Christiaan Huygens was one of the greatest Dutch scholars, if not the greatest. Versatility was his talent. Whether it was the invention of the pendulum clock, the discovery of Saturns rings or the wave theory of light:virtually no area in seventeenth-century science was left without Huygens discove
On November 4, 2011, Ewoud Kieft will defend his thesis on idealistic creatives and their view of the First World War. When the First World War broke out in 1914, it sparked enthusiasm among a large part of Europes cultural elite:the war would wake up the decadent and materialistic European society
The Netherlands has no populist tradition. After the establishment of the liberal system in the mid-nineteenth century, popular interference remained shielded. There was no jury trial, there were no elected directors and hardly any person-based politics developed. The populism that has grown so much
After the lost World War I, Germany tried to restore its economy on the basis of foreign credit. Only by continuing to borrow could it pay reparations, invest in its own economy and maintain a level of prosperity to cover the worst political and social discontent. But what if foreigners were no long
The Netherlands was on the brink of financial collapse in the 1840s. The reason for this was the accumulated debt from decades ago and the high expenditure of King William I (1772-1843). In particular, his refusal to accept the secession from Belgium cost money:for years an army stood ready at the b
Niels Bohr is known as one of the pioneers of a special area of physics, namely quantum mechanics. The tireless Dane possessed unprecedented perseverance and a very sharp and lively mind, both scientifically and politically. Kennislink did a fictional interview with the influential thinker from Co
For the first time in Egypts Valley of the Kings, archaeologists have found a sarcophagus of a woman who does not belong to the royal family of the Pharaohs. According to the inscriptions in the tomb, it is Nehemes-Bastet, a singer who was hired 3000 years ago to sing hymns to the god Amun. The sar
People from all over the world are currently coming to London to see paintings by the world famous Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci. The exhibition at the National Gallery has been sold out for months. But Leonardo did much more than just paint. He embodied the Renaissance ideal of the homo univ
A guest column appears on Kennislink every week. The columnist is always a different researcher, who writes from his or her field about the science behind an event in society or from our daily lives. This week:historian Joost Augusteijn on the origin of terrorists. The expulsion by Pakistan of two
It seems that the famine that killed four million people in Ukraine between 1932-33 was at least partly organized by the regime of Josef Stalin. Recently published correspondence between Stalin and two of his closest advisers shows that in the summer of 1932 Stalin consciously decided to lend a help
As long as we walk the earth we have to eat. The not so exciting menu of our prehistoric ancestors consisted mainly of the spoils of the hunt and the collected fruits. With the development of the agricultural society, agricultural products were added. Barley and rye would for centuries be the main f
Old sound recordings have been ready to be listened to for over a hundred years, but the records and cylinders are too fragile to play. Researchers found a solution:create a virtual version and play it. For example, recordings by Alexander Graham Bell can now be heard. More than a hundred years ag
Joppe van Driel, until recently a student at Utrecht University, worked for no less than a year on his graduation thesis Enlightening the matter of science. The anti-materialistic enlightenment philosophy of Jean de Castillon (1709-1791). The result is impressive:A one hundred and fifty-page researc
Around the beginning of our era, the hope of the coming of the Messiah lived among the various Jewish communities in the Roman province of Judea. The messiah is a figure referred to in the Jewish Tanakh as a future king who will unite the Jews of Palestine and whose coming will herald the end times.
The traditional definition of a historical museum is:a place where tangible objects tell a story about the past. If you had thousands of objects, ranging from a Tanzanian stone spearhead to a credit card, you could tell a story about the entire world history. If you also add beautiful photos of all
In sixteenth-century Venice, paintings could evoke the same reactions as people; they were revered and loved but also hated and destroyed. The Venetians identified the paintings with the people depicted themselves. “The current impact of, for example, cartoons may be better understood in this way”,
Do you prefer a diet with soft or hard foods? Prehistoric man chose soft food from 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture. An unforeseen consequence was that the teeth changed as a result… A third of the children have healthy teeth, another third absolutely need braces and another 33%
On September 23, international scientists Franz-Ulrich Hartl, Ralph Steinman, Rosamond McKitterick, David Tilman and Michael Tomasello were awarded the Heineken Prizes for Science by His Royal Highness Prince Willem-Alexander. A cash prize of $150,000 is attached to the prizes, which are awarded by
From 24 May to 2 June 2014 it is Romans Week. This week entirely devoted to Roman history, heritage and archaeology. For Kennislink not only the rich Roman heritage is highlighted, but also the dark side of all the splendor. That dark side arose especially under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolin
In the sixteenth century, the Dutch doctor and human rights defender avant la lettre Jan Wier was one of the first to protest against the persecution of witches. His biographer Vera Hoorens wonders whether he did this out of compassion for the innocent women or whether Wier secretly also had other m
Travel educates? And how! It turns out that snow can blind you, that not all honey has the same health and sweetness, and that there are irreplaceable people - some Greeks, hungry for fame, learned all of this. Asia has always tempted people. The vast expanses and legendary riches kept many adve
The October Revolution became a model for successive generations of rebels. Attempts have been made to repeat it in various parts of the globe. According to some, however, her organization left much to be desired. So why was it successful? Claude Anet, an official French journalist in St. Petersbu
If Piłsudski turned out to be a real master in something, it was in the art of propaganda. His acolytes successfully persuaded the Poles that he had regained independence for Poland on his own. It could not be otherwise, because it was Piłsudski who created the famous Polish Legions. At least in thi
The Nazis did not even call them people, but parasites. Sterilization will make the nation strong, they initially insisted. But they did not intend to limit themselves to the castration of the disabled. Their goal was to exterminate tens of thousands of Germans physically. The leaders of the Naz