Thony Christie
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rmathematicus.bsky.social
Thony Christie
@rmathematicus.bsky.social
12K followers 650 following 3.3K posts
Aging freak who fell in love with the history of science and now resides mostly in 16th century Nürnberg.
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rmathematicus.bsky.social
Isaac Newton the path from farm boy to Cambridge graduate #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/f...
Sir Isaac Newton. when Bachelor of Arts in Trinity College, Cambridge. Engraved by B. Reading from a Head painted by Sir Peter Lily in the Possession of the Right Honorable Lord Viscount Cremorne.
January 14, 2026 at 7:50 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Just arrived in the post!
@matthewcobb.bsky.social 🙃
The cover of A Mind in Motion – from DNA to the Brain CRICK
January 12, 2026 at 1:13 PM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Book Review: The Origin and Significance of Zero: An interdisciplinary Perspective #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2026/01/09/m...
Cover of "The Origin and Significance of Zero"
January 9, 2026 at 8:34 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Isaac Barrow & John Wallis introduced the young Isaac Newton to the concept of mathematical physics and the new continental mathematics #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/f...
Portrait of Isaac Barrow by Mary Beale Portrait of John Wallis by Godfrey Kneller
December 31, 2025 at 10:07 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
There are very few surviving portrait of Johannes Kepler and each of them has a question mark hanging over it for some reason #histsci

thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/12/27/c...
An engraving of a portrait of Johannes Kepler from a 1620 painting that was given to the Strasbourg Library in 1627, artist unknown.
December 27, 2025 at 8:39 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Stolen elsewhere on the web
December 16, 2025 at 2:21 PM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Tycho Brahe born 14 December 1546, built his Uraniborg, the first custom-built observatory in modern Europe on the island of Hven. It cost a fortune, how was it financed and why? #histsci #histtech
thonyc.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/f... Brahe's Uraniborg main building from Blaeu's Atlas Maior (1663)
Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg main building from Blaeu's Atlas Maior (1663)
December 14, 2025 at 6:37 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Book Review: Nuno Castel-Branco’s "The Traveling Anatomist: Nicolaus Steno and the Intersection of Disciplines in Early Modern Science" #histsci

thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/12/03/t...
Front cover of Castel-Branco's book showing sketch of Great White Shark head dissected by Steno in Florence
December 3, 2025 at 8:54 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Logician, psychologist and expert for colour vision, Christine Ladd Franklin, who fought against prejudice against women in academia her whole life, was born 1 December 1847 #histsci

thonyc.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/a... B/W
B/W photo of Christine Ladd-Franklin
December 1, 2025 at 6:40 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
The rise of the scientific societies to discuss the new developments in natural philosophy in the 17th century #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/11/26/f...
A suitably regal first Royal Society President, portrait of William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker after Peter Lely
November 26, 2025 at 9:32 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Elias Allen: The leading scientific instrument maker in seventeenth-century London #histsci #histtech
thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/t...
Engraved portrait of Elias Allen by Wenceslas Hollar surrounded by his tools and the instruments he made
November 19, 2025 at 8:16 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
A truly excellent book, highly recommended
thonyc.wordpress.com/2023/09/20/s...
Cover of Katy Barrett's book "Looking for Longitude"
November 13, 2025 at 7:07 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Christiaan Huygens' & his wave theory of light #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/11/12/f...
Portrait of Christiaan Huygens by Bernard Vaillant (1686) Diagram of light waves emanating from a candle
November 12, 2025 at 8:55 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Written before I got ill but never posted: Three more books on the history of medieval Islamicate culture #histsci

thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/10/25/t...
October 25, 2025 at 6:24 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
October 4, 2025 at 5:48 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Blaise Pascal, Torricellian tubes, the vacuum & air pressure #histsci #histtech

thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/10/01/f...
Portrait of Blaise Pascal artist unknown
October 1, 2025 at 6:17 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Charles Whitwell ‘probably the most skilled and versatile instrument maker of the Elizabethan period’ #histsci #histtech
thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/09/24/c...
Horizontal compass sundial compendium made by Charles Whitwell An altitude sundial and perpetual calendar in the Museum of the History of Science Oxford. Signed: Charolus Whitwell Sculpit. Also inscribed Nathaniell Torporley.
September 24, 2025 at 8:07 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Historian of Science Anna Marie Roos is at it again: The Correspondence of Dr. Martin Lister (1639—1712). Volume Two: 1678—1694 is being published by Briil. E-Book is already available hardback appears 25 September #histsci
brill.com/display/titl...
September 22, 2025 at 8:05 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
René Descartes mechanics and cosmology #histsci

thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/09/17/f...
Left: engraved portrait of René Descartes Right: title page of Principia Philosophiæ
September 17, 2025 at 8:07 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
The maniacal, scribbling gnomes in the cellar of Ball Mansions have tossed of another tome:

Alchemy: An Illustrated History of Elixirs, Experiments, and the Birth of Modern Science

And it’s gorgeous!

#histsci
The Book Cover of Philip Ball's Alchemy: An Illustrated History of Elixirs, Experiments, and the Birth of Modern Science
September 12, 2025 at 12:29 PM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
September 12, 2025 at 6:12 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
September 12, 2025 at 6:12 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
September 12, 2025 at 6:11 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Historian of science Anna Marie Roos has published an edited edition of The Grand Tour Travel Diary Of Martin Folkes (1690–1754), "Taking Newton on Tour", for the Hakluyt Society
boydellandbrewer.com/book/taking-...
Cover of Talking Newton on Tour
September 12, 2025 at 6:10 AM
rmathematicus.bsky.social
Book review: The history of science in Islamicate culture #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/09/10/t...
September 10, 2025 at 8:09 AM