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Harald Sack

geography
John Speed and his Atlas of the British Isles

John Speed and his Atlas of the British Isles

Harald Sack
On July 28, 1629, English cartographer and historian John Speed passed away. He is considered the most famous of English map-makers. His best-known work is a landmark: the first atlas of the British Isles, the Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine (1612), which was reprinted for well over a century after his death. Framed productions of maps from his atlas remain popular to hang in homes. John Speed – “An Ambitious,…
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war/crime
The Last Victim of the Spanish Inquisition

The Last Victim of the Spanish Inquisition

Harald Sack
On July 26, 1826, Cayetano Ripoll, a schoolmaster in Valencia, Spain, teaching deist principles should become the last victim executed by the Spanish inquisition. Ripoll has the dubious honor of being the last of the many people known to have been executed under sentence from a Church authority for having committed the act of heresy. For almost 350 years the Spanish inquisition tried to secure the primacy of the Catholic Church in…
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history
Eugene Vidocq – The Father of Criminology

Eugene Vidocq – The Father of Criminology

Harald Sack
During the night of 23 to 24 July 1775, French criminal and criminalist Eugène Vidocq was born. Vidocq is considered the world’s first private detective and father of modern criminology. His life story inspired several writers, including Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac. “I thought I could have remained an informer forever, so far from the thought of suspecting that I was a police agent. Even the door closers and the guards had…
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biology
George Shaw and the unique Mammal Platypus

George Shaw and the unique Mammal Platypus

Harald Sack
On July 22, 1813, English botanist and zoologist George Shaw passed away. Shaw published one of the first English descriptions with scientific names of several Australian animals including the very first scientific description of the platypus. “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Kearsley Shaw, as quoted in [9]…
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paleontology
Sir Richard Owen and the Interpretation of Fossils

Sir Richard Owen and the Interpretation of Fossils

Harald Sack
On July 20, 1804, English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist Sir Richard Owen was born. Despite being a controversial figure, Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils. Owen is probably best remembered today for coining the word Dinosauria (meaning “Terrible Reptile” or “Fearfully Great Reptile“). And today, dinosaurs seem to be more popular than ever, taking into account recent revenues of the latest sequel of…
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philosophy
Thomas Kuhn and the Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Thomas Kuhn and the Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Harald Sack
On July 18, 1922, American physicist, historian, and philosopher of science Thomas Samuel Kuhn was born. He is most famous for his controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which was influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term “paradigm shift“, which has since become an English-language idiom. “Only when they must choose between competing theories do scientists behave like philosophers.” — Thomas Kuhn, Logic of Discovery or Psychology…
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philosophy
Reality according to Alexius Meinong

Reality according to Alexius Meinong

Harald Sack
On July 17, 1853 Austrian philosopher Alexius Meinong was born. He is best known for his contributions to ontology as well as to the philosophy of mind and theory of value. Famous is also his his belief in nonexistent objects. Meinong distinguished several levels of reality among objects and facts about them. The object theory of Alexius Meinong states fundamentally that every experienced act of perception is intentional. The experience is directed to the object…
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art
Gustav Klimt and the Vienna Secession

Gustav Klimt and the Vienna Secession

Harald Sack
On July 14, 1862, Austrian painter Gustav Klimt was born. Klimt is considered the most famous representative of Viennese Art Nouveau and founding president of the Vienna Secession. He noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objects d’art. Klimt’s primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism. Klimt was the most influenced by Japanese art and its methods. Gustav Klimt – The Artists Early…
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archeology
Michael Ventris and the Minoan Linear B

Michael Ventris and the Minoan Linear B

Harald Sack
On July 12, 1922, English architect and linguist Michael Ventris was born. Along with John Chadwick and Alice Kober, Ventris deciphered Linear B, a previously unknown ancient script discovered at Knossos by Arthur Evans. He showed that the Minoan Linear B script was a very early form of Greek, the oldest known examples. Michael Ventris – Learning a Language in only Weeks Michael Ventris was born as the only child into a…
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physics
David Brewster and the Invention of the Kaleidoscope

David Brewster and the Invention of the Kaleidoscope

Harald Sack
On July 10, 1817, Scottish physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor and writer Sir David Brewster received a patent for his kaleidoscope. “kaleidoscope” is derived from Ancient Greek and denotes something like “observation of beautiful forms.” It consists of a cylinder with mirrors containing loose, colored objects such as beads or pebbles and bits of glass. As the viewer looks into one end, light entering the other creates a colorful pattern, due to the…
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