Thursday, May 09, 2013
In tribute to the growth of interest in the history of physical sciences, the History of Science Society (HSS) has inaugurated a new group dedicated to the subject, called the Physical Sciences Forum (PSF).
Posted by Paul Halpern on 05/09 at 03:40 PM
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Linda Dalrymple Henderson’s groundbreaking history of the influence of higher dimensions on modern art has been updated and published in a new edition
Posted by Paul Halpern on 03/26 at 08:04 PM
Monday, March 25, 2013
The Byzantine traveller-turned-monk Cosmas Indicopleustes was a rare proponent of a flat earth.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 03/25 at 10:48 PM
Friday, February 08, 2013
In addition to the almanacs and trading cards and other ephemera, patent medicine companies also used their bottles to market their products.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 02/08 at 11:25 AM
Today’s adventures in boxes of junk turned up two interesting little artifacts: a phrenology bust and a business card from an Indian Cancer Doctress
Posted by Darin Hayton on 02/08 at 09:47 AM
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Tuesday, February 05, 2013
For at least half a millennium now authorities have tried to control panic during epidemics. Here are just a few of the early sixteenth century efforts to quell society’s fears during such outbreaks.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 02/05 at 09:30 AM
Monday, February 04, 2013
A sort of vademecum of student medical notes from the 1940s, probably from Boston City Hospital.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 02/04 at 11:00 AM
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Another pamphlet of useful knowledge used to market medical services. This one comes from 1937 and the offices of Dr. Wm. A. Walker in New York.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 01/29 at 10:16 AM
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Piracy in early modern printing was common, often motivated by profit. A pair of pamphlets from the late 1650s prompt us to think more about how specific borrowings might reflect cultural expectations and tropes.
Posted by Darin Hayton on 01/26 at 01:59 PM
Monday, January 07, 2013
A recent article in the BBC about Japanese preference for confessions in criminal trials seems oddly familiar. Confessions for witchcraft can raise some interesting questions about confessions and our continued reliance on them
Posted by Darin Hayton on 01/07 at 01:32 PM