During the years leading up to the Civil War and in the years immediately following it, various Christian groups used the Bible either to support slavery or to condemn it. One... Read More

The proper pursuit of any science involves the knowledge of many disciplines, and archaeology should be no exception. Some archaeologists and anthropologists, however, disregard... Read More

In America at least, the old joke warns friends never to discuss religion or politics over drinks or dinner lest their conversation turn them into mortal enemies. Ever since the... Read More

“If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago,” says Edward O. Wilson. “If... Read More

Physicists argue that the amounts of matter and antimatter were equal when the universe began, but shortly after, antimatter became extremely rare in the part of the universe we... Read More

Hot lights and dozens of cameras point at a Supreme Court nominee seated behind a long table. Sharp questions crackle from Senators on the Judiciary Committee and the candidates... Read More

Warning: Do not trust fiction that offers “the temptation of the impossible.” That was critic Alphonse de Lamartine’s 1862 reaction to Victor Hugo’s gargantuan novel,... Read More

Enthusiastic overindulgence in drugs and/or alcohol has characterized the lifestyles of many artists of all persuasions, but not since De Quincy has a writer made what amounts... Read More

There are few social theories on which a Victorian male scholar and a modern feminist would agree, but the suppression of women in Ancient Greece is one of them. According to... Read More

Goddesses have always formed a pervasive and important aspect of Indian Buddhism, but until recently, they have received little in-depth attention from academics. The author... Read More

“What wisteria and alcohol are to Faulkner, and fishing and bullfights to Hemingway, rudeness is to Roth,” writes the author. “It seems to be everywhere in his books—a... Read More

“Trying to get an education at Princeton is like trying to get a drink of water from a fire hydrant,” observed a student in 1994. Such high praise for the intellectual... Read More