First Day of the London Tube
The capital went underground on 10 January 1863.
Science & Technology
Books and Alphabets
Julian Huxley traces the development of writing and language, and expounds on its meaning for humanity.
The Foundations of Modern Surgery II: The Coming of Antisepsis
Henry Bashford looks back at the birth of one of modern medicine's pillars.
The Foundations of Modern Surgery I: The Coming of Anaesthesia
Henry Bashford traces the development of a key aspect of modern medicine.
The Seventeenth Century: The Age of Individuality
J.W.N. Watkins illustrates how the great individualist thinkers of the 17th century had a profound effect upon the development of modern Europe.
The Testament of Sir Humphry Davy
R.J. White introduces Humphry Davy: the inventor of the safety-lamp and one of Britain's greatest chemists was by temperament a romantic poet and philosopher.
First Fatalities
William Huskisson was the first person to die in a railway accident.
Can Science Explain History?
Britain's Olympic success was the result of marrying science with sporting methodology. Can the same techniques be applied to history?
Penicillin: The Quiet Cultivator
The story of penicillin is well known, as are those Nobel Prize winners who were honoured for their part in its discovery. But one man’s contribution has been overlooked. Malcolm Murfett sets the record straight on the biochemist Norman G. Heatley.
How Oil Became King
The great historical shifts in energy use, from wood to coal, to oil, nuclear power and beyond, have transformed civilisation and will do so again, as Richard Rhodes explains.