Science & Technology

Garlic and Magnets: The Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution put an end to beliefs that were once considered rational but now seem bizarre. If we want to understand why, we need to look at the increasing importance of the ‘fact’, says David Wootton.

Technology Capital Then and Now

Britain’s Industrial Revolution is most closely associated with the Midlands and the North. But the capital was also a centre of innovation and enterprise, as David Waller explains.

Mysticism and Machines

E.R. Truitt revisits John Cohen’s 1963 article on the history of automata and the quest to recreate humanity.

Innovative Oldenburg

A German scholar living in 17th-century London revolutionised the way scientists shared news of their latest advances.

Francis Galton and Eugenics

Darwin’s cousin in the nineteenth century, writes C.H. Corning, was a daring explorer of the world and a pioneer in the scientific study of racial qualities.

Nadar: A Portrait

‘A sort of giant’, with immensely long arms and legs and a mop of bristling red hair, Felix Nadar employed his creative gifts in several different arts and sciences.