Michael McCormick discusses how we can discover our ancestors and their lived experience, their successes and failures, and invent a new discipline, the Science of the Human Past.
The role of the mechanical clock in medieval science
August 21, 2017 by
What is a mechanical clock? The answer to this question depends on whom you ask. Today, most people consider it a time-telling instrument.
The Light of Nature? No ‘Experience’ in the Middle Ages!
June 13, 2017 by
When we think of the concept of experience, we would most likely not be thinking of the Middle Ages.
Six Science Questions – Answers from the Sixth Century
February 19, 2017 by
Even in the Early Middle Ages people were asking scientific questions about their world. Here are six of these questions, and the answers that were provided by a Byzantine philosopher in the year 531.
Medieval Big Bang Theory: An Interdisciplinary Tale
January 4, 2017 by
In his De luce (on light) he extends it to the origin of the Universe in what has been referred to as the ‘Medieval Big Bang’.
What is a Volcano? A Medieval Answer
September 25, 2016 by
Volcanoes have long fascinated people. They have know how dangerous they can be, but throughout history many have tried to figure what causes them. Here is the explanation given by the medieval scholar Albert the Great.
Science and Nature in the Medieval Ecological Imagination
September 9, 2016 by
This dissertation explores the intersections between nature and culture in medieval literature and art with particular focus on Geoffrey Chaucer’s House of Fame, the thirteenth-century French Bible Moralisée, and William Langland’s Piers Plowman.
BOOK REVIEW: Medieval Medicine: Its Mysteries and Science by Toni Mount
May 3, 2016 by
Our review of Toni Mount’s fascinating look at medicine in the Middle Ages in – Medieval Medicine: Its Mysteries and Science by Toni Mount.
The Dead in 3D: The Rothwell Charnel Chapel Project Online!
April 17, 2016 by
In the past seven months, the Rothwell Charnel Chapel Project has evolved to become more than just a research and preservation project, but has morphed into a virtual exhibit, and fascinating online learning resource that will be available globally.
Science and Religion in the Middle Ages
November 5, 2015 by
Why did science and natural philosophy suffer such disparate fates in the two great civilizations of Christendom and Islam?
Chinese translation of De re metallica discovered
October 21, 2015 by
Scholars from the University of Tübingen have discovered a 17th century Chinese translation of large parts of De re metallica or On the Nature of Metals, a mining handbook written by Georgius Agricola in 1556.
Maria the Prophetess: Mother of Alchemy
July 26, 2015 by
One of the first female scientists, Maria, the Jewess also referred to as Maria the Prophetissa and Maria, Sister of Moses, whose inventions and designs of equipment are used in laboratories today.
Medieval Studies and STEM
July 26, 2015 by
Here are 15 ways that medieval studies and STEM are working together.
Caterina Sforza’s Experiments with Alchemy
June 12, 2015 by
She collected over four hundred alchemical, medicinal, and cosmetic recipes, and corresponded with other alchemical adepts about materials and laboratory techniques.
Ibn Al-Haytham’s Contributions to Optics and Renaissance Art
May 23, 2015 by
I am going to talk about the science of optics, the history of western art, and the influence of Ibn Al-Haytham.
The Astrolabe: Medieval Multi-Tool of Navigation
May 21, 2015 by
They were the Swiss Army knife of medieval travelers.
Saltpetre in medieval gunpowder: Calcium or Potassium Nitrate?
February 4, 2015 by
Until recently, it has been accepted that the formulation of gunpowder has always been based on variable mixtures of charcoal, sulphur and potassium nitrate. This has recently been challenged.
A Portal to the Universe: The Astrolabe as a Site of Exchange in Medieval and Early Modern Knowledge
January 21, 2015 by
This essay analyzes the astrolabe and its ability to transfer ideas and culture across traditional geographic boundaries, from the perspective of Europe in the Medieval and Early Modern eras.
Leonardo da Vinci’s Study of Light and Optics: A Synthesis of Fields in The Last Supper
January 20, 2015 by
Leonardo da Vinci’s preoccupation with the natural world led him to the fields of optics and astronomy.
Assessment of early-modern observations of comets and supernovae: Focus on pre-telescopic European astrometric and physical data
November 16, 2014 by
It will be worth while in this investigation to inquire whether comets have the same nature as the planets and stars … A comet seems to have certain things in common with them: rising and setting, the same appearance, although a comet is scattered and extends farther. It is also fiery and bright. And so, if all planets are earthy bodies, comets will also have the same condition. ~ Seneca
High-Tech Feudalism: Warrior Culture and Science Fiction TV
November 9, 2014 by
“Richard ΠΙ with aliens” is how Cornell (102) describes “Sins of the Father,” an episode of Star Trek: TheNext Generation (hereafter TNG) in which the Klingon warrior Worf, son of Mogh, seeks to restore his family’s honour by exposing and challenging those responsible for falsely accusing his dead father of treason to the Klingon Empire.
Remediating Viking Origins: Genetic Code as Archival Memory of the Remote Past
October 17, 2014 by
In this article we explore how the remote past is made relevant in the present for participants in a study of population genetics in the UK.
Ten Medieval Inventions that Changed the World
August 31, 2014 by
Ten Inventions from the Middle Ages that have had lasting importance, even to the present-day.
Northern Renaissance? Burgundy And Netherlandish Art In Fifteenth-Century Europe
August 25, 2014 by
Everyone who has studied medieval or modern history knows that the periodisation of the eras on either side of the Renaissance provides much food for thought. This contribution aims irst to address the usefulness of the widespread concept of the ‘Northern Renaissance’.
From Sin to Science: Astrological Explanations for the Black Death, 1347-1350
August 16, 2014 by
Few survivors of the plague’s horrors could have remained indifferent to debates over its ultimate cause. The frequent evocation of astrology in these debates helped to increase the circulation of astrological ideas in the later fourteenth century, and contributed to the wider vogue they enjoyed during the early modern period
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