Books

One of the longest rivers in the world, the Nile played a critical role in the development of ancient Egypt. For millennia, much of the region’s food has been cultivated in the Nile delta region, with its rich, nutrient-dense soil. Innovative irrigation methods developed by ancient Egyptians increased the ...

Over the past two decades, natural things—especially those collected, exchanged, studied, and displayed in museums, such as animals, plants, minerals, and rocks—have emerged as fascinating protagonists for historical research. Nature on Paper follows a different, humbler set of objects that make it possible to trace the global routes ...

Andrew Carnegie is remembered as one of the worldÆs great philanthropists. As a boy, he witnessed the benevolence of a businessman who lent his personal book collection to laborerÆs apprentices. That early experience inspired Carnegie to create the “Free to the People” Carnegie Library in 1895 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ...