Human Environment
Public and private places and buildings, including cities, monuments, parks and reservations
Under the Spell of San Miguel de Allende
Ever since American Stirling Dickinson arrived there in 1937, the Mexican town has been a magnet for artists and U.S. expatriates
December 2010 |
By Jonathan Kandell
Twice Charmed by Portland, Oregon
The Pacific Northwest city captivated the author first when she was an adventure-seeking adolescent and again as an adult
November 2010 |
By Katherine Dunn
Show Time at the Apollo
A stellar roster of African-American singers, dancers and comedians got their start at the venue, celebrating its 75-year history
November 2010 |
By Lucinda Moore
Maurice Hines on the Legacy of the Apollo Theater
The legendary dancer talks about starting his career in Harlem and his upcoming Sammy Davis Jr. project
November 01, 2010 |
By Lucinda Moore
SVP Dispatch, Part 4: Night at the Carnegie Museum
The 70th annual Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting ended on Wednesday, but before returning to more regular coverage of all things dinosaur I wanted to share a few snapshots from the meeting's welcome reception in Pittsburgh's famous Carnegie Museum of Natural History.For more on SVP, see t...
October 15, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Are You Ready For National Fossil Day?
It's almost here: next week, on October 13, national parks around the country will celebrate the first annual National Fossil Day. A tribute to America's fossil riches from Florida to Alaska, the National Park Service will be running a series of events and special programs to educate the public abo...
October 05, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Kirk Savage on the National Mall
Author Kirk Savage talks about the history and aesthetic beauty of our nation’s monumental core
October 2010 |
By Megan Gambino
Shooting the American Dream in Suburbia
Bill Owens was seeking a fresh take on suburban life when he spotted a plastic-rifle-toting boy named Richie Ferguson
October 2010 |
By Owen Edwards
Jim Gary's Vehicular Dinosaurs
Whenever I pass construction sites, I sometimes imagine that some of the heavy, earth-moving machines are mechanical dinosaurs. Big, loud, and powerful, they fit the caricature of dinosaurs as bellowing monsters from my childhood, but the late sculptor Jim Gary actually went a step beyond seeing ve...
August 18, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Twenty Years of Tyrannosaurus Sue
Twenty years ago today, fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson discovered the dinosaur that now bears her name—the immense, 80 percent complete Tyrannosaurus rex called Sue. Arguably the most famous representative of the superstar of the dinosaur world, Sue is one of the most fantastic fossil discoveries ev...
August 12, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Super-Sized Tyrannosaurus Comes to South Dakota
At about 40 feet long, Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the largest predatory animals that ever lived. But even the skeleton of a fully grown T. rex would be dwarfed by its animatronic likeness now standing outside the Children's Museum of South Dakota. Measuring 60 feet long from nose to tail, the su...
August 10, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
AMNH's "Battling Dinosaurs" Get Split Up
Back in 1991, paleontologists at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City created one of the most ambitious and controversial dinosaur exhibits ever seen. An homage to the (at the time) new vision of dinosaurs as active, dynamic animals, the skeletal scene depicted an Allosaurus mena...
August 09, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
The Changing Demographics of America
The United States population will expand by 100 million over the next 40 years. Is this a reason to worry?
August 2010 |
By Joel Kotkin
Nina Simon, Museum Visionary
The author helps museums create systems in which visitors participate in exhibition design
August 2010 |
By Erica R. Hendry
The Rise of Urban Farming
Grow fruits and vegetables in city towers? Advocates give a green thumbs up
August 2010 |
By T. A. Frail
Create Your Own Museum: What Dinosaurs Would You Like to See on Display?
I love visiting the fossil halls of natural history museums, but I have to admit that I sometimes yearn to see new specimens on display. Tyrannosaurus, Apatosaurus, Triceratops, Allosaurus, Edmontosaurus—their skeletons remains as impressive as ever, but given all the new dinosaur species discovere...
July 28, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Rebuilding Dinosaur National Monument's Visitor Center
When I was growing up, almost every documentary I saw or dinosaur book I read showed images of the great wall of Jurassic dinosaurs laid out at the Dinosaur National Monument visitor center. The wall, which is the enduring legacy of paleontologist Earl Douglass, who discovered the rich assemblage o...
June 29, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Shanghai’s European Suburbs
Chinese urban planners are building new towns with a foreign flair, each mimicking architecture from Europe’s storied cities
June 10, 2010 |
By Rachel Kaufman
When Diplodocus Invaded Europe
On July 4, 1899, the steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie finally got his Diplodocus. He had set his eye on this fossil prize in the fall of the previous year when the New York Journal ran a fanciful illustration of the giant dinosaur peeping into a 10th story skyscraper window, and after some initial disa...
June 09, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
New Exhibit Celebrates Tyrannosaurus "Sue"
Ten years ago Chicago's Field Museum unveiled the skeleton of "Sue," the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex yet discovered. She has been a sensation ever since. Tyrannosaurus skeletons are the stars of many fossil halls, but Sue is something special, and to honor her the Field Museum has launched a ne...
June 01, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
