The Cat in Medieval Western Europe How come cats were worshipped in ancient Egypt and reviled in medieval times? It seems that the spread of Christianity is to be blamed. Fortunately for the cat, the feline folklore is still going strong. Johanna Feenstra • February 06, 2020
From radioactive felines to three-legged bunnies? Or: What it takes to communicate 10,000 years into the future (Part 2) Anna Volkmar • September 05, 2019
The Descent into Darkness Discovering the Deep-Sea Fauna (1800–1930) Until the nineteenth century encounters with deep-sea fishes were more or less accidental, but by the beginning of that century naturalists developped an acute awareness that deeper waters house strange creatures... Robbert Striekwold • September 28, 2018
Fish out of Water: Collecting Aquatic Animals in the Early Modern Period Day 6 of the Fish & Fiction week: fish out of water, on how fish became fashionable collectables in Early Modern cabinets Marlise Rijks • September 25, 2018
A Painter, a Collector, and a Horseshoe Crab On full moon nights this time of the year, an extraordinary sight can be witnessed on beaches all over the U.S. East Coast. Thousands of horseshoe crabs come ashore to mate and lay eggs. Marlise Rijks • June 07, 2018
Radioactive Felines Did you ever wonder what cats have to do with radioactive waste? Well, probably not. But hang on. In this blog post I will show you some curious web artefacts that certainly will. Anna Volkmar • April 11, 2018
Donkeys, Vondel and Reve What do donkeys, Joost van den Vondel and Gerard van het Reve have in common? A lot it seems! In this blog, Tim Vergeer discusses why Vondel was a Reve avant la lettre, or better yet, why Reve was a second Vondel. Tim Vergeer • March 29, 2018
Napoleon’s stolen sea monster: repatriating cultural objects When it comes to repatriating cultural objects, even an ancient sea monster has trouble swimming upstream Nynke Feenstra and Renske Janssen • February 08, 2018
Goose barnacle and barnacle goose Early Modern Natural historians often referred to other texts of natural history, and in doing so they included unreliable knowledge. An example is the genesis of geese out of Pedunculata shells, a so-called spontaneous generation. Charlotte Kießling • October 12, 2017