The great man of science had more than a passing interest in alchemy.
By Sam Kean
Two neighborhoods—Montmartre and Montparnasse—helped shape Picasso and a generation of innovators.
By James Panero
The brief success of Harlem's own record company.
By David Suisman
In 1860, John C. Breckinridge ran for president against Lincoln, and broke the Democrats in two.
By Meredith Hindley
In the early days of basketball, the girls from Fort Shaw Indian School took on all comers.
By Delia Cabe
It’s easy enough to wander through the Asian art wing of a large museum and skim over the fine print.
By Lauren Viera
George Mason swore he would rather "chop off his right hand" than sign the Constitution.
By Pauline Maier
Long indecipherable letters, written in ink made from crushed seeds, are now readable through spectral imaging.
By Anna Maria Gillis
The slave trade by the numbers.
By James Williford
Rome's ruthless upstart was really a savvy insider, until fortune turned her back on him.
By Edward Champlin
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July/August 2013
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Humboldt in the New World
Journeying through South America, Alexander von Humboldt sought nothing less than "the unity of nature."
Done with Tolstoy
Famed translators Pevear and Volokhonsky reach another milestone.
By Kevin Mahnken
A Workingman's Poet
Frankness and plain speaking made Carl Sandburg a celebrity.
By Danny Heitman
The Blue Humanities
In studying the sea, we are returning to our beginnings.
By John R. Gillis
Ralph Waldo Emerson
What accounts for Emerson's endurance as a writer?
By By Danny Heitman