- Article
- Article
Vivekananda’s journey
How a young Indian monk’s travels around the world inspired modern yoga.
- In pictures
- In pictures
Dogs to the rescue
Explore artworks and archive photographs showing how our four-legged friends have been helping humans for hundreds of years.
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- Article
Plant portraits
The beautiful and mysterious illustrations in medieval herbals convey a wealth of knowledge about the plants they portray.
- Article
- Article
How to play with drunk people
Lower your inhibitions and join Holly Gramazio for fast-paced games made even more fun by alcohol.
- Article
- Article
Chillies and the trouble with Scoville
Measuring the heat of these peppers can leave you a little lukewarm.
- Article
- Article
Book design, dissected
Gwen Smith talks to art director Peter Dyer about imagery, colour, type and staying true to the pages within.
- Article
- Article
Parasites and pests from the medieval to the modern
Humans have been reluctant hosts to a plethora of unpleasant parasites for centuries. And medieval evidence shows our modern distaste for these little irritations is just as ancient.
- Article
- Article
Bleeding healthy
For thousands of years, and in many different cultures, people have practised bloodletting for health and medical reasons. Julia Nurse explains where and when bleeding was used, how it was done, and why.
- Article
- Article
In the tracks of Derek Jarman’s tears
Researcher E K Myerson shares her moving encounters with the personal papers of artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman.
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- Article
The ‘epileptic’ in art and science
From scarred outsiders in literature to the cold voyeurism of medical films and photography, people who experience seizures and epilepsy are rarely shown in a compassionate light in popular culture.
- Article
- Article
Are doctors medical detectives?
Do doctors really identify medical conditions in the same way that detectives solve crimes? Neurologist Jules Montague makes her diagnosis.
- Article
- Article
The yogi as hermit, warrior, criminal and showman
How the modern world changed the life and reputation of the yogi.
- Article
- Article
Fantastic beasts and unnatural history
Find out how a 17th-century compendium of the natural world came to present fantastical beasts –like dragons – as real, living creatures.