WEIRD HISTORY

Pepper changed the world – but how many people know that?

Colonialism was born from the greed for spices and led to today’s globalised world. I know because it’s my family’s story. ‘The desire for spices such as pepper drove European expeditions eastwards.’ Photograph: fcafotodigital/Getty Images – By Anna Sulan Masing Last modified on …

 

Why is astronomy a science but astrology is not?

Your zodiac sign – like Sagittarius, the archer – might be in the stars, but your future isn’t. Scaliger/iStock via Getty Images Plus – By Talia Dan-Cohen, Associate Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and by …