Science & Technology

"The nineteenth century believed in science but the twentieth century does not." — Gertrude Stein

The Life Ironic: The Pricks of Science and Art
A Wes Anderson devotee reminds the author of his young self and the sorts of sensibilities (science- and art-related) for which others have to pay.
Joshua RoebkeJan 2, 2021
Unmaking California’s Central Valley
Water piped in from elsewhere has performed a peculiar kind of magic in California’s Central Valley, writes Sayd Randle. That magic is now dimming.
Sayd RandleDec 31, 2020
Treating Epidemics in a Nazi Ghetto
In Theresienstadt, a Nazi ghetto, efficiently managing epidemics was how the Jewish inmates maintained some semblance of a livable society.
Anna Hájková, Michael BeckermanDec 29, 2020
Politicizing Medicine While Fighting Pathogens
Cold War selfishness made the world more dangerous in a surprising place: the hospital bed.
Nicholas Greyson WardDec 12, 2020
- Politics
- Science & Technology
Toward a Saner Psychedelia
Ido Hartogsohn’s new book explores the impact of LSD on postwar American society and culture.
Matthew BondDec 12, 2020
- Cultural Studies
- Science & Technology
The Ghosts of Cambridge
Alex Langstaff reviews Jill Lepore’s “If Then” about the Cold War origins of computational data mining and its seedy alliance with behavioral psychology.
Alex LangstaffDec 7, 2020
Peak Brain: The Metaphors of Neuroscience
Henry Cowles describes how our technologies anchor our metaphors, which in turn anchor how we think about the brain — and ourselves.
Henry M. CowlesNov 30, 2020
- History
- Science & Technology
A Modest Proposal for Building the Future
Alex Pang thinks he should hate Lee Vinsel and Andrew Russell’s book “The Innovation Delusion.” Instead, he wholeheartedly agrees with their main points.
Alex Soojung-Kim PangNov 23, 2020
Fossils Waiting to Be: On Stoicism in the Anthropocene
Max Norman follows "Footprints," the new book by David Farrier.
Max NormanNov 16, 2020
- Philosophy & Religion
- Science & Technology
De Melancholia
Michael S. Roth dissects "The Anatomy of Grief," the new book by Dorothy P. Holinger.
Michael S. RothNov 15, 2020
- Philosophy & Religion
- Science & Technology
Foggy Notions
W. Patrick McCray on “Rational Fog” by historian M. Susan Lindee. It addresses how “scientific knowledge and military applications meet, maraud, and maim.”
W. Patrick McCrayNov 9, 2020
Childhood: Sifting Facts from Fad-Driven Fancy
Reviewing “The Origins of You,” John G. Simmons touches on issues like how much parents matter and how insights from genetics are revamping old theories.
John Galbraith SimmonsNov 8, 2020
- Science & Technology