Prose and Passion

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael's blog about science, culture, and everything in between

Thursday, May 07, 2026

the women of the Reformation

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We used to think it was a curious thing that the vicar of Eckweiler, Johannes Weiß , married the daughter of a colleague, but after looking ...
Monday, May 04, 2026

all about oysters

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I didn't know much about oysters until three weeks ago, but a member of the editorial team at Current Biology suggested to do a feature ...
Thursday, April 30, 2026

a plucky little Lutheran town

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Some things I learned from Trarbach in alter Zeit by Ernst Schütz Traben-Trarbach 1909 In my recent investigations about the Ebner a...
Sunday, April 26, 2026

staying alive

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In the madness of the UK's Covid response, public health expert Devi Sridhar was a lone voice of reason. Remembering this, I was keen to...
Thursday, April 23, 2026

the clan of the Roses

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When I raved about the goldsmith at Strasbourg, Franz Bolion von der Rosen , I only briefly stopped for his son who moved to Winterburg in t...
Tuesday, April 21, 2026

life on the edge

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Some thoughts on The Far Edges of the Known World A New History of the Ancient Past By Owen Rees Bloomsbury 2025 Somebody left several ...
Monday, April 20, 2026

survival secrets of the koalas

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After the rather depressing outlook on AI safety (or lack thereof) I needed a bit of comfort and joy, so I jumped at the opportunity presen...
Saturday, April 18, 2026

books growing old with me

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One of the perks of getting older is that I suddenly own lots of antiquarian books, although I am almost sure they were new just a few years...
Thursday, April 16, 2026

sicut pater sic filius

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(like father, like son) Philipp Nicolaus Ebner (1682-1734), vicar of Alterkülz is one of the two clergymen in the family tree we knew about...
Monday, April 13, 2026

a cello with a chip on its shoulder

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Pirate Luthier update A special delivery brought five instruments into the pirate luthier workshop at once, namely violins 35 and 36 and ...
Thursday, April 09, 2026

meet Conon the contrarian

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Among the inlaws of Conrad von der Rosen , who came from Strasbourg to settle in Winterburg in the Hunsrück area, we find the vicar and chur...
Monday, April 06, 2026

the AIpocalypse starts here

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I'm not particularly interested in AI, and just wish the bubble would burst and go away, but every once in a while the problems it creat...
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Michael
I'm a chemist turned biochemist turned science writer, covering everything from nano to astro via bio. Also trying to make sense of my life in writing about family history. Playing wrong notes on a variety of instruments. Current craze: repairing violins and learning to play them too.
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