econophysics

Sociophysics and Econophysics, the Future of Social Science?

Can empirical data about human behavior make the “soft” sciences more like the “hard” ones? New interdisciplinary fields are voting yes.
St Cuthbert Gospel

Why Europe’s Oldest Intact Book Was Found in a Saint’s Coffin

The St. Cuthbert Gospel is the earliest surviving intact European book. Some time around 698, it was slipped into the coffin of a saint.
Tunnel View Point at Yosemite National Park

Will National Parks Disappear Due to Climate Change?

Temperatures and droughts have spiked at much higher rates in parks than elsewhere.
black lung coal mining

The Militant Miners Who Exposed the Horrors of Black Lung

This grassroots movement brought occupational health to American labor, paving the way for the creation of OSHA.
octopus eye

Trauma, Disaster, and Partying Octopuses

Well-researched stories from Public Books, NPR, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
puritan execution

Puritan True Crime

Cotton Mather and other 17th-century American writers created a genre all their own: Puritan gallows literature, which both terrified and edified.
a group of silhouettes with different brain patterns including puzzle pieces, flowers, a stock market chart

When Do We Have Empathy For People Living with Mental Illness?

Do we feel more empathy for those living with mental disorders when there's a biological explanation versus a psychosocial one for their condition?
Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein, Teacher

Leonard Bernstein was a famous composer, conductor, and pianist. But by some accounts, his favorite accomplishment was teaching children about music.
Charles Dickens in 1858 writing at a desk

Charles Dickens and Fame vs. Celebrity

Many of our current celebrities are famous for being famous. Charles Dickens, the first self-made global media star, would've had a lot to say about this.
A group of Victorian children playing in a park

The Magazine That Put Children in Their Place

Children's literature hasn't always been about whimsy. This early magazine sought to retrench the elite in the publishing and education industries.