January-February 2007 | Harvard Magazine

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Editor’s Highlights Sign up to be notified of new issues. See a sample newsletter	Skip to primary navigation January-February 2007 Volume 109, Number 3 Jump to Section: Letters, Right Now, Montage, New England Regional, Features, John Harvard's Journal, The Alumni, The College Pump, Treasure Letters Cambridge 02138 Communicating about Cures—and Cancer The Harvard community is richly peopled with leading biomedical researchers. A few of them are doubly… Right Now Eight Americas A map of Americans’ health status and longevity resembles a microcosm of global health extremes. Although Asian-American women in Bergen… Figs Were First New archaeobotanical evidence pushes the dawn of agriculture back to 11,400 years ago, when humans living in a village eight miles north of… Unleashing Light The light microscope launched modern biology in the seventeenth century, letting scientists view the components of life that exist far beyond… Mapping Music Humans seem to have an instinct for music. Certain songs have a quality that makes us want to tap our toes and sing along. We can’t quite… Back to top Montage Ideas, Appassionato Daniel Barenboim’s prodigious musical career has generated both acclaim and controversy. In September, the pianist and conductor… Palace Indignities Alexis Gregory ’57 is a collector of Renaissance and Baroque bronzes, a member of the Harvard University Art Museums Collections Committee… Off the Shelf Modern Liberty and the Limits of Government, by Charles Fried, Beneficial professor of law (Norton, $24.95). Fried assesses individual liberty… Where the Eyeballs Are “These are trying times for political cartoonists,” observes Kevin P. Kallaugher ’77. “I’m trying something new.&#148… Iambic Imbroglio In 19 B.C., the Roman noblemen Varius and Tucca were given an extraordinary task: destroy the Aeneid. On his deathbed, Virgil asked his friends… Walls of Power Following the “decisive moment” tradition of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Carlin Wing ’02 started out doing New York street photography… Cultural Chaos Forty years ago, millions of China’s urban youth rose up in response to the Great Helmsman’s call to “bombard the… Back to top New England Regional Extracurriculars Defy the winter doldrums: attend a gospel concert, take kids to see Oliver Twist, or dip into the diverse array of exhibits on offer. This… Winter Wellness In recent years, University Marshal Jacqueline O’Neill and her daughter, Leigh, have spent part of the week between Christmas and New… Freshly French Chef Michael Leviton is sometimes called a perfectionist. “Not true; I don’t think perfection is attainable,” he explains… Back to top Features The Science of Happiness This doesn’t feel like a normal academic conference. True, the three-day Positive Psychology Summit is a sellout, with 425 attendees… Alexander Wheelock Thayer As a pianist, conductor, and composer, Ludwig van Beethoven was the most famous musician in music-crazy early-nineteenth-century Europe. He also… Ken's Story1 A “rapidly developing revolution in cancer treatment” has prompted David G. Nathan, M.D., president emeritus of Dana-Farber Cancer… The Relevant Biomedical Research The story of “smart drugs” and their role in the present cancer-treatment revolution has its roots in the nineteenth century, when a… A Cancer Battlefield Glossary abl: A normal mammalian gene that produces a tyrosine kinase enzyme that promotes growth. adenosine triphosphate (ATP): ATP, present… An "Oracle of Aqua" “Ours is a society of sensual eunuchs, impotent to the callings of the wildness within and as a result, the pull of that which resides… Back to top John Harvard's Journal The Janelia Experiment Great scientific research organizations, of the rare variety that produce multiple Nobel Prize-caliber breakthroughs, share common traits that… Allston Plan Imminent Harvard is expected to file with the City of Boston, early in January, an institutional master plan that maps out development of the Allston… The $3-Billion University Harvard came within an eyelash of crossing the $3-billion threshold in annual revenues and expenses for the fiscal year ended last June… Erin O'Shea “I have a personality that’s like, if I’m going to do something, it’s going to be done well, period,” says Erin… "House-Poor" An unusual “Dean’s Letter on the Finances of the Faculty,” presented to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) on October 17… A New Script for One L The experience of first-year students at Harvard Law School, famously chronicled by survivors Scott Turow, J.D. ’78, in One L, and John J… Yesterday's News 1917 — T.W. Lamont ’92, chairman of the Harvard Endowment Committee, announces a novel plan to raise $10 million for the permanent… Legal Legroom An aerial view of the proposed new building, looking northwest from a vantage point above the Science Center Rendering courtesy of… Education for Life After three years of inconclusive work on a new general-education component for the College, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) appears to… Curriculum, Classroom, Competence While acknowledging that the curriculum is the faculty’s “sacred domain,” President Derek Bok nonetheless said at the October… Increasingly Electronic Libraries From 1998 through 2005, University library holdings increased by 1.62 million volumes—11.6 percent. But during the same period, the number… Medicine Man When Joseph B. Martin relinquishes the deanship of Harvard Medical School (HMS) at the end of the academic year—a decision announced on… Exemplary Contributors With great pleasure, the editors recognize four contributors to Harvard Magazine during 2006, awarding each $1,000 for their distinguished… Faculty, Family, Diversity In her first annual report, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ (FAS) senior advisor to the dean on diversity issues has highlighted recent… Part History, Part Literature In 1906, Professor Barrett Wendell ’77 created a program in history and literature for Harvard undergraduates. In a later speech to the… Brevia Design Departure Alan A. Altshuler Kris Snibbe / Harvard News Office Alan A. Altshuler, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design… Crimson in Congress In the aftermath of last November’s elections for the 110th Congress, one Harvard alumnus stood very much alone. Representative Thomas… A Crutch or an Anchor? Stumbling along Mount Auburn Street on my way to my Social Studies 10 lecture, I barely manage to juggle Wealth of Nations, this… Who Let the Dogs Out? The Yale bulldog, muzzled by Harvard for five straight years, broke loose at the Stadium on November 18 and went on a tear. Closing out an Ivy… Forecourt Phenoms In the world of college squash, Harvard was once a perennial national champion. The Crimson have bagged 30 such titles, far more than any other… Back to top The Alumni Science and Sculpture Behind Michael Burke’s childhood home in rural New Jersey stands a series of his aluminum sculptures. Called Quantum Stream, these seven… A Special Notice Regarding Commencement Exercises Morning Exercises, Thursday, June 7, 2007 To accommodate the increasing number of those wishing to attend Harvard’s Commencement Exercises… Comings and Goings University clubs offer a variety of social and intellectual events. Following is a partial list of Harvard-affiliated speakers appearing at… Radcliffe and Other "Shared Interest Groups" Among the University’s new Shared Interest Groups (SIGs) is the fledgling Alumnae and Friends of Radcliffe College, led by Ellen Gordon… Eternal Creatures Top: A nudibranch. Bottom: A “by-the-wind sailor” sea jelly. Photographs courtesy of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology… Ultimate Islander There are almost 5,000 islands off the coast of Maine, most large enough only for a few tern or osprey nests, but some the size of a small city… Writer, Reformer, Physician-in-Training As an undergraduate volunteering at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, Sachin Jain ’02 couldn’t help but notice that many of its… Studies Nature, Will Travel From the highest treetops to the tiniest anthills on the ground below, Mark Moffett, Ph.D. ’87, has seen it all. An expert in insects and… Back to top The College Pump Harvard in Epigram "Your wooden arm you hold outstretched to shake with passers-by." Word of Fred R. Shapiro, J.D. ’77 (’80), in these… Back to top Treasure Industrial Lives Professor Donald Davenport of the Harvard Business School hoped to teach the incipient captains of industry in his classroom, who tended to look…

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