Discovering Newton

Earlier this week we welcomed members of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers to the Library. Their visit was part of a symposium to mark the 350th anniversary of Newton’s argument that the Earth’s gravity influenced the moon, counter-balancing its centrifugal force. Among the items on display were personal effects which belonged to Newton …

Trinity Lends Medieval Manuscripts

As part of its 200th birthday celebrations, the Fitzwilliam is staging one of the largest exhibitions of medieval illuminated manuscripts for several years. Colour: The Art and Science of Illuminated Manuscipts combines a fantastic display of medieval artworks with the findings of a major scientific research project, http://www.miniare.org. The research project uses non-invasive techniques to …

Photograph of the Month: A.S.F. Gow, classicist

This month's photograph shows Andrew Sydenham Farrar Gow (1886–1978). A classical scholar, ASF Gow was elected a Fellow of Trinity College in 1911 but spent the years 1914 to 1925 as the Assistant Master of Eton College. Gow's notable works include editions of Machon, Theocritus and the Greek Anthology. The Gow collection at Trinity College …

The Great Fire of London, 2 September 1666

Three hundred and fifty years ago today, on 2 September 1666, an unimaginable calamity befell London. 'No sooner was the plague abated in London, that the inhabitants began to return to their habitations, than a most dreadful fire broke out in the city, and raged as if it had commission to devour every thing that …