3,165 search results
Queen (and Slave) Of The Sciences
Science, Maths & Technology

Queen (and Slave) Of The Sciences

...work of a mathematician in your everyday life? If you are reading this article then you are at the computer: designed and programmed by mathematicians. Perhaps you like the cinema. The largest employer of mathematicians in the world is Pixar animations. Shrek just isn’t as funny when he’s flat. Maths makes his tummy round and his face comic. And it isn’t only...
View article Queen (and Slave) Of The Sciences
Article 10 mins
Women lead the struggle at Rolls-Royce on Clydeside, 1955
Society, Politics & Law

Women lead the struggle at Rolls-Royce on Clydeside, 1955

...Work at this plant, to produce ‘Merlin’ aeroengines for RAF Spitfires and other warplanes, shadowed an established Rolls-Royce factory at Derby which, being further south and east, was more easily reached by the Luftwaffe. In the post-war period, at the East Kilbride plant, it was the ‘Avon’ jet engine which was the focus of production. [Women on the Merlin engine...
View article Women lead the struggle at Rolls-Royce on Clydeside, 1955
Article 5 mins
Prison Abolition in Question(s): Part One
Education & Development

Prison Abolition in Question(s): Part One

...works under any circumstances but much evidence that punishment (especially severe punishment) encourages violent or otherwise undesirable behaviour. Thus, the idea that the particular punishment that prisons deliver will transform people and encourage (or force) them to lead better lives upon release is fundamentally flawed. In an intentionally punitive environment,...
View article Prison Abolition in Question(s): Part One
Article 12 mins
Killed by Agatha Christie: Strychnine and the detective novel
History & The Arts

Killed by Agatha Christie: Strychnine and the detective novel

...work and others from the 1920s and 1930s, a era sometimes called the golden age of detective fiction, always fascinated me. The wickedness of the poisons, the cold calculation of the poisoners in the stories, all influenced my own non-fiction book, The Poisoner’s Handbook, which takes a narrative look at forensic toxicology in that same time period. In an earlier...
View article Killed by Agatha Christie: Strychnine and the detective novel
Article 5 mins
Encouraging book talk in the school library
Education & Development

Encouraging book talk in the school library

...working with pupils in school libraries...As adults we sometimes struggle to justify our feelings about particular books, but children are quite clear about what they like and don't like. It is possible to get children to discuss why they liked or did not like particular books and to encourage them to think more deeply about the books they've read. This free course,...
View course Encouraging book talk in the school library
Level 1: Introductory 4 hrs
Tory Trades Unionism: 19th Century Style
History & The Arts

Tory Trades Unionism: 19th Century Style

...working men on the need to improve working conditions, although the election was something of a rout for Liberal MPs nationwide and so he was at least helped in part by that rising tide. He would only serve for one term, losing at the 1900 poll. He fought two by-elections during that parliament, and stood for Blackburn in 1905, but his blend of Toryism and Trades Unionism...
View article Tory Trades Unionism: 19th Century Style
Article 5 mins
The author at home
History & The Arts

The author at home

...work of the writer’s house museum for my latest book. The first writer’s house that admirers visited after he died in 1374 was Petrarch’s in Arqua, Italy. But what did these admirers hope to find? One of the earliest comments on the oddness of this impulse to visit dead authors at home is the elaborate practical joke known as ‘Petrarch’s cat’. This cat was...
View video The author at home
Video 5 mins
How do you become French President?
Society, Politics & Law

How do you become French President?

...work in France...Transcript France has a semi presidential system and is a unitary state. The President is directed elected by the French people, but has then to appoint a Prime Minister who can command the support of a majority of the French legislature. French national elections are conducted in two stages under a majoritarian electoral system known as the double...
View video How do you become French President?
Video 10 mins