In this extract from ‘This Book is a Plant’, Amanda Thomson shares a newfound fascination with flowers, and reveals why our relationship with plants can also be complicated.

What the wind can bring

Fire in the sky has always exerted a hold on our imagination, even as early scientists unlocked the secrets of atmospheric electricity.

Michael Faraday. Photograph by Maull & Polyblank.

Lightning striking a rural building during a storm: onlookers react in terror. Engraving, 16--.

A pair of actors by a lake in a storm. Colour woodcut by Yoshitaki, early 1860s.

A thunder storm approaching a farm, the workers moving the animals into shelter. Engraving by B. Crivellari after M. Ricci.

Saint John and Saint Paul as protectors against storm, thunder and lightning. Coloured engraving.

A storm of thunder and lightning, rain, wind and floods threaten an ancient town on the sea-coast; representing conflict. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

Two deer struck by lightning in the forest. Etching by M. E. Ridinger after J. E. Ridinger.

A young barefoot shepherdess and a little girl take refuge near a shrine during a storm. Lithograph by Z. Belliard after M.-Ph. Coupin de La Couperie.

The ghost of Ravia, dressed in white with blood on her dress, appears to her husband Cazem during a storm at night, in front of Gothic ruins, and asks him to avenge her murder. Coloured aquatint, ca. 1810.

Jupiter casting thunderbolts from the sky. Engraving by M. Küsel after S. Vouet.

A shipwrecked woman holds on to the remains of a ship-mast waving for help in the stormy sea. Engraving by C. Heath after H. Warren.

Popular science / edited by Arthur Mee.

The gallery of nature : a pictorial and descriptive tour through creation, illustrative of the wonders of astronomy, physical geography, and geology / by the Rev. Thomas Milner.

Astronomy: the Aurora Borealis, with pine trees in the foreground. Colour process print after by M. Raebel, 1909.

Land, sea and sky, or, Wonders of life and nature : a description of the physical geography and organic life of the earth / translated from the German of Herman J.  Klein and Dr.Thomé by J.Minshull.

The world of wonders : a record of things wonderful in nature, science, and art.

Portrait of Benjamin Franklin with his Kite in the background. After the painting by Benjamin West.

Thunderbolts and lightning

In September 2024, Wellcome Collection will present ‘Hard Graft’ a free major exhibition exploring experiences of physical work and its impacts on health and the body.

Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights

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What the wind can bring

Thunderbolts and lightning

Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights