A guest column appears on Kennislink every two weeks. 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 Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk on March 8:International Womens Day. For more than a c
Many consider him to be the greatest physicist ever. With just a pen, paper and his thought experiments, Albert Einstein designed a radically new picture of our world. Einstein became the first scientific superstar. A brilliant and idiosyncratic genius, but also a man with humor and an outspoken pol
Using a robotic camera, archaeologists have found Christian inscriptions in a tomb in Jerusalem that may have been made by the earliest followers of Jesus Christ himself. They would be by far the oldest evidence of the existence of a Christian culture. The discovery could potentially radically chang
Noble ladies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had booklets in which friends and guests left a message. Sometimes a whole poem, sometimes supplemented with comments from others – its a kind of Facebook avant la lettre, says Johan Oosterman, professor of Old Dutch Literature at Radboud Unive
In history books about the 19e century, professional artists play only a minor role. For a long time it was thought that in those days only rich women painted a bit for fun. Hanna Klarenbeek proves the opposite with her PhD research. In Klarenbeeks book Brush princesses and bread painters we can re
The Netherlands is celebrating 400 years of diplomatic relations with Turkey this year. The fact that the Dutch became involved in the politics of the Ottoman Empire is actually thanks to the Spaniards. Officially, the first Dutch ambassador settled in Istanbul in 1612. But before that, William of
Nine years ago, a very small, extinct human species was discovered on Flores in Indonesia:Homo floresiensis. Is this one meter tall hobbit really as strange as it seems at first glance? The other fauna on this island answers this question. In 2004, one of the strangest islanders ever was presented
Paleontologists may have discovered the oldest cave drawings to date in a cave near the Spanish city of Malaga. Several Spanish newspapers and the New Scientist website report this. The exceptional age suggests that the drawings may be the work of Neanderthals. A special discovery:until now scientis
The Netherlands is a special country:it is built on pillars. Protestants, Catholics, liberals and socialists lived isolated from each other in their own ideological world or pillar. At least, thats how its often presented. However, according to a recent study, this never existed. Historian Peter van
“Neanderthals probably did it several times successfully with our ancestors, but only modern humans have survived history.” On Wednesday evening, anthropologist and bestselling author Chris Stringer spoke about his research during the second Hoboken lecture at the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam
Our thinking about madness is highly dependent on context. In a schizophrenic relative we think of it as a treatable disease, in a bum on the street perhaps a threat, in an artist it seems a risky by-product of his creativity or even a necessary condition for great achievements. Wouter Kusters wonde
Benedict XVI, Pope and Bishop of Rome, will resign this week. For centuries, whoever occupies the Holy See in the Vatican has been the undisputed leader of the Roman Catholic Church. But the church has many bishops. Why did the one of Rome become so powerful? Long political struggles and forged docu
Did the dinosaurs die out or not because of a meteorite impact? Opinions are still divided, but improved dating methods support the impact theory. Will the debate over the cause of the dinosaurs extinction finally be settled? Probably not, but the proponents of the impact theory did good business t
The fields of study that you come across on the Kennislink page History, Language &Culture all fall under the humanities. But what exactly are humanities? How did they originate and do they have a specific method that distinguishes them from the other sciences? The humanities, also called the human
Have there ever been any contacts between modern man and his furry congener the Neanderthal? This question has long been debated in science. Results of new research indicate that Neanderthals may have died out much earlier than previously thought. And never had sex with modern humans or had other co
The Golden Age appeals to the imagination of many history buffs. The glorious era in which a small republic was great. Politically an outsider – because without a monarch – but still the most powerful and the richest. But it wasnt all gold that shone… The run-up The Low Countries fought their way o
Geoffrey Parker (1943) is an internationally renowned military historian. In the Netherlands he made a name for himself mainly because of his books about the Dutch Revolt. His interest is in the logistical-military side. Unlike that of many Dutch historians, his approach is broad and internationally
In fossil shark poop, Brazilian scientists found the oldest parasite ever found in a vertebrate. It seems that tapeworms have been looking for vertebrate organs since the Permian. In São Gabriel, in the south of Brazil, a group of scientists made a remarkable discovery. In an area of 100 by 30 me
This year the Netherlands celebrates 200 years of kingdom. That occasion is one of the reasons that Queen Beatrix recently announced that she will hand over the throne to Crown Prince Willem-Alexander on April 30th. 200 years ago, the year 1813. What happened then in our country and beyond? The Net
In the early modern period, the insane were more or less regarded as scum. They were locked up in institutions where they spent the rest of their lives in appalling conditions. This is the picture that has been put forward in particular by 20th-century scientists such as Michel Foucault. However, re
The Dawn of Indian Railways When the British came down to rule India, they found the existing modes of travel and communication quite basic and difficult as well. They decided to lay the foundation for what promised to be one of the worlds largest railway networks. For the British, it was import
History, when it does not repeat itself, plays wonderful games in its relationship with the present. After all, if we are talking about projections that have a distance of 150 or 200 years (in history this specific period of time is not considered very long) it is clear that there are parallels and
Statue depicting an Etruscan woman. Etruscan women enjoyed rights unknown to other peoples at the same time The Etruscan women they enjoyed rights unknown to girls and ladies of Greece and of Rome. The Etruscans, as is known, they lived between the 9th and 1st centuries AD. in the geog
Aldona Anna aroused the pity of the courtiers awaiting the birth of the prince and the disgust of the priests, who saw her as a frivolous loser. The Pope did not respect her. And the husband? After ten years of marriage, I think he only wished her death. Jadwiga Bolesławówna - powerful and wide