Science
Are these the greatest inventions since sliced bread?
This week is International Week of Science and Peace and so we’ve prepared two blogs for you – today’s is about ‘science’ and tomorrow’s is about ‘peace’. ‘Science’ is a broad term that covers many things, including the development of new ideas, tools and equipments – inventions. So we’ve searched Europeana for some of the […]
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Freud – father of psychoanalysis
Whether you agree with the detail of his theories or not, Sigmund Freud (6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) is easily the most influential psychiatrist of all time. ‘Sigmund Freud’, The Royal Library: The National Library of Denmark and Copenhagen University Library and The European Library, CC BY-NC-ND He popularised what we now know […]
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Lift off: how humans have viewed space through the ages
4-10 October is World Space Week. In this blog, we explore how the human race has viewed space through the ages – from medieval astronomical diagrams to modern cartoons. You can also watch the 1978 launch of space shuttle ‘Enterprise’ at Cape Canaveral and listen to Holst’s ‘Planets’ orchestral suite. If there’s one thing we […]
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Marie Curie: An Inspirational Woman for International Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day. In order to write today’s blog, a couple of weeks ago, we ran a poll on our Facebook page asking our followers to vote for who they thought were the most influential and inspirational women of history. The poll options, which followers could add to, became a substantial list of […]
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Francis Bacon, Shakespeare and Secret Societies
Sir Francis Bacon, first Viscount of St Albans, was born on 22 January 1561. He is well-known for his contribution to science. In fact, science and research is what it is today because of Bacon. The methodology of science and research, something we may not even think about as having an origin, of ever not […]
Read MoreNobel Prizes 2012: Chemistry
The winners of the 2012 Nobel prizes are being announced this week. So each day, we’re looking to see what Nobel-related content we have in Europeana. Today, we congratulate Robert J. Lefkowitz & Brian K. Kobilka on winning the 2012 Nobel Prize for Chemistry ‘for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors’. Follow @NobelPrize_org on Twitter for more info! […]
Read MoreNobel Prizes 2012: Physics
The winners of the 2012 Nobel prizes are being announced this week. So each day, we’ll be looking to see what Nobel-related content we have in Europeana. Today, we congratulate France’s Serge Haroche and the USA’s David Wineland for winning the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physics for their work in quantum optics – the precise […]
Read MoreFather of Chemistry: Jöns Jacob Berzelius
Jöns Jacob Berzelius. Lithograph by A. Farcy. Image courtesy of Wellcome Library, London. (CC BY-NC 2.0) On 20th of August 1779 a boy was born without whom I couldn’t have written and shared this blog post. His name was Jöns Jacob Berzelius and he’s considered as one of the fathers of modern chemistry. Jacob’s parents […]
Read MoreA Happy Accident: Fleming’s Penicillin
Ear ache? Sore throat? Tooth ache? If you’re suffering these symptoms, it’s possible you’d benefit from a dose of penicillin. And if that’s the case, you should be raising a glass to Sir Alexander Fleming who discovered the popular antibiotic. He was born on this day, 6 August, in 1881 in the small town of […]
Read MoreWhy is the Sky Blue? – John Tyndall
“The brightest flashes in the world of thought are incomplete until they have been proven to have their counterparts in the world of fact.” – John Tyndall John Tyndall. Photograph by Barraud. Courtesy of The Wellcome Library (CC BY-NC 2.0) Today we are celebrating the birth of one of the most important scientists and educators of […]
Read MoreHappy Valentine’s Day!!!
Love… Such a grand word in so few letters. This profound emotion has played an important role in shaping our cultural and scientific heritage. It has influenced everyone from the greatest conquerors to common men, from visionary artists to ingenious scientists. Discover beautiful love stories to share with your Valentine! Romeo and Juliet The story […]
Read MoreIsaac Newton
“Nature and Nature’s Laws lay hid in Night: GOD said, Let Newton be! and all was Light.” (Alexander Pope, 1797) Isaac Newton (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727, Gregorian calendar) is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential scientists in history. His immense contribution to science had made him the “gold standard” […]
Read MoreMarie Curie
Today we are celebrating the birthday of one of the greatest women in history – Mme Marie Sklodowska Curie, the Polish-French physicist and chemist who shook the scientific world with her achievements in the beginning of the 20th century. “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” Marie Curie is […]
Read MoreDiscovery of penicillin
On September 28, 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming noticed a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory. This was a discovery that changed the course of history. Fleming said, “I did not invent penicillin. Nature did that. I only discovered it by accident.” Indeed, he was not the first one to use penicillin properties, but he was […]
Read MoreEinstein’s theory of relativity
Published on 27 September 1905, Einstein’s article “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” introduced the equation E= mc² and laid the foundation of modern physics. From an early age, Albert Einstein had shown great interest and talent for science and mathematics. By the age of 30, he was already recognised as one of the leading […]
Read MoreDarwin’s theory of natural selection
On September 15, 1835, the ship HMS Beagle with the young naturalist Charles Darwin on board reached the Galapagos Islands. For over five weeks Darwin made observations on the geology and biology of the four islands, leading to major scientific discoveries, including the explanation of how volcanic tuff is formed. Darwin’s observations of birds that […]
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