In praise of curiosity: the author's investigations began when she found herself living next door to its two-acre remnant. Part biography, part memoir, part history of science, this is as in... read more
The rich and varied life of the woman who introduced smallpox vaccination into the British Isles, a friend of Swift and Pope, and who is famous for her letters, especially those sent from Tu... read more
Huygens developed the theory of light travelling as a wave, invented the mechanism for the pendulum clock, and discovered the rings of Saturn - via a telescope that he had also invented. His... read more
Its second subtitle is "an adventurous history of botany". JG is a scientist and an historian of exploration (his "The Rattlesnake: A Voyage of Discovery to the Coral Sea" was excellent).