Content provided in partnership with
Happy Birthday to Us
Natural History, Dec, 2000 by Ellen Goldensohn
Natural History is now 100 years old. We like to attribute the magazine's longevity to the breadth of our subject matter: the natural world. Housed and supported by one of the country's favorite institutions, the American Museum of Natural History, we are grateful to be beginning our second century of conveying the excitement of science to our readers.
- Most Popular Articles in Reference
- The importance of understanding organizational culture
- Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students
- What factors attract foreign direct investment?
- Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...
- How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques
- More »
In this issue we celebrate by abandoning our usual stance of biological egalitarianism to allow a single species, Homo sapiens, to claim the limelight. During the magazine's past 100 years, the natural sciences have altered humanity's self-image. Discoveries of fossil hominids--from the delicate Lucy to the robust Australopithecus boisei--have undercut the notion of humankind's singularity. The new technology of DNA sequencing has further closed the gap between us and the other primates on our family tree. (That we share 98 percent of our genetic material with chimpanzees is stated so often that it is by now a cliche) The emergence of sociobiology and behavioral ecology--as well as their controversial offshoot, evolutionary psychology--reflects our growing sense of connectedness with the rest of the animal kingdom. These days, we are perhaps less inclined to see ourselves as fallen angels than as above-average mammals. In the spirit of this trend, Natural History's editors asked several scientists and scholars for their end-of-century thoughts about the nature of our species (their essays begin on page 24). We have also used the occasion of our centenary to pay tribute to wildlife photographers, whose work has been integral to our effort to bring the reader face to face with nature ("Photographers As Naturalists" begins on page 92).
Another milestone: "I Have Landed" (page 46) is the 300th essay in Stephen Jay Gould's influential series "This View of Life." It is also his valedictory. For twenty-seven years, the magazine has been enriched by Steve's breadth of mind, his bent for questioning accepted wisdom, and his special ability--akin to that of England's seventeenth-century metaphysical poets--to produce new insights by yoking together seemingly disparate ideas. Although the series is now completed, Steve will not disappear entirely, having promised to continue as an occasional contributor. Meanwhile, for readers who crave historical and evolutionary thinking, we are pleased to welcome Jared Diamond (author of Guns, Germs, and Steel) back to our pages.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Natural History Magazine, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
Find Research Guides for:
Find Featured Titles for: Autos
Most Popular Articles in Reference
- The importance of understanding organizational culture
- Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students
- What factors attract foreign direct investment?
- Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...
- How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques
- More »