Posts by Yale University Press

A Clue to the Nature of Man: the Symbol

Ernst Cassirer— In the human world we find a new characteristic which appears to be the distinctive mark of human life. The functional circle of man is not only quantitively enlarged; it has also undergone a qualitative change. Man has, as it were, discovered a new method of adapting himself

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How I Got My Asteroid

Martin Elvis— Changing your line of work late in your career is a refreshing thing to do. I worked for decades helping to decipher the mysteries of how giant black holes—the darkest things in the Universe—can be the engines of the brightest things in the Universe (quasars), making them visible

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When the Pope Was in Prison

Ambrogio A. Caiani— On the night of 5 July 1809 French forces kidnapped Barnabà Chiaramonti, Pope Pius VII, from his private apartments in the Quirinal Palace in Rome. He would spend the following five years as a prisoner of Napoleon. Ultimately, the Pope refused to renounce his central Italian kingdom,

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Oblivion or Glory

David Stafford— Two things saved Churchill at this time of mid-life crisis. The first was his family. Its role in his life has often been underestimated. The constant and loyal support of his wife Clementine has certainly been well recognized, and the lives of their children, especially his tempestuous only

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Why Feminist Artists Found an Ally in Antonin Artaud

Lucy Bradnock— Instances of feminist artists citing Artaud are curious and not a little confusing. The French poet and dramaturg died in 1948, leaving behind a legacy that was both bound up in historical modernism and dogged by accusations of misogyny. Neither would seem to align him with second wave

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Sol LeWitt: In All Directions (Part 2)

In the introduction to Locating Sol LeWitt, editor David Areford advocates for a “plural LeWitt,” that is, a more expansive view of the artist and his practice, one that fully embraces the multiple mediums he pursued and the sometimes difficult and contradictory aspects of his conceptual art. In this spirit, the

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Whistleblowers

Allison Stanger— Whistleblowing has been present since the United States’ founding, but the concept means different things to different people. To have a meaningful national conversation on whistleblowing, we have to start with a common definition, stripped of partisan leanings. That is the only way to see what has changed

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Finding Evidence of a Holy Rose

Peter E. Kukielski— Rosa sancta, also known as Rosa sancta Richard, Rosa richardii, Freya, Heilige Rose, and the Holy Rose of Abyssinia, is a species cross and is closely associated with the gallica class of roses. Rosa sancta Richard was described by Richard in 1848 in his Flora of Abyssinia under the name of Rosa sancta as it was observed

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Bugsy Siegal

Michael Shnayerson— By the age of twelve, Siegel was essentially spending his days as he pleased—but what he pleased to do, more than play games, was embark on petty crime. Ben learned to hit up pushcart peddlers for protection; those who declined to pay a weekly fee might find their

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Sol LeWitt: In All Directions (Part 1)

In the introduction to Locating Sol LeWitt, editor David Areford advocates for a “plural LeWitt,” that is, a more expansive view of the artist and his practice, one that fully embraces the multiple mediums he pursued and the sometimes difficult and contradictory aspects of his conceptual art. In this spirit, the

Continue reading…