Historians have an increasingly strong incentive to tell dramatic stories which gain attention and make ‘impact’. But anyone in the business of reporting on reality… Read More »Ian Leslie on story as intellectual anaesthetic
The title Doom Book (Old English dōm-bōc) comes from the Old English word dōm meaning judgment or law – as in Alfred’s admonishment to “Doom… Read More »Public holidays and compensation for body parts, 9th century edition; Or, King Alfred and the Book of Doom
The expansion of personal horizons mentioned above has implications for the whole of society: people’s geographic knowledge increases exponentially the further they ride or walk.… Read More »Ian Mortimer on the network effects and feedback loops of medieval travel
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do… Read More »Inheritance: unearned
Expect the unexpected… Gunpowder was invented in China sometime during the first millennium AD. The earliest possible reference to gunpowder appeared in 142 AD during… Read More »Fire medicine: Gunpowder and the elixir of life
A list of some things that have been appropriated by some cultures from others Writing. Roman letters. Arabic numerals. The number zero. The horse (by… Read More »Inappropriate
See also: Animation History: The Surprising History of Mickey MouseAlan Becker: Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston’s 12 Principles of Animation (and a bit of the… Read More »The History of Animation: Stop-motion in the 21st Century at Aardman
Without … a place in the social order, a man [in a heroic society such as Homeric Greece or Saga Iceland] would not only be… Read More »Ends and Meanings (3): Alasdair MacIntyre virtue, mortality and story in heroic societies
See also:On making stuff: that Steve Jobs quoteDouglas Crockford on making a standard (JSON) (2): minimal solutions and decision making“Do the things we plan actually… Read More »John Collison: Things don’t just happen; or, The Museum of Passion Projects
Nostalgia: a kind of homesickness for the past. Another way of putting it: the longing you will have in future for the places and people… Read More »Nostalgia Revisited