Excerpted from HERETICS! The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy by Steven Nadler and Ben Nadler. Copyright © 2017 by Princeton University Press. Reprinted by permission.

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The Explosive Chemist Who Invented Smokeless Gunpowder
James Dewar, the creator of cordite, likely helped win World War I. But why never a Nobel?
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How Was Abortion Understood Historically?
One question for Claudia Ford, an herbalist and midwife turned environmental historian at SUNY.
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When the Surgeon Was an Uneducated Barber
A medical student confronts the history of surgery.
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Termination of Pregnancy Has Always Been Part of Women’s Health
Plants, prejudice, and history lessons for a post-Roe nation.
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The Botanist Who Defied Stalin
His dream of feeding the world died in prison. His dream of a seed bank lives on.
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A Lab of Her Own
In her bedroom during WWII, she discovered how the nervous system is wired.
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Did Cars Rescue Our Cities From Horses?
Debating a modern parable about waste and technology.
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How Tycoons Created the Dinosaur
The story of dinosaurs is also the story of capitalism.
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One of the Most Egregious Ripoffs in the History of Science
A new history of the race to decipher DNA reveals Shakespearean plots of scheming.
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The Disneyfication of Atomic Power
Inside America’s propaganda campaign, “Atoms for Peace,” launched in the wake of Hiroshima.
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The Disneyfication of Atomic Power
Inside America’s propaganda campaign, “Atoms for Peace,” launched in the wake of Hiroshima.
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The History of Locker-Room Talk
Why men put down other men by attacking their masculinity.
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Tarzan Wasn’t for Her
It took an outsider to restore women to the story of human evolution.
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The Botanist Who Defied Stalin
His dream of feeding the world died in prison. His dream of a seed bank lives on.
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Digging Deeper Into Holocaust History
What geoscientists are uncovering in Eastern Europe.