Science in History

São Paulo, by far the most populated state in Brazil, has an economy to rival that of Colombia or Venezuela. Its capital city is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the world. How did São Paulo, o

Millions of tons of plastic slip into oceans every year. Some floats and travels slowly with the currents, endangering the health of marine animals. The rest is hardly visible but is far more dangerou

A massive tsunami caused by the strongest earthquake to ever hit Japan triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl accident 25 years earlier. The monster waves that crashed into the

Photos from the Hubble Space Telescope of what was thought to be empty space may provide information on the history of the universe.

Discusses Photo 51, a grainy black-and-white image of a DNA fiber taken with X-rays.

Explores the Mars rover Curiosity's search for water on the planet's surface.

Explores oceanographer Robert Ballard's discovery of the Titanic's remains and how the pictures and videos of the wreck renewed interest in the luxury steamship.

As the dust settles on nearly three decades of economic reform in Latin America, one of the most fundamental economic policy areas has changed far less than expected: labor regulation. To date, Latin

Early modern, long-distance trade was fraught with risk and uncertainty, driving merchants to seek means (that is, institutions) to reduce them. In the traditional historiography on Spanish colonial t

Measuring Up traces the high levels of poverty and inequality that Mexico faced in the mid-twentieth century. Using newly developed multidisciplinary techniques, the book provides a perspective on liv

Between Tyranny and Anarchy provides a unique comprehensive history and interpretation of efforts to establish democracies over two centuries in the major Latin American countries. Drake takes an unus

According to the editors (a trio of senior fellows of the Hoover Institution) there may be broad agreement that a large financial system is a prerequisite for economic growth, but there is distinct di

This work addresses the development of congressional practices and institutions and ties the changes to key political and economic events. In connecting political and economic events with changes in C

Brady (political science and leadership values, Stanford U.) and McCubbins (political science, U. of California at San Diego) present the second of their edited volumes examining the institutional his

A history of the society and economy of Sao Paulo from its origins to the introduction of coffee in the mid-19th century.

After its independence in 1821, Mexico experienced more than fifty years of political chaos until Porfirio Diaz assumed power in 1876. Thirty-five years later, Mexico entered another period of turbule

Traditional historiography describes the repartimiento de mercancias as a forced system of production and consumption in which officials of the Spanish crown compelled Mexican Indians to produce goods

This lavishly illustrated full-color hardback explores the dark but compelling story of warfare, from its emergence in prehistoric tribal disputes, through great imperial and global wars, to present-day counter-insurgency and 'hybrid' conflicts. Two factors sit at the heart of this story: technology - including weapons, vehicle systems and vehicles - and tactics. A History of War charts the rise of the army, explaining how primitive tribal war parties evolved through seasonal levies and feudal armies to professional standing armies and mass conscription forces, with formal organizational structures.The narrative of A History of War is sewn together by the conflicts that have periodically reshaped history, from localized insurgencies to vast world wars. The book provides summaries and insights into these conflicts while recognizing the human drama of conflict, with first-hand insight into the experience of combat, either as a combatant or as a civilian swept up in violent times. It incl

This book discusses the reunification of Germany, and the negative impacts that this had on East German intellectuals. The book is an ethnographic account of how the intellectuals of East German

In this brief, renowned inorganic chemist Jay Labinger tracks the development of his field from a forgotten specialism to the establishment of an independent, intellectually viable discipline. Inorgan

In this brief, Mary Virginia Orna details the history of color from the chemical point of view. Beginning with the first recorded uses of color and ending in the development of our modern chemical ind

How did foreign investment in infrastructure affect a relatively backward Latin American economy? The author engages this long-standing issue in Latin American history by applying the methods of the n

In recent decades, political scientists have produced an enormous body of scholarship dealing with the U.S. Congress, and in particular congressional organization. However, most of this research has f

Political scientists address some of the major questions that have animated debates about the functioning of the U.S. Congress, but from a wider historical perspective than the standard studies concen

The biggest oil spill in U.S. history that polluted the pristine waters of Alaska decades ago and killed thousands of birds, mammals, and fish, still haunts the people who are living with its aftermat

The long-term damage from an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant more than 30 years ago is still unknown. When explosions ripped through the reactor in rural Ukraine, then part of the Soviet