It’s no exaggeration to say that the advent of writing changed everything for humans. Here’s a look at some of the key shifts in history that resulted from those first scratches on clay tablets.
Category Archives: Responses to Change
Arctic 2.0: What Happens After All the Ice Goes?
As global climate change increases temperatures at the poles, researchers consider the likely effects of all that extra liquid water.
The ‘America effect’: How immigrants fall crazy in love
This opinion piece, written in 2012, explores how moving to the United States changed the views of one immigrant family.
Birdbrain Breakthrough
It was once thought that we developed all of the brain cells we would ever have in the womb. However, that belief has been upended, in part through the study of birds.
Four Pulitzer-winning takes on the rise of Adolf Hitler
Read four articles written during the 1930s for a glimpse of how a dictator’s growing power was perceived at the time.
Scientists just accidentally discovered a process that turns CO2 directly into ethanol
Excess carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere is causing extinctions, killing coral reefs, and feeding global warming. Scientists recently stumbled onto a remarkably simple solution.
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Since the beginning of human history, art has reflected the responses of people to their lives and the changing world around them. Explore this comprehensive timeline, which places examples of art through the ages in historical and geographic context.
Human Biological Adaptability
A college professor outlines the major ways humans respond to environmental and cultural change.
Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ Turns 100
Franz Kafka’s disturbing novella about how a family responds to a drastic change still influences writers over a century after its first publication.
Earth’s Magnetic Field Flip Could Happen Sooner Than Expected
If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that north is north, right? Not so fast.
100 years ago, ‘The Rite of Spring’ incited a riot in a Paris theater
The years just before World War I marked a turning point in the arts, a shift from the romantic to the modern. Learn how a groundbreaking ballet’s modernity shocked and angered the audience at its premier.
Power from the people: Rural Electrification brought more than lights
Less than a century ago, most rural communities in the United States lacked electricity. View artifacts that capture the magnitude of change achieved by the Rural Electrification Administration starting in the 1930s.
Rising seas threaten to drown important mangrove forests, unless we intervene
Global climate change is resulting in rising sea levels, which could in turn speed up the change by depriving the planet of a crucial carbon sink.
A finish line proposal was ‘perfect’ for this Boston Marathon bombing survivor
In 2013, a terrorist attack at the finish line of the Boston Marathon changed hundreds of lives in an instant. Learn about one survivor’s happy return to the bombing site.
McKinley vs. Denali: Who Decides Names on a Map?
For a century, the tallest mountain in North America was officially known by the name of the 25th U. S. President. In 2015, the official designation reverted to what most Alaskans already called it.
Van Gogh and the decision that changed art history
Vincent Van Gogh turned his failure as a rural preacher into the art that makes him revered as an innovator today.
Post-Traumatic Stress’s Surprisingly Positive Flip Side
Soldiers and victims of tragedies often struggle to cope with the trauma they have endured. But some researchers are finding truth in the old saying that what doesn’t kill someone makes him or her stronger.
9/11 Attacks
Videos document the events and aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The Land of Big Groceries, Big God, and Smooth Traffic: What Surprises First-Time Visitors to America
While the United States is home to the most diverse population on Earth, our dominant culture can still shock those who are new to it.
Reforestation
One response to a drastic change is to make things the way they were before. Reforestation attempts to restore forests to their previous state following wildfires or logging.