History
105 articles-
The Age of Rebellion
The surprising relationship between age and success in rebellions. -
The Feminist Botanist
A 19th-century tale of hermaphrodite flowers, Charles Darwin, and women’s right to vote. -
The Prizefighters
If you want to know what it takes to succeed in science, head to the Nobel Prize ceremony. -
What a Bronze Age Skeleton Reveals About Cavities
Here’s a hint: He didn’t eat processed foods and sugar. -
Archaeology at the Bottom of the Sea
David Gibbins on his 3 greatest revelations while writing A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks. -
The Women Who Found Liberation in Seaweed
How a shared love of algae got a community of women hooked on marine science. -
History’s Five Best Body Part Stories
Charles I’s neck bone, Queen Victoria’s armpit, and other fabulously gruesome medical tales. -
Tesla’s Pigeon
An inventor, a bird, and a plan to connect all the minds in the world. -
Five Curiosities From Medical History
Photos from the Mütter Museum’s newly searchable collection. -
How Tourists Are Rescuing the Ancient City of Palmyra
Photographs taken from before terrorists destroyed the site are helping researchers digitally resurrect it.
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What Is a Beautiful Experiment?
Finding beauty in science is timeless. But we shouldn’t let it blind us.
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Finding the Color of an Empire
What a particular shade of black can teach us about an ancient civilization.
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The 19th-Century Trippers Who Probed the Mind
In the age of self-experiment, scientists took mind-altering drugs to test the limits of subjectivity.
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The Ancient Architecture that Defies Earthquakes
Stone buildings in northern India reveal secrets of old structures that could save lives.
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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. -
When the Surgeon Was an Uneducated Barber
A medical student confronts the history of surgery. -
Termination of Pregnancy Has Always Been Part of Women’s Health
Plants, prejudice, and history lessons for a post-Roe nation. -
A Lab of Her Own
In her bedroom during WWII, she discovered how the nervous system is wired. -
Did Cars Rescue Our Cities From Horses?
Debating a modern parable about waste and technology.
