In Search of Sir Thomas Browne

There are times when the book I read isn’t the book I think it’s going to be.* This happened to me recently with science writer Hugh Aldersey-Williams’ In Search of Sir Thomas Browne. I expected a biography. And I had Browne confused with someone else altogether, though I am no longer sure who. Possibly Robert…

Read More

Eye of the Beholder

  In Eye of the Beholder, philosopher and historian Laura J. Snyder uses the parallel lives of painter Johannes Vermeer and clothier turned scientist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to illustrate the critical role played by optical lenses in the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century, with its new emphasis on empirical observation. Direct observation as a…

Read More

Re-Run: Word With A Past: Kidnap

I’m dipping into the archives again, because I’m in over my head here at the Margins. (So much so that I didn’t even celebrate the blog’s 3 year anniversary on May 11. Hmmmm….) We move on June 2 and to say we are not yet ready is an understatement. Too much to do, not enough…

Read More