iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The podcast is back! Episode 1 of the Galileo series is out Saturday 10th October. I've also started a Patreon, where episodes arrive two weeks early. If you want to listen early and support the podcast head here: www.patreon.com/TheCompleteH...

patreon.com

The Complete History of Science — A podcast about the whole history of science

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Follies is not the right word for the mass slaughter and death of millions of innocents

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Has anyone shown him Greenland on a non-Mercator projection?

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Reposted by Gethin Richards

Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Medicinal pig-flavoured fizz with dinner? Joseph Priestley published a way to make carbonated water (copying "medicinal waters" of spa towns) in 1772, bubbling carbon dioxide from a pig bladder through water. Glass vessels later dealt with the hints of pig, then Johan Schweppe scaled up production.

Original cover of Joseph Priestlely's pamphlet on making carbonated water: "Directions for impregnating water with fixed air"

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Doing a Q and A on the podcast for Xmas. Not sure how many of my listeners see these posts but if you do feel free to drop a question below.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

New episode this weekend, start of the Johannes Kepler story! (Posting this so I actually have to finish it).

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

I am the author of a podcast on the history of science (in bio). I have written extensively on the history of astronomy, especially ancient astronomy. I'd like to be part of the feed to connect with a community in this subject.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

I'm very bad at visualizing mental images. I think it's a bit of a spectrum.

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Reposted by Gethin Richards

Fay Thompson, Author/Artist @faythompsonauthor.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Books are not a visual medium. This means your big desire to describe the appearance of your main character is a mistake. You can describe them over time but that description is not critical to your reader aligning with your character. We align through behaviors. #writingcommunity #booksky

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Was interviewed by Gerry Fialka this weekend. If you want to hear me talk about life, philosophy etc. here it is: www.youtube.com/live/xCWmMAw...

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Reposted by Gethin Richards

Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Aristotle wasn’t just a philosopher — he was also the world’s first serious zoologist. More than 2,000 years ago, he began observing animals closely, recording their bodies, habits and behaviour. 🧵 Here are a few of his strangest and most impressive discoveries:

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Working on a video for the Complete History of Science Youtube channel. Hope people enjoy it!

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

All the information is on the worksheet.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Tycho Brahe first episode now live. So much hard work - hope people enjoy.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Used to judge bad grammar, now I think we'll at least it's not ai.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

This would mean Aristotle dissected an elephant over 2,000 years ago. And this is an important point. Aristotle wasn't the type of philosopher who relied on thinking alone. He looked, asked questions, and checked the facts. Arguably he was the first scientist.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Somehow, Aristotle even knew the liver of an elephant is four times bigger than an ox’s. This was pretty much right. But how did he know? Elephants didn’t live in Greece. The leading theory: His former student, Alexander the Great, may have sent him one from his conquests in Asia.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

He didn’t just observe — he tested what others claimed. The historian Herodotus once wrote that hyenas were hermaphrodites: both male and female. Aristotle, showing real dedication, checked for himself. He dissected hyenas and found clear male and female organs. Herodotus was wrong.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

He discovered that the dogfish — a small shark — gives birth to live young. Not eggs, like most fish. We'd now call them ovoviviparous. This was ahead of its time and wasn’t confirmed by scientists until the 19th century.

Photo of the dogfish - looks like a small shark

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

It's nice to hear you learned something new!

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Hope people enjoy the latest episode on the history of the science of magnetism: open.spotify.com/episode/4b9x...

open.spotify.com

The Lodestone, the Compass and the Magnetic Earth

The Complete History of Science · Episode

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Hi, can I be added to the science feed to post history of science content please. I have a popular podcast: thecompletehistoryofscience.buzzsprout.com I am also a published scientist with a PhD in physics: scholar.google.com.au/citations?us... Thanks!

thecompletehistoryofscience.buzzsprout.com

The Complete History of Science

A podcast exploring the history of science from the beginning.  We will cover all of the most important scientific discoveries from Archimedes to Newton to Einstein.  The aim is to give a co...

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Sounds interesting, I'll have a look.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

I worked that out lol. What was his PhD?

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

This goes beyond the MUL.APIN tablets though and is perhaps a story for another day. Let me know if you want more! Until then enjoy here: open.spotify.com/episode/2j0P...

open.spotify.com

The Origins of Astronomy

The Complete History of Science · Episode

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Astrological predictions depended largely on observations of the planets. Unlike the Sun, Moon and Stars, the planets paths are much harder to track. The planets ‘wander’ from the Greek word for wanderer ‘planen’.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Plating at the right time meant a good harvest but as time went on these constellations gained associations beyond agriculture. The high priests became astrologers and used their predictions to advise kings 👑.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

The tablets say things like: “On the 1st of Nisannu, the Hired Man becomes visible.” “On the 20th of Simanu, the Great Twins rise.” Which tell us exactly when certain constellations will become visible. The first scientific data.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

The priests broke the sky up into twelve sections, each associated with a constellation ♉. These were not exactly our modern constellations (which derive from ancient Greece) but were forerunners. The Babylonians timed their planting and harvesting to the risings and settings of constellations.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Like the Egyptians, the Babylonians first became interested in the night sky because of agriculture. Agriculture is all about timing. 🌾 And the stars - unlike clouds, winds, or rains are predictable.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

4/ The MUL.APIN tablets were the records of the priests’ observations of the night sky. They include observations of constellations for example, The Old Man.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

This surplus meant that not everyone needed to toil in the fields. Babylonian society included a class of educated priests with a single job - watching the stars.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Located in modern Iraq, the Babylonians were a sophisticated civilization. They lived in a fertile river valley, so could grow a huge amount of food giving them a crucial advantage: an agricultural surplus.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

These clay tablets from 700 B.C. contain the world’s oldest set of surviving scientific data. They are called the MUL.APIN tablets and were created in the ancient civilisation of Babylon. Let’s talk about the first stargazers who turned sky-watching into science. 👇

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

One of my inspirations for the podcast. Read it at 16 and become interested in scientific history.

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

I was mostly just following the research from my podcast. I never really got into any earlier history except maybe in the medicine episode: youtu.be/VYuWwvXg2OU?...

youtu.be

The Origins of Medicine

YouTube video by The Complete History of Science Podcast

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Gethin Richards @gethinrichards.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

If you are interested in the History of Science let me know and I will follow you. Just hit like on this thread or say 'Hello!' down below.

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