May 7 – May 11 To commemorate mother’s day, Cassie starts the week by wondering whether paper/rock/scissors is a good way to trick her indecisive biological clock; Making the case that Cassie should take the plunge, Cameron introduces us to the unforgettable stadium metaphor; Christie says a family of two is a family too; Jessa […]
Michelle
Michelle and Jessa converse about the reasons we chose to stop at one child. Jessa: So let me check I have it right: you’re an only child yourself and have an only child as well? Michelle: That’s right, and I always thought that if I became a parent I would have an only kid. I […]
April 30 – May 4 Guest poster Sam McDougle starts the week the only way any week should ever start: with space dinosaurs. Anyway, his post seems to be about space dinosaurs; inside, you find a question about how far scientists should stretch the implications of their research to draw attention to the science (I […]
Earlier this year, during a reporting trip in West Virginia, I happened upon the tiny Watts Museum, a mining-history gallery tucked into West Virginia University’s sprawling Mineral Resources building. Its advertised exhibit, “Defying the Darkness,” detailed the history of mine illumination. Mine illumination? I pictured engineering blueprints and exhibit cases filled with switches and bulbs. […]
There are poems about science. There are poems about scientists. But I know of only two poems about women scientists — about women doing science, that is — and both were written by the same person: the brilliant, defiant, influential poet Adrienne Rich, who died last week at the age of 82. From “Power“: Today […]
When J. Allen Williams, Jr., was a boy in Chapel Hill, N.C., his mother loved to read the children’s classic The Secret Garden to him and his brother. The story, about an orphaned girl and her friends who restore an abandoned garden on an English estate, led Williams and his brother to dig and plant […]
We’re delighted that science and travel journalist Cameron Walker has joined our ranks as a regular contributor, bringing the People of LWON to an even dozen. You’ve already read Cameron’s graceful, quiet, funny prose in her popular guest posts. Elsewhere, she’s written about the physics of stone skipping, a marathon swimmer who fuels his river swims […]
Feb 27 – March 2 This week, Richard wondered who explores in a world that no longer has undiscovered country Michelle considered the people who are lured by open, arid landscapes, even as the land tries its best to shake them off Christie explored the ongoing consequences of Agent Orange in Viet Nam, and the […]