Benjamin Franklin is usually depicted as a grandfatherly fellow, portly and genial, who would be at home by the fire of an 18th-century tavern, with a long-stemmed pipe in one hand and a tankard of porter in the other. In the familiar portrait of Franklin by his contemporary Edward Fisher, the great man seems fixed to his chair by a kind of weary contentment.
Articles from December 2020
Benjamin Franklin at his desk • Mezzotint by engraver Edward Fisher, ca. 1763
A potato leaf with Phytophthora infestans • Photo by Howard F. Schwartz (CC BY 3.0)
Spuds vs. fungus: A historic battle rages on
In the field below, my neighbor Danny Murphy is spraying his potatoes, a bright yellow tank of fungicide strapped to his back. Potatoes are prone to a troublesome variety of diseases, but Danny’s principal enemy is the fungus Phytophthora infestans, called blight.
The nebula surrounding the Crab Pulsar • Optical: NASA/HST/ASU/J. Hester et al. X-Ray: NASA/CXC/ASU/J. Hester et al.
It took a gift for fancy to come up with relativity
Einstein said: “The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.”
Photo by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash
To the know-it-alls: Baloney
In 1933, to celebrate its own centenary, the city of Chicago hosted a world’s fair celebrating a “Century of Progress” in science and industry. The official guide book quoted the poet Whittier: “And step by step, since time began, I see the steady gain of Man.”
Photo by Deva Darshan on Unsplash
The Energizer bunnies of evolution
Anyone who has watched a dragonfly scout a summer pond has seen one of the wonders of evolution.
Photo by Lukas from Pexels
Don’t confuse statistics with reality
As I went off to college in 1954 my father handed me a little orange book and said, “Read this. It will be as useful as anything you’ll learn in college.”
Photo by Viridi Green on Unsplash
Time for a truce with dandelions
“Momma had a baby and the head popped off.” Remember the childhood chant? The dandelion caught between finger and thumb. The flick of the thumb. The yellow flowerhead sent flying?
Image by Finn Årup Nielsen (CC BY 4.0)
Bite-size factoid: Scientists hunger for fame
We are a nation of snackers. We take our sustenance, physical and mental, in bite-sized bits. We crave instant gratification.
Tiger salamander • Photo by Peter Paplanus (CC BY 2.0)
What humans can do that salamanders cannot
On the planet of a yellow star in the outer arms of a spiral galaxy live a race of creatures called Manders.
Starflower • Photo by Matthieu Gauvain (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The miracle that gives life its shape
There is a certain magic moment in the spring woods near my house when the ladyslippers and starflowers bloom together.