Category Archives: Philosophy

Science (Almost) in Earnest

Posted on April 3, 2013 by

A recent addition to our series on the history of education is the rather wordy, three-volume Philosophy in Sport Made Science in Earnest, by John Ayrton Paris, who was also the author of a two-volume life of Sir Humphry Davy … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Philosophy, Physical Sciences, Technology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Meeting of Civilisations

Posted on February 27, 2013 by

In the last few days, a British government delegation, headed by the Prime Minister, has been in India, talking trade, visas, and, inevitably, the colonial past.

Posted in Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and architecture, Astronomy, Biography, History, Language and Linguistics, Mathematical Sciences, Philosophy, Printing and Publishing History, Religious Studies, Spiritualism and Esoteric Knowledge, Travel and Exploration | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Climb Every Mountain

Posted on January 21, 2013 by

Superficially, Sir Leslie Stephen, author of Sketches from Cambridge, by A Don, Hours in A Library, Essays on Freethinking and Plain Speaking, Social Rights and Duties, etc. etc. etc., would seem to be the most desk-bound author imaginable. But, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Classics, English Men of Letters, Philosophy, Travel and Exploration | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Two Cultures

Posted on January 8, 2013 by

Last week, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a series of five programmes about the origin, meaning and significance of the word ‘culture’. The hook on which the series hung was the opposition between the ways in which the word was defined … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Classics, Life Science, Philosophy | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

A Story For Which The World Was, In Fact, Prepared

Posted on June 20, 2011 by

I have to declare an interest. My great-great-[I think]grandfather, Sam Aylward, worked for Dr Arthur Conan Doyle at his surgery in Southsea, and is immortalised as Samkin Aylward in The White Company. (I have another Aylward ancestor, James, who is … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Cambridge, Classics, Life Science, Philosophy, Physical Sciences, Religious Studies, Spiritualism and Esoteric Knowledge | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments