Richard Clare
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Richard Clare
@richardclare.bsky.social
41 followers 21 following 2 posts
Energy markets, railways, history

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Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
The world as a heart
Cordiform map projection 1536, by Oronce Fine, French cartographer & mathematician, born #OTD 1494.
Bibliothèque nationale de France
#StValentinesDay
February 14, 2026 at 6:10 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
Charles Darwin, influential English naturalist, geologist and pioneer of evolutionary theory, born #OTD 1809. #DarwinDay2026
Bodleian Library, Oxford | Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social
February 12, 2026 at 5:56 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
Cogito, ergo sum. René Descartes, great French mathematician & philosopher, pioneer of analytic geometry, died #OTD 1650, profoundly influenced Western thinkers including Kant, Leibniz, Newton, Hegel.
Sorbonne University, Paris
February 11, 2026 at 5:52 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
chilton-bb.bsky.social
Born #OTD 1824, Samuel Plimsoll MP, campaigner for sailors' safety and originator of the Plimsoll Line that shows if a ship is overloaded: here's his grave, in St Martin's churchyard in Cheriton. If you've been through the Channel Tunnel terminal in Kent, you've been a few hundred yards from here.
A memorial cross in a churchyard. On the face of its base is a Plimsoll Line (a circle with a horizontal line through it) and the inscriptions commemorate Samuel Plimsoll and his wife Enid Mary.
February 10, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
First class carriage & second class carriage
Watercolour, ink & chalk drawings, 1864, by Honoré Daumier, influential French artist & printmaker, known for unsparing political & legal caricatures, he depicted contemporary life with realism. He died #OTD 1879.
Walters Art Museum
February 10, 2026 at 6:01 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
Proposal for a cenotaph for 'esprit sublime' Sir Isaac Newton, by Étienne-Louis Boullée, visionary Neoclassical French architect, pioneer of ‘architecture parlante’; died #OTD 1799.
Bibliothèque nationale de France
February 4, 2026 at 6:09 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
dimitri-tilloi.bsky.social
À bord de l’Orient Express au musée des Arts Décoratifs pour l’exposition consacrée aux cent ans de l’Art Déco
January 31, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
The sceptical chemist: Robert Boyle, Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, a founder of modern chemistry & of the Royal Society, known for his landmark work of 1661, and Boyle's law; born at Lismore Castle, Cork #OTD 1627.
The Shannon Portrait by Johann Kerseboom 1689, Science History Institute
January 25, 2026 at 6:07 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
Railway cutting through cornfields, Tring Hertfordshire, watercolour c. 1847 by Peter de Wint, English landscape artist born #OTD 1784; influenced by Constable and Girtin, his paintings were admired by Ruskin.
Princeton University Art Museum
January 21, 2026 at 6:02 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
The Florentine Vitruvius: Leon Battista Alberti, Renaissance humanist architect, mathematician, cryptographer, ‘universal man’ (1404-1472); author of landmark study De Re Aedificatoria, written between 1443-1452 and published in 1485 (first printed book on architecture).
Santa Maria Novella Florence
January 20, 2026 at 5:53 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
James Watt, Scottish engineer & inventor, whose improved steam engine powered the Industrial Revolution, born in January 1736.
Portrait by James Eckford Lauder, 1855, National Galleries of Scotland
January 19, 2026 at 5:41 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
archaeohawke.bsky.social
Oseberg ship

In 1903, Norwegian farmer Oskar Rom discovered a #Viking -era ship after he dug into an #ancient burial mound on his land. It took 21 years for #archaeologists to prepare and restore the #ship, as it needed to dry out fully before being put together.

#History #AncientBlueSky
The Oseberg ship (Norwegian: Osebergskipet) is a well-preserved longship (probably a karve) discovered in a large burial mound at the Oseberg farm near Tønsberg in Vestfold county, Norway. This ship is commonly acknowledged to be among the finest artifacts to have survived from the Viking Age. The ship and some of its contents are displayed at the Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy on the western side of Oslo, Norway Excavation of the ship from the Oseberg burial mound (Norwegian: Oseberghaugen ved Slagen from the Old Norse word haugr meaning kurgan mound or barrow) was undertaken by Swedish archaeologist Gabriel Gustafson and Norwegian archaeologist Haakon Shetelig in 1904–1905.[2] The grave also contained two female human skeletons as well as a considerable number of grave goods. Scientific dating of the ship suggests it was buried no earlier than 834, although certain parts of its structure date from as early as 800, while other parts may be even older. The ship is a Karve, clinker built, almost entirely of oak. It is 21.58 metres (70.8 ft) in length and 5.10 metres (16.7 ft) broad, with a mast of approximately 9–10 metres (30–33 ft) in height. With a likely sail area of 90 square metres (970 sq ft), the ship could have achieved a speed of up to 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). The ship has 15 pairs of openings for oars, enabling up to 30 people to row it. Other fittings include a broad steering oar, iron anchor, gangplank, and a bailer. The bow and stern of the ship are elaborately decorated with complex woodcarvings in the characteristic "gripping beast" style, also known as the Oseberg style Dendrochronological analysis of timbers in the grave chamber dates the burial to the autumn of 834. Although the high-ranking woman's identity is unknown, it has been suggested that she is Queen Åsa of the Yngling clan, mother of Halfdan the Black and grandmother of Harald Fairhair. Recent tests of the women's remains suggest that they lived in Agder in Norway, as had Queen Åsa. This theory has been challenged, however, and some think that she may have been a shaman. There were also the skeletal remains of 14 horses, an ox, and three dogs found on the ship. According to Per Holck of the University of Oslo, the younger woman's mitochondrial haplogroup was discovered to be U7. Her direct maternal ancestors came to Norway from the Pontic littoral, probably Iran. Three subsequent studies failed to confirm these results, however, and it is likely that the bone samples contain little (if any) original DNA or have been contaminated through handling. Examinations of fragments of the skeletons have provided more insight into their lives. The younger woman's teeth showed signs that she used a metal toothpick, a rare 9th century luxury. Both women had a diet composed mainly of meat, another luxury when most Vikings ate fish. However, there was not enough DNA to tell if they were related. The skeletons of two women were found in the grave with the ship. One, probably aged around 80, suffered badly from arthritis. The older woman also had Morgagni's syndrome, which would have given her a masculine appearance and beard. The second was initially believed to be aged 25–30, but analysis of tooth-root translucency suggests she was older (aged 50–55). It is not clear which one was the more important in life or whether one was sacrificed to accompany the other in death. The younger woman had a broken collarbone, initially thought to be evidence that she was a human sacrifice, but closer examination showed that the bone had been healing for several weeks. The opulence of the burial rite and the grave-goods suggests that this was a burial of very high status. One woman wore a very fine red wool dress with a lozenge twill pattern (a luxury commodity) and a fine white linen veil in a gauze weave, while the other wore a plainer blue wool dress with a wool veil, possibly showing some stratification in their social status
January 14, 2026 at 11:21 PM
Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
Sir Joseph Lister, 'father of antiseptic surgery', whose principles of cleanliness transformed medicine, born #OTD 1827; conducted first antiseptic operation 1865.
One of only two physicians to be accorded a London memorial.
Photo 1860 Wellcome Collection | Lord Lister memorial 1924, Portland Place
Photo 1860 Wellcome Collection Lord Lister memorial 1924, Portland Place London. The other physician with London memorial is John Hunter at Leicester Square.
January 11, 2026 at 5:49 AM
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drannaclark.bsky.social
Sir Hans Sloane, physician, botanist, Chelsea gardener, died #OTD 1753; benefactor of Chelsea Physic Garden, his collection founded British Museum.
Portrait by Slaughter 1736, National Portrait Gallery London | Hans Sloane Chelsea plate c.1755 Met Museum
January 11, 2026 at 5:46 AM
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drannaclark.bsky.social
Founder of modern anatomy: Andreas Vesalius, Flemish physician, born #OTD 1514; author of groundbreaking work De Humani Corporis Fabrica, published in 7 volumes in 1543.
Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans |
Wellcome Library London
December 31, 2025 at 7:57 AM
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drannaclark.bsky.social
The Dutch Hippocrates: Hermann Boerhaave, influential physician, chemist, botanist, humanist; founder of clinical teaching, ‘father of physiology’, born #OTD 1668.
Portrait by Cornelis Troost 1735
Boerhaave Museum | University of Leiden | Wellcome Library
December 31, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
elliot-murphy.bsky.social
New analysis of the major qualitative differences between natural and artificial intelligence (via LLMs).

LLMs and humans form judgments differently across seven epistemological stages 🧵

osf.io/preprints/ps...
December 25, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
Rain, Steam and Speed, The Great Western Railway, oil on canvas, 1844, by JMW Turner, great English Romantic artist, inspired Monet & other French impressionists; died #OTD 1851, buried at St Paul’s.
An early GWR broad gauge locomotive crossing Brunel’s Maidenhead Bridge.
National Gallery London
December 19, 2025 at 5:55 AM
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drannaclark.bsky.social
Sir Humphry Davy, English chemist, pioneered electrolysis, discovered new elements & alkali metals, invented miner’s safety lamp, born #OTD 1778.
Portrait by Thomas Phillips 1821
National Portrait Gallery
Royal Institution
December 17, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
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Émilie du Châtelet, French Enlightenment mathematician & physicist, translator of Newton's Principia, born #OTD 1706.
Portrait by Maurice-Quentin de la Tour, c. 1740
Château de Breteuil
December 17, 2025 at 6:03 AM
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Book Christmas
Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social
December 15, 2025 at 5:59 AM
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Science Christmas
The Upturned Microscope
December 14, 2025 at 6:05 AM
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De nova stella: Tycho Brahe, great Danish astronomer, born #OTD 1546, identified first supernova in 1572; established Uraniborg observatory on island of Hven, with cornerstone laid in 1576.
Hand-coloured copper-plate engravings from Blaeu’s Atlas Maior 1662-5
National Library of Scotland
December 14, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Reposted by Richard Clare
drannaclark.bsky.social
Gemma Frisius, influential Dutch mathematician, cartographer, born #OTD 1508; acclaimed maker of mathematical instruments, astrolabes, astronomical rings & globes; pioneer of triangulation in surveying.
Portrait by Maarten van Keemskerck, c. 1540
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
December 9, 2025 at 5:00 PM