Science & Technology

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

Rock-Fuel and Warlike People: On Mitch Troutman’s “The Bootleg Coal Rebellion”
In an essay that takes off from Mitch Troutman’s “The Bootleg Coal Rebellion: The Pennsylvania Miners Who Seized an Industry,” native son Jonah Walters finds something entirely too innocent about the tales told about the anthracite industry’s origins.
Jonah WaltersMar 21, 2024
Animals as the Beating Heart of the Planet: On Joe Roman’s “Eat, Poop, Die”
In Joe Roman’s “Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World,” Ferris Jabr finds a compelling account of important scientific insights.
Ferris JabrMar 16, 2024
- Nonfiction
- Science & Technology
Timothy Leary Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: On Benjamin Breen’s “Tripping on Utopia”
Timothy Leary sucked the revolutionary potential out of psychedelic science, concludes Kim Adams after reading Benjamin Breen’s “Tripping on Utopia: Margaret Mead, the Cold War and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science.”
Kim AdamsFeb 21, 2024
Prove You’re Not a Robot: On Karel Čapek’s “R.U.R.”
Jonathan Bolton uses the occasion of a new edition and translation of Karel Čapek’s play “R.U.R.,” first published in Prague in 1920, to revisit the origins of the word “robot,” and explore the play’s uncannily prescient vision of artificial life.
Jonathan BoltonFeb 20, 2024
Inspiration from the Luddites: On Brian Merchant’s “Blood in the Machine”
Three educators find inspiration for fighting automation in the classroom in Brian Merchant’s “Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech.”
Antero Garcia, Charles Logan, T. Philip NicholsJan 28, 2024
What’s Next for Histories of Climate Change
Deborah Coen shows how historians miss a great deal when they rely on the quantitative tools of scientists.
Deborah R. CoenJan 25, 2024
Drowning in Mediocre Data: On Kyle Chayka’s “Filterworld”
T. M. Brown reviews Kyle Chayka’s “Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture.”
T. M. BrownJan 19, 2024
- Nonfiction
- Science & Technology
Nothing for Something: Cryptos, Cons, and Zombies
Peter Lunenfeld traces the persistence of classic con games in the current explosion of cryptocurrency markets.
Peter LunenfeldDec 19, 2023
A People’s History of Slime: On Two New Books About Ooze
Mariella Rudi reviews Susanne Wedlich’s “Slime: A Natural History” and Christopher Michlig’s “File Under: Slime.”
Mariella RudiDec 17, 2023
Again, Again, Again: On Carmen Machado and J. Robert Lennon’s “Critical Hits” and Frank Lantz’s “The Beauty of Games”
Neuroscientist Patrick House reviews two new books on the art of repetition in video games—“Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games,” edited by Carmen Machado and J. Robert Lennon, and “The Beauty of Games” by Frank Lantz.
Patrick HouseNov 29, 2023
Whither Queer Biology? On Richard O. Prum’s “Performance All the Way Down”
Banu Subramaniam gets whiplash when she reads Richard O. Prum’s “Performance All the Way Down: Genes, Development, and Sexual Difference.” For a book engaging with queer theory, it is decidedly unqueer, she writes.
Banu SubramaniamNov 15, 2023
- Gender & Sexuality
- Science & Technology
What Is Internet Art Actually Doing? On Omar Kholeif’s “Internet_Art”
Cal Revely-Calder finds much to appreciate, and more to decry, in Omar Kholeif’s “Internet_Art: From the Birth of the Web to the Rise of NFTs.”
Cal Revely-CalderNov 11, 2023