Write for us!
-
For Email Newsletters you can trust -
Recent Posts
Categories
Citizen Scientists League on Twitter
Meta
Category Archives: History of Science
A Million Points of Data
Watching and reporting the flowering of a nearby vine maple, Acer circinatum, turned into the millionth observation submitted through NPN’s online observation program, Nature’s Notebook. Lucille Tower, an amateur scientist from Portland, Ore. submitted the record.
Continue reading
The Transit of Venus
On the 5th and 6th of June this year Venus will transit across the solar disk. This is an event that happened just eight years ago and yet won’t happen again for another 105 years. Continue reading
Citizen Science Musings: The Amateur Anasazi Archaeologist
Richard Wetherill (1858 – 1910) lived in Colorado where his family owned a ranch. But Wetherill was more than just another cow puncher. He had an active interest in the history and culture of the various Native American tribes in the region and was on good terms with many members of various tribes. Continue reading
Radio Astronomy – Thoughts and Lessons
At the age of 13, my parents gave me my first telescope; it was a Gilbert 3 inch reflector. That opened up the world of astronomy to me and at 16 I stumbled across a book titled “Radio Astronomy for Amateurs” by Frank Hyde (UK). This fit my other hobby of electronics and short wave listening. That was in 1964. Continue reading
Posted in Amateur Radio, Astronomy, Electronics, History of Science, Instrumentation, Physics, Space
2 Comments
Ancient Egyptian Dentistry
The work shows intricate gold work around the teeth. This mummy was found with two donor teeth that had holes drilled into them. Wires were strung through the holes and then around the neighboring teeth. Continue reading
Posted in Archaeology, History of Science, Invention
1 Comment
Life Discovered on Mars–36 Years Ago
New analysis of 36-year-old data, resuscitated from printouts, shows that NASA found life on Mars, an international team of mathematicians and scientists conclude in a paper published this week. Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Biology, Breaking News, Chemistry, Exploration, History of Science, Space
1 Comment
William Dampier: Pirate and… Amateur Scientist
William Dampier was born in 1651 and grew up to be an English pirate. While he didn’t exactly distinguish himself in his “day job”, he was a very astute observer of the natural world and a keen explorer. Continue reading
Posted in Amateur Science, History of Science
1 Comment
Amateur Science and the Rise of Big Science
As many students of the history of science know, once almost all scientists were amateurs. Copernicus was a monk, Darwin was trained first in medicine and then his father tried to make him a priest, and Einstein, despite a degree in electrical engineering, was a patent clerk in Switzerland. Continue reading
X-Ray Tube Prototype Construction & Experiments
This paper describes the construction and initial testing of a prototype x-ray tube. Its design is based loosely on the famous “Crookes’” cathode ray tube that Roentgen used to discover x-rays in 1895. Continue reading
Albert Einstein Archives Now Available Online
Albert Einstein’s complete archives — from personal correspondence with half a dozen lovers to notebooks scribbled with his groundbreaking scientific research — are going online for the first time. Continue reading