Books

Zora Neale Hurston’s Study of the Last Known U.S. Slave to Be Published in 2018

Cudjo Lewis was captured and transported to the U.S. in 1860. After regaining his freedom five years later, he went on to help establish African Town

The Ten Best Children's Books of 2017

Our picks are full of silly words, weird animals and unknown histories

How can you maximize reading’s rewards for baby?

Brain Studies Suggest What Books to Read to Your Baby—and When

Psychologists looked at infant brains to find that both timing and content can impact mental development

Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist, received the 1938 Nobel Prize in physics for identifying new elements and discovering nuclear reactions by his method of nuclear irradiation and bombardment.

Was Enrico Fermi Really the “Father of the Nuclear Age”?

A new book takes a fresh look at the famed scientist

The Ten Best History Books of 2017

From presidential biographies to a look at the long rise of fake news, these picks will surely interest history buffs

The Ten Best Science Books of 2017

These books not only inspired awe and wonder—they helped us better understand the machinations of our world

Codex Amiatinus

After 1300 Years Abroad, the Earliest Complete Latin Bible Returns to England

The Codex Amiatinus will go on display at the British Library in 2018

A pod of dolphins swim along a boat in the Channel Islands National Park, California

What Archaeologists and Historians Are Finding About the Heroine of a Beloved Young Adult Novel

New scholarship reveals details about the Native American at the center of the classic <em>Island of the Blue Dolphins</em>

Researchers Investigate What Makes a Poem Popular

A recent study found that vividness of imagery best predicted a poem's aesthetic appeal

The Ten Best Travel Books of 2017

These reads will remedy even the direst cases of wanderlust

The accused "Angel Makers of Nagyrév" walk in the Szolnok prison yard in Hungary.

Is There Humanity to Be Found Within Serial Killers?

A new book tells the complex stories behind murderous women, the so-called “femmes fatales.”

Janelle Shane's neural network needs a lot of first lines before it can teach itself to write good ones.

This Neural Network Can (Maybe) Start a Novel Better Than You

As the end of NaNoWriMo draws near, take a look at one researcher's effort to help find that perfect first line

Gotcha!

Gulliver's Travels Wasn't Meant to Be a Children's Book And More Things You Didn't Know About the Literary Classic

Even now, 350 years after his birth, the great Irish satirist Jonathan Swift remains as sharp and relevant as ever

Marley Dias

Marley Dias' Inspirational Goal to Collect Books About Girls of Color

What can we learn from a 12-year-old who’s turning the literary world upside down? Everything

The Ten Best Photography Books of 2017

These eye-opening works invite us to find ourselves in history and nature

The Ten Best Books About Food of 2017

Hungry minds would enjoy one of these illuminating books about the world of food and drink

Thirteen Books That Informed and Delighted Smithsonian Scholars This Year

With a mission to increase and diffuse knowledge, Smithsonian thought leaders are voracious readers

A phoenix rising from the ashes in a 13th-century bestiary

Rare Magical Manuscripts Go on Display at the British Library

The exhibition, which will also travel to New York, explores the history of magic to mark the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter

Gaius Gracchus attempted to enact social reform in Ancient Rome but died at the hands of the Roman Senate in 121 B.C.

Before the Fall of the Roman Republic, Income Inequality and Xenophobia Threatened Its Foundations

In a new book, history podcaster Mike Duncan describes what preceded Caesar’s rise to Emperor

The author of "Things Fall Apart," Chinua Achebe is one of the most widely read African authors.

Beyond Chinua Achebe: Five Great African Authors You Should Read Right Now

Two curators from the African Art Museum recommend authors who have joined Achebe in shaping the world's understanding of the African experience

Page 33 of 75