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The Parasites in Our Past

Distillations Magazine

Lice can tell us a lot about who we are and where we came from.

Fall 2018/Winter 2019

Magazine

Harry versus the Volcano

Foul-mouthed, heavy-drinking eccentric Harry R. Truman became a folk hero for refusing to evacuate his home in the months before Mount St. Helens erupted. Where did he go once it did?

Nor Any Drop to Drink

An archives collection at the Science History Institute gives a glimpse of Americans’ early efforts at desalination, a technology that nations around the globe have come to depend on.

Saving Old Movies

Old films are fragile, flammable, and frequently lost.

View our latest issue

Videos

Distilled #6: A 17th-Century (Interactive!) Astronomy Textbook

Join Distillations podcast hosts Lisa Berry Drago and Alexis Pedrick as Science History Institute staff members share their favorite objects from our museum, archival, and library collections.

Distilled #5: Porcelain Painting

This episode highlights an early-20th-century porcelain painting kit. Porcelain painting became popular after the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, when women saw porcelain objects from all around the world, including those made by other women. Today porcelain painting is trendy again.

Distilled #4: Virtual Reality in the 19th Century

This episode highlights an object from the 19th century that was a precursor to the View-Master and virtual reality: the stereoscope.

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Podcast

Treating America’s Opioid Addiction

Part 3: Searching for Meaning in Kensington.

Treating America’s Opioid Addiction

Part 2: Synanon and the Tunnel Back to the Human Race.

Treating America’s Opioid Addiction

Part 1: The Narcotic Farm and the Promise of Salvation.

View more podcasts

Blog

Through the Lens of Disability

What possibilities might we be ignoring when we unquestioningly privilege sight as the primary pathway to knowledge about the natural world?

What We’re Talking About

Science History Institute staff recommends articles and blog posts from around the web to add to your binge lists.

Imagining a Way Forward

In a time of social, political, and environmental uncertainty, how do we imagine the future?

Subscribe to Distillations

Sign up to receive the magazine that brings you stories of science, culture, and history.

Podcast

Treating America’s Opioid Addiction

Part 3: Searching for Meaning in Kensington.

Treating America’s Opioid Addiction

Part 2: Synanon and the Tunnel Back to the Human Race.

Treating America’s Opioid Addiction

Part 1: The Narcotic Farm and the Promise of Salvation.

View more podcasts

Blog

Through the Lens of Disability

What possibilities might we be ignoring when we unquestioningly privilege sight as the primary pathway to knowledge about the natural world?

What We’re Talking About

Science History Institute staff recommends articles and blog posts from around the web to add to your binge lists.

Imagining a Way Forward

In a time of social, political, and environmental uncertainty, how do we imagine the future?

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