Category: Have Science Will Travel

Have Science Will Travel LIVE

Museums Showoff 9If you are going to be in London on the 1st of October at 7:30PM, you need to go see our own Eva Amsen talk about the improbable Museum of Jurassic Technology at Museums Showoff 9.

The rest of the lineup is set to take attendees on a delightful tour through a wide-variety of museums and experiences of working in museums.

Since you are here at The Finch & Pea, I think it is fair to assume that a presentation covering art, history, culture, science, and behind the scenes minutiae while enjoying a pint in the upper room of a pub is precisely your bag, baby.

Need help finding The Black Heart? Ta da, a map.

Have Science Will Travel, the Map

I know you have been patiently waiting, but, hey, I’ve been busy. At long last, the Have Science Will Travel Google Map is up to date. You can now virtually stalk Eva on her science-y travels to your heart’s content.

Baldwin Steps: Climbing Out of an Ice Age Lake

The Baldwin Steps in Scott Pilgrim vs The World.
The Baldwin Steps in Scott Pilgrim vs The World.

The Baldwin Steps in Toronto are nowadays probably best known* as the stairs featured in Scott Pilgrim, but they also have an interesting geological history. Continue reading “Baldwin Steps: Climbing Out of an Ice Age Lake”

Gouffre de Padirac

Gouffre de PadiracWhen I was a teenager, my family went to France every summer. The different trips are all mixed up in my head. I don’t really remember which campsite memory belongs with which French castle memory. There is one visit that I do remember very well, and that’s our trip to Gouffre de Padirac.

Gouffre de Padirac is a deep chasm with a scary lift that leads to a magical fairy tale cave where you take a boat on an underground river. At least, this is how I remembered it, but according to a quick web search this is pretty much the most accurate description possible. As it turns out, Gouffre de Padirac is a bit of a mystery. Continue reading “Gouffre de Padirac”

John Snow and the Broad Street Pump

2013-08-24 16.14.10In the summer of 1854, the central London neighbourhood of Soho was struck by a sudden cholera epidemic. Local physician John Snow identified the Broad Street pump as the source of the outbreak, preventing further spread of the disease. These days, the affected neighbourhood is home to many pubs and cake shops, prompting my friends to organise a “cholera and cake” pub crawl with out-of-town visitors this past weekend.

The Broad Street pump is not longer there, but in 1992 a symbolic pump was placed across the street from the John Snow pub, which is thought to have been the original location of the pump.

2013-08-24 16.14.55

Locating the source of the cholera epidemic was an especially impressive feat because the prevailing medical opinion at the time was that cholera was caused by “bad air”, and not by something you can find and eliminate. Germ theory hadn’t yet caught on, but John Snow was skeptical of the “bad air” theory, and suspected that there was something else.  He talked to lots of people in the affected area and in neighbouring streets, and he started to notice a pattern. Continue reading “John Snow and the Broad Street Pump”