M.J. Rose

Book lovers, try not to drool.

Euclid’s elements of Geometry with folding diagrams

A magical glimpse into the Tudor imagination: Lost library of John Dee to be revealed
By Richard Moss (Culture 24)

“No figure from the Tudor world better exemplifies the diverse and apparently contradictory intellectual and social preoccupations of the period than John Dee.

At once deeply religious and fastidiously superstitious, Dee was a scholar of mathematics and magic, a keen historian and courtier and tutor to Elizabeth I and a polymath whose interests included astronomy, astrology, exploration, the occult, alchemy, spying and imperialism.

Little wonder this extraordinary man has continually fascinated and served as inspiration to artists from Shakespeare and Ben Johnson to Derek Jarman and Damon Albarn.

Now, the intriguing and mysterious Dee, who survived the machinations of the late Tudor period only to die in poverty in 1608/9, is to be revealed to the public through his remarkable personal library for the first time in history.

A never seen before selection from 100 surviving books once owned by the man known universally as Dr Dee will go on display in Scholar, courtier, magician: The lost library of John Dee at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in January 2016…”

For the rest, click here.

We love it when such incredibly unusual and well preserved ancient specimens are uncovered. It’s really the only thing we can think of that’s not terrible about global warming…

Incredibly Preserved Frozen Cave Lions Found In Siberia

“In remote and icy Siberia, bodies of long extinct ancient animals are often found preserved within the thick permafrost, from woolly mammoths to ancient horses. These carcasses have been so well preserved, that some reports suggest that the meat is often fresh enough to eat, and can even contain liquid blood. In another stunning find, The Siberian Times reports the “sensational” discovery of two almost perfectly preserved cave lion cubs.

Thought to be at least 10,000 years old, the lions were found earlier this summer in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic of Siberia, famed for many other striking discoveries of ice age animals. The creatures lived during the Pleistocene, when the world was gripped by repeated ice ages as glaciers expanded and retracted. All that had been previously found of cave lions in the area were some skulls and fragments of teeth and bones…”

For the rest, click here to go to IFLS.

We’re always excited when science investigates the stuff of legends.  Sometimes the feeling we are left with after these investigations is that some mysteries are just not possible to unlock, and some of the greatest mysteries of all are found in the pages of our most ancient texts…

On NOVA: Secrets of Noah’s Ark

Aired: 10/07/2015

A team attempts to build the flood boat using inscriptions from an ancient clay tablet.

For the complete episode, click here to go to PBS.