Topic description and stories

Dr Federica Gigante examining the Verona astrolabe

Astrolabe reveals Islamic–Jewish scientific exchange

04 Mar 2024

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

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

08 Mar 2021

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

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COVID-19: The long view

22 May 2020

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

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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.

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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 University of...

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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

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

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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...

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Priceless treasures: in a shot commissioned to celebrate Cambridge University 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...

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Nikolaus and Krampus in Austria

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...

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

The 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...

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

A world of science

08 Oct 2015

The 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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The Magna Carta of scientific maps

01 Aug 2015

One of the most important maps of the UK ever made – described as the ‘Magna Carta of geology’ – is to go on permanent public display in Cambridge...

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