Prose and Passion

Why are Virago paperbacks green? -- just one of the many questions answered in this short memoir by Carmen Callil , the founder of Virago. ...

I remember when I first bought my domain name (way back in the 1990s) how excited I was that any email directed to any address ending in @mi...

Many blood transfusions may increase risks, doctors warn , the Guardian reports, apparently based on a story in New Scientist. Well, I agree...

Exactly 20 days left to the release date of my new book, The birds, the bees, and the platypuses , in Europe (US release 2 months later, I...

There is an amusing blog by John Kelly, a Washington Post journalist who for some reason moved to Oxford and is now struggling to understand...

Another German piece that came out this month, it's about DNA nanotechnology: DNA-Kräne und -Baumaterial , Chemie in unserer Zeit, vol 4...

catching up with two week's worth of Nature, I spotted James Watson's genome in the current (April 17) issue. No genes for scientif...

One of the perks of family history is that it washes up random bits and pieces that turn out to be quite amazing. We bought an old photo a...

I thought I'd be able to carry on blogging during my hols, but with one thing coming to another, I think realistically I may be off unti...

The latest issue of "Chemistry & Industry" contains my book review of the tome "Chemistry of Photography". This is ...

Michelangelo famously stated that his statues were already present in the marble a priori, and the hand of the sculptor did nothing but to l...

A few months ago, when I came to realise (belatedly) that I had arrived at the wrong side of 40, I asked our family doctor (whom I've tr...