Reading slashdot, my favorite geek news site, I saw this story about the current low solar activity that may be affecting our world, and then saw the link to the Dalton Minimum, a period in late 1700's to early 1800's of low solar activity that may have helped cause the Year Without a Summer. Besides having a dramatic name, it may have contributed to the deaths of 10's of thousands of people, the westward migration in the US, and for those of you who care about Mormon history, the Smith family's move from Vermont to Palmyra.
I don't know about you, but my history teachers never mentioned any such thing, and in fact, never mentioned anything about science unless it was about something being invented. Steam engines, cotton gins, factories, paper, and printing presses got plenty of screen time. But using science to help explain history is a rare talent, but it sounds fascinating to me...
p.s. I'm pretty sure the existence of solar minimums can neither prove nor disprove climate change(at least on their own), but they're an interesting component to our weather systems.
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