Science and the gods – History of Science
The Egyptian god Bes Gods are part of people's desire to know how the world works. It's one of the ways that people explain how the world works. People say [...]
Medieval stained glass, eyeglasses, and modern glass
Medieval glass: Islamic glass (probably Iraq, 800s AD, now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York) Medieval glass-making By the 1100s, glass-making was expanding again from West Asia; there were glassworks further [...]
Blown glass and the Silk Road
Who invented blown glass? A Roman man blowing glass Glass-makers and the Silk Road Increased trade on the Silk Road in the 200s BC forced traders to try to come up with new things [...]
History of glass – Who invented glass?
Obsidian: naturally occurring glass History of glass: Glass beads from Old Kingdom Egypt, about 2700-2500 BC People have been using naturally occurring glass since the Stone Age, when they wanted an [...]
History of fans
Tutankhamon's ostrich feather fan (Egypt, ca. 1300 BC) When did people start to use fans? Chimpanzees use a stick with leaves on it, or just a big leaf, to chase away flies. They can't [...]
What is flint good for? Stone tools
What is flint? Flint is a sedimentary rock made out of an igneous rock. What is flint made of? It's pretty complicated. Billions of years ago, silicon and oxygen atoms [...]
History of engineering – transportation, cooking, metal
A Neanderthal stone awl People have been using engineering to solve the problems of their daily lives since the first caveman picked up a rock and chipped away at it to make a handaxe. [...]
History of Electricity – Science of shocks
History of electricity: A bolt of lightning in the sky Why did it take so long to control electricity? Like other inventions, electricity took thousands of years to develop. For [...]
What’s a chamber pot? Bathroom history
Woman using chamber pot (Athens, Greece, ca. 480 BC. Now in Berlin) Where did people go to the bathroom? Imagine if you had to leave your house and walk to [...]
History of astronomy – Science and space
A starry sky with the Milky Way galaxy(thanks to Bernd Nies) Early astronomy The very earliest people, as early as six million years ago, knew much more about the moon and the planets and the stars than most [...]
