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Stories, snapshots and sneak peeks of life in and around the streets of London.
Browsing All posts tagged under »exploration«
In search of…Thomas Harriot (c.1560-1621)
The scientist and adventurer Thomas Harriot (c.1560–1621) caught our eye back in the 2009 Year of Astronomy, when his telescope observations of the Moon – pre-dating those of Galileo by several months – were celebrated. At the time, we visited the Bank of England‘s foyer plaque, which marks the approximate site of Harriot’s original burial place. Now Harriot is on […]
Andrea Wulf @ Royal Society
May 10, 2012
A capacity crowd gathered to hear Andrea Wulf talk about her latest book, Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens, at the Royal Society library on Friday 4th May 2012. The podcast of Andrea Wulf’s lecture, which I highly recommend, will soon be available here. A transit of Venus is a rare astronomical event in which the planet Venus […]
Captain Cook: Hummingbird nest
January 26, 2012
For the second installment in my series on London sites and objects relating to the great naval explorer Captain James Cook (1728 – 1779), I direct your attention back to the British Museum‘s Enlightenment Wing, where you will find a tiny hummingbird nest measuring about 45mm in diameter. This nest, believed to belong to the glittering-bellied emerald hummingbird, is significant as one of the few remaining zoological […]
Captain Cook: Bark shield
December 10, 2011
Welcome to the first of several posts, in no particular order, on London locations and objects relating to the great naval explorer Captain James Cook (1728 – 1779). In the British Museum‘s fabulous Enlightenment Gallery (Room 1), an 18th century bark shield is displayed behind glass. This shield most probably belonged to the Gweagal (‘fire’) clan, the Indigenous inhabitants of […]
Bloomsbury Bytes
- Dirty Wars: Jeremy Scahill @ Doughty St May 16, 2013
- In Search of Classical Greece April 3, 2013
- View of the week: UCL’s Institute of Making March 16, 2013
July 26, 2012
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