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Rx for the Books
… odor—it may have a disease. So collections conservator Ethel Hellman asks colleagues in the circulation and acquisition departments of Harvard libraries to keep their eyes (and noses) open for … with discoloration or unusual scents, the telltale signs of mold. But by the time a book begins to smell, the fungus …
Issue: January-February 2009
A Gate of Whimsy
… By Harvard standards, the gate outside Lamont Library wasn’t really a gate. “It was just an extension of the fencing,” says Nazneen Cooper, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ assistant dean of campus design and …
Issue: March-April 2021
Commencement and Alumni Events
… and leading free-press advocate Maria Ressa, co-winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. See … of the ceremony, the graduating seniors are asked to rise, and their degrees are conferred on them as a group by …
Issue: May-June 2024
Off the Shelf
… (Mariner, $36.99). With customary brio, Hochschild relates the politically hellish time, even by today’s standards, … vigilantism, and hysterical reactions to the possibility of a domestic Communist revolution strained the system of law as never before. The subtitle, about “democracy’s …
Issue: January-February 2023
AI and Democracy
… History will look back on 2024 as the first AI election, said Shorenstein Center director … event, “ AI and its Implications for Democracy.” That sense of the historical moment pervaded the ensuing conversation … among participants, who stressed the unprecedented nature of current technological progress. Paul professor of the …
Out of Cambridge
… The Boston I knew at the beginning of the semester was … There’s plenty to explore, and I’ve learned to expect surprises. In predominantly white South Boston, I encountered a …
Issue: January-February 2012
On the Road with Death
… In a world where buses are "flying coffins" and "moving morgues" and pedestrians should tremble, … family in a rented Toyota Tercel on a two-lane highway in the interior of the Dominican Republic when an on-coming … list of leading causes of disability, but are projected to rise to third place by 2020 as the number of motor vehicles …
Issue: November-December 2002
Saluting the 2022 Centennial Medalists
… The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal, first awarded in 1989 on the occasion of the school’s hundredth anniversary, honors alumni who …
Scanning the Social Sciences
… have gone out inviting senior faculty members from across the University, nominated by the deans of their respective schools, to participate in planning for a broad review of the way Harvard handles the social sciences. The list of …
Issue: May-June 2008
The Jesus’s Wife Fragment: The Scientific Evidence
… In September 2012, Hollis professor of divinity Karen L. King made international headlines when she revealed the existence of a fragmentary, apparently ancient, text in …
“This Is a Battle of Ideas”
… Attendance at the afternoon portion of Harvard’s 366th Commencement Day … Puddles formed on the empty chairs. The plastic cups of beer from the Yard’s refreshments tent ran over with …
Voltage, Cheap and Dirty
… Call it the high-voltage version of the law of unintended … as prices and market barriers fall, demand for power will rise. Electricity produced by coal plants--located primarily …
Harvard Class of 2025 Needs Overflow Housing
… Anticipating a larger student body than usual , the Harvard College Dean of Students Office (DSO) has announced additional housing locations for …
Neural-Network Pioneer Yann LeCun on AI and Physics
… The machine-learning revolution has touched every area of … consequences of his work, even as public scrutiny of AI rises. A Loeb lecture that delves into morality would be …
The 140th Harvard-Yale: Game Fandom Tiny Mic Edition
… The Harvard-Yale football game, a tradition more than a century old, stands as one of the most storied rivalries in American collegiate sports. … athletic competition. The Game is a living chronicle of academic prestige, social identity, and American history. …