History

A 14th-century tale still promotes dubious origins behind the deadliest known pandemic

Hungry for more light to find insects, this scientist championed the “unscientific and impractical” idea of changing time

The Italian scientist who sparked an electric revolution that led to the beloved horror story—and the battery

Martin Gardner wanted to make math mathemagical

A young music student lifted nearly 300 rare bird specimens from a British museum

See original manuscripts, letters, photos, and jokes from luminaries like Rosalind Franklin, Aaron Klug, and Linus Pauling

The quest for better tools is more ancient than we thought

The first map of the Atlantic seafloor revealed a dynamic world under the waves

From medical diagram to international artwork

For millennia, artisans have been trying to capture the mystique of the human eye

What happens when we backpedal on basic science

Cave remains found in Israel point to unique, locally specific culinary practices among our ancient ancestors