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Why wrap a historic house in chainmail?

Wrapping a historic house in chainmail sounds like protection against a siege, but the enemy at the Hill House is rain. A roof and metal mesh shelter Charles Rennie Mackintosh's building while allowing air to circulate as it dries. The unusual enclosure makes a conservation problem visible instead of hiding the house inside a sealed box.

3–5 min

Questions you could explore

  • How can a temporary protective structure become part of the visitor's understanding of a building?
  • How does the chainmail structure protect the surviving parts of the historic house while leaving them visible?

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History

Calibrating the radiocarbon clock

Carbon-14 decays at a steady, predictable rate, which makes it look like a simple stopwatch for dating ancient wood, bone, or charcoal. However, the amount of radiocarbon in Earth's atmosphere has varied over the millennia, so an accurate date relies on calibrating the measurement against tree rings and other materials whose calendar age is already known.

4–5 min

Calibrating the radiocarbon clock

History4–5 minCarbon-14 decays at a steady, predictable rate, which makes it look like a simple stopwatch for dating ancient wood, bone, or charcoal. However, the amount of radiocarbon in Earth's atmosphere has varied over the millennia, so an accurate date relies on calibrating the measurement against tree rings and other materials whose calendar age is already known.

History

How do archaeologists work out what happened first?

A deep object is not necessarily the oldest thing at an archaeological site. A later pit can cut through earlier ground, leaving a sequence that has to be reconstructed from relationships between layers.

4–6 min

How do archaeologists work out what happened first?

History4–6 minA deep object is not necessarily the oldest thing at an archaeological site. A later pit can cut through earlier ground, leaving a sequence that has to be reconstructed from relationships between layers.

History

When Britain’s railways needed a shared clock

A timetable becomes awkward when the clocks at its two ends disagree. In nineteenth-century Britain, railway journeys helped turn local time into a shared coordination problem, while the telegraph helped distribute an answer.

5–7 min

When Britain’s railways needed a shared clock

History5–7 minA timetable becomes awkward when the clocks at its two ends disagree. In nineteenth-century Britain, railway journeys helped turn local time into a shared coordination problem, while the telegraph helped distribute an answer.

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