary of 1901 defines heterosexuality as an "abnormal or perverted appetite" towards the opposite sex /by default/, but also towards one's own sex. That is to say, at the beginning of the twentieth century, according to Dorland, relationships involving "perverted"
Faith · Observations · Science · Mores · Society
Britain's switch to the Gregorian calendar in 1752 and the 11 days that disappeared
On 2 September 1752 Great Britain switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian, some 170 years after Pope Gregory XIII proposed abandoning the outdated system of reckoning time. And so, in Britain in 1752, 2 September was followed directly by 14 September. Eleven days vanished from the history of
NB! · Observations · Science
Euler diagrams showing which identical letters are shared by the Greek, Latin and Cyrillic alphabets
Observations · Science · Education
I was a student of Yevgeny Nikolayevich, and I remember his lectures very well
I was a student of Yevgeny Nikolayevich, and I remember his lectures very well. A first-class teacher, after whose course it is hard not to fall in love with the history of science and even with philosophy. One of the finest professors in my memory. I think everything will
NB! · Science · Palaeontology · Nature
Palaeobiologists Examine the Head of a Pleistocene Horse Found in the Permafrost of the Yana-Indigirka Lowland
Observations · Science · Education
How the Babylonians and Greeks solved quadratic equations, and who solved cubics
Remember the quadratic equation ax^{2}+bx+c=0? Well, the ancient Babylonians and Greeks knew how to solve it, except that the Babylonians had no negative numbers, so for them it was not one quadratic equation but eight: they had to work through every possible combination of signs. And
NB! · Archaeology · Monarchies · Science
Silver Boar Badge of Richard III Helps Locate the Battle of Bosworth Site
A badge bearing a silver boar, the emblem of Richard III, has been found at Bosworth. Thanks to this token, which belonged to one of the king's closest knights, archaeologists have been able to establish the exact site of the battle