Bacteria Bacteria are extremely small living things. While we measure our own sizes in inches or centimeters, bacterial size is measured in microns. One micron is a thousandth of a millimeter: a pinhead is about a millimeter across. Rod-shaped bacter...
Archaeology Archaeology is a source of history, not just a humble auxiliary discipline. Archaeological data are historical documents in their own right, not mere illustrations to written texts. Just as much as any other historian, an archaeologist st...
Animals' Compasses Researchers have found that migrating animals use a variety of inner compasses to help them navigate. Some steer by the position of the Sun. Others navigate by the stars. Some use the Sun as their guide during the day and then swit...
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie, known as the King of Steel, built the steel industry in the United States, and, in the process, became one of the wealthiest men in America. His success resulted in part from his ability to sell the product and in par...
The Historical Significance of American Revolution The ways of history are so intricate and the motivations of human actions so complex that it is always hazardous to attempt to represent events covering a number of years, a multiplicity of persons,...
First Inaugural Address We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning; signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our fo...
To be or not to be Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world. They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not onl...
An October Sunrise I was up the next morning be fore the October sunrise, and away through the wild and the woodland. The rising of the sun was noble in the cold and warmth of it peeping down the spread of light, he raised his shoulder heavily over t...
On Motes and Beams It is curious that our own offenses should seem so much less heinous than the offenses of others. I suppose the reason is that we know all the circumstances that have occasioned them and so manage to excuse in ourselves what we can...
Mirror, Mirror---What do I See? A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror. Mirrors have a very particular function. They reflect the image in front of them. Just as a physical...
Work and Pleasure To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real. It is no use starting late in life to say: I will take an interest in this or that. Such an attempt only aggravates the...
Born to Win Each human being is born as something new, something that never existed before. Each is born with the capacity to win at life. Each person has a unique way of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and thinking. Each has his or her own unique...
The Happy door Happiness is like a pebble dropped into a pool to set in motion an ever-widening circle of ripples. As Stevenson has said, being happy is a duty. There is no exact definition of the word happiness. Happy people are happy for all sorts...
The Love of Beauty The love of beauty is an essential part of all healthy human nature. It is a moral quality. The absence of it is not an assured ground of condemnation, but the presence of it is an invariable sign of goodness of heart. In proportio...
Relish the Moment Tucked away in our subconsciousness is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the moment. We are traveling by train. Out the windows, we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children wavin...