Writing & research
I Eat Cheese, Therefore I Write
Of course it's slightly more complicated than my play on Rene Descartes' famous philosophical proposition. But in simple terms, the discovery of...
Cousins Across The Centuries
The most famous symbol of human-caused extinction - the dodo - and the ubiquitous pigeon have more in common than you might think. If you had been...
I Like Evolution And I Cannot Lie
When Sir Mix-a-Lot sang about big butts, there was more to it than just aesthetics. Well, maybe not for him. But, what the more...
Law And Order
Though it occupies a site which has been a centre of power since at least the Middle Ages, London’s iconic Palace of Westminster - or Houses of...
Body Building
A company in London does a roaring trade in arms, legs, torsos and various other body parts. Set back from the street in Walthamstow, a newly-hip...
Taxidermy Through The Ages
Some say it’s macabre, others that it’s a second chance at life. Whatever your views on taxidermy, it is a practice that is inextricably linked with...
Star Specimen: Eugen Sandow, The ‘Perfect Man’
Behind the Scenes at the Natural History Museum, London When the naked models for the Musuem's Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story...
Senses, Drinks and Rock n Roll
Why do guitars taste of hops? It wasn’t a question I’d ever considered until I saw it posed as the title of a multi-sensory beer and music matching...
Star Specimen: A Book On The Evolution Of The Book On Evolution
Behind the Scenes at the Natural History Museum The topic of this blog post is quite possibly the newest specimen in the Museum's collection, as it...
Goodbye Gary Arber
By the time you read this, Arber’s will be gone. WF Arber and Co Ltd printing works, run by three generations of Arber men over 117 years, shut its...
The Rossendale Fairies: A Scientific Tale Of Small Proportions
Behind the Scenes at the Natural History Museum, London This week I came across links to several versions of a story out of Manchester claiming a...
Star Specimen: The Cursed Amethyst
Behind the Scenes at the Natural History Museum, London Anyone who has met me in person can vouch for the fact that I am a fan of amethyst. Almost...
3D Print-On-Demand Pizza, In Space
It's a little bit Star Trek replicator and a little bit soylent green, but the concept of downloadable synthetic food is now a little bit closer to...
Oh Coffee, How We Do Love Thee
Britain is in love with a little brown bean called coffee. It's an affair that dates back more than 350 years to the edge of a churchyard in St...
‘On The Road’ Unfurled Before Me
I've read the book, I've read the books about the book, I've seen the movie adaptation, and now I have had the pleasure of seeing the holiest of...