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A Parthenope in the sky
The year 2019 marks the bicentenary of the birth of Annibale de Gasparis, Italian astronomer and mathematician, Director of the Astronomical Observatory of Naples and Senator of the Kingdom of Italy....
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Building Passions
My new book ‘Building Passions’ covers the period during the nineteenth century when Britain had two giants of architecture and engineering building major structures: the engineer and polymath Isambard...
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Divine fermentation?
In these days of trendy craft beers, artisan gin and molecular mixology, sometimes only a traditional beverage will do. One drink that fits the bill perfectly is cider – fruity, fizzy and refreshing,...
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The Collector Earl
One of the perks of cataloguing a collection like the Royal Society’s is that you can follow items, and their stories, over many lifetimes. I found this when I started work on New Letter Books 67 and...
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The great plantain debate
While browsing our catalogue, as one does, my eye fell on a file entitled ‘Substitute foods from the West Indies’ (MS/527/2/14). Given my interest in Caribbean and colonial history, I was immediately...
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Picture perfect
We’re on the countdown to Christmas! If the arrival of December has surprised you too, and you’re reading this thinking ’15 days until Christmas? Really?’, then do not fear – there’s still time* to get...
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Cheesy Christmas
The festive season is officially upon us and the gastronomical over-indulgence of Christmas has already begun for me. For some that may mean too many mince pies or mulled wine, for me it’s cheese. I...
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World war food
We’re only a couple of weeks into the New Year and already the holidays seem like a distant memory. After over-indulging on festive food, I’m probably not alone in thinking about eating more healthily...
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Idle hands
Care for the removal of fingers, Yakuza style? Then try scribbling in a book under the eyes of a reading room librarian. I can assure you there are times when we make your average gangster look...
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Back catalogues
I have already confessed here and here to a benign obsession with the catalogues of the Royal Society collections. Today’s blogpost will serve as another declaration of my infatuation – which I hope is...
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