History of Education and Childhood - In their own words, this website is "a wide collection of links to online information about the history of education and childhood. [They] also offer our own on-site content: selected source texts, articles, bibliographies, and more. [They] include both basic information for a general public, and more specific information for researchers and professionals...without discriminating as to any particular point of view, language, nation, religion, period, or background." The site contains a massive 3400 + links, which are frequently checked for currency (at least at the time of writing this review). For anyone interested in the history of education or childhood, this is a perfect jumping off place. (11 October 2001) KN
http://www.socsci.kun.nl/ped/whp/histeduc/
Medieval Cookery Book - While this site offers an abundance of information regarding medieval food preparation, we are more concerned with the Tacuinum Sanitatus, under the Images heading, and Messe it Forth, found under Articles on Cookery. The Tacuinums were illuminated medical manuals, and the site examples are taken from those of Paris, Rouen, and Vienna. Watermelons and cucumbers were found to cool fevers and purify the urine; roses could soothe an inflamed brain. Messe it Forth (Serve it) deals with the nutritional issues of the Middle Ages, when physicans based their views on the four humors. It is interesting to compare the order in which food was served then and now, and to note that medieval diners also looked forward to something sweet at the conclusion of a meal. (7 October 2001) AD
http://www.godecookery.com/godeboke/godeboke.html
New York's World Trade Center: A Living Archive - In the year 2000, the author of this site, Eric Darton, published a book called Divided We Stand, A Biography of New York's World Trade Center. In Darton's own words, he had the idea that "[his] book would not assume the mantle of a "definitive" work. Rather, [his] goal was to create a useful, well-written and documented book that would also serve as the basis for a much broader exercise in cultural history writing - one that would push beyond the scope of an individual author." This Living Archive offers official account of the building, quotes from famous people about it, tall stories, and a selection of historical pictures of that area of New York, before, during and after the towers were built - particularly poignant now. (5 October 2001) KN
http://ericdarton.net/index.html
Epact: Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe - Epact is a collaborative effort by four museums in three countries to catalogue a very extensive collection of 520 instruments created with an attention to detail that is hard to imagine today. Each is illustrated with a photograph, and offers both a general overview, and a more technically detailed description of interest to the collector or scholar. These instruments - astrolabes, gunner's sights, chalice dials (drinking vessel as sundial), mathematical compendiums, and theodolites represent the high tech toys of their day, many were made for the amusement of princes, but the more practical were in the hands of military personnel, surveyors, and miners. (25 July 2001) AD
http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/epact/
The Huxley File - T.H. Huxley was known as the 'bulldog of Darwin', fiercely backing the theory of evolution, and standing up to the creationists, notably in his 'ape grandfather' debate with Archbishop Wilberforce at Oxford. A vast selection of his essays and letters are here, including writings on glacial ice, coral, crayfish, paleontology, and insects, to list just a few. There is also an index of 120 Victorian commentaries on his work, and an eyewitness account of the famous debate. More than a hundred pictures are available. (21 July 2001) AD
http://aleph0.clarku.edu//huxley/
