Books & Arts |
Featured
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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Editorial |
Vive la révolution
Tunisia's nascent democracy, promoting justice, human rights and intellectual freedom, needs to be celebrated and encouraged.
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News Feature |
Conservation biology: The end of the wild
Climate change means that national parks of the future won't look like the parks of the past. So what should they look like?
- Emma Marris
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Books & Arts |
History: Radioactive romance
Giovanni Frazzetto is captivated by an illustrated biography of Marie and Pierre Curie.
- Giovanni Frazzetto
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Comment |
What lies ahead
Ten leading chemists set priorities for the forthcoming decades, and reveal the scientists they find inspiring.
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Obituary |
Frank Fenner (1914–2010)
A guiding light of the campaign to eradicate smallpox.
- Donald A. Henderson
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Books & Arts |
In retrospect: The Sceptical Chymist
Robert Boyle's widely misunderstood book elevated the status of chemistry, explains Lawrence Principe.
- Lawrence Principe
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Comment |
Beyond the bond
More than ever before, new techniques show the bond to be a convenient fiction, albeit one that holds the field of chemistry together, finds Philip Ball.
- Philip Ball
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News |
300-year-old engravings shed light on women in science
Copperplates unearthed in Oxford show the illustrative skills of naturalist Martin Lister's teenage daughters.
- Eugenie Samuel Reich
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Books & Arts |
History: Science fit for a king
Laura Spinney visits a Versailles exhibition of curiosities.
- Laura Spinney
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Research Highlights |
Anthropology: DNA from across the ocean
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Outlook |
History: The changing notion of food
The pioneers of nutrition research determined the energy content of food and also helped to overturn misconceptions about various diseases that plagued humankind.
- Ned Stafford
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Outlook |
Epigenetics: Tales of adversity
Genetic studies of people conceived during famine reveals that prenatal malnutrition lingers long after the event.
- Farooq Ahmed
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News |
Fossil genome reveals ancestral link
A distant cousin raises questions about human origins.
- Ewen Callaway
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Books & Arts |
Neuroscience: Opiates for the people
W. F. Bynum applauds an open-minded exhibition on the history of recreational drugs.
- W. F. Bynum
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News |
Letters defend Nobel laureate against Nazi charges
Peter Debye may have been an Allied informer.
- Philip Ball
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Books & Arts |
Conservation: China's national treasure
The panda's plight shows how protection often vies with economic necessity, finds Jane Qiu.
- Jane Qiu
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Books & Arts |
History: Catching up with the Sun
Douglas Gough enjoys a wide-ranging tour of the many influences of our nearest star.
- Douglas Gough
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News Feature |
Ancient astronomy: Mechanical inspiration
The ancient Greeks' vision of a geometrical Universe seemed to come out of nowhere. Could their ideas have come from the internal gearing of an ancient mechanism?
- Jo Marchant
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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Obituary |
Benoît Mandelbrot (1924–2010)
Mathematician, and father of fractal geometry, who described the roughness of nature.
- Ralph Gomory
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Books & Arts |
History: Franklin, centre stage
Josie Glausiusz enjoys a play capturing the zeal and backstabbing in the race to discover DNA's structure.
- Josie Glausiusz
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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Obituary |
John Huchra (1948–2010)
Astronomer who mapped the structure of the Universe.
- Robert Kirshner
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Books & Arts |
In retrospect: The five lives of the psychiatry manual
Roy Richard Grinker describes the military origins of the key reference work for diagnosing mental illness.
- Roy Richard Grinker
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News |
Researchers launch hunt for endangered data
Global effort will catalogue information languishing in drawers and basements.
- Linda Nordling
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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News Feature |
Cities: The century of the city
The explosion in urban population looks set to continue through the twenty-first century, presenting challenges and opportunities for scientists.
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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Obituary |
George C. Williams (1926–2010)
Incisive thinker who influenced a generation of evolutionary biologists.
- Axel Meyer
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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Books & Arts |
History: The light and shade of German science
From physiology to physics, a stirring exhibition reflects 300 years of science in Berlin, discovers Alison Abbott.
- Alison Abbott
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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Books & Arts |
Policy: Towards nuclear zero
Fact-packed final volume of a quartet on nuclear security is required reading, writes Joseph Cirincione.
- Joseph Cirincione
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Comment |
The lost correspondence of Francis Crick
Alexander Gann and Jan Witkowski unveil newly found letters between key players in the DNA story. Strained relationships and vivid personalities leap off the pages.
- Alexander Gann
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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Books & Arts |
Monkey business
Walton Ford's painting of a historical primate banquet belongs to a rich tradition of exploring the 'human animal', explains Martin Kemp.
- Martin Kemp
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
Culture: Natural colour
Basic research: goddess and cow
Preserving social difference
An embellished tale of Pluto's discovery