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Five Questions with JoAnn Manson
… For more than 30 years, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a historic, federally … It is hard to overstate the breadth and significance of the WHI’s research. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the initiative to make up for a …
Why the Internet of Things Is Big Business
… For those outside Silicon Valley , the “Internet of Things” is a buzzword often associated with … Review (HBR) last fall. Sensors in gadgets, appliances, and machines generate an unprecedented and growing volume of …
Issue: July-August 2015
The Neurobiology of Art
… When Monet's Impressio n Sunrise, a sensuous if sleepy painting of Le Havre's harbor, debuted in 1874, it enraged critics. They abhorred the loose brush strokes and unpolished lines …
Issue: July-August 2003
The Art of the Dean
… When she assumed the office in August 2018, Claudine Gay was unusually well prepared to become dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). She knew the …
Issue: September-October 2021
“The Story of the Human Body”
… as 600 generations ago, our species lived as hunter-gatherers, says Daniel Lieberman , Lerner professor of biological sciences and chair of the department … more soft, processed food. Rates of osteoporosis are on the rise, a fact Lieberman attributes to declines in the …
The Future of Marriage
… When I came to Harvard in 1970, the model for many young people was the wedding in Love … to lose her to an early death, the University's Plummer professor of Christian morals and Pusey minister dubs the … increase in any demographer's view — and continues to rise. The cause? "We've pinned this one down to 'the pill' …
Issue: November-December 2004
The Gamut of Grades from A to B
… Slightly more than half the grades given to Harvard undergraduates during the past … and across course sizes," as highlighted for Faculty of Arts and Sciences members in a letter from Susan … sciences. These distinctions aside, grades generally have risen, with the mean increasing from 11.7 to 12.7 on …
Issue: January-February 2002
At Home with Harvard: The Real History of Women at Harvard
… This round-up is part of Harvard Magazine ’s series “At Home with Harvard,” a … watch, listen to, and do while social distancing. Read the prior pieces, featuring stories about Harvard’s Arnold … the admission of women, the Harvard-Radcliffe merger, the rise of women in the faculty ranks, Harvard’s first woman …
The Power of Plants
… Often overlooked, plants are arguably the most indispensable inhabitants of the planet. They … art, and sparked scientific exploration. Empires have risen on their fruits, and fortunes have been made from …
Stop the Presses
… Harvard has gotten out of the printing business for the third time in its history. On … some necessary subsequent new hiring, the entire enterprise was down to between 50 and 60 people before the recent …
Issue: September-October 2002
The Poet of Needle Park
… The Poet of Needle Park : He is surely the most famous Harvard-educated heroin addict, and one of the most famous addicts anywhere: William Seward … in the quiet college town of Lawrence, Kansas. Having surprised everyone by living into his eighties, he sustained his …
Seeing Methane from Space
… a major climate change challenge: targeting emissions of methane, a gas with a much shorter lifespan in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide but 80 times the warming … for the gas, researchers spanning Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Harvard-Smithsonian …
Mechanical Intelligence and Counterfeit Humanity
… late at night and all alone, I sat down to take control of the PDP-4 computer in the Center for Cognitive Studies on … humans could treat other humans as subhuman and electronic machines as human. Weizenbaum spent the rest of his career, …
Issue: July-August 2024
The Untold Story of Watercolors
… Watercolors are finally having their moment at Harvard Art Museums’ (HAM) new exhibition … “American Watercolors, 1880-1990: Into the Light.” Composed of 100 paintings usually kept in storage, the exhibit … changing interests and perspectives that are characteristic of our own moment,” said Abrams curator of drawings Joachim …
Faith through Film
… Among a sea of black hats, Salvador Alexander Litvak ’87 sported a white fedora. His color palette was not the only thing setting him apart from the 92,000 revelers at … religious Christians expressed excitement. That did not surprise Litvak—he says many Christians follow his Accidental …
Issue: May-June 2025