History of Science

The great physicist was not the first to equate forms of mass to energy, nor did he definitively prove the relationship

Reported in Scientific American, this Week in World War I: August 21, 1915

Send us photos in honor of the 100th anniversary of general relativity

Focusing on irrational fears will not help chemistry’s public image

In a new book author John C. Mutter combines natural science and physical science to explore how disasters deepen social inequalities

Campaigns to name exoplanets seem like Shakespearean farce

China, Russia and the U.S. are developing and testing controversial new capabilities to wage war in space despite their denial of such work

After 16 years, Jon Stewart signed off from The Daily Show on August 6, but not before leaving the world a trove of humorous and pointed clips about science

Has burning natural gas instead of coal helped the U.S. economy decarbonize? It's complicated

Private funding for the Arecibo Observatory—the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world—may be a poison pill

With a $100-million donation, billionaire Yuri Milner plans to revolutionize the astronomical quest to find alien life