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EssaysScience & Medicine
![The Mysteries of Nature and Art](https://the-public-domain-review.imgix.net/essays/the-mysteries-of-nature-and-art/bate-titlepage.jpg?w=600&h=1200)
The Mysteries of Nature and Art
Julie Gardham, Senior Assistant Librarian at University of Glasgow's Special Collections Department, takes a look at the book that was said to have spurred a young Isaac Newton onto the scientific path, The Mysteries of Nature and Art by John Bate. more
![Aspiring to a Higher Plane](https://the-public-domain-review.imgix.net/essays/aspiring-to-a-higher-plane/sqaureshouse.jpg?w=600&h=1200)
In 1884 Edwin Abbott Abbott published Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, perhaps the first ever book that could be described as "mathematical fiction". Ian Stewart, author of Flatterland and The Annotated Flatland, introduces the strange tale of the geometric adventures of A. Square. more
![Robert Fludd and His Images of The Divine](https://the-public-domain-review.imgix.net/shop/oct_19_new_prints_00045.jpg?w=600&h=1200)
Robert Fludd and His Images of The Divine
Between 1617 and 1621 the English physician and polymath Robert Fludd published his masterpiece Utriusque Cosmi . . . Historia, a two-volume work packed with over sixty intricate engravings. Urszula Szulakowska looks at the philosophical and theological ideas behind the extraordinary images found in the first volume, an exploration of the macrocosm of the universe and spiritual realm. more
![Accuracy and Elegance in Cheselden’s Osteographia (1733)](https://the-public-domain-review.imgix.net/essays/accuracy-and-elegance-in-cheselden-s-osteographia-1733/cheselden_p09-5402.jpg?w=600&h=1200)
Accuracy and Elegance in Cheselden’s Osteographia (1733)
With its novel vignettes and its use of a camera obscura in the production of the plates, William Cheselden’s Osteographia, is recognized as a landmark in the history of anatomical illustration. Monique Kornell looks at its unique blend of accuracy and elegance. more
![American Kaleidoscope: Morton Prince and the Boston Revolution in Psychotherapy](https://the-public-domain-review.imgix.net/essays/american-kaleidoscope-morton-prince-and-the-boston-revolution-in-psychotherapy/prince1910-morecontrast-540.jpg?w=600&h=1200)
American Kaleidoscope: Morton Prince and the Boston Revolution in Psychotherapy
In 1906 the American physician and neurologist Morton Henry Prince published his remarkable monograph The Dissociation of a Personality in which he details the condition of 'Sally Beauchamp', America's first famous multiple-personality case. George Prochnik discusses the life and thought of the man Freud called "an unimaginable ass". more
![Was Charles Darwin an Atheist?](https://the-public-domain-review.imgix.net/essays/was-charles-darwin-an-atheist/Charles_Robert_Darwin_by_John_Collier-cut-540.jpg?w=600&h=1200)
Was Charles Darwin an Atheist?
Leading Darwin expert and founder of Darwin Online, John van Wyhe, challenges the popular assumption that Darwin's theory of evolution corresponded with a loss of religious belief. more
![John Muir’s Literary Science](https://the-public-domain-review.imgix.net/essays/john-muir-s-literary-science/John_Muir_Cane-cutmore-540.jpg?w=600&h=1200)
John Muir’s Literary Science
The writings of the Scottish-born American naturalist John Muir are known for their scientific acumen as well as for their rhapsodic flights. Terry Gifford, author of Reconnecting with John Muir, explores Muir's multifaceted engagement with 'God's big show'. more
![The Life and Work of Nehemiah Grew](https://the-public-domain-review.imgix.net/essays/the-life-and-work-of-nehemiah-grew/grewtrunk3.jpg?w=600&h=1200)
The Life and Work of Nehemiah Grew
In the 82 illustrated plates included in his 1680 book The Anatomy of Plants, the English botanist Nehemiah Grew revealed for the first time the inner structure and function of plants in all their splendorous intricacy. Brian Garret explores how Grew's pioneering "mechanist" vision in relation to the floral world paved the way for the science of plant anatomy. more
![The Snowflake Man of Vermont](https://the-public-domain-review.imgix.net/essays/the-snowflake-man-of-vermont/Wilson_Alwyn_Bentley_edit.jpg?w=600&h=1200)
Keith C. Heidorn takes a look at the life and work of Wilson Bentley, a self-educated farmer from a small American town who, by combining a bellows camera with a microscope, managed to photograph the dizzyingly intricate and diverse structures of the snow crystal. more