Images

A model of a microscope designed and built by the Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723). The device was unique as it used not the usual glass lenses but a tiny glass bea which gave a superior magnification. Measurements...

An 18th-century engraving of the Paris Observatory, founded in 1667. Image taken from Wolf, Charles J. E. (1902) Histoire de l’Observatoire de Paris de sa fondation a 1793.

A 17th-century painting by Henri Testelin titled Establishment of the French Academy of Sciences and of Paris Observatory. Louis XIV of France (r. 1643-1715) is shown being presented the founding members of the Academy and Observatory (shown...

A print showing the Royal Observatory in Greenwich near London, founded in 1675. Engraving by Francis Place after Robert Thacker c. 1678. (British Library, London)

An illustration of astronomers observing a solar eclipse at the Narai Observatory in the Kingdom of Siam (Thailand) in the 1680s. From "Three Military Accounts of the 1688 Revolution in Siam" by Michael Smithies.

Ball-play of the Women, Prairie du Chien, oil on canvas by George Catlin, 1835-1836. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.

A map illustrating the reign of Samuil (Bulgarian: Самуил,) Tsar of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 1014. His rule faced significant challenges, particularly the expansionist policies of the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Basil II...

An illustration of the solar system by Martin Kornmesser. From The International Astronomical Union.

Mithraeum, a 1st-century grain storage converted into a Mithraeum during the 3rd century CE, Caesarea Maritima, Israel.

The Praetorium, the Byzantine Governor's Palace, combining administration, financial and judicial functions, Caesarea Maritima, Israel