Mario Livio on his new book about human curiosity, his work as an astrophysicist, and why we shouldn’t fear our expanding universe.
Search results
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Story
As Innocuous as Plant No. 1
William Vollman enters the radioactive red zone to visit the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Unapologetic Women
Curiosity, Unfettered: Margaret Atwood as the Prophet of Dystopia
Rebecca Mead’s profile in The New Yorker covers the resonance of The Handmaid’s Tale in Donald Trump’s America.
Posted inBooks
Late in Life, Thoreau Became a Serious Darwinist
But he died before he could finish his book on natural history. As Emerson put it, Thoreau “depart[ed] out of Nature before… he has been really shown to his peers for what he is.”
Posted inBooks, Story
Late in Life, Thoreau Became a Serious Darwinist
But he died before he could finish his book on natural history. As Emerson put it, Thoreau “depart[ed] out of Nature before… he has been really shown to his peers for what he is.”
Posted inNonfiction
The Louisiana Environmental Apocalypse Road Trip
Louisiana serves as a terrifying example of what can become of a state that shortchanges science and environmental regulations to boost industry and infrastructure.
Posted inBooks, First Chapters, History, Story
The Woman Who Smashed Codes: America’s Secret Weapon in World War II
How “know-nothings” Elizebeth Smith Friedman and William F. Friedman became the greatest codebreakers of their era.
Posted inReading List
A Reading List Inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins
I used the seven deadly sins–lust, gluttony, envy, greed, sloth, pride, and anger — as the springboard for choosing these stories. 1. LUST: “Eileen Myles on the Excruciating Pain of Waiting for Love.” (Eileen Myles, The Cut, February 2016) Poet and novelist Eileen Myles muses on a summer fling that should’ve lasted forever. 2. GLUTTONY: […]
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction
What Ever Happened to Planet Vulcan?
The story of the planet closest to our sun, aptly named Vulcan, which accidentally existed for half a century.
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2016: Science Writing
We asked a few writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here, the best in science writing.
