Great thinkers of the golden age

How economic prosperity paved the way for the Dutch Golden Age

Ten creative thinkers who across the centuries helped shape Istanbul into the city it is today

GEORGES SEURAT, GENERALLY ACCEPTED AS THE PIONEER OF NEO-IMPRESSIONISM, once said of his distinctive technique, “Some say they see poetry in my paintings; I see only science.” He was referring to a ne

A year in the life of the eighteenth-century naturalist

In the 17th century, the great maritime nations were vying to solve a puzzle that had confounded philosophers for many centuries: how to determine exact positions on the Earth’s surface. And in Britai

I n 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. That, at least, is what the famous rhyme tells us. Memorising such dates is a common experience of being taught history – a cliché superbly lampooned by the w