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Future president Richard M. Nixon.

When He Said “Jump…”

Philippe Halsman defied gravitas

A 30-foot-high communal meetinghouse, or mudheef, is constructed entirely of the region's ubiquitous marsh reeds, which, woven into majestic arches, support even its elegantly curved roof. "If you go back 4,000 years," one villager told the author, "you'll find exactly the same design."

Return to the Marsh

The effort to restore the Marsh Arabs’ traditional way of life in southern Iraq—virtually eradicated by Saddam Hussein —faces new threats

Philadelphia was, and remains, the crucible of North American cricket. In 1908, native son J. Barton King set records that stood for 40 years.

The History of Cricket in the United States

The game is both very British and, to Americans, very confusing. But it was once our national pastime, and its gaining fans on these shores

Michelangelo's David, the centerpiece of the Accademia.

Cricket for Dummies

It’s a lot like baseball. Except that it’s profoundly different

"All I know is that the museum's a better place because of the Gee's Bend exhibitions," says Peter Marzio, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (shown here). "They expand the sense of what art can be." The new show (quilts are by Loretta P. Bennett) opened in Houston in June.

Fabric of Their Lives

There’s a new exhibition of works by the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, whose lives have been transformed by worldwide acclaim for their artistry

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Say What?

In an era of global communications, regional dialects are hanging in there, y’all

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The Painter Who Hated Picasso

Sporting artist Alfred Munnings loved horses, the English countryside and a good stiff drink. What he didn’t like was modern art

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What’s Up

Body language, new stripes and prime real estate

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An Interview with Amei Wallach, author of “Fabric of Their Lives”

Amy Crawford spoke with Amei about the quilters of Gee’s Bend and the artwork of quilting

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October Anniversaries

Momentous or merely memorable

The U.S. ranks third in the world in population, behind China and India. But as the total number of people on the planet increases, demographers are focusing on problems that stem from a shrinking population in surprisingly large swaths of the developed world.

300 Million and Counting

The United States reaches a demographic milestone, thanks largely to immigration

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October Letters

Readers respond to the August issue

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Last Page: Moonstruck

You can’t believe everything you think

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Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Bumblebees, elephants and endless summer

Though the exoplanets found to date are in our galaxy, most are about 100 light-years away.

The Planet Hunters

Astronomers have found about 200 planets orbiting other stars, and they say it’s only a matter of time before they discover another Earth

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What Makes a Planet?

Why our solar system just shrank

Montana

Wanted!

Our fossil collection is already the world’s largest. But we’re in search of a complete T. rex

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Neanderthal Man

Svante Pääbo has probed the DNA of Egyptian mummies and animals. Now he hopes to decode the DNA of our evolutionary cousins

The students (including Molly Holleran, age 17) practiced self- arrest—stopping a fall on a slope using an ice ax.

Glaciologist Puts Her Girls on Ice

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Frozen in Time

Glaciers in the Pacific Northwest have recorded hundreds of years of climate history, helping researchers plot how quickly the planet is warming

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