An Islamic Approach to Environmentalism
A number of contemporary Muslim environmentalist groups have been inspired by Koranic verses that stress the conservation of nature.
Could Foreign Policy Stop Another Pandemic?
Diseases know no borders. International cooperation and solidarity, say scholars, are as essential as funding.
What’s the Difference between Pandemic, Epidemic, and Outbreak?
The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic. What exactly does that mean?
Boccaccio’s Medicine
In the Decameron of Boccaccio, friends tell one another stories of love to while away the hours of quarantine.
When Coffee Cargo Was Quarantined
In the 1800s, sick passengers weren’t blamed for disease epidemics—their baggage and cargo was.
How Emily Dickinson Wrestled with Darwinism
The current vogue for the Amherst poet needs to give credit to the way she readily examined her childhood ideas about fixed and immutable truth.
The Protestant Astrology of Early American Almanacs
The wildly popular books helped people understand farming and health through the movement of the planets, in a way compatible with Protestantism.
When Scientific Management Came to Japan
Japanese workers, many of them women, worked up to 17 hours a day in the early 20th century. Yet experts still wondered why they “wasted” time.
Are Viruses Alive? Define Life.
Scientists have different ideas about whether viruses are living beings. But they have solid advice on how to destroy them: wash up.
Upside-Down Jellyfish and the Mucus of Death
You could get stung by a jellyfish even when there don't seem to be any around. Meet Cassiopea xamachana and its "stinging water" weirdness.