Professor Joe Cain posts on subjects related to his research interests.
During research concerning Charles Darwin and Emma Darwin’s life at number 12 Upper Gower Street, London, I identified several errors and vagaries in biographical material found in standard reference works. This note communicates corrections and Read More
In Britain, body-snatching was a cloak-and-dagger business. It also was corrupt. When her husband was arrested, tried, and executed for crimes associated with body-snatching, Ann Millard sought revenge. To her mind, local officials were complicit Read More
In May 2011, Dr Silvia De Bianchi organised the workshop, “The Harmony of the Sphere: Kant and Herschel on the universe and the Astronomical Phenomena” at UCL. This brought together research on Kant, Herschel, and astronomy. Read More
Robert Fitzroy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) is buried in the church yard of All Saints Church, Upper Norwood, London (site). The memorial was restored in 1997. At the time of his death, Fitzroy Read More
Book on UCL Grant Museum of Zoology UCL’s Grant Museum of Zoology moved to The Thomas Lewis Room in UCL’s Rockefeller Building in 2011. This book answers popular historical questions about the room, the building, Read More
Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins (FGS, FLS) was the sculptor who created the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs. Specifically, he created over thirty statues of prehistoric animals for the Crystal Palace and Park (Sydenham), which opened in June 1854. Read More
The web is full of commentaries about Piltdown Man and its exposure as a fraud. But where is the original locality? The exact location – the spot on the map – is well known to Read More
When asked about the Origin of Species and the theory of natural selection, Thomas Henry Huxley told friends, “how extremely stupid not to have thought of that”. This is well-known folklore, and much has been Read More
This article on Brocks Illuminations at Crystal Palace in 1906 first appeared on the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs History Blog in July 2013. Brocks ‘Illuminations’ celebrated Crystal Palace Dinosaurs and More Close study of Read More
This article, titled “Dinner in the Iguanodon,” first appeared on the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs History Blog in July 2013. Dinner in the Iguanodon The “Dinner in the Iguanodon Model” is the best known story about Crystal Read More
Copyright 2018 Professor Joe Cain