The global origins of science

Royal Institution Freer Fellow Gianamar Giovannetti-Singh is taking some time out of his research schedule to share some of his discoveries that will reshape our understanding of science's past as he unveils the global networks behind scientific giants.

Galileo, Newton, Darwin. These may be the first names that come to mind when we think about the history of science, but these individuals were not the towering, isolated figures we might once have assumed. Historians have begun to look more closely at the intercontinental networks these household names in science inhabited.

By retracing the forgotten links between thinkers and tinkerers worldwide, science historians are beginning to revolutionise our understanding of the origins of science. Their careful unpicking is unveiling a much more exciting, global, and connected picture.

Join Gianamar to learn how contrary to popular accounts about cloistered geniuses in Europe; science has always been fundamentally collaborative and global. From Isaac Newton’s theory of universal gravitation to modern mapmaking, important scientific discoveries and practices emerged globally, shaped by cross-cultural interactions.