On Floating Upstream
In a review of Markoff’s biography of Stewart Brand, W. Patrick McCray notes that Brand’s ability to recognize and cleave to power explains a great...
In a review of Markoff’s biography of Stewart Brand, W. Patrick McCray notes that Brand’s ability to recognize and cleave to power explains a great...
W. Patrick McCrayMar 22, 2022
Mario Biagioli and Alain Pottage get to the bottom of how scientific norms were radicalized by Trump’s EPA to turn against themselves.
Mario Biagioli, Alain PottageMar 19, 2022
From anti-vaxxers to Flat Earthers, the public’s (and scholars’) perception of science shifted sometime between 1990-2010, writes Michael Gordin.
Michael D. GordinMar 14, 2022
Fred Turner describes “Work Pray Code” as a fine-grained map of the traffic between religion and profit-seeking in Silicon Valley.
Fred TurnerMar 8, 2022
Wes Jackson, who won a MacArthur for the idea of perennial grains grown in mixtures, is quite sure we are getting less intelligent.
Robert JensenFeb 20, 2022
Paul Dicken marks the centenary of “The Meaning of Relativity,” Einstein’s attempt to explain his runaway theory and correct its “mad” cultural...
Paul DickenFeb 10, 2022
Colin Burgess’s “The Greatest Adventure: A History of Human Space Exploration” fails to take off.
Michael D. GordinJan 19, 2022
The so-called “scientific method” may be a cage of sorts.
Michael RossiJan 10, 2022
Sayd Randle considers the problems of “Climate Stewardship,” the new book by Adina Merenlender and Brendan Buhler.
Sayd RandleJan 2, 2022
Modern medicine fails abysmally to account for mass psychogenic illnesses — they’re uncanny and paradigm-altering.
Jeff WheelwrightDec 24, 2021
To understand what kind of racism we face, argues George Makari, we need to understand the type of mind that undergirds it.
George MakariDec 14, 2021
Christopher Schaberg considers "Four Fifths a Grizzly" and the future of nature writing.
Christopher SchabergDec 12, 2021
A transcript of the panel discussion “What Comes After CRISPR?” – a satellite event of the Semipublic Intellectual Sessions, which took place on...
Julien Crockett, Kevin Davies, John Dupré, Hank Greely, Eben Kirksey, Amy WebbDec 6, 2021
Nicholas Carr shows how Jonas Bendiksen’s beautiful photographs “open a door onto a weird and unsettling future.”
Nicholas CarrDec 6, 2021
Barbara Kiser reviews three books about our relationship to trees and the forest.
Barbara KiserNov 2, 2021
Nathaniel Comfort reviews Howard Markel's new book about Rosalind Franklin, "The Secret of Life."
Nathaniel ComfortOct 26, 2021
Andrew Scull gives stellar marks to Allan Horwitz’s history of the DSMs.
Andrew ScullOct 25, 2021
W. Patrick McCray praises Eric Hintz’s new book on America’s independent inventors in the 20th century.
W. Patrick McCrayOct 21, 2021
The key to understanding the universe may lie in grasping the ways it replicates itself.
Andrew StarkOct 21, 2021
Louise Schiavone explains how leaves of grass in all their variety are “now a piece of the complex puzzle that might hold off carbon overload.”
Louise L. SchiavoneOct 15, 2021
George Makari describes xenophobia’s complicated history as a concept, and reveals the curious role of a lone stenographer.
George MakariOct 6, 2021
Our ideas about human extinction, including how human extinction might be prevented, have a dark history, explains Tyler Harper.
Tyler A. HarperSep 30, 2021
A review of Kathryn Paige Harden’s “The Genetic Lottery.”
Brenna M. Henn, Emily Klancher Merchant, Anne O’Connor, Tina RulliSep 21, 2021
Reviewing “Making AI Intelligible,” Paul Dicken concludes it might be easier “to build a human that can talk to a computer, rather than the other way...
Paul DickenSep 13, 2021