Mistakes on the Lake

Pulp mills pump hazardous effluent into Lake Superior; their sludge incinerators befoul the air. The lake is vulnerable to a less obvious threat a thousand miles away, in Washington. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, to which Chapel Rock belongs, was included in a package of national parklands Congress attempted to sell off in the mid-1990s, recount nature photographer/writers John and Ann Mahan in Lake Superior: Story and Spirit (Sweetwater Visions, $56). They have produced a sweeping limnography of the greatest of the Great Lakes, a brainy coffee-table book with an attitude. Never shying away from complex natural science or environmental controversy, the Mahans punctuate a full story of Superior’s lore and fragile ecosystem with their stunning photographs of its majesty. For anyone planning to visit the region this summer, Lake Superior offers an antidote to the puffy stuff preferred by tourism bureaus.

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Feynman:
An Excerpt from a New Comic Biography

Read an excerpt from the new graphic-novel-style biography of Richard Feynman in an American Scientist slide show

Pizza Lunch Podcasts

About once a month at Sigma Xi headquarters, we liven up the lunch hour with an American Scientist Pizza Lunch talk. In these informal lectures, scientists describe new research to nonscientists. The series is light on jargon but heavy on solid science. Each Pizza Lunch offers an in-depth look at its subject, whether it's bedbugs or the smart grid. Click below to read about and download these talks -- and to subscribe!