The historian Norman Stone died recently, aged 78. If you met him, or knew of him, or know his work, you will probably have an opinion, or multiple opinions, about him, and/or his work. If not, you could read this obituary from the Guardian and be left with an entirely unflattering impression. I learnt of… Continue reading Norman Stone RIP, and the two things I learnt at college
You may be familiar with the expression “Every day is a school day”. It’s a phrase that I am fond of, having come across it numerous times in pieces by writers I admire, most recently this piece in the New Statesman by Nicholas Lezard. I have not used it on these pages until now. This… Continue reading How to deal with a dead cat
The school holidays are upon us. My 11-year-old daughter has finished primary school, something that has been anticipated in various posts throughout the academic year, like this one about her most recent sports day. In September she starts at secondary school (senior school, or High School if you prefer). The last three terms have mainly… Continue reading Things you should know before you go to secondary school
When my father was in the Guards, back in 1950s Ireland, part of his training involved Ordnance Survey-style maps. Some of the Guards were new to the concept of contours, the lines that indicate how steep or gentle a gradient is. They didn’t get it straight away. You’re probably familiar with the idea. The smaller… Continue reading The 4-Ring Man, and empty crisp packets
HHeLiBeBCNOF: you can say it out loud (H-heli-beb-cnof) to learn, or to remind yourself of, the first nine elements in the Periodic Table. They represent hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and fluorine. The next 11 elements can also be said out loud: nee-nam-gall-sips-clark-ca (NeNaMgAlSiPSClArKCa). The elements in question are: neon, sodium, magnesium,… Continue reading Word of the Week: HHeLiBeBCNOF
This piece, from exactly a year ago, describes how I learnt about two of the architects from the Gilbert Scott family, or maybe that should say “the Gilbert Scott dynasty”. This obituary for Richard Gilbert Scott, who died last month aged 93, says that he “represented the fourth generation of England’s greatest architectural dynasty”. A… Continue reading Chatsworth and Devonshire
How much does an apple weigh? How wide is a typical family car (not an SUV or a campervan)? How far is 100 metres, and how fast can you run it? These are the kind of things that children should know (or at least have an idea of) by a certain age, preferably around the… Continue reading Weights and Measures
Recently, while I was hunched over a spreadsheet on my laptop at the kitchen table, my 10-year-old daughter asked, “Is that Excel?” It was. “Can I show you something?” she asked. In a blank cell, in a new blank workbook, she typed the following: =1+1 When she pressed Return the number 2 appeared in the… Continue reading Word of the week: BODMAS
The term “quadratic equation” might provoke fear in anyone who didn’t enjoy maths at school. I did enjoy maths at school, more so than my brother or sister, and over the years have used some straightforward multiplications to try and take some of the fear out of quadratic equations. It started with my older brother,… Continue reading Fun with quadratic equations
Stationery and stationary: which is which? One of them is a noun, used to describe things like envelopes and writing pads, the other is an adjective meaning “not moving”. Many adults have problems with these words so it’s understandable that children do as well. Even if you know the difference, how do you remember, and… Continue reading Stationery and stationary
The Compartments 