Science

The Feminist Past History Can't Give Us

by Paula Findlen

"What it really meant to be a woman of science three centuries ago is not so easily conscripted into contemporary narratives of feminist liberation."

What Attacks on Science Get Wrong

by Andrew Jewett

Reductive diagnoses of a "war on science" ignore the specific political and cultural stakes of controversies around vaccination, climate, or creationism. 

How Americans Came to Distrust Science

by Andrew Jewett

Scientists and their supporters cannot overcome the current moment of hostility toward their profession and rejection of their expertise unless they confront the cultural history of skepticism toward science, in both conservative and liberal forms. 

Trump Is Not Fighting Science, He’s Stealing Its Authority

by Adam Laats

Donald Trump is standing athwart the scientific process and shouting "Look at Me!" His claims to discern what science is "real" are making the coronavirus crisis far more dangerous.

Will The Coronavirus Change How Skeptics Think About Science?

Naomi Oreskes, professor of the history of science at Harvard University and author of “Why Trust Science?” explores whether or not the world's lack of preparation for the coronavirus outbreak has a silver lining.

Covid-19 Changed How the World Does Science, Together

While political leaders have locked their borders, scientists have been shattering theirs, creating a global collaboration unlike any in history.

The Religious Right’s Hostility to Science Is Crippling Our Coronavirus Response

by Katherine Stewart

Trump’s response to the pandemic has been haunted by the science denialism of his ultraconservative religious allies.

Women Scientists Were Written Out of History. It’s Margaret Rossiter’s Lifelong Mission to Fix That

The historian has devoted her career to bringing to light the ingenious accomplishments of those who have been forgotten.

The Atlantic Publishes Article Encouraging "New Science of Progress"

Many historians insisted this field already exists: it's history. 

The Surprising Things Arctic Ice Can Tell Us About Human History

In a new study, scientists say that particles of lead trapped in ice in the north pole tell the story of commercial and industrial processes dating back to the Middle Ages.

Silent Spring: Why Rachel Carson’s words still ring true today

by Catherine Whitlock

Any future US president would do well to heed the likes of Rachel Carson and her successors and invest in clean energy policies, protect the environment, and promote biodiversity.

How anti-immigrant policies thwart scientific discovery

by Violet Moller

By hindering international collaboration, the Trump administration has triggered a “brain drain.”

A brief history of the enduring phony science that perpetuates white supremacy

Feauturing the reserach of historian Ibram X. Kendi. 

A History of Huntington Disease and Beyond

by Robin Lindley

A Conversation with Pioneering Neurogeneticist Dr. Thomas Bird

A brief history of black holes after the first photograph of one

This is the first direct image of something theorized for more than a century.

Historians are starting to explore the dark side of science

Scientific historians are coming to terms with the fact that science thrived in part because of the transatlantic slave trade of the 1500s to 1800s.

ROOAARRRR: 66 Million Years of Tales about the Big, Bad T-Rex Dinosaur

by Bruce Chadwick

If you love dinosaurs and/or being chased by one, this exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History is for you. Bring the kids.

NASA has an awkward history with the whole women-in-space thing

NASA canceled the first all-female spacewalk on March 26 because it only had one "readily usable" spacesuit that would fit Anne McClain and Christina Koch. 

How the Little Ice Age Changed History

Starting in the fourteenth century, cooling temperatures disrupted our economic and social structures—and may have given rise to the modern world.

The Women Who Contributed to Science but Were Buried in Footnotes

In a new study, researchers uncovered female programmers who made important but unrecognized contributions to genetics.