Love on the Wire
The advent of telecommunications gave rise to a new literary genre through which female telegraphers and writers found social freedoms.
Science & Technology
Weighing up the Evidence
What does it take to establish a new scientific truth? In the case of heliocentrism, the death of its sceptics.
The Battle of the Gauges
The railway revolutionised Victorian Britain, but were its trains on the right track? It was difficult to gauge.
Governing Goliath
In order to tackle the power of ‘Big Tech’, President Biden’s administration draws lessons from America’s ‘Gilded Age’.
More Heat and Light
The varied social, economic and institutional conditions that shaped science over more than two centuries.
Future Leaders or Social Outcasts?
The obsession with gifted children is an ancient one, but it took on new life in the 20th century.
Discovery of the Periodic Table
Dmitri Mendeleev identified a general theory underlying all elements on 1 March 1869.
On the Road Again
Electric cars seem to offer a solution to the problem of the internal combustion engine. But technological advances have other consequences.
Between Galileo and Newton
Christiaan Huygens has been long overshadowed by Isaac Newton. But he is the better example of a modern scientist.
Why a Circle Has 360 Degrees
The long and complicated history of why there are 360 degrees in a circle.