Somewhere in the centre of Java, close to a huge volcano that sometimes sends out clouds of smoke and fountains of red hot lava and molten rock, a group of experts from all over the world, helped by 700 Indonesian workers, are struggling to save one of the world’s most beautiful art treasures: the ancient […]
No garden lover can fail to be fascinated by the gardens of Japan, so different from anything in the European tradition. The Japanese gardening ideal is not an arrangement of flowers and plants, formal or informal, but the creation of a miniature landscape in which the designer’s view of nature is expressed in a small […]
Nearly five thousand years after a Chinese Empress discovered, quite by chance, how to unwind the fine thread of the cocoon of a silkworm, a Frenchman, experimenting with the crushed leaves of the mulberry tree on which the silkworm feeds found out how to produce a fine silk-like fibre which we now call artificial silk. […]
Most of us feel quite satisfied with the amount of care we show to our teeth merely by brushing them frequently enough. However, we don’t realize the damage we give to our teeth if we don’t know the proper way of brushing. Experts state that the way we brush our teeth has a great influence […]
The study of history is commonly regarded as essential to a full education. It figures prominently in school syllabuses; history departments in universities are well- populated; and publishers’ lists are crowded with historical titles. Why? Because it is widely believed that the modern world cannot be properly conceived without a knowledge of the past: as […]
The discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century brought remarkable changes to modern medicine, enabling people to live longer, healthier lives. But in the last generation, new strains of bacteria have emerged that are resistant to these wonder drugs. One of the main causes of resistance is the overuse of antibiotics. That includes drugs given […]
Tourism is travelling for recreation. Tourists originated when large numbers of middle class people began to join the more wealthy aristocratic travellers. As societies became wealthier, and people lived longer, it became more and more likely that lower-middle class and middle class people steadily employed would retire in good health and with significant savings. A […]
Long before men learned how to fly, they sent objects soaring through the air. The arrow dates from the Stone Age. The ancient Chinese flew kites. The early inhabitants of Australia invented the boomerang, the blades of which they carved in the shape of an airfoil. As early as the Middle Ages, men of scientific […]
Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool, England, to Mary and James McCartney. Paul’s introduction to music was through his father, who was the founder of Jim Mac’s Jazz Band. It was shortly after his mother’s death from breast cancer in 1956 that McCartney immersed himself in learning to play the guitar. His mastery of early […]
The legend of jolly old Santa Claus, or St. Nick, began with a real person: St. Nicholas, who lived many centuries ago. Although he is one of the most popular saints honoured by Christians, very little is actually known about him. He lived during the 4th century in Lycia, a province on the southwest coast […]