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Comparative Timelines
The ESP Timeline (one of the site's most popular features) has been completely updated to allow the user to select (using the timeline controls above each column) different topics for the left and right sides of the display.
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(no entry for this year)
1530
Painting by Antonio da Correggio: Jupiter and Io, an oil on canvas measuring 73.5 cm wide by 162 cm tall (29 in wide by 64 in tall). It depicts a sensuous seduction from Metamorphoses, an epic poem by the ancient Roman writer Ovid. In this particular scene the Roman god Jupiter, in the form of a misty cloud, approaches the beautiful Io who was a river nymph and a princess of Argos and/or a priestess to the goddess Juno. This mortal woman succumbs to her divine lover as the stormy dark mist kisses her rose-and-lily face and caresses her soft white flesh. Her head is thrown back in passionate ecstasy while her fingers and toes curl in orgasmic pleasure. This highly erotic scene displays extraordinary sensuality but with easy delicate tenderness. Correggio's masterpiece is probably the most famous painting depicting Jupiter's seduction of Io. It was commissioned by Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, to join three other erotic paintings based upon Metamorphoses. The four-part series was originally intended as a gift for Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, but Federico II Gonzaga loved them so much that he kept them for himself. He placed them in a large room, which he named the Room of Ovid, in his Palazzo del Te in Mantua. Ironically, the duke only enjoyed these amorous paintings for less than 10 years as he died in 1540 from syphilis.
Painting by Jean Clouet: Portrait of Francis I, King of France.
Italian Girolamo Fracastoro describes syphilis, introduced to Spain by sailors returning from the Americas.
(no entry for this year)
1531
Painting by Antonio da Correggio: Leda and the Swan, an oil on canvas painting from 1530–31 by the Italian painter Correggio, now in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. It shows three scenes of Leda's seduction by Jupiter who has taken the form of a swan. Their first meeting is shown on the right hand side and their lovemaking in the center, where Leda sits with the swan between her thighs, guiding him with her left hand. They are accompanied to their left by Cupid with his bow and two cupids with flutes. The third scene (again on the right hand side) is the swan flying away whilst Leda gets dressed. Leda and the Swan was a common subject in 16th-century art.
Sebastian Münster publishes Horologiographia, a treatise on the construction of sun dials.
Europeans start cultivation of the tobacco plant in Central America.
(no entry for this year)
1532
Francisco Pizarro leads the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
Sugarcane is first grown in Brazil.
(no entry for this year)
1533
Painting by Hans Holbein (the Younger): The Ambassadors, also known as Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve, after the two people it portrays, it was created in the Tudor period, in the same year Elizabeth I was born. As well as being a double portrait, the painting contains a still life of meticulously rendered objects, the meaning of which is the cause of much debate. An array of expensive scientific objects, related to knowing the time and the cosmos are prominently displayed. Several refer to Rome, the seat of the Pope. A second shelf of objects shows a lute with a broken string, a symbol of discord, next to a hymnal composed by Martin Luther. It incorporates one of the best-known examples of anamorphosis in painting. While most scholars have taken the view that the painting should be viewed side on to see the skull, others believe a glass tube was used to see the skull head on. Either way, death is both prominent and obscured until discovered. Less easily spotted is a carving of Jesus on a crucifix, half hidden behind a curtain at the top left. The Ambassadors has been part of London's National Gallery collection since its purchase in 1890. It was extensively restored in 1997, leading to criticism, in particular that the skull's dimensions had been changed.
Anne Boleyn becomes Queen of England. Anne was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn (later Earl of Wiltshire), and his wife, Elizabeth Howard, and was educated in the Netherlands and France. Anne returned to England in early 1522, to marry her cousin James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond; the marriage plans were broken off, and instead, she secured a post at court as maid of honor to Henry VIII's wife, Catherine of Aragon. Early in 1523, Anne was secretly betrothed to Henry Percy, son of Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland, but the betrothal was broken off when the Earl refused to support it. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey refused the match in January 1524. In February or March 1526, Henry VIII began his pursuit of Anne. She resisted his attempts to seduce her, refusing to become his mistress, as her sister Mary had previously been. Henry focused on annulling his marriage to Catherine, so he would be free to marry Anne. After Wolsey failed to obtain an annulment from Pope Clement VII, it became clear the marriage would not be annulled by the Catholic Church. As a result, Henry and his advisers, such as Thomas Cromwell, began breaking the Church's power in England and closing the monasteries. Henry and Anne formally married on 25 January 1533, after a secret wedding on 14 November 1532.
De Principis Astronomiae et Cosmographie by Gemma Frisius (a Dutch physician, mathematician, cartographer, philosopher, and instrument maker) gives the first published explanation of the use of triangulation in surveying and mapmaking. Having established a baseline (e.g., in the figure the cities of Brussels and Antwerp), the location of other cities (e.g. Middelburg, Ghent etc.) can be found by taking a compass direction from each end of the baseline, and plotting where the two directions cross. This was only a theoretical presentation of the concept — due to topographical restrictions, it is impossible to see Middelburg from either Brussels or Antwerp. Nevertheless, the figure soon became well known all across Europe.
(no entry for this year)
1534
(no entry for this year)
(no entry for this year)
1535
The one-man diving bell is invented by Guglielmo de Lorena. De Lorena's device boasted a revolutionary air-supply mechanism which would exchange the air inside while maintaining pressure, allowing the diver to remain underwater for hours. In July 1535, set on exploring a sunken Roman vessel in Lake Nemi, Guglielmo de Lorna and partner Francesco de Marchi used the invention to examine and document sunken barges which had lain at the bottom of Lake Nemi.
(no entry for this year)
1537
Niccolò Tartaglia publishes Nova Scientia, a treatise on gunnery science. This was Tartaglia's first published work and was described by Matteo Valleriani as: ... one of the most fundamental works on mechanics of the Renaissance, indeed, the first to transform aspects of practical knowledge accumulated by the early modern artillerists into a theoretical and mathematical framework. Then dominant Aristotelian physics preferred categories like "heavy" and "natural" and "violent" to describe motion, generally eschewing mathematical explanations. Tartaglia brought mathematical models to the fore. One of his findings was that the maximum range of a projectile was achieved by directing the cannon at a 45-degree angle to the horizon.
William Tyndale's partial translation of the Bible into English is published, which would eventually be incorporated into the King James Bible.
(no entry for this year)
1538
(no entry for this year)
(no entry for this year)
1539
Painting by Hans Holbein (the younger) Portrait of Anne of Clèves. In 1539, Holbein was sent to Düren, in the Duchy of Clèves, to paint a portrait of Anne of Clèves (1515–1557) as a possible candidate for marriage. The marriage was arranged by Henry's chief advisor, Thomas Cromwell. The portrait was painted by Holbein so that Henry could see what his future bride looked like. Based on the portrait, Henry had a swipe right reaction, but when he finally met her in person, he was greatly disappointed. Anne was King Henry VIII's fourth queen. Her marriage to Henry was the shortest of all the six queens, officially lasting just six months. Anne was given a large settlement, which made her very wealthy. She was granted the title King's Sister and went on to live a very comfortable, independent life, outliving Henry, his other wives and his son, Edward.
Spain annexes Cuba.
ESP Quick Facts
ESP Origins
In the early 1990's, Robert Robbins was a faculty member at Johns Hopkins, where he directed the informatics core of GDB — the human gene-mapping database of the international human genome project. To share papers with colleagues around the world, he set up a small paper-sharing section on his personal web page. This small project evolved into The Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project.
ESP Support
In 1995, Robbins became the VP/IT of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA. Soon after arriving in Seattle, Robbins secured funding, through the ELSI component of the US Human Genome Project, to create the original ESP.ORG web site, with the formal goal of providing free, world-wide access to the literature of classical genetics.
ESP Rationale
Although the methods of molecular biology can seem almost magical to the uninitiated, the original techniques of classical genetics are readily appreciated by one and all: cross individuals that differ in some inherited trait, collect all of the progeny, score their attributes, and propose mechanisms to explain the patterns of inheritance observed.
ESP Goal
In reading the early works of classical genetics, one is drawn, almost inexorably, into ever more complex models, until molecular explanations begin to seem both necessary and natural. At that point, the tools for understanding genome research are at hand. Assisting readers reach this point was the original goal of The Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project.
ESP Usage
Usage of the site grew rapidly and has remained high. Faculty began to use the site for their assigned readings. Other on-line publishers, ranging from The New York Times to Nature referenced ESP materials in their own publications. Nobel laureates (e.g., Joshua Lederberg) regularly used the site and even wrote to suggest changes and improvements.
ESP Content
When the site began, no journals were making their early content available in digital format. As a result, ESP was obliged to digitize classic literature before it could be made available. For many important papers — such as Mendel's original paper or the first genetic map — ESP had to produce entirely new typeset versions of the works, if they were to be available in a high-quality format.
ESP Help
Early support from the DOE component of the Human Genome Project was critically important for getting the ESP project on a firm foundation. Since that funding ended (nearly 20 years ago), the project has been operated as a purely volunteer effort. Anyone wishing to assist in these efforts should send an email to Robbins.
ESP Plans
With the development of methods for adding typeset side notes to PDF files, the ESP project now plans to add annotated versions of some classical papers to its holdings. We also plan to add new reference and pedagogical material. We have already started providing regularly updated, comprehensive bibliographies to the ESP.ORG site.
ESP Picks from Around the Web (updated 06 MAR 2017 )
Old Science
Weird Science
Treating Disease with Fecal Transplantation
Fossils of miniature humans (hobbits) discovered in Indonesia
Dinosaur tail, complete with feathers, found preserved in amber.
Astronomy
Mysterious fast radio burst (FRB) detected in the distant universe.