On July 18, 1635 (according to the old Julian calendar), English natural philosopher, architect and polymath Robert Hooke was born. He is known for his discovery of the laws of elasticity, now known as Hooke's law. Hooke did research in a remarkable variety of fields. He was one of the first men to build a Gregorian reflecting telescope and to suggest that Jupiter rotates on its access. His studies of microscopic fossils are what led him to be one of the first proponents of a theory of evolution.
On November 13, 354 A.D., Augustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine was born. He was bishop of Hippo Regius located in the Roman province of Africa. As an early Christian theologian his writings are considered very influential in the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. Among his most important works are City of God and Confessions, which continue to be read widely today. Why should you read a book that is more that 1,600 years old? Well, simply because it is a very original autobiographical source that gives us a unique view of the everyday living in the late Roman Empire and early Christianity. Augustine has written his Confessions to give us the chance to live with him through his very personal process of change from paganism to Christianity. And this really is worth while reading, because Augustine writes in a rather open way about his personal feelings and experiences. But, let's first take a look on Augustine's biography.
On November 18, 1985, the first Calvin and Hobbes daily comic strip is published, the humorous antics of Calvin, a precocious and adventurous six-year-old boy, and Hobbes, his sardonic stuffed tiger by American cartoonist Bill Watterson. Ok, you might ask, what does a daily cartoon comic strip have to do with the history of science and technology. Well, we have included Calvin and Hobbes into our daily blog for several reasons: First, the reference for John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes and their philosophic differences that have been expressed in a wonderful and very peculiar way. Second, some of the cartoons do really relate to science and technology - let's not forget about transmogrification -, and third, there is of course also a personal story that I'm going to tell you today...
The Neoplatonian philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, Egypt, was the first well-documented woman in mathematics. Her actual date of birth is unknown, although considered somewhen between 350 and 370 AD. She was the head of the Platonist school at Alexandria and additionally taught philosophy and astronomy.