Science History

A trunk-load of maps and letters reveals Marco Polo’s greatest secrets. He served as a “field agent” for the Polo Brothers’ Spy Team. Sent to observe and infiltrate the government of Kublai Khan, Marco participated in Chinese explorations in the Canadian Arctic and along America’s West Coast during the 13th century. Examination of the documents by researchers at the New World Discovery Institute in Seattle was completed in October of 2011. The assessment of the historical importance of the Rossi Collection of maps and letters, mostly by Marco Polo’s daughters, involved radiocarbon analysis…

Teacher turned artist Kelly Houle has set herself to the task of creating an illuminated version of the unabridged first edition of Charles Darwin's world-changing book. An example of such an illuminated page: (Credit: Kelly M. Houle) The project is intended to be completed by 2018, with a celebration event in 2019, in time for Darwin's 210th birthday and the 160th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work.  For more information, be sure to visit the website of the project, where you can find more information on the process and the artist. (Credit: Kelly M. Houle) Also, if you…

A year and a half ago, an article about cycads at the University of Giessen brought to my attention the University’s most famous member, about whom Wikipedia says: “In the 1820s, the organic chemist Justus Liebig discovered silver fulminate (Ag-CNO) and Friedrich Wöhler discovered silver cyanate (Ag-OCN). The fact that these substances have the same chemical composition led to an acrid dispute, which was not resolved until Jöns Jakob Berzelius came up with the concept of isomers.” However, Liebig was no stranger to scientific controversy.  I wondered if the disagreement with Wöhler left…

The Icebreaker Yermak Vice-Admiral S. Makaroff of the Imperial Russian Navy was primarily an oceanographer.   His paper On some Oceanographic Problems, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Vol. XXII, contains, amongst detailed reports of his oceanographic investigations, an explanation of why the icebreaker Yermak* was built.  Quite simply, the ship was intended to promote seaborne commerce where Arctic ice had always been a barrier.  It seems that Makaroff had an idea that perhaps, one day, after much experience had been gained, an icebreaker might just possibly…

A Brief History of Arctic Warming Prior to the golden age of global exploration, during which America was first settled, little was know about the Arctic regions or even about climate science in general.  Some time between 1578 and 1584, George Best described the planet's climate zones and described how the accumulated heat input to the Arctic exceeds that of the tropics during Arctic summer.  He also described how the heat from the Sun is 'reflected'* by the ground and the atmosphere.  In his journals recording the three Frobisher expeditions he mentions the local, seasonal…

The Moon And The Telephone In the history of the discovery of climate change and its causes, there are many pioneers whose work in relevant areas is all but forgotten.  Some of these people are not widely known.  Others are widely known, but their climate-related work tends to lie forgotten in the archives.  For example: Edison is famous as an inventor and Langley is famous as an aviation pioneer, but both men made little-known contributions to our knowledge of heat. Modern scientific knowledge of the relationship between Sun, Earth and climate begins with the 16th century…

King Solomon is credited with a lot.   He knew everything, he could turn lead into gold, conjure demons and become invisible. Jamaicans even credit him with discovering marijuana.  If you know the Captain Marvel comic book superhero, the keyword he uses to change from Billy Batson to Captian Marvel is an acronym, SHAZAM - the S stands for Solomon and Solomon gave Cap wisdom.(1) But he was also the prototype for Faust.  According to the Talmud, written around 500 A.D., Solomon cut a deal with the devil to build the great temple of Jerusalem – with disastrous consequences. "In…

Journalism as an occupation with ethical standards was a 20th century invention.  For a brief, shining moment in time, journalists were interested in truth and newspapers flourished.  Truth is subjective, of course, and so are editors who set the tone of newspapers and during the time when the press had power across all society, editors were on the left and the right.   Newspapers reached everyone, multiple times each day. Today, the 'fourth estate', as Edmund Burke termed it in the 18th century, still has considerable power - it makes presidents and brings down companies - but…

Émilie Du Châtelet - An Essay On Heat - 1739 - #3 This is a plain text transcription of Dissertation sur la nature et la propagation du feu - Part 2. For introductory comments, please see Émilie du Châtelet - An Essay On Heat - 1739 - #1. [edit - inserted image at page 55 and corrected a few minor typos.] Transcription of part 2 follows below this page break............................................................................     -  51  -     DU FEU     SECONDE  PARTIE.     De la Propagation du Feu.  …

Émilie Du Châtelet - An Essay On Heat - 1739 - #2 This is a plain text transcription of Dissertation sur la nature et la propagation du feu. For introductory comments, please see Émilie du Châtelet - An Essay On Heat - 1739 - #1. Transcription of part 1 follows below this page break................................................................. DISSERTATIONSUR LA NATUREETLA PROPAGATIONDU FEU______________________Ignea convexis vis, & sine pondere coeliEmecuit, summâque locum sibi legit in arce.Ovid.______________________ A PARIS,Chez Prault, Fils, Quai de Conti, vis la…