Category Archives: History of science

In my last post, I talked about the remarkable career of Etienne-Gaspard Robert aka “Robertson”, who became famous in debunking the supernatural by revealing how ghosts and phantoms could be faked.  Remarkably, even today there are still places in the … Continue reading →

Government has always played, and hopefully will continue to play, a necessary role in scientific and medical research.  Many important discoveries have been made through the use of government funding and in government labs, and many of those would never … Continue reading →

While I was researching my post on Tissandier’s ill-fated 1875 high-altitude balloon ride, I happened to come across a very curious image, pictured below. Apparently the 1870 Franco-Prussian War not only resulted in the first airmail: it also spawned the … Continue reading →

The history of science is filled with exaggerated and even untrue stories of scientists and experiments; there are a lot of people about (such as the Renaissance Mathematicus) who endeavor to debunk some of the more egregious myths out there, … Continue reading →

Short answer: yes! It’s easy to forget how relatively little we knew about the natural world even only a hundred years ago.  I came across a rather amusing and macabre example in the July 19, 1889 issue of Science magazine … Continue reading →