“Gilbert employed the Latin electricus to describe the observation that when you rub amber against some substances like wool or a cat’s fur, it sticks to the amber. We now that this clinging—and the zaps that appear between the amber and the substance rubbed against it—is due to static, but at the time, Gilbert supposed amber to be magnetic.”
@bibliolater@linguistics
It was through Gilbert's work that I learned of Petrus Peregrinus, whom Gilbert praised for actually experimenting. Petrus never managed to perfect his magnet-driven perpetual motion machine, however. https://archive.org/details/b24876859
After the Second World War, Churchill became the greatest pioneer of the European ideal. “If I were 10 years younger,” he told his wife, “I might be the first President of the United States of Europe.”
Thomas Willis (1621-1675) : Neurologist, Chemist, Physician
“Willis is not only credited to be the founder of neurology, but he is also seen as the father of comparative neuroanatomy, as his work, in particular Cerebri anatome and De anima brutorum, compare the human brain with that of other species in ‘search for specific human abilities in cognitive functions’ (Molnár, p. 334).”
@bibliolater@science@earlymodern@histodon@histodons
But in all seriousness, did he, or others, consider Corvids when comparing "the human brain with that of other species in ‘search for specific human abilities in cognitive functions’"?
The Ghosts of Max Weber in the Economic History of Preindustrial Europe
“References to Weber in the literature on preindustrial Europe published by economists during the last fifty years show that the more economists have rehabilitated culture as an autonomous force of economic change, the more they have heralded Weber as a precursor of their endeavors. The casting of Weber in such terms, moreover, has gone hand in hand with a decline, rather than an increase, in conversations between economists, sociologists, historians, and other humanists and social scientists interested in the role of culture in the formation of modern economic life.”
Trivellato, Francesca. “The Ghosts of Max Weber in the Economic History of Preindustrial Europe.” Capitalism: A Journal of History and Economics 4, no. 2 (2023): 332-376. https://doi.org/10.1353/cap.2023.a917621.
The “School of Salamanca,” founded by Francisco Vitoria, and the commentators of Coimbra are at the center of a movement sometimes called the “Second Scholastic.”
🇸🇪 Episode 312: Christina of Sweden, Minerva of the North
“In this week’s episode, get to know Christina of Sweden, the keenly intelligent and fiercely independent queen of Sweden, who is remembered today for her passion of learning and knowledge.”
🇸🇪 Episode 312: Christina of Sweden, Minerva of the North
“In this week’s episode, get to know Christina of Sweden, the keenly intelligent and fiercely independent queen of Sweden, who is remembered today for her passion of learning and knowledge.”
🇸🇪 Episode 312: Christina of Sweden, Minerva of the North
“In this week’s episode, get to know Christina of Sweden, the keenly intelligent and fiercely independent queen of Sweden, who is remembered today for her passion of learning and knowledge.”
‘He had a sarcastic turn of phrase’: discovery of 1509 book sheds new light on ‘father of utilitarianism’
“Last month, UCL academics unveiled the most significant rediscovered books left to the university in Bentham’s will, including the translation of Brandt’s Ship of Fools and a maths textbook explaining Euclid’s propositions. Their contents, together with the philosopher’s own notes, indicate how some of his radical theories were first sparked.”
“Gilbert employed the Latin electricus to describe the observation that when you rub amber against some substances like wool or a cat’s fur, it sticks to the amber. We now that this clinging—and the zaps that appear between the amber and the substance rubbed against it—is due to static, but at the time, Gilbert supposed amber to be magnetic.”
“He argued that all four sublunar elements, namely, earth, water, air, and fire, can be analysed into geometrical units which take two shapes: cubical when at rest, and pyramidal when in motion. This allowed him, in turn, to solve the difficulty of the participation of the cubical portions of earth in elemental transmutations, which was due to the triangular faces of the other elements.”