The physics behind the fun: roller coasters provide so many examples of basic principles that they are a staple of physics lessons. 

The 1800 election saw America's first contested presidential campaigns: Thomas Jefferson vs. John Adams.

The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Thomas Jefferson was not then credited with its authorship.

Our Friday Reads are these five new books out this week, and links to related content you won’t find anywhere else. 

What's in an egg cream? No eggs. No cream. And a dose of mafia history.

Canada Day celebrates a country that, like so many in the world, is in fact a superimposition onto older lands and cultures.

A political scientist argues that Harry Potter can be used to teach students about politics, institutional behavior, globalization, and identity. 

Want to get away this summer? Come daydream with us to the kitchen of Julia Child, in the south of France...

The lens, a tool technology that helps make the invisible world visible, brought a revolutionary perspective to our descriptions of nature.

Dr. Robert Paine's "keystone species" concept was a profound discovery that changed the field of ecology forever.