Science History

What Was The First Computer Game?

Do you know the name of the first computer game?   I confess I didn't and I learned programming on a Univac 1100/62 so I am a lot closer to the origination date of computer games than most people who will read this. I assumed it was a kind of punchcar ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jan 27 2022 - 10:00am

Francesco Redi And The First Science Experiment

I had a question posed to me last week; 'what was the first science experiment?' ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Aug 26 2022 - 8:15am

Activism Or Outreach- A Call For New Ways To Communicate Climate Change

Critics of scientists and science writers who speak plainly usually note it is better to be more neutral in tone, informational- 'show them some slides.' Yet very little actually gets done that way. A few places can stay in existence writing  ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jan 3 2023 - 12:57pm

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 2024 - 10:40am

Seki- Japan's Legendary Age Of Shogun Had A Legendary Mathematician Too

You'll be forgiven if you didn't know Seki Takakazu's work on matrices came out years before Gottfried Leibniz; Japan wanted it that way.  But out-Bernoulli'ing Bernoulli?   He needs to get some respect for that and I am here to help. ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Apr 7 2024 - 9:32am

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 2024 - 2:28am

Bruno Was A Martyr For Magic, Not Science

The contrarian in me forces me to argue against sides I would ordinarily agree with when the argument is made from a flawed premise; California's Proposition 37 got a thumbs down from me because there's no reason a terrifically unhealthy Whole Fo ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jun 21 2024 - 9:30am

Atomic Theory Of 400 BC

If you've been in science media for any length of time, there are two arguments you will hear invoked to support almost any questionable position; that Einstein did his best work while he was a patent clerk and that Galileo was oppressed by the Cathol ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Sep 6 2024 - 10:10am

Mysterious 1808 Eruption- The Real Cause Of The Coldest Decade Of The Last 500 Years

The Tambora volcanic eruption in 1815 is famous for its impact on climate worldwide. As a result, the year 1816 was given memorable names such as 'Eighteen-Hundred-and-Froze-to-Death', the 'Year of the Beggar' and the 'Year Withou ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 26 2024 - 9:31am

Morte Alla Francia Italia Anela- The Secret History Of Organized Crime In 1343

Italy as we know it today had not been such since the days of the Roman Empire. You can see that last remnant today in the existence of The Vatican smack in the middle of Rome but at one point they held a substantial amount of territory.  Like Americans, I ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Nov 13 2024 - 5:10pm