Mr Gribbin's prose is confident, and his amusing asides include an explanation of the origins of soda water and the observation that the length of a French nobleman's title was, by and large, inversely proportional to his social standing.

ECONOMIST: History of science: Time's arrow | The

The famous Roorback hoax of 1844, when a bogus European nobleman slandered the Democratic candidate, James K. Polk, took more than a month to refute.

FORBES: Elections Old And New

The Tommaso in question was Tommaso de' Cavlieri, a handsome young Roman nobleman to whom Michelangelo addressed several love poems and drawings.

WSJ: Masterpieces on a Shopping List | Michelangelo Master Drawings | Museum of Fine Arts Boston | By Cammy Brothers

In an intriguing tip of the hat to a tradition on its way out, if not already dead and buried, the fiery nobleman Adriano is written for a woman.

WSJ: Richard Wagner's 'Orphans' | By Matthew Gurewitsch