November December 2005
Einstein
The Jew and the Genius by Karen C. Fox
The world's greatest scientist possessed perhaps the world's least predictable mind. Over the course of his lifetime, Albert Einstein consistently demonstrated the maddening ability to challenge convictions, embrace contradictions, and see the error of everyone else's ways.

Faith-Based Space by Katharine Dunn
Some of the world's leading cosmologists believe they will solve the biggest mysteries of the universe with the laws of physics and the lens of the telescope. Others cast their eyes to the heavens and cite God as an explanation for what we cannot prove or understand. All of them agree: The truths of life will reveal themselves—if only we're observant.

Soulful Reasoning by Marianna Krejci-Papa
When it comes to ethical issues in science, looking to our religious traditions for guidance can be tricky. Still, biologist Robert Pollack leans on his faith as he takes a measured, provocative approach to the questions surrounding stem cell research, women's rights, and that which makes us human.

Putting Stock in Values by Paul O'Donnell
It used to be that ethical investors simply shunned companies whose practices they didn't agree with. Today, the relationship between one's money and one's morals has become more intricate, with shareholders influencing corporate practice in surprising ways.

Born Supremacy? by Elizabeth Svoboda
This year, millions of us will take IQ tests in order to learn where we fall on the scale of intelligence. Most scientists would try to convince us that our score, like our potential, was decided at birth—that smarts and skill are a matter of genetics. But a small band of dissenters is out to prove we can, quite literally, make up our own minds.

The Entertainment Enlightenment by Chhavi Sachdev and Karen Freeman
Pop culture often gets a bad rap for enforcing stereotypes and glorifying violence, but muslim comic Shazia Mirza and singer-songwriter Michael Franti stand out for spreading messages of tolerance and harmony.

September October 2005
Evolution
The Courtship of Charles Darwin by Edward J. Larson
Controversy over whether scientific or biblical explanations of life's origins should be taught in our public schools took root eighty years ago in Tennessee. Today, evolutionists and creationists are engaged in a nationwide legal battle.

America's Evolving Problem by Michael Ruse
This country has long been divided—science versus religion, progressive versus traditionalist. Which is why even the best-supported theory about the origin of our species is going to be an unnatural selection for some.

All in the Family by Frans de Waal
They look like us, they act like us, they mate like us. In fact, if you look an ape in the eye long enough and hard enough, you might just catch a glimpse of where we came from.

Across the Great Divide by Trey Popp
An international network of community groups is trying to reintroduce a sorely needed trait to the science-religion dialogue: civility.

In the Name of the Father by Marianna Krejci-Papa
Ernan McMullin believes that if we heed the words of a fourth century catholic philosopher, we might bridge the gap between faith and reason.

The Drug Dealer by Elizabeth Svoboda
The only nonprofit pharmaceutical company in the world is set to launch a vaccine that could change life for thousands of people in the developing world.

The Building of Kinship by Susan DeBow
In responding to a medical crisis, four children show their mother the family unit is stronger and healthier than she ever imagined. Raising kids, it turns out, is an art, not a science.


July August 2005
Poverty
Paying the Pauper by Daphne Eviatar
Big promises of big checks from big governments have propelled global poverty to center stage in 2005, but can poor countries really bank on aid from the developed world in hopes of turning things around?

On the Front Lines by Jerry Sternin
If we want to help impoverished nations, we can start by finding the world's leading problem solvers—the handful of people in each and every poor community who have found solutions to malnutrition, disease, or inequity without any help from the outside.

A Call to Arms by Mamphela Ramphele
While economists joust over development models and politicians negotiate aid policies, one of Africa's leading voices on social justice reminds us that science and technology are the crucial weapons in fighting poverty.

Science Is My Savior by Michael Shermer
Two Pilgrims' Progress: Part 1 One was an evangelical Christian who wanted to be a theologian until he found science and became skeptical of religion. The other studied biology and chemistry, deducing God was an illusion until faith brought him a deeper understanding of the natural world. Now, the doubter and the believer to go head-to-head on faith, fidelity, and that dirty little word: atheism.

God As My Guide by Alister McGrath
Two Pilgrims' Progress: Part 2 One was an evangelical Christian who wanted to be a theologian until he found science and became skeptical of religion. The other studied biology and chemistry, deducing God was an illusion until faith brought him a deeper understanding of the natural world. Now, the doubter and the believer go head-to-head on faith, fidelity, and that dirty little word: atheism.

Something to Remember Me By by Paul O'Donnell
Deeply rooted in western religions, the practice of writing ethical wills has re-emerged as a way of leaving behind something more meaningful than material goods.

Indispensable Pests by Josie Glausiusz
Whether we fear them, ignore them, or try to destroy them, bugs are, to most of us, an inevitable nuisance. It might come as a surprise, then, just how intimately our survival is linked to theirs.


May June 2005
Time
Time Out by Bill McKibben
Our relationship with time has become abusive of late . We take it for granted, milk it for all it's worth, then watch it slip away from us as we rush headlong toward tomorrow without regard for the consequences of how we spend today.

Inside the Cuckoo Clock by Michael Ruse
Our biology compels us to live in the present—which is why we're up to our elbows in garbage, pollution fills the atmosphere, and the Earth is holding more people than ever before. If it sounds crazy, that's because it is.

On the Brink of Eternity by Sir Martin Rees
We may be but a blip on the cosmological timeline, but we are uniquely positioned to shape the here, the now, and the far future—if there is one.

Where Poppies Grow by David Wolman
In the mud and desolation of battlegrounds past, forensic investigators search for remains of the dead. Often, a tooth, a piece of uniform, or a clump of hair qualifies as victory: bits and pieces as easily overlooked as a tiny flower, but more valuable than gold.

Causal Relations by Stephanie Chasteen
Determining the risk level a disease like AIDS poses to an entire population becomes that much more complex when asking a culture to accept on faith what we attribute to science.

Curtain Call by John S. Rigden
Last century, physics was the superstar of the sciences: We swooned over the theories of relativity and cheered the discovery of quantum mechanics. But a field of study is only as good as its last production. Has physics taken its final bow or has it merely completed its first act.

First, Do No Harm by Elizabeth Svoboda
Medical missions spread goodwill across the globe and provide thousands of people with badly needed resources. But there are both risks and benefits to coupling health care with a religious message.

The Next Philosophy by Marianna Krejci-Papa
Science has helped answer some of the fundamental questions of our existence. Yet, as Paul Davies reminds us, we are still a long way from solving perhaps the most intriguing mystery of all: Are we alone in the universe?

March April 2005
Violence
War or Peace by John Horgan
Neither doomed to violence nor peaceful by nature, we are shaped by the civilizations we create. Modern society spends a good deal of time, effort, and scientific resource on finding better ways to wage war. What if we directed just a fraction of that energy toward finding a better way to wage peace?

In the Minds of Men by Jenny Desai
Nearly twenty years ago, an international committee of scholars published a statement it hoped would dispel the scientific theories being used to explain and justify violence. Few people blinked. Can recent advances toward understanding our hostility and aggression finally open our eyes to the idea that our nature does not necessarily condemn us to war?

Over Our Dead Bodies by Beth Kephart
Conventional wisdom holds that we are afraid of dying and that religion helps assuage those fears. Now, empirical evidence seems to show that reminders of our mortality cause us to lash out violently at those who threaten not only our lives, but also our belief systems.

For the Love of God by John Haught


Evolutionary Dissent by Edward J. Larson
Charles Darwin?fs claim that we evolved from the apes chilled the Victorian soul. More than a century later, his theory reigns supreme, but many feel it does not tell the whole story.

Pluck Everlasting by Elizabeth Svoboda
Just when it seemed longevity research had run its course, a gerontologistdesperate to inspire optimism for antiaging therapies came up with a wild idea: Start a contest that promises cash to anyone who can produce the world?fs longest-lived mouse. Why not? There?fs nothing to lose but money?\and hundreds of years on Earth to gain.

Inner Vision by Dennis Brabham
A lifelong struggle against the obstacles of blindness has left one New York physician with a preference for the human touch.

Better in the Long Run by Marianna Krejci-Papa
Social scientists suspect that a sense of meaning fosters health and longevity. Yet, as sociologist Linda George tells us, not all of our sources of meaning do us good.

Sowing the seeds of peace by Mike Martin


Engineering Solutions by Darrell Laurant
Armed with a handful of resources, a head full of knowledge, and a reservoir of good will, Bernard Amadei is successfully confronting a world of problems.

January February 2005
The Universe
Master of his Universe by Heather Wax and Gerald Shaw
George Ellis is one of a handful of scientists whose minds have soared into the speculative stratosphere of the cosmos, not only asking where it all came from, but actually conceiving answers. And while one foot is planted in the heavens, the other is firmly rooted in the earth—specifically, his native South Africa.

At Home in a Goldilocks Universe by John D. Barrow
Both the universe and our understanding of it are continually changing and expanding. Nevertheless, our presence in this world remains as deeply mysterious as ever. Will we ever truly discover how things turned out just right?

Falling on Deaf Ears by Jenny Desai
To most people, cochlear implants sound like a medical miracle—a device the size of a candy corn that can correct the inability to hear. But many in the Deaf community see the technology as a cultural threat, yet another example of the hearing world's inability to really listen.

Riptide by Barbara Stahura
Traumatic brain injury can have devastating and wide-ranging effects, not the least of which is a shattered sense of self. Those who embark on the long road to recovery often find themselves, and their loved ones, buffeted by crosscurrents alternately flooding them with hope and despair.

Save the Fetus by Karen F. Schmidt
In a world awash in pollutants, what exactly is our obligation to protect the health of the unborn?

Curses, Foiled Again by Maryam Henein
Modern science dismisses the notion of curses, yet still they have a hold on the imaginations of many. Is a curse nothing more than a self-fulfilling prophecy, engendered and sustained by belief?

Out of the Ashes by David Suzuki and Wayne Grady
A tree’s life is forged in fire, as the destruction of a forest releases the elements that will foster the young tree’s first tentative steps.

The Evolving Debate by Donald A. Yerxa
Despite near-universal acceptance in the scientific community, Darwinian theory finds itself under attack once again. This time around, the challenge is unified under the banner of intelligent design. A number of recent books take on the argument from either side—and show that the debate is far from over.

In Her Own Words by Ami Albernaz




November December 2004
Language
The Tongue Who Would Be King by Dennis Baron
There are those who believe English could achieve what no other language has: global domination. But our linguistic history shows preeminence leads to resistance, then ruin—which means English should be looking over its shoulder.

Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave by David Crystal
The Internet has proven itself to be the next leg of a linguistic revolution that began with the slow, steady spread of English and the death of other languages.

Lost In Translation by Soo Ji Min
Billions of people on this Earth collectively speak thousands of languages, many of which are endangered. As each tongue slips into extinction, a unique way of viewing the world goes with it. Along with the words and sounds, entire traditions and the cultural fabric they weave may disappear in the process.

Vanishing Voices: What Else is Lost by K. David Harrison


Something New Under the Sun by Alister McGrath
The King James Bible, published in the seventeenth century, had an immense impact on Modern English, expanding the breadth and depth of the language. Enter the Hebrew idiom.

Grave Concerns by Elisabeth Nadin
Hoping to preserve land and protect the environment, even in death, more and more people are choosing to be buried in community nature sanctuaries where the hallowed ground and pristine wilderness combine to form a compelling alternative to traditional cemeteries.

Tracking the Buddha by Dean Nelson
Tibetan culture is at once a magnet for the West, a treasure to be preserved, and a commodity imported around the world.

Do Unto Others by Elizabeth Svoboda
It began with a promise one man made to another. It became a medical mission that spans the globe. Now, Project C.U.R.E. is the biggest distributor of donated medical goods in the world, quietly transferring millions of dollars in supplies to needy countries each year. Its current target: the war-torn country of Rwanda.

How Wonderfully We Stand Upon This World by Alan Hirshfeld
Filled with curiosity, intuition, and an abiding faith, a bookbinderís apprentice realizes the purpose in his life, not in the path set before him, but in his desire to understand the laws of natureó leaving a rich scientific legacy in his wake.

Why It?s Good To Feel Good by Ami Albernaz
Barbara Fredrickson is among the growing number of psychologists who are turning away from gloom and distress, and taking a closer look at joy and resilience. What they are finding could help us live happier, more meaningful lives.

A Boring Story by John D. Spalding
Surprisingly, a lack of stimulation every now and again may help us learn something about human nature, freedom, and God.

Our Earthly Inheritance by Ursula Goodenough
The Religions of the World and Ecology series, the fruit of a three-yearlong set of conferences uniting many of the world’s leading thinkers on religion and the environment, plumbs the wisdom of some of the world’s most venerated traditions to find the roots of our attitudes toward the Earth. Beyond this, the series challenges us to envision a more benevolent relationship with our planet.

September October 2004
Politics
The Politics of Science by John Horgan
In America, everything is fair game in an election year. The influence of politics extends beyond the voting booths, touching our social mores, even shaping our scientific investigations. Which studies receive funding, what reports are made public, how many exciting, if perilous, paths are we allowed to pursue? The scientific community is indebted to government in a great many ways, yet so often finds itself straining to break free.

One Nation Under God by Alan Wolfe
Both George W. Bush and John F. Kerry have deep and personal religious convictions. Ironically, in exploring the reasons behind their faith’s leap to the forefront of their presidential campaigns, we come face to face with America’s separation of church and state. Could it be that when it comes to keeping religion out of political life, we never had a prayer?

Political Animals by Michael Ruse
Politics is tricky business—a complex menagerie of power struggles, strategic manipulation, and charismatic displays. And through it all, biology is never far from the surface.

In Us We Trust by Beth Kephart
We lie. We deceive. We betray. Each of us has hurt someone, disappointed someone, let someone down. If we can’t even rely on ourselves to be trustworthy, why does earning the trust of others feel so good?

Rhymes and Reason by Tyler Volk
A science of everything would focus on patterns—using grand mathematical schemes and convergences of form and function, with the possibility of illuminating both the wing of the hawk and the structure of the World Wide Web. But what will we look like reflected in this mirror?

Shadowlands by Michael Shermer
Death is natural, final, and universal. It is also filled with rich meaning. As a mother battles brain tumor after brain tumor, a son reflects on the limits of science, the endurance of the human spirit, and his own heroic efforts to defeat the cancer destroying his mom.

Life Beyond Bars by Stephanie Chasteen
More than 600,000 inmates will be released from prison this year, many lacking the support needed to keep them from going back. But a few programs are taking over where the system falls short—and may serve as models nationwide

The Book That Moved the World by Marianna Krejci-Papa
With his latest work, astronomer and science historian Owen Gingerich answers a claim made forty-five years ago in the book The Sleepwalkers and figures out how we finally came to believe in a universe centered on the sun.

Let Us Pray by Paul O’Donnell
By blending pop culture into their services, religious congregations are trying to strike a balance between keeping it real and keeping it relevant. Three new books examine some of the innovations and question what it will take to bring lapsed churchgoers back into the fold.

July August 2004
Art
Extreme Science by Edward J. Larson
Each year, crews of hardy researchers pack up their gear and travel to the bottom of the world. Some arrive at the South Pole to conduct research that can be done nowhere else. Others are pursuing the same dream that lured the first explorers there 100 years ago: the coolest adventure on Earth.

Habitat of Mind by Diane Cole
On a summer escape from gritty New York streets, a writer encounters the dazzling icebergs and wildlife of the Arctic Circle. She comes home with renewed appreciation for life’s ability to adapt to any environment.

Pretty as a Picture by Elizabeth Svoboda
Long ago, we began using symbols to communicate our hopes and dreams. As our imaginations found ways to connect with each other, a range of expressions evolved. According to scientists, that was no fluke: All along, we’ve been guided by human biology— the greatest masterpiece of all.

Small Wonders by Dee Breger
Scanning electron imagery is currently the only way we can see ultramicroscopic objects as they really exist, structurally and in context. The remarkable three-dimensional quality of images produced on a scanning electron microscope results from a process in which an electron beam is projected through a stack of electromagnetic lenses and onto a specimen placed in a chamber below. Electrons ejected from the sampleís surface by the impact are converted into a monochromatic display on a viewing screen, and can be explored and recorded at will. Micrographers can choose to enhance the black-and-white images by colorizing them, or even by inverting them and colorizing the negative version for added aesthetic appeal. Dee Breger, director of microscopy at Drexel Universityís Department of Materials Science & Engineering, does both. And the results are stunning.
All images and text courtesy of Dee Breger.

The Divine is in the Details by Ami Albernaz with Drew Bourne
Art has paid homage to deities for thousands of years. Understanding these works involves journeys through time and across cultures—with some unexpected findings along the way.

The Art of the Matter by David Peat
Art and science walked the same path until parting company at the time of the renaissince. Unless they reconcile their differences, we may never understand the mystery of quantum reality or the strange role we play in our observations of the world.

Love by Numbers by Thomas Jay Oord


Deconstructing Harry by Thomas E. Phillips
No one can dispute the success of the Harry Potter series. Millions of books have been sold and billions of dollars made from legions of diehard fans. But behind the commercial hype is something that runs deeper: a myth for modern times.

Learning to Pose by Chhavi Sachdev
A trend that began in India hundreds of years ago has found its way to our shores. Bonding, better coordination, and mood regulation—these are just some of the benefits that parents of “yoga babies” swear by.

Are We Friends, Foes, or Family? by Bonnie J. Horrigan
From bears on land to eagles in the sky to dolphins in the sea, from towering six-ton elephants to bacteria too small to be seen by the naked eye, mankind shares the Earth with an estimated 10 million different species. As we strive to answer the question, Who am I?, we find we also have to answer the question, Who are they?

May June 2004
Forgivness
An Unforgivable Act? by Dean Nelson
Eleven-year-old Merita Shabiu believed the American forces in Kosovo were there to protect and save her. But after she was found buried in the snow with a bullet in her head, the devastated Shabiu family was told she died at the hands of one of those "saviors."

What Forgiveness is Worth by Heather Wax
According to some: $10 million. That's how much is needed to keep the scientific study of forgiveness going. But in an environment where countless projects compete for limited funds, will forgiveness end up forgotten?

Days of Atonement by Paul O'Donnell
The history of forgiveness is a story of rituals and bargains. In the ancient world, the pattern was simple: Humans erred, repented, and sacrificed; the gods forgave wrongs. Somewhere along the line, however, we started expecting mercy not only from the divine, but also from each other.

Peace of Mind by Julia C. Keller


Incidental Findings by Danielle Ofri, M.D., Ph.D
Pregnant with her first child and lost in a maze of fluorescent-lit hospital corridors, a doctor experiences the terror and dislocation of being a patient for the first time.

Technological Gatekeepers by Elizabeth Svoboda
The Amish are famous for limiting their use of modern gadgets and innovations. Do they know something we dont?

Sprawl Fallout by Patricia L. Kirk
The distance between home and work continues to grow, taking its toll on commuters. Some urban developers are looking to hit the brakes.

The Invisible World by Gerald N. Callahan
From radio waves and electrical current to sheer fate, three new books examine how the forces we cannot see inevitably steer the courses of our lives.

March April 2004
Memory
The Memory Wars by Elizabeth Loftus
Sometimes the battle for truth in science comes at great personal cost. Elizabeth Loftus knows that firsthand. Her decades of research showed that memory—whether eyewitness testimony in a court or our most private and personal recollections— is malleable and easily distorted. But these discoveries landed her in the middle of a cultural war that changed her life irrevocably and continues to this day.

Seven Keys to Memory by Valerie Reiss
New research in the last two decades offers us unprecedented glimpses into both healthy and damaged brains as they remember and forget. Here, a summary of the top seven insights we have into memory today.

The Storyteller of Science by Marianna Krejci-Papa
With Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, Dava Sobel has added a human dimension to our knowledge of a forgotten invention and one of history’s most celebrated thinkers

A River Runs Through it by Barbara Stahura
In the desert, water is a precious resource, sparingly released from the heavens and increasingly difficult to maintain. But on the rare occasions when the skies open and the deluge begins, residents look around to find...

Who’s Got the Worm by Janice O’Leary
New research has shed light on our preferences for morning or nighttime, but our language may not be so quick to catch on.

Can God Heal? by Bonnie Horrigan
A beautifully illustrated series of books examines shamanic healing traditions around the world and finds that healing and God are irrevocably linked.

An Exercise In Reflection by Soo Ji Min
An expressive arts therapist employs creative techniques to help victims of domestic abuse rebuild their shattered sense of self.

How True is False? by Jill Neimark
At Harvard University, the war over memory is about more than memory. It's about aliens, Freud, the Catholic Church, and the power of belief to stir emotion.

Losing my Religion by Ami Albernaz
Joining a religious tradition requires more than choosing it. It involves the much harder task of acquiring cultural memory.

January February 2004
Ideas
The Pied Piper of Science by Cindy Kuzma
Without biologist Leroy Hood we wouldn't have mapped the human genome, discovered the cause of mad cow disease, and launched the hot new field of proteonomics. Famous for his extraordinary confidence and uncanny prescience, Hood now wants to revolutionize how science is thought and taught: his Institute for Systems Biology heralds a new era in science, smashing the walls between scientific disciplines and bringing scientists of every ilk together to decode both the amazing unity and diversity of life itself.

Save Schrödinger's Cat by Jill Neimark
Nobody knows how the universe jumps from quantum mystery to the world as we experience it. Here, three scientists straddle the quantum borderland with bold, new research.

Qualms About Bombs? by Gail Surya Rains, Dr. Carl Crouthamel
A letter from reader Gail Surya Rains, written in response to the Science & Spirit interview with Dr. Carl Crouthamel (May/June 2003), one of the developers of the atomic bomb, prompted Dr. Crouthamel to comment further on the context in which the decision to drop the bomb was made.

Nature's Cathedral by Jill Neimark
Ursula Goodenough on frogs, God, and the Dalai Lama

Soul in a Bucket by Paul Broks
We've mapped the brain and never found the soul. It's time for neuroscience to grow up and admit that self and soul emerge from process, not matter. That insight should liberate-not frighten-us

Beauty on the Wing by Sharman Apt Russell
A luminous journey through an exotic world of strange beauty

Life as an Adjective by Stacey Ake
Red, black, white and yellow-these are the colors of race, and history's epochs have been shaped by them. Yet culture's racial divides have no solid scientific basis.