history of science

Topic description and stories

Photos of embryos of horizon XVII, published in Contributions to Embryology in 1948 and still in use as Carnegie Stage 17.

̽��ֱ��rise, fall and revival of research on human development

02 Aug 2024

A new study takes a tour of the history of research into human embryology and development to show the "cycles of attention" that led to major...

Dr Federica Gigante examining the Verona astrolabe

Astrolabe reveals Islamic–Jewish scientific exchange

04 Mar 2024

̽��ֱ��identification of an eleventh-century Islamic astrolabe bearing both Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions makes it one of the oldest examples ever...

Magdalene College discovers a treasure trove of women’s intellectual history

08 Mar 2021

̽��ֱ��collection comprises 47 books and pamphlets owned and annotated by the philosopher Mary Astell (1666–1731), viewed by many as “the first English...

COVID-19: ̽��ֱ��long view

22 May 2020

̽��ֱ��COVID-19 pandemic should only present a short-term interruption to 250 years of improving life expectancy, argues historian Leigh Shaw-Taylor.

Opinion: Patient zero: why it's such a toxic term

01 Apr 2020

Dr Richard McKay traces the history of the 'patient zero' idea through epidemics such as HIV and typhoid, and the return of this trope with COVID-19.

An instrumental collection

24 Oct 2019

Hundreds of scientific treasures are going on display as the Whipple Museum marks the 75th anniversary of a remarkable donation to the ̽��ֱ�� of...

Image from Newton’s own annotated copy of Principia Mathematica

Sir Isaac Newton’s Cambridge papers added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register

01 Dec 2017

̽��ֱ��Cambridge papers of Sir Isaac Newton, including early drafts and Newton’s annotated copies of Principia Mathematica – a work that changed the...

Harry Reasoner introduces the 60 Minutes program featuring ‘Patient Zero’ and the American AIDS crisis, broadcast on CBS in November 1987.

Research reveals accidental making of ‘Patient Zero’ myth during 1980s AIDS crisis

26 Oct 2016

A combination of historical and genetic research reveals the error and hype that led to the coining of the term ‘Patient Zero’ and the blaming of one...

Priceless treasures: in a shot commissioned to celebrate Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Library’s 600th anniversary, Professor Stephen Hawking is pictured with Newton’s annotated first edition of Principia Mathematica.

Lines of Thought: Discoveries that Changed the World

10 Mar 2016

Some of the world’s most valuable books and manuscripts – texts which have altered the very fabric of our understanding – will go on display in...

Opinion: Frankenstein or Krampus? What our monsters say about us

04 Dec 2015

Natalie Lawrence (Department of History and Philosophy of Science) discusses the history of monsters, and what they say about the people who invent...

Great Comet of 1577, which Kepler witnessed as a child.

̽��ֱ��astronomer and the witch – how Kepler saved his mother from the stake

22 Oct 2015

Ulinka Rublack, Professor of Early Modern European History, discusses the reputation of astronomer Johannes Kepler and his mother Katharina, and the...

̽��ֱ��European in India, 1813 by Charles D'Oyly (1781-1845)

A world of science

08 Oct 2015

̽��ֱ��history of science has been centred for too long on the West, say Simon Schaffer and Sujit Sivasundaram. It’s time to think global.

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