Scientist of the Day

René Descartes, a French/Dutch natural philosopher, died Feb. 11, 1650, just six weeks shy of his 54th birthday. We have celebrated his birthday...

Francis Orpen Morris, a British naturalist and clergyman, died Feb. 10, 1893, at age 82. Morris was born in western Ireland, grew up in Dorsetshire...

Benjamin Martin, an English science teacher, instrument maker, and popular science author, died on Feb 9, 1782, at the age of 75-77. He was raised...

Aldus Manutius, an Italian humanist, printer, and typographic innovator, died Feb. 6, 1515, at the age of about 65. Also referred to as Aldo...

On Feb. 5, 1675/76, Isaac Newton wrote a letter to his older colleague at the Royal Society of London, Robert Hooke. Here is the background...

Giovanni Battista (Giambattista) della Porta, a Neapolitan natural magician, died Feb. 4, 1615, at the age of 75. Natural magic in the 16th century...

Last week, we featured the Library’s copy of the 1482 edition of the Sphere of Johannes de Sacrobosco, printed by the renowned ...

Michael Sendivogius, a Polish alchemist and physician, was born on Feb. 2, 1566, in Łukowica. He was educated at Kraków, and spent his career at a...

The Menai Suspension Bridge over the Menai Strait in northern Wales opened on Jan. 30, 1826, so they are probably having a fine 200th-anniversary...

Johannes de Sacrobosco was a 13th-century cleric and astronomer who wrote a basic textbook on astronomy called The Sphere. It was the single most...

Chester Stock, an American vertebrate paleontologist, was born in San Francisco on Jan. 28, 1892. He attended the University of California...

Edward Collier, a Dutch painter, was born Jan. 26, 1642, in Breda in the Netherlands. He studied in Haarlem, then moved to Amsterdam. He came to...