Natural History

Rocks of Ages

On his early travels across the world it was geology that struck Charles Darwin’s interest.

Discovery of a Living Fossil

The coelacanth, believed to have been extinct for 70 million years, was rediscovered by Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer on 22 December 1938.

The Great Alpaca Heist

A Victorian wool merchant set out on an audacious, decade-long quest to smuggle alpacas out of Peru. But transporting his flock to Australia was only half the struggle. 

Crossing Oceans

Cloves, grown in Indonesia, crossed the globe in the Middle Ages, showing how interconnected the medieval world was.

In Pursuit of Pith

Flowers formed from pith paper captured the imagination of British society in the 19th century, sparking a search for the elusive ‘rice paper’ plant.

A Philosophy of Falcons

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, was obsessed with falconry. This led him to write a truly revolutionary book on the subject.