Chasing Mercury
Of all the planets in our solar system, Mercury has been the most elusive -- it took astronomers almost 14 centuries to predict its orbit …
19th century Indian diet: rice fights wheat
The question of what constituted a balanced Indian diet had the British totally confused
Digging its own grave
Despite its glorious past, the future of the Archaeological Survey of India is jeopardised because of internal wrangling and a lack of a concrete …
Population prompts progress
The experience of a Kenyan community contradicts a traditional theory that population and development are inversely proportional
Nuclear nemesis
Russian scientists confess to dumping atomic waste near major rivers to hide their Cold War sins
Rice goes against the grain
An Asian staple for over a millennium, rice has become important enough for the North to start raiding and patenting strains
The axe and human civilisation
The use and abuse of wood is a major theme in the history of humankind according to a new book, A Forest Journey
Roman retreat
About 2,000 years ago, when the Romans ruled London, they gave the city its first centrally-heated homes. A look back in time
The ups and downs of a science city
During the Raj, science flourished in Calcutta. But the city's fortunes changed drastically because of warped policies
A people devoid of "genius and imagination"
The curiosity about exotic lands that gripped scholars in the 17th and 18th centuries resulted in the collation of a lot of information, much of …
Slow born on the atomic fast track
In February this year, the United States government publicly admitted to carrying out nuclear radiation tests on completely innocent human guinea pigs
Chill blast
Did American scientists help Russia acquire its atomic bomb? A new book triggers off a major post-Cold War controversy
The hesitant growth of surgery in Bengal
Rapid strides in Western medicine and surgery relegated Indian medical systems to the back seat, especially because of brahmanical abhorrence of …
Elementary order
How did elements come to be tabulated according to their properties?
Temples of irrigation and land management
From the 9th century to the 16th century, south Indian kingdoms did not have irrigation or public works departments. Temples were given the job …
Tracing a path from the sun
Present-day interest in solar power has arisen mainly because of rapidly dwindling energy resources. But the quest for tapping the sun's energy …
From beer to recombinant DNA
...or how the ethical minefield of biotechnology has grown over time
Barbarism to animals has a hoary pedigree
Through the centuries, human beings have tried to establish their dominance over animals, killing them for both food and sport. Even today, …
Checking population growth through the ages
The concept of family planning control dates back to the ancient Greeks. Though many scientific advances have been made in the field since then, …
Tantrums of the "Christ Child"
A weather event which Peruvians once regarded as a boon is now recognised as causing terrible global disasters
The world of french fries and potato salad
The potato, native to South America, invaded England in 1588, the year Elizabeth I's devil-may-care sea-dogs vanquished the Spanish Armada. It …
Did ecological impropriety lead to the end?
Historians generally agree that the death of the Indus Valley civilisation did not occur because of a single dramatic event, but came about due …
Smoke laws first enacted in city of joy
Because of its political importance in the British empire, Calcutta was one of the first cities to regulate smoke emissions. But legislation …
Inundated by colonial misconceptions
The benefits that can be derived from controlling flood waters intelligently have been wasted, largely because of wrong, archaic notions about …
