The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “science”

Alexander von Humboldt and the Invention of Nature: How One of the Last True Polymaths Pioneered the Cosmos of Connections
Alexander von Humboldt and the Invention of Nature: How One of the Last True Polymaths Pioneered the Cosmos of Connections

“In this great chain of causes and effects, no single fact can be considered in isolation.”

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Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: Harvard Physicist Lisa Randall on the Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe
Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: Harvard Physicist Lisa Randall on the Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe

A thrilling cosmological detective story of how the universe evolved and what made our very existence possible.

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Adam Gopnik on Darwin’s Brilliant Strategy for Preempting Criticism and the True Mark of Genius
Adam Gopnik on Darwin’s Brilliant Strategy for Preempting Criticism and the True Mark of Genius

“In the back-and-forth of a self-made contest, both sides have a shot.”

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Carl Sagan on Humility, Science as a Tool of Democracy, and the Value of Uncertainty
Carl Sagan on Humility, Science as a Tool of Democracy, and the Value of Uncertainty

“Science is a way to call the bluff of those who only pretend to knowledge… It can tell us when we’re being lied to. It provides a mid-course correction to our mistakes.”

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How Sitting Is Harming Your Body and What You Can Do to Counter Its Perils
How Sitting Is Harming Your Body and What You Can Do to Counter Its Perils

“Bodies are built for motion — not for stillness.”

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The Science of Why We Cry and the Three Types of Tears
The Science of Why We Cry and the Three Types of Tears

What stress hormones have to do with the social machinery of sympathy.

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How the Clouds Got Their Names
How the Clouds Got Their Names

How a boy who spent his schooldays staring out the classroom window shaped the science of the skies.

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Thunder & Lightning: An Extraordinary Illustrated Celebration of the Weather and Its Role in the Human Experience
Thunder & Lightning: An Extraordinary Illustrated Celebration of the Weather and Its Role in the Human Experience

Elemental enchantment at the intersection of art, science, and storytelling.

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The Poetics of Smell as a Mode of Knowledge
The Poetics of Smell as a Mode of Knowledge

“The act of smelling something, anything, is remarkably like the act of thinking itself.”

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Physicist Lisa Randall on the Sublime and the Crucial Differences Between How Art, Science, and Religion Explain the Universe
Physicist Lisa Randall on the Sublime and the Crucial Differences Between How Art, Science, and Religion Explain the Universe

“The universe is humbling. Nature hides many of its most interesting mysteries.”

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