EWAN CAMERON picks out two fascinating music shows, fusing the Korean, and the Celtic, with the modern
Robert Hooke’s experimental philosophy
Felicity Henderson, Reaktion Books, £17.95
ROBERT HOOKE (1635-1703) was one of the key figures in the development of science in Britain. This excellent study, illustrated with Hooke’s own drawings and diagrams, and with pictures of instruments he designed, expounds Hooke’s approach to science.
He was one of the first to see that the new experimental philosophy – what we today call science – had the potential to improve human life beyond recognition.
MATTHEW HAWKINS welcomes an engaging and nourishing account of the queer subculture that flourished in London between WWII and partial decriminalisation
BEN CHACKO unpicks the significance of the discovery, in 2015, of ancient texts about Confucius. Was he simply a teacher, or a philosopher, statesman and saint?
Nature as well as society works dialectically, asserts the Marx Memorial Library and Workers’ School
JOHN GREEN’s palate is tickled by useful information leavened by amusing and unusual anecdotes, incidental gossip and scare stories



