Interview Justin Smith on Irrationality April 08, 2019 It鈥檚 a story we can鈥檛 stop telling ourselves. Once, humans were benighted by superstition and irrationality, but then the Greeks invented reason. Later, the Enlightenment enshrined rationality as the supreme value. Discovering that reason is the defining feature of our species, we named ourselves the 鈥渞ational animal.鈥� Read More
Interview Walter Mattli on Darkness by Design April 02, 2019 Capital markets have undergone a dramatic transformation in the past two decades. Algorithmic high-speed supercomputing has replaced traditional floor trading and human market makers, while centralized exchanges that once ensured fairness and transparency have fragmented into a dizzying array of competing exchanges and trading platforms. Read More
Interview A Celebration of Mathematics Editor Vickie Kearn March 29, 2019 This month, across the world, we have celebrated the enduring contributions of all women. For those of us at PUP, it is a chance as well to focus on a particularly generous, intelligent, and dynamic publisher, Vickie Kearn. Read More
Essay In Dialogue with Christopher Phillips and Tim Chartier: Sports & Statistics March 28, 2019 We asked Christopher Phillips and Tim Chartier how they would聽describe the intersection between statistics and sports.聽How does one inform the other? Read More
Essay Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence March 27, 2019 The Nineteenth Amendment, which allowed women to vote in the United States, was ratified 99 years ago. Read More
Essay 鈥楥ute鈥� around the world March 19, 2019 Cuteness has taken the planet by storm. Global sensations Hello Kitty and Pok茅mon, the works of artists Takashi Murakami and Jeff Koons, Heidi the cross-eyed opossum and E.T.鈥攁ll reflect its gathering power. Read More
Essay Marcia Bjornerud on Grandmothers of Geoscience March 12, 2019 Marcia Bjornerud, professor of geology and environmental studies at Lawrence University, reflects on the mantle, 鈥淭he Grandmother of Geoscience.鈥� Read More
Essay Adrienne Mayor on Inspiring Women Writers March 04, 2019 Adrienne Mayor is the author of聽 Gods and Robots, the fascinating untold story of how the ancients imagined robots and other forms of artificial life鈥攁nd even invented real automated machines. Read More
Essay Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof on Racial Migrations February 28, 2019 Near the end of July in 1885, General Antonio Maceo spoke to an enthusiastic audience at an assembly hall on East 13th Street in Manhattan. The general, one of the most famous leaders of the unsuccessful war for independence in Cuba between 1868 and 1878, was in the city seeking donations to buy arms and munitions for a new war. Read More
Interview Amin Saikal on Iran Rising February 15, 2019 When Iranians overthrew their monarchy, rejecting a pro-Western shah in favor of an Islamic regime, many observers predicted that revolutionary turmoil would paralyze the country for decades to come. Read More
Interview J. C. Sharman on Empires of the Weak February 13, 2019 What accounts for the rise of the state, the creation of the first global system, and the dominance of the West? Read More
Interview Ken Steiglitz on The Discrete Charm of the Machine February 12, 2019 A few short decades ago, we were informed by the smooth signals of analog television and radio; we communicated using our analog telephones; and we even computed with analog computers. Read More
Essay On Influence: Robert Hayden in Dakar February 12, 2019 After having a conversation about a novel I鈥檝e since forgotten, my undergraduate literature professor at the University of Michigan gave me a paperback copy of Robert Hayden鈥檚 Collected Poems. Read More
Essay Ken Steiglitz: When Caruso鈥檚 Voice Became Immortal February 07, 2019 The first record to sell a million copies was Enrico Caruso鈥檚 1904 recording of 鈥淰esti la giubba.鈥� There was nothing digital, or even electrical about it; it was a strictly mechanical affair. Read More
Essay Jason Brennan: When the state is unjust, citizens may use justifiable violence January 29, 2019 If you see police choking someone to death 鈥� such as Eric Garner, the 43-year-old black horticulturalist wrestled down on the streets of New York City in 2014 鈥� you might choose to pepper-spray them and flee. You might even save an innocent life. But what ethical considerations justify such dangerous heroics? Read More
