Research

Science
Fashion
Psychology
Old West
Serial Killers and Crime
Weapons
Cultures and Countries
Christianity
Death and Dying
Drugs
Magic Systems

SCIENCE

Wired Magazine has exactly the eye-popping news that almost writes the story for you; a must-read for science fiction writers.

LiveScience delivers sharp, engaging explanations in a format that's a breeze to navigate. Options are categorized by topic, such as Animal Domain, Environment, Technology, Science of Fiction, History and Strange News. An A+ site.

Space is a sister site to LiveScience, and a gift basket for anyone fascinated with outer space. Browsing is organized into topics such as News, Space Flight, Science, Technology, Entertainment, Space Views, and Night Sky. Subjects at the bottom of the home page deliver an enormous amount of information.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science and Nature may not have the hip, eye-catching developments that Wired latches on to, but they're still the gold standard for science journals. Considering the audience they cater to, they're surprisingly comprehensible for the average layperson.

FASHION

Curtin University's Department of Podiatry Shoe fashion began with sandals, and this site covers them through the centuries. The historical background is impressive, with images of authentic footwear.

History of Fashion This ambitious site offers background on famous designers, including shoes, hats, and fashion, plus the illustrators so necessary to the industry. Pioneers of both are included, along with an A-Z list of fashion inventions.

JJ Kent is a hidden offshoot of a jewelry sales site which includes essays on gemstone fashions and obscure information on body adornment. Precious Stones, Vol. 8 is a treasure trove of arcane information, and there are articles on gemstone superstitions and turquoise in ancient cultures. Although fascinating, the site is not entirely reliable; the gemology information is often wrong. (For an authoritative voice on this subject, try the Gemological Institute of America.)

Costume Gallery Although primarily a subscription site, this link delivers its fashions from l930 to l990. Designers and hairstyles can also be accessed, but the prize in this box of cracker-jacks is commentary on social issues that changed attire.

Vintage Vixen Being fashionable extends to more than just clothes, so Vintage Vixen includes attendant fads from l900 to l970.

Fashion-Era is a smorgasbord of information, including an explanation of societal adornment, design concepts, theories, trends and an impressive library of illustrated historical fashions and costumes. It's worth checking outLaver's timetable of style (as it relates to society) by the historian and former Keeper of the Robes in London's Victoria and Albert Museum simply for fun.

Lindy Hopping Although dedicated to dances from the Lindberg era, this menu item concentrates on men's fashions that were changing as Edwardian etiquette faded away.

American Vintage Blues This niche-site covers female costumes of the twentieth century.

PSYCHOLOGY

Encyclopedia of Psychology is a well organized and comprehensive page of psychology links. In addition to the theory and treatment of abnormal psychology, its links cover the history of psychology, forensic psychology, psychology careers, psychology & industry, and developmental psychology - useful for anyone trying to write a believable child, adolescent, or animal character.

Social Psychology Network links to pages which focus specifically on social psychology - group behavior, gender, cultural identity, and prejudice.

AllPsych Online provides overviews of all psychological disorders recognized by the American Psychological Association, including their DSM-IV diagnostic codes, symptoms, treatments, and prognosis. Organized by category.

PsychNet-UK goes into slightly more depth than AllPsych Online, and includes information on some disorders not included in the DSM-IV. The only downside is that it is organized by disorder name, which may make it difficult if you don't know what you're looking for.

Open Site and The Merck Manual focus on personality disorders (including antisocial personality disorder, which has been called "psychopathy" and "sociopathy"). As a warning, personality disorders can be hard to correctly diagnose because they often feature relatively normal behaviors taken to unhealthy extremes. Healthy people often over-identify with the disorders, feel persecuted, and decide the disorders must not exist or are based on socio-cultural bias. Don't be afraid if you recognize a little of yourself in one of them. Remember that these are disorders because they prevent an individual from functioning in society. More than any other category of mental disorder, personality disorders require careful and in-depth research to be understood or written believably.

OLD WEST

Most of the best history resources still cannot be found online. Anyone attempting to write an historical narrative would be best served by several trips to the library. However, the sites below provide interesting overviews which may spark a story idea.

Historynet has dozens of articles about the Old West. Since the articles come from Wild West Magazine, they are well researched by competent authors. The site also contains sections about other areas of American history, including the Civil War.

The Alamo includes a map of Texas in 1836, biographies of the participants in the Battle of the Alamo, and photo tours of relevant locations. A nicely comprehensive website whose only weakness is a degree of hero worship (and accompanying bias).

The Oregon Trail is an informative and well organized website which includes clips from the PBS-aired documentary alongside the text.

U.S.-Mexican War includes a timeline and a discussion board, but the real meat of the site is in the "dialogues" section, where various historians provide their sometimes conflicting takes on subjects like Santa Anna, James K. Polk, manifest destiny, and the aftermath of the war.

Virtual Library - American Indians is a list of Native American resources on the internet. The links are not particularly well organized, but they are kept relatively current.

Buffalo Soldiers provides information on the Wild West's African American soldiers, many of whom began their careers by fighting in the U.S. Civil War. Includes a multi-page bibliography for further research.

Serial Killers and Crime

Crime Library. Everything from current cases to profiling to scams and hoaxes. The site map is at the bottom of the page, if you're wondering how to get around the site.

Predestined Serial Killers Studies show that damage to the frontal lobe of the brain may destroy a person's ability to develop a normal social understanding, and lead to the creation of a serial killer. However, as author Annabella Rutigliano points out, "Brain damage cannot be the motivator for all serial killing. 46% of all confessed serial killers have no frontal or general brain damage." Also includes some excellent profiling information.

Serial Killers Exposed is a sensationalist and cornily gruesome site without much real information, but it contains this serial killers' characteristics chart of behaviors common (and uncommon) to multiple murders.

True Crime and Justice Website is ugly and badly organized, but contains a wealth of information for those willing to look. It has wonderful in-depth articles about everything crime-related, from the use of DNA in forensics to elder abuse to sentencing and prison life in different countries. Serial killers are listed as a subcategory of homicide, and profiling is a subcategory of serial killers.

The Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee, better known as the Body Farm, is a website that is limited in scope, mostly providing information on body donation to the farm. However, the publications it sells, such as the Bibliography for the Application of Anthropology, include subjects such as expert witnesses and trauma that could be of great use to the research-intensive mystery writer. Perhaps of greatest interest is the Frank H. McClung Museum, a clean-looking, charming look at the history of Tennessee, from prehistory to the Civil War era. For those more interested in the Body Farm itself, the CNN archives have an article on founder William Bass.

Wikipedia has outstanding articles on decay (Casper's law may be of particular interest to any murder mystery writer), luminol, forensic science in general, and the fascinating new CSI effect.

Forensic Science Web Pages may look silly, but they're a nice introduction to the basic tools of investigation.

PI Magazine - need we say more? Well worth checking out in paper form, even its ads (wireless camera detector, anyone?) are interesting - as is its recommended booklist.

Weapons

Weapons in Ancient Egypt - This nuts-and-bolts site provides both descriptions and pictures of Egyptian weapons, along with notes on when they were used and what they were made from. The text is relatively dry, and does not go into detail regarding how the weapons were wielded.

The development of Roman weapons and armour is a detailed essay on the evolution of Roman fighting styles and how they developed. The strongest feature of this page is its awareness that technology does not happen in a vacuum - it discusses how the army was recruited and funded, and why weapons and strategies had to be developed to defeat different opponents. This page is part of a larger site on Hannibal Barca and the Punic Wars.

It's hard to find a good site on traditional Chinese weapons, and the list at chinese-weapons.gungfu.com makes it easy to see why. The chinese used anything as a weapon - flutes, forks, hammers, and things as exotic sounding as "sleeve arrow" and "plum flower claw." Look over the list, and be dumbfounded.

War, Warfare, Weapons provides an overview of Japanese weapons, when they were used, why, and by whom. Includes a section on castles and armor, theories on the origin of the Yakuza, and (at the very bottom of the page) recommended books, magazines, and videos for further research.

Middle Ages - This is the best all-around Medieval site: Weaponry, Timelines, Terminology, Warfare, Feudal Life, Heraldic Names, Architecture, Plagues, Maps, etc.

historicalweapons.com and medieval-weaponry.com are both commercial sites which sell weapon replicas. Reflection's Edge does not endorse or recommend their merchandise (we haven't tried it), but the photographs include replicas from feudal Japan to cavalry sabers. In particular, medieval-weaponry.com has an excellent section on helmets. Predictably, both sites are short on practical information.

Although a commercial site, Old West Replicas offers a comprehensive list of American weapons by date, maker and historic significance. All are photographed, and the site features interesting guns like an early Blunderbuss, a gentleman's pocket pistol, and the rifle used by the Plains Indians.

Civil War Small Arms provides exhaustive descriptions of American Civil War non-artillery guns, including who used them, how much they cost, their firing range, their rate of fire, and how they were regarded at the time. Some photos.

How Flintlock Guns Work provides a scientific basis for understanding both historic and modern guns - what makes them fire, and why they represent such a huge technological advance. Although this is a science site, it is written to be approachable to children, so the tone is enthusiastic and easy to understand. Useful diagrams of firing mechanisms.

The Nuclear Weapons Museum features rare photographs of nuclear devices, while nuclearfiles.org details their history - both their use and historical perspectives on them. Includes copies of historic documents and speeches relating to nuclear debates.

Chemical Weapons History describes the use of chemical weapons from World War I to present-day terrorism. Along with an overview, the site goes into detail about chemical weapon types - blister agents, choking agents, psychomimetic agents, blood agents, nerve agents - and their effects, treatments, and chemical compositions.

Wikipedia has entries on specific modern weapons, like the Hades missle or the Desert Eagle, along with subcategories about weapons use in over a dozen countries worldwide.

Nonlethal Weapons: Terms and References is a 1996 paper from the U.S. Institute for National Security Studies. It is an index of non-leathal weapons and their effects, followed by an even longer list of relevant books and articles. Fascinating; alternately chilling and funny. Science fiction writers will find their imaginations stimulated by the brief entries. (ex. "Acoustic, Blast Wave, Projector. Energy generation from a pulsed laser that will project a hot, high pressure plasma in the air in front of a target. It creates a blast wave with variable but controlled effects on hardware and troops," "Optical, Bucha Effect. High intensity strobe lights which flash at near human brain wave frequency causing vertigo, disorientation, and vomiting.")

Cultures and Countries

Stanford's African Culture: Society on the Internet has an outstanding series of links on highly diverse subjects from textiles to philosophy.

The CSU Guide to Australia has links including everything from slang to aboriginal art and culture.

History of China is text-heavy and useful historically, particularly regarding 19th and 20th century events through 1988. Academic Info has an extremely thorough list of links regarding China covering virtually any question you might come up with.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has a section on Canadian natives, including subjects from art to current affairs. While some of it is more helpful to natives themselves, such as the employment and veterans sections, its Aboriginal Awareness section has information on oral tradition and women's place in modern native culture.

American West has some unusual links - there's even a Native Languages page - but it's the page of Native American Nations homepages that's invaluable.

japan-guide.com's Japanese History is a quick guide through virtually any period of time in Japan.

History & Culture of Russia is exactly what it says, in a neat, clear fashion. While by no means exhaustive, it's a nice introduction. For a delightfully eclectic look at Russian culture, Alexander Palace Russian History Website has an exhaustive and unusual selection of websites that cover everything from books to building tours to jewels of the Romanovs.

All Scandinavia is a rather painful primary color experience, but its articles are worth checking out, ranging from basic history (Who are the Scandinavians?) to the purely amusing (Norwegian drinking laws).

And remember, Wikipedia has extensive links and essays on virtually any group - the basic summary page on Indigenous Peoples of the Americas alone contains dozens of links to other articles.

CHRISTIANITY

For a general overview, there are many good sites: Biocrawler's Guide to the New Testament, for one; for an extremely fascinating source history of where beliefs came from about abortion, the confession of sin, and even Mary's virgin status in the church, check out Early Church Fathers.

For a more unorthodox look at religion alongside science, check out the fantastic Meta Religion site - thorough, well-organized, and up-to-the-minute information in English and Spanish on everything from the paranormal to neurology - putting the big questions in context of a modern society.

Wondering about the accuracy of Christian history? Misquoting Jesus : The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, by the respected Bart D. Ehrman, explores the possibilities. Or just listen to one of his lectures on NPR, either on Misquoting Jesus or Peter, Paul, and Mary.

And almost anything by Elaine Pagels is a fascinating read, whether on The Origin of Satan or The Gnostic Gospels, a book which won both the National Book Critics Award and the National Book Award, in addition to making it on to the Modern Library's top 100 best books list.

The Gospel of Judas Recently announced to the public, a manuscript of the lost Gospel of Judas has been restored and translated by National Geographic in conjunction with Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art and the Waitt Institute for Historical Discovery. You may download a PDF file of the English or Coptic versions, or you may use the online interactive version with images of the original manuscript and overlays in English or Coptic. Timelines, historical information, restoration, and conservation information are also included on the site.

From Jesus to Christ This Frontline series which aired on PBS traces the evolution of Christianity through the transformation of its central figure. It documents the transformation of Jesus, a simple Jewish carpenter, into The Christ (Messiah or Annointed One) by his followers in the first few centuries after his death. The series is no longer being aired, but the website remains intact with many great resources regarding this early period of Christianity, including audio files from the documentary, historical information on the Hellenistic and Jewish culture of Jesus’ day, and profiles of the first Christian communities. The series may be purchased on DVD.

Early Christian Writings provides an extensive library of both canonical and non-canonical Christian works. There are four major categories, which make for easier browsing. The first is the New Testament, which includes canonical works as found in the New Testament. (The works included in the canon of scripture were those thought to be the oldest, and thus written by true witnesses to Jesus’ life and works. Historians have since found that a number of the books were written at later dates or by authors other than those attributed to having written them.) Next is the Apocrypha, including on-canonical works not found in the Bible, such as the Gospel of Mary and the Acts of John. The Gnostic section includes non-canonical works developed by the Gnostic Christians, which focused on “secrets” and “enlightenment”. (The Gospel of John, which was included in the canon of scripture, is the oldest gospel and contains metaphysical language and imagery common to Gnostic works. This gospel is thought to be heavily influence by the Gnostics. And finally, Church Fathers has letters written by key theologians of early Christianity such as Tertullian and Clement.

Religion Facts also has a handy chart of early church fathers.

Bible Gateway A Bible database with search capabilities based on keyword, passage, or topic. You may look up a single chapter - or an entire book. There are 19 versions in English alone, most notable of which is “The Message." This modern day version by Eugene Peterson was designed not as a study Bible (as it is not a direct translation), but as a reading Bible to help modern day readers appreciate the depth and profundity of the original message. Versions are also available for another 42 languages including Spanish, Japanese, Bulgarian, and Arabic.

NT Gateway The formation and selection process for the New Testament was very much human - and political. See the various links and books on NT Gateway. NTCanon.org provides helpful information, including a cross reference table of the New Testament and other works and the early Christian authorities that spoke regarding them.

And for serious scholars, Jack Turner's recommended reading list is as handy as it gets.

DEATH AND DYING

Hospice Net provides an overview of the physical symptoms that occur in the human body in its final stages and includes the leading causes of death from accidents or life style related illnesses.

The Australian Museum Online Australia’s first museum, established in 1827, provides a website that explores the physical process of dying as well as the cultural and religious responses to death. Information on decomposition, rigor mortis, forensic evidence, and even such obscure subjects as the rise of safety coffins in 18th and 19th century Europe are all available.

Cornell Poisonous Plants is just what it says - a poisonous plant database with images of these plants as well their most common victims, and occasionally some very random trivia particularly handy to writers. (Curious about what poisonous bean you could put in a soup? Look under Abrus precatorius.) Both scientific and common names of plants are available on the site.

Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife is just one person's site, but the links are exhaustive and include books, experts, and just about every aspect of near-death you could imagine.

The International Association for Near-Death Studies has a journal, and submissions are by MDs and PhDs.

The Human Genome Project Information site provides good basics on forensics with a link to many other resources.

How We Die, by Sherwin B. Nuland, examines death from both emotional and practical perspectives. Extremely thorough.

Drugs

While involving only the more legal side of things, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services covers a wide variety of drug- and food-related topics in its Drug & Food Information section, including some links to biotechnology as well as simpler information on immunizations, water safety, and prescriptions drugs.

For the wilder side of pharmaceuticals, Lycaeum, a site that covers mind-altering chemicals, has an in-depth entheogen section (entheogens being psychoactive substances that are used for religious reasons). Each drug is linked to a copious number of articles covering almost any question you could think of; the Heroin section features links on everything from acupuncture in relationship to Heroin withdrawal to Victorian substance abuse in England. While more traditional psychotropics such as peyote and mushrooms are listed and linked, among its other strange bedfellows, alcohol, caffeine, and chocolate are covered as well.

Erowid takes a similar approach to psychoactives, but with a much prettier layout.

For the social side of things, the United Nations website briefly covers the economic and social consequences of drug abuse and illicit trafficking.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) includes information on drug policy on its website, covering controlled substances law, penalties, and drug scheduling.

For characters you're unsure how to medicate, drugs.com provides drug listings for virtually any disease, as well as a limited medical encyclopedia and medical dictionary.

And if you're just not sure what to call it, the Street Drug Slang Dictionary probably can tell you.

Magic Systems

Upon Reflection is an attractive and easily navigated site which focuses on ancient symbol alphabets - their meanings and their histories. Alphabets include Egyptian hieroglyphics, Nordic runes, Druid ogham (tree language), and the Chinese I Ching. Also features a section on Chakras.

Symbols.com is an online encyclopedia of Western signs and ideograms - alchemical symbols, heraldry, genealogical signs, runes, ideograms, and more. Browse randomly, or search by symbol shape or meaning.

Wikipedia has a brief but thought-provoking entry on the historic relationship between magic and religion, from the traditional power of sacrifice to the sacredness of names. Additionally, their general article on magic (paranormal) provides an expansive overview with sections on perceptions of magic throughout history and in different cultures, theories of magic's basic principles, and links to entries on folk magic traditions from Alchemy to Obeah to Wicca.

The Taoist Culture & Information Centre provides detailed and thorough descriptions of Taoist mystical practices - the symbols, alchemy, rituals, incantations, magical instruments, demon exorcisms, and search for teachers. Density and convolution make the site difficult to navigate, but easy to browse. Translated from Chinese.

Hoodoo in Theory and Practice is an online book in progress, and gives a startlingly in-depth view of African-American "rootwork" - history, influences, core beliefs, links to blues tradition, spells, charms, herbs, rituals, the significance of crossroads, and more. Although the site has commercial links, they are not its focus.

Symbolic Healing in Hungarian Ethnomedicine is an essay on Hungarian folk practices such as analogic healing (allowing an object to stand in for the illness, then casting it away, usually into water) and bloodletting on auspicious days of the year.

Old Superstitions is an easy-to-navigate site which lists hundreds, if not thousands, of folk superstitions, organized by subject. Unfortunately, the site does not detail the supersitions' cultures of origin, or the time periods in which they arose - it is best used as a starting place for inspiration, and not as a reference guide.

The Hermitage: A Tarot History Site is devoted to the history of tarot - both the mysticism that developed around it, and the evolution of the card designs. Includes theories on tarot's origins, and discussions of how tarot diverged in different countries. Text-heavy site, but with invaluable side-by-side card comparisons.

Myth*ing Links is a clearing house of links to myths, sacred traditions, and rituals from everywhere in the world, from pre-history to the present. Scroll down to reach the table of contents, which is itself pages long.

Internet Sacred Text Archive is an online repository for books on religion and magic, from the standard (Vedas, the Tanakh, early Christian texts) to the exotic (Plato's dialogues on Atlantis, descriptions of the religious systems of the Amazulu tribe, discussions of Gypsy supersitions, Zoroastrianism's Zend-Avesta). Organized by religion, region, and era. Extensive and varied.

Note: our resources are always under construction.

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