Daily Archives: July 29, 2007

Dinner snakes – I mean, dinner plates

Lead-glazed polychrome-painted earthenware dish Workshop of Bernard Palissy, Paris, circa 1575-1600 British Museum Just in case you didn’t find Laura Zindel’s creepy-crawly place settings unusual enough, here’s a treasure from the British Museum: an antique dish embellished with sculpted snake, … Continue reading

Posted in Biology, Museum Lust | 3 Comments

More Good Company

I’m way behind on writing, my laptop power convertor blew, and I now have 3500 (!) unread posts on my feeds. Apologies, everyone! But this weekend I did get a blogger’s treat – a real-world visit with another blogger, the … Continue reading

Posted in Blogs and Blogging, Department of the Drama | 3 Comments

The biology is only as good as the labs

I winced in sympathy at this account, “A biologist in Nigeria”, by Dave Ng (The World’s Fair) of his experience teaching a genetics course. The conditions were simply awful. But I’m afraid any non-biologist readers won’t understand how awful – … Continue reading

Posted in Biology, Education, Science | Comments Off

Poem of the Week: Sonnet 116

Ah, the British Library. In one room: Shakespeare’s First Folio, Thomas More’s last letter to Henry III, Lewis Carroll’s diary, the Gutenberg Bible, a letter from Darwin to Wallace, a letter from Newton to Hooke, Shakespeare’s mortgage, Magna Carta, a … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Department of the Drama, Littademia, Museum Lust, Poetry | 1 Comment