Features

A woman gazes at large decorative letters with her reflection and two stylized faces beside them.

The True Cost of Grade Inflation at Harvard

How an abundance of A’s created “the most stressed-out world of all.”

by Lindsay Mitchell

Henry James Sr. poses with his son Henry Jr. at Mathew Brady’s studio in New York City, 1854.

From Daguerreotype to Photoshop

Art historian Robin Kelsey examines photographs of all kinds to reveal what they say about human history, society, and culture.

by Craig Lambert

Richard Wilbur

Poetic Patriarch

Craig Lambert profiles the poet Richard Wilbur.

by Craig Lambert

Tail of the panther chameleon, <em>Furcifer pardalis</em>, of Madagascar. The same species appears on the cover (below, right). Chameleons do not change color to match their backgrounds, but to communicate excitement, anger, fear, and other emotions.

Animals Speak Color

Kit Reed introduces an exhibition at the Harvard Museum of Natural History that reveals the different roles color plays in the animal and plant kingdoms.

by Christopher Reed

Albert Gallatin Browne Jr.

William P. MacKinnon profiles the early war correspondent who covered the Utah War against the Mormon government of Brigham Young.

by William P. MacKinnon

Decoding Diabetes

Elizabeth Gudrais reports on how discoveries in genetics, cell metabolism, and the study of small molecules point the way to new therapies and perhaps a cure for diabetes.

by Elizabeth Gudrais

Albert Bickmore

Brief life of a museum impresario: 1839-1914

by Victoria Cain

Seriously Funny

Ian Frazier combines an historian's discipline with an original comic mind...

by Craig Lambert

Art historian Yukio Lippit in the Japanese merchant's house at the Boston Children's Museum.

Works and Woods

Architecture and ecology in Japan...

by Paul Gleason

The Economic Agenda

Challenges facing the next president

How to Reduce Air Pollution in China

Market-based policies for air-pollution control

by Mun S. Ho