Mr. Stephen Biggs is a self-described fig pig. He seems to have been born to the role, suited as his name is to his vocation (at least if you like rhymes). But what is it that draws a man to a fruit tree with such passion and commitment? He isn't alone, as it turns out, and […]
Have you visited the new Arthur Conan Doyle Room yet? This latest version of the Toronto Public Library's tribute to Sherlock Holmes and his creator opened to the public just two years ago. It's located in the Charles & Marilyn Baillie Special Collections Centre on the 5th floor of the Toronto Reference Library and is open during […]
The Human Genome Project finished mapping the three billion-or-so chemical base pairs that make the how-to-build-a-human instructions code in 2003. It was a monumental step. But of course each human’s code is unique, and the difficulty of “reading” the genomic map means that in some sense this was just the beginning. Fast forward to 2015, […]
Canada is a country that thrives on immigration. So there are systems in place to help immigrants move into their new lives in Canada as easily as possible. In fact, new changes in immigration processes (some of them controversial) allow skilled and highly educated immigrants to be “fast-tracked” into Canada to fill specific labour vacancies. Many […]
Sometimes, it is just what you pay attention to. Ever wondered, for example, how people saw the constellations – shapes of bears, hunters, scorpions, while we see undifferentiated masses of stars? That is if we’re lucky enough, here in the well-lighted city, to see the stars at all? photo credit: Cap't. Fatty Goodlander So […]
A collection of short stories inspired by Conan Doyle's experience as a doctor. Cover of Waterloo by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle This June 18th marked the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo which saw Napoleon’s final defeat and ended 23 years of warfare between France and major European powers. The battle was fought just […]
As baby boomers approach old age, and as we’re living longer, topics like brain health and prevention of age-related cognitive decline are making headlines, but also a matter we come across in our personal lives. The brain is at the centre of everything we do, who we are, what we make of our lives, so of […]
"What one man can invent another can discover." - The Adventure of the Dancing Man by Arthur Conan Doyle Did you know that you can step back in time into 1893 and visit Sherlock Holmes’ study on the 5th floor of Toronto Reference Library? And while there, you might have a chance to learn something new about […]
Have you visited the revitalized and recently opened Marilyn and Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre on the 5th floor of Toronto Reference Library? Well, here is your chance! Marilyn and Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre We invite you to join us for free weekly presentations showcasing rare and historical materials dating as far back as […]
The happy appointment of William Robins to the Victoria University (UofT) presidency had me thinking about the value of storytelling in different kinds of settings. For Robins, storytelling and humanities are the subject of his medieval studies research, and how he sees his mandate as a champion of the cultural value of both. But consider […]