Aparna Nair describes the EEG, the electroencephalograph, which records electrical brain waves. The German psychiatrist Hans Berger developed it, and by 1929 he had shown that brain activity could be measured. Its use for diagnosing epilepsy spread quickly. In the Second World War it helped assess head injuries, but it was also used to screen recruits and pilots for supposed psychological weakness. Some researchers tried to find brainwave patterns in criminals, delinquents and asylum patients, and American newspapers suggested couples check EEG printouts for the taint of epilepsy. EEG readings were also used in the trial of Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald. Nair, who has epilepsy, recalls the painful tests of her teenage years, when the flashing lights triggered her seizures.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.