Science & Medicine
Was Galileo Really Tortured by the Church?
The truth about his trial is stranger than the legend: a friend of the Pope, a bad temper and a book that insulted the wrong person.
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Science & Medicine
Did People in the Middle Ages Really Believe the Earth Was Flat?
It is one of history’s favourite jokes about the past. It is also one of the most carefully manufactured myths of the nineteenth century.
Ideas & Belief
How Deadly Was the Spanish Inquisition?
Its reputation for mass burnings was built by its enemies. The records show something more bureaucratic, and still unjust.
Ideas & Belief
What Really Happened at Salem?
No witches were burned. Nineteen people were hanged, one was crushed, and the causes were closer to politics than to superstition.