Book of the month

Well it's a lot more than just dried fruit! December's Book of the Month blog tells the story behind the illustration chosen for this year's DEI Christmas card.

November's Book of the Month blog celebrates the career of Mary Somerville - a woman whose impact on the world of science was so profound that the word 'scientist' is thought to have been invented just for her.

For October's Book of the Month blog, Jenny Lloyd looks back on her People Talking project, which collected oral histories from working people in Exeter. Her nine published volumes provide a fascinating glimpse of life 100 years ago.

For September's Book of the Month blog, we question why a book in our heritage collection might be missing a number of its illustrations.

For August's Book of the Month blog, work experience student Thomas investigates the Earl of Clarendon's 'History of the rebellion and civil wars in England' (1707), a distinctly biased first-hand account of the English Civil War.

June's blog tells the story of Exeter-born mathematician William Kingdon Clifford. Clifford's work on geometric algebra laid the foundations for modern mathematical physics, geometry, and computing. He also published observations which foreshadowed later theories of space time and relativity.

For May's blog, work experience student Dominic has chosen an Object of the Month: the DEI's regulator clock. Read his brief history of this impressive timepiece, and find out about the important role it played in the everyday lives of the Institution's members and the residents of Exeter.

April’s Book of the Month delves into some of the mischievous tales of pixies that haunt Devon, as told by Anna Eliza Bray in her children’s book ‘A Peep at the Pixies’ (1854). Mrs Bray was a key figure in collecting Devon’s folklore and preserving the stories passed down through generations, inspired by both her husband’s personal experiences in Devon and iconic literary figures such as Robert Southey.

March’s blog uncovers the story of François André Michaux's 'Travels to the west of the Alleghany mountains' (1805), which, in many ways, is bound up with the story of the library itself.