New: Science, ‘Atheism’ and Ridicule – Prof. Michael Hunter on the Hidden History of the Decline of Magic in Early Modern British Science

  Nobody knows more about Robert Boyle, a founder of modern experimental science and the Royal Society, than Michael Hunter. Now an Emeritus Professor of History at Birkbeck, Hunter is the author of various essays and books including the award-winning monograph, Boyle: Between God and Science (2009). Apart from producing a catalogue of Boyle’s vast … Read more

The Naturalization of the ‘Poltergeist’

Ostensible ‘poltergeist phenomena’ are the very epitome of ‘things that go bump in the night’, and most modern scientists would probably relegate them to the realm of fairy tales without thinking twice. And yet, for historians studying the historical continuity of scientific interest in the supposed ‘supernatural’, they offer surprising insights. Probably coined by Martin … Read more