You might not think of jigsaw puzzles as scientific objects. They seem soothing, domestic, almost meditative. But behind every little cardboard piece is a surprisingly rich story, one that spans global exploration, technological innovation, Victorian parlor culture, economic upheaval, wartime material shortages, cognitive science, and the digital age. And it all begins with an English cartographer who wanted to teach children
UPDATE!! AS OF DECEMBER 18, NO ONE HAS SUBMITTED CORRECT ANSWERS! SO THANKS TO DAVID T. AT ASU, THE PUZZLE HAS BEEN GIVEN AN EXTENSION TO DECEMBER 31, 2025! Welcome to Math! Science! History! It’s December and that means it is Puzzle Month. Hi, I’m Gabrielle Birchak. I’m a science communicator with a background in math, science, and journalism. This year,
Welcome to Math! Science! History!, Today we’re exploring the story and the myths surrounding Carl Friedrich Gauss, the Prince of Mathematics. This isn’t because he chased fame, he didn’t, but because his insights were so deep they silently built the scaffolding of modern science. Hi, I’m Gabrielle Birchak. I’m a science communicator with a background in math, science and journalism.
The history of math is a wild and bumpy ride. From goats to rockets, it’s all here!
Time! Is it a human construct? Or given to us by nature? read more
You might think you’ve never touched a microscope. But here’s the thing, you already think like one. You already use some of the same techniques that scientists rely on every single day. And you do it with nothing more than your phone, your eyes, and your curiosity.read more
The French Revolution and the Birth of a Universal Measure It’s 1789 in Paris. The French Revolution is in full swing, heads are rolling (literally), ideas of liberty and reason are electrifying the air, and nothing is off-limits for reform. Amid this upheaval, one very practical problem stood out: weights and measures. Every region and every trade in France seemed
Today, I travel back to the nineteenth century to meet with Pierre-Simon Laplace, a man who imagined a super-intelligence so powerful, it could calculate the entire history and future of the universe.