Welcome to The book of science. Come here each week to find poetry and commentary on another milestone of the history of science.

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This week (starting 16 May 2026)

In 1826, Karl Ernst von Baer discovered that mammals start their lives from eggs. One supposed difference between us and the animals had to be retracted!

1826

Eggs and embryos Homunculi Commentary

Karl Ernst von Baer embryology

Recently

1825	Benzene Benzene names Benzene lamp Cooking with gas Commentary	Michael Faraday chemistry
1825, 1826	Bromine Atomic number 35 Rare dyes Commentary	Heidelberg—Carl Jacob Löwig, Leopold Gmelin, Antoine Jérôme Balard elements
1825, 1827	Aluminium Atomic number 13 History of the name Commentary	Copenhagen, Berlin—Hans Christian Ørsted, Friedrich Wöhler elements
1823	Liquefaction of gases Processes Liquefaction of water Commentary	Michael Faraday physics
1823	Silicon Atomic number 14 Not a metal Metalloid Commentary	Stockholm—Jöns Jacob Berzelius elements
1822	Difference engine Non-fiction Weaving Commentary	Charles Babbage computer science
1822	Deciphering hieroglyphics Cartouche Living systems Commentary	Jean François Champollion linguistics
1821, 1834	Thermoelectric effect Thermocouple and thermopile Not by accident Commentary	Thomas Johann Seebeck, Hans Christian Ørsted electromagnetism
1821	Electric conductivity The electrical researches of the Honourable Henry Cavendish Electric fluid Commentary	Humphry Davy, Henry Cavendish electromagnetism
1820	Electromagnetism Secret agent Penetrations Commentary	Hans Christian Øersted, André-Marie Ampère, Michael Faraday electromagnetism

Parts of this book

You may jump to some parts of The book of science directly by selecting menu items:

• About, more about this book
• Contents, a table of milestones in the history of science, arranged chronologically
• Elements, tables for the chemical elements
  • Periodic table of the elements
  • Index of elements by year of discovery
  • Index of elements by atomic number
• Scientists, index of scientists, by last name
• Sciences, index of sciences
• Eponymous, index of milestones named after scientists
• Keywords, index of keywords in poems and titles
• Search, where you can search the book by word or phrase

Related works

You may read subsets of The book of science as separate volumes. These generally contain only the last poem on each milestone from the full book:

• Elements of elements of science
• The booklet of science

This web site also includes other works by Tom Sharp and work by other poets.