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Opinion
Beyond the Cash Nexus
How Would You Like to Pay? explores the anthropology of the expanding new world of smartphone wallets and other forms of mobile payments, writes Scott McLemee.
Opinion
The Power of ISIS
Two recent books give a much thicker account than daily news reports of the group behind the Paris attacks, writes Scott McLemee. But he doesn't recommend them for anyone whose nerves are easily jarred.
Opinion
'Birth of the Intellectuals'
According to Christophe Charle's book on the topic, a debate over their definition and role has raged since the beginning, writes Scott McLemee.
Opinion
Past Its Peak
Over the past century and a half or so, petroleum has been abundant and relatively easy to extract, Scott McLemee writes. The next 150 years -- in fact, the next 15 -- do not look quite so promising.
Opinion
Isn't It Shocking?
The new movie Experimenter, about social psychologist Stanley Milgram, makes the ethical questions concerning the deception and mistreatment of research participants much more tangible and pressing, says Scott McLemee.
Opinion
Paperless, Please
While it's possible today to conduct every state of the writing process without ever touching a piece of paper, to Scott McLemee, it sounds like a relentless hell of perfect efficiency.
Opinion
The Worst of Times
Paul B. Wignall's book on how Earth has withstood waves of cataclysmic extinction make the fall of dinosaurs seem like last week's news, writes Scott McLemee.
Opinion
Who Was That Masked Man?
Writer, professor, tattoo artist … not so daring now, but 60 years ago, it was another story. Scott McLemee on the lost essays of a wild one.