Science

The exploration of the world we live in has raised fundamental questions and led to elaborate explanations across time and across societies and continents. In this theme ideas put forward in the pursuit of organised science are explored, the impact of those ideas and the changes they may have led to are discussed. Key individuals in the development of scientific thought are studied and ideas around how science has affected history and human development are addressed.

Sort by: Date (Newest first) | Title A-Z
  • A (non-Western) history of versatility

    Article

    Waqās Ahmed broadens our perspective on where in history we might find polymaths, those who embody versatility of thought and action. While Western scholars might identify the likes of Leonardo da Vinci or Benjamin Franklin as the archetype of the polymath, they have in reality existed throughout history and across...

    Click to view
  • Admiral Lord Mountbatten: man of science and royal role model

    Article

    Mountbatten was a controversial figure who died in tragic circumstances but Adrian Smith demonstrates that, behind his aristocratic facade, he was a very adept, talented and formative personality. Four years have passed since the re-opening of Broadlands, the Hampshire home of Lord and Lady Brabourne. The house was subject to...

    Click to view
  • Copernicus and the Reformation of Astronomy

    Article

    During the past four centuries, the processes of nature have come to be viewed in a new light through the progressive acquisition of the systematized, verifiable knowledge that we call science. The associated advances in technology have profoundly affected the circumstances of our daily lives, and have revolutionised the mutual...

    Click to view
  • Filmed Interview: The Women of Bletchley Park

    Multipage Article

    Bletchley Park was the most important of the top secret intelligence sites during the Second World War. The quiet Buckinghamshire village hosted 10,000 people dedicated to defeating the Nazis, 75% of those were women. In this podcast we are lucky enough to have some of those women talking about their...

    Click to view
  • Glowing in the Dark

    Article

    The twentieth century celebrated many new technologies and just like many of those from the industrial revolution we now know them to be edged with danger and potential long-term damage. Here we learn about the effects that radium, bolstered by its advantages in war time, had on the civilian factory...

    Click to view
  • Ideas on the Shape, Size and Movements of the Earth - Pamphlet

    Article

    This classic pamphlet takes you through some of the key ideas on the shape, size and movements of the Earth as they changed over time from classical cosmology to the work of Galileo and Isaac Newton.

    Click to view
  • Joseph Banks and his travelling plants, 1787-1810

    Article

    Jordan Goodman takes us on a botanical journey to the ends of the earth. Joseph Banks never commanded a ship. In 1773, aged 30, he went on his last voyage, a short crossing from Hellevoetsluis, south Holland, to Harwich. Yet not only was the sea always at the centre of his...

    Click to view
  • One Giant Leap – 50 years since the Apollo 11 Moon landing

    2nd July 2019

    “One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” is one of the most famous sentences of the 20th century, and it was about science and exploration not conflict – or was it? For centuries humanity has stared at the Moon and attributed to it portents of good...

    Click to view
  • Out and About: Charles Darwin, a voyage of discovery

    Article

    Dave Martin follows Charles Darwin’s journey from university back to his birthplace, Shrewsbury. Cambridge The bronze statue of Darwin as a young man perches elegantly on the arm of a garden bench in the grounds of Christ’s College, Cambridge where he was a student from 1829 to 1831. Of this...

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: Charles Darwin

    Multipage Article

    In this set of podcasts Project Director Professor Jim Secord and Associate Director Dr Alison Pearn of the Darwin Correspondence Project discuss the life, work and legacy of Charles Darwin.

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: Diversity in Early Modern Britain

    Multipage Article

    This series of podcasts looks at Diversity in Early Modern Britain and features Onyeka, Dr Kathy Chater and Dr Sumita Mukherjee. Our first set of podcasts looks initially at African and Caribbean British History, South Asian British History and the Huguenouts.

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: The History of Science

    Multipage Article

    In this series of podcasts we take a look at the history of the Royal Society and the influence it has had on the history and development of science. This series features: Keith Moore, Head of Libraries and Archives at the Royal Society, Dr Jordan Goodman, Dr Patricia Fara of...

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: The Renaissance

    Multipage Article

    In this podcast Dr Gabriele Neher of the University of Nottingham provides an introduction to the Renaissance.

    Click to view
  • Podcast: The Life and Significance of Alan Turing

    Article

    In this podcast Dr Tommy Dickinson of the University of Manchester discusses the life and significance of Alan Turing. Please note this is only the first section of the full podcast which is available to HA Members Alan Mathison Turing, (23 June 1912–7 June 1954) was a British pioneering computer scientist, mathematician,...

    Click to view
  • Real Lives: Anna Wessels Williams (1863–1954)

    Article

    Patrick J Pead writes about a truly remarkable woman whose contribution to advances in medicine deserves far wider recognition. Our series ‘Real Lives’ seeks to put the story of the ordinary person into our great historical narrative. We are all part of the rich fabric of the communities in which we live...

    Click to view
  • Religion and Science in the Eighteenth Century

    Article

    Much has been said about the clash between religion and science in Victorian times but there has been less research into the relationship between them in the eighteenth century. This article considers three Georgian clergymen who were also notable scientists – the Reverend William Stukeley, the pioneer of scientific field...

    Click to view
  • Tank development in the First World War

    Article

    The emergence of the tank as a further weapon of war is inextricably associated with Lincoln where various early models were developed. By 1915 the Great War had gone just about as far as it could and for the first time, the way an entire war was fought was described...

    Click to view
  • The Life & Significance of Alan Turing

    Podcast

    In this podcast, Dr Tommy Dickinson of the University of Manchester, discusses the life and significance of Alan Turing.

    Click to view
  • The Mechanical Battle of Britain

    Article

    The Battle of Britain is often described as the point at which the Nazi threat began to diminish and cracks began to form in Hitler's regime. The air campaign launched by the Germans in the summer of 1940 intended to wipe out the existence of the British Royal Air Force...

    Click to view
  • The Venerable Bede: recent research

    Article

    The eighth-century monk is renowned as the ‘Father of English History’, but recent scholarship has demonstrated how important he was as a scientist and theologian and how his writings on the Bible can illuminate his famous history.

    Click to view