400 years of trying to solve the mystery of Prince Rupert's Drops, bizarrely hard beads of glass that have long captivated scientists.

Joseph Lister's landmark articles on antiseptic surgery in the Lancet were published 150 years ago. The revolution was not immediate.

The possible futures predicted by fortune-telling happen just often enough to tantalize, preying on our deepest aspirations of catching a "big break."

Émilie Du Châtelet was one of the great figures of the Enlightenment in France.

The lens, a tool technology that helps make the invisible world visible, brought a revolutionary perspective to our descriptions of nature.

Charles Darwin was able to pursue his life's work despite suffering from a variety of ailments the doctors could never explain. 

Darwinius is an exceptionally well preserved, 47-million-year-old primate from the ancient Messel Pit in Germany. Its position in evolution is contested.