Science History

Ibn Al-Haytham- The Mad Egyptian Polymath Who Proved Aristotle Wrong

Ibn al-Haytham can be called the father of modern optics.  His 11th-century Book of Optics, which was published 1000 years ago, is considered by some to be in the same league as Newton's Principia regarding its influence in physics, yet very little is ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 6 2011 - 4:45pm

The Road 2 Unification- From Galileo to GUT....

What really comes to your mind when you read the title?? i am not asking this in the Shiv Khera-You can Win style... instead this question decides your fitness level to comprehend the blog to follow.. a) Unification of Indo-Pak- Don't Read!!! i guess ...

Blog Post - Akshit Kumar - Feb 12 2011 - 4:27am

Fontenelle’s Conversations (1686): Popular Science Writing At Its Very Best

Popular science writing today can be hit and miss. It can be truly awful; such as Brian Greene’s immensely dull Elegant Universe, Stephen Jay Gould’s idiosyncratically waffley Rocks of Ages, and Nassim Nicholas Taleb's misguided and rushed Black Swan ...

Article - Oliver Knevitt - Feb 17 2011 - 11:44am

George Best- An Elizabethan Climate Scientist

George Best- An Elizabethan Climate Scientist whosoeuer could finde out in what proportion the Angle of the Sunne beames heateth, and what encrease the Sunnes continuance doeth adde thereunto, it might expresly be set downe, what force of heat and cold is ...

Article - Patrick Lockerby - Feb 27 2011 - 6:19pm

All At Sea With The Vikings

All At Sea With The Vikings The Vikings had an expression- hafvilla- which indicates a state of being at sea and having no sense of direction.  There are two modern English phrases that cover this situation: 'all at sea', and 'without a clu ...

Article - Patrick Lockerby - Feb 28 2011 - 4:06pm

The Only Science Citation in the Bible

Not particularly earth-shattering, this, but mildly bloggable nonetheless! People wrote the bible, we all know that. But for the most part, we really don't know who. Many books have their origins in traditional verses, others the work of individuals, ...

Blog Post - Oliver Knevitt - Mar 2 2011 - 2:57pm

Early 20th Century Robots: Sparko, The Robotic Scottish Terrier

At the 1939 World’s Fair, Westinghouse, which had an interest in robotics even a decade before, unveiled two robot prototypes: a humanoid named Elektro and a dog named Sparko. Elektro was able to walk, count and smoke cigarettes (which likely did not make ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Mar 31 2011 - 10:31am

A Brief History Of Climate Science

A Brief History Of Climate Science "One of the lesser-known branches of climatology is historical climatology, the study of past climates from historical records of instrumental observations and weather descriptions,..." Vicky Slonosky ...

Article - Patrick Lockerby - Apr 11 2011 - 10:19pm

In The Field With James Clerk Maxwell

Only a moment ago, young  James Clerk Maxwell asked Mrs. Murdoch to fetch his parents. Now all three are standing in the kitchen doorway, but he is watching the reflection that dances above the stove, across the ceiling. When he notices the adults, he misc ...

Article - Monte Davis - Apr 13 2011 - 1:19pm

Happy 1400th Birthday, Anania Shirakatsi

Anania Shirakatsi (Ananias of Shirak) was an Armenian scientist and mathematician, famous there for authoring two important works, Geography and Cosmography and the Calendar, which tackled astronomy, meteorology, and geography. He is considered the father ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Apr 20 2011 - 10:03am