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“Cowboy Doctors” and Health Costs
… up U.S. healthcare costs? A recent study by Harvard professors and colleagues revealed that the culprits may be “cowboy doctors”—physicians who provide … to the primary-care physician. Meanwhile, medical bills rise. Traditionally, researchers attempt to get a picture of …
Issue: September-October 2015
Sustainability Made Simple
… The forms taken by human shelters are changing as architects … more compactly, and focus attention on the essential beauty of the natural world. This article appears in two parts; … “Driving through a blizzard,” he adds, “was a form of sport.” Now there’s just not that much snow. The lake …
Issue: July-August 2010
How the Mind Assigns Meaning to Words
… How does the brain process language—using sounds to form words, and assigning words their meaning? Recording the activity of single neurons in the language region of patients undergoing deep brain stimulation, researchers …
Issue: November-December 2024
A Faculty’s Vision
… On July 28, Harvard’s neighbor published the final report of the Institute-wide Task Force on the Future of MIT Education, and obligingly made it available for …
Issue: November-December 2014
Prodigies’ Progress
… Editor’s note: In her new book, Ann Hulbert ’77 explores the fascination with child genius over the past century in America. She probes the stories of 16 exceptionally gifted young people, including two … Yale law professor Amy Chua [’84, J.D. ’87] offered a reprise, featuring her more conventional superdaughters. In …
Issue: January-February 2018
A Goodly Company
… in a little town on Cape Cod. I would ride my bicycle to the local library, housed in a converted Victorian house … dark, cool and musty inside. There I experienced the thrill of independence and—owing to the ten book borrowing maximum—the agony of choice. I spent hours considering and reconsidering my …
Issue: September-October 2014
Mary Ellen Avery
… Mary Ellen Avery finally began to walk, at 19 months, her mother wrote, “Having discovered she could walk, she kept … steadily at it.” That observation characterized the rest of Mel Avery’s life. From childhood on, she clearly had an outsized sense of self and purpose and a zest for new experiences that help …
Amalie M. Kass , Eleanor G. Shore
Issue: March-April 2018
The (Truly) Great Outdoors
… Most of us have spent more time than usual at home lately. With spring comes the chance to branch out—literally—by venturing outside, … want to beautify the space you’re in, there are plenty of helpful options right in our own backyards. First, …
Issue: March-April 2021
How to Beat the Heat
… Go to the bottom of the world and (almost) to the top. You’ll be … I was an enthusiastic English concentrator, but I was surprised now to learn so much about the English department of … to occupy his time on a train journey to Chicago. I was surprised to learn that Professor John M. Bullitt, the first …
Issue: September-October 2013
Talking about Teaching, Part III: Using the University’s Collections
… The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) concluded its … in later discussion, she noted that the exhibition has arisen from a graduate seminar in General Education, where … learning is always going to be a smaller enterprise here," compared to larger lecture-based instruction. …
Who Let the Dogs Out?
… The Yale bulldog, muzzled by Harvard for five straight … out an Ivy League season made memorable by the exploits of Crimson running back Clifton Dawson, Yale’s 34-13 victory gave the Eli the co-championship of the league (shared with Princeton) and consigned Harvard …
Issue: January-February 2007
"Effective Treatment Everywhere"
… Last fall, President Lawrence S. Bacow and University of Michigan president Mark S. Schlissel announced a research and public-policy partnership between the two institutions focusing on the issues of poverty and … everyone.” Deaths among African Americans are continuing to rise, though the opioid mortality rate is still lower than …
Scaffolding and Science
… Photograph by Jim Harrison Byerly Hall is known to tens of thousands of would-be Harvard College students as the home of undergraduate admissions. No longer. Those …
Issue: September-October 2007
Watch Out
… As you stroll along a summer beach, you may be on the lookout for shells, among other sights. Many are … and oyster shells on a Cape Cod beach may remind you of delectables to eat. You may pick up and pocket that … octopuses, and other invertebrates that together comprise almost a quarter of all known marine species. A display …
Issue: July-August 2012
Creative Ventures
… If any place exemplifies the pleasures of shopping locally, it’s Ouimille. The … Mawr Books, Cambridge Mercantile, Formaggio Kitchen, Hi-Rise Bread Company, and the restaurants La Royal and …
Issue: November-December 2024