Marianne North: A Victorian Pioneer in Botanical Exploration and Art

Marianne North: A Victorian Pioneer in Botanical Exploration and Art

ByFabien

Marianne North and her father, Frederick North, were regular visitors to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. During one visit, the botanist and family friend William Jackson Hooker—first director of Kew—presented Marianne with a hanging bouquet of Amherstia nobilis, a magnificent flower native to Thailand and Burma. It was 1856, and this moment ignited Marianne’s deep desire to travel to tropical regions and capture their vibrant vegetation on canvas.

The Unconventional Life of Marianne North

Born on October 24, 1830, in Hastings, Marianne North was part of a wealthy Victorian family. Despite receiving no formal education and having a brief and unsuccessful stint in school, her family’s bohemian lifestyle exposed her to a vibrant circle of musicians, artists, and botanists, including William Henry Hunt and Edward Lear.

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Who Invented Solar Panels?

Who Invented Solar Panels?

ByFabien

Nowadays, people talk about renewable energies like they will fix everything. They will not, but I’m still interested in the subject, as my house is being renovated (I talked about that in the article about the invention of adhesive tape) and I got rid of the Gas heater. Instead, I will only use electricity and I’m thinking about installing solar panels to help with that. This led me to search for:

Who Created Solar Panels?

First of all, a solar panel is “a device that changes energy from the sun into electricity” (the simple definition given to us by the Cambridge Dictionary). But a solar panel is primarily a battery of solar cells.

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Who Invented Time Travel?

Who Invented Time Travel?

ByFabien

Recently, I finished another sci-fi book with time travel elements in its story (I won’t tell the title, it would be a bit spoiler). It kind of became a theme for me this year as I read “Time and Again” by Jack Finney, “Doomsday Book” by Connie Willis, “Wanderers of Time” (short stories) by John Wyndham, and a few more.

Time Travel stories are pretty common. In fact, there really are a lot of them. It clearly fascinates writers and readers alike. Naturally, researching the topic, it led me to explore an obvious question:

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Who Invented The Robot?

Who Invented The Robot?

ByFabien

I recently read “I, Robot” by Isaac Asimov. At the beginning of the book, there is an essay by Asimov about science in science-fiction and the place of the robot in it—basically. It’s a short but interesting text and I dug a little deeper to learn more about robots.

Who Created the Robot?

First, what are we talking about when it comes to robots? According to Merriam-Webster, a robot is:

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Who Invented Styrofoam? (and other forms of Polystyrene)

Who Invented Styrofoam? (and other forms of Polystyrene)

ByFabien

As I was saying in my last article, the one about the invention of adhesive tape, I recently bought a house and it’s in need of renovation (more and more as I realized, sadly).

This week, I tore up Styrofoam from the kitchen ceiling—apparently put here for insulation, even if it’s a serious fire hazard the way it was installed. It was not clean work, the glue used mostly ruined the ceiling. But it’s not the subject of the day. This experience led me to the usual question:

Who Created Styrofoam?

First of all, before even going into the definition of “Styrofoam,” it is necessary to say that this is not the name of the product, but the name of a brand of polystyrene foam. So, what is polystyrene foam?

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Who Invented Algorithm?

Who Invented Algorithm?

ByFabien

Nowadays, everybody seems to know what an algorithm is. I personally got a diploma in computer science, so I learned some things about algorithms, how to write them, to use them… But nothing about the history of the concept.

Who First Invented Algorithm?

Before answering, let’s make something clear: what is an algorithm? The Cambridge Dictionary defined the word as such:

A set of mathematical instructions or rules that, especially if given to a computer, will help to calculate an answer to a problem.

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Who Invented Sunscreen?

Who Invented Sunscreen?

ByFabien

Summer is officially here. Unofficially, it’s clearly here for two good weeks now. The sun is high, the temperature is higher. You know the drill, you need to protect yourself from the Sun! Like Baz Lurhman would say: “Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.”

Who Created Sunscreen?

If you’re looking at the definition of the word sunscreen, here is what you could find:

  1. A screen to protect against the sun.
  2. A preparation (such as a lotion) applied to the skin to prevent sunburn (as by chemically absorbing ultraviolet radiation).
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Who Discovered the Earth Was Round?

Who Discovered the Earth Was Round?

ByFabien

I was on YouTube the other day and the algorithm recommended to me a video about someone trying to understand how people can still think that the Earth is flat. Flat Earthers is a thing I just can understand myself. It just makes no sense. But this led to the question of the day:

Who Discovered the Earth Was Round?

Yes, at one point in time, all of humanity was composed of Flat Earthers. But it didn’t last as long as you may think. In fact, the idea that the Earth was round has been around since the time of the ancient Greeks.

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What Was the First Animal in Space?

What Was the First Animal in Space?

ByFabien

I was watching an episode of season 2 of Apple TV+’s For All Mankind the other day in which characters were talking about the first animal in space.

The series being an alternative history, I looked up online to know if they had changed bits of the real story and discovered that people search about it in a way that could fit in my blog’s theme—and this gave me an excuse to write about that here.

Yes, I now introduce a new category of articles, not about inventions and discoveries, just about “the firsts.” Of course, it probably will be about inventions and discoveries, but not only. Let’s begin…

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Who Invented Aspirin?

Who Invented Aspirin?

ByFabien

I was reading “The Doomsday Book” by Connie Willis the other day. It’s about a pandemic and time travel to medieval times, not always the lightest read as you may imagine. At some point a young character remarked aspirin, thinking it was always there. But in truth, it was not.

Who Created Aspirin?

Everybody knows what aspirin is, of course: a white crystalline derivative C9H8O4 of salicylic acid used for relief of pain and fever, as Merriam-Webster explains it. Aspirin must be synthesized, it does not occur in nature.

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Who Invented the Telescope?

Who Invented the Telescope?

ByFabien

Have you ever read H.G. Wells’ War of the World? It was first serialized in 1897, and the main character goes to an astronomical observatory to see explosions on the surface of the planet Mars at the beginning. This made me feel like I really don’t know anything about the history of astronomy (I already know I didn’t know a lot about astronomy already, except for that Pluto story). I asked myself:

Who Created the Telescope?

Before exploring the history of the invention of the telescope, what is a telescope? Let’s take a look at Merriam-Webster’s definition:

A usually tubular optical instrument for viewing distant objects by means of the refraction of light rays through a lens or the reflection of light rays by a concave mirror.

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Who Invented Cinema?

Who Invented Cinema?

ByFabien

I sometimes cite books I read, but I also watch a lot of movies! I know, not really original. Also, I read books about the history of cinema and other actors’ biography. But I’ve never really taken a look at the origin of the medium. Until today!

Who Created Cinema?

First, as always, we are taking a look at the definition of the word. Merriam-Webster is telling us that cinema is:

1 a: MOTION PICTURE—usually used attributively
b: a motion-picture theater
2 a: MOVIES (especially: the film industry)
b: the art or technique of making motion pictures

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