History

The (Real) Seven Secrets of Bologna

Dr. Orton lived in the ancient Italian city of Bologna as a visiting research student for half of her doctoral degree. Here, she explores...

Thucydides and the Morality of Power

In a single episode of the Peloponnesian War, Athens slaughtered all Melian men of military age and sold Melian women and children into...

Where Beauty Meets Truth: How Maria Sibylla Merian Took on the world

Orton Academy and Research was born of a love of both knowledge and beauty. Dr. Orton investigates the Enlightenment entomologist who...

The Yellow Rattle Experiment

Dr. Orton explores the history of Britain’s wildflower meadows and launches the great yellow rattle experiment. Wildflower meadows have...

The Ship, the Shore and the Philosopher

Dr. Orton investigates the geometrical heist that stole our fate back from the gods. In the time of Homer, the Greeks were at the mercy...

Meetings with Monsieur Bertin

Dr. Orton describes her relationship with Ingres’ most compelling portrait. While I was living in Bologna as a PhD student, it was...

The Radical Roots of Ancient Conservatism

Sophist, rhetorician and fifth-century Greek philosopher Protagoras of Abdera was not afraid to write books deemed dangerous enough for...

Plato and the Terrifying Beauty of Mathematics

- How A Mathematical Discovery Tormented the Ancient World - Orton Academy’s Head of Research Dr. Jane Orton reflects on the mathematical...

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