He Spoke for the Trees (and Also the Soil)
A champion of agroforestry, J. Russell Smith argued for the restoration of forests as key to sustainable agriculture in his seminal work Tree Crops.
Performing Forensics: Doctors Becoming Expert Witnesses
Doctors in skeptical Scotland had to persuade the courts to listen to them, in part because of the historical animosity between the professions of law and medicine.
Leviathan Resurrected: Illustration and Astronomy
In the 1840s, the Leviathan of Parsonstown, built by William Parsons, third Earl of Rosse, became the largest telescope in the world.
Natural History: A Reading List
This annotated bibliography samples scholarship on the rich—and difficult—history of natural history.
Colliding Plasma Ejections From the Sun Generate Huge Geomagnetic Storms
Studying them will help scientists monitor future space weather.
State Politics and Public Lands Management
Judging by past executive orders, the US president’s newest policies on public lands may turn federal responsibilities over to state or local governments.
Tiny Splendid Peacock Spiders
They have the fastest known jump among their kind according to a new study.
A History of Fire
It’s only as we brought fire under better control that we stopped thinking so much about it—and, with climate change, that may be shifting again.
The First Lunar Lander and the Great Moon Dust Debate
In 1966, the Soviet Union’s Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon, helping to resolve questions about the nature of the lunar surface.
Wolfsbane: A Poisonous Beauty
With a complex history related to hunting, magic, and madness, wolfsbane offers a glimpse into vernacular plant names and their associations with animals.