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Legendary comedian dies suddenly at 78
Ronnie Golden, the British entertainer known for “Spitting Image” and “The Young Ones,” died suddenly at his home at 78.
Scientists Discover Groundbreaking Clues to Tissue Regrowth and “Immortality” in the Ocean
Sea cucumber tissue kept growing for more than three years after removal, surviving in seawater teeming with microbes. Like Thing, the disembodied hand in The Addams Family, a severed piece of sea cucumber tissue kept living without the body it came from, prompting scientists to describe the animal as a “real-life zombie.” Weeks after being
Beloved ’90s comedian and TV actor dies at 57
Reggie McFadden, the comedian known for “Def Comedy Jam” and “In Living Color,” died at age 57 after living in Tanzania for 18 years.
Editorial: The Case for Impeachment — What would the founders do?
When the Founding Fathers gathered in Philadelphia 250 years ago to “form a more perfect Union,” they studied the collapse of the Greek and Roman republics with an eye toward
The Daily Mauling: 10/10/26
Links! The time for tonight’s game has changed to 7pm to beat the storms headed to the southwest This SI article says weather may still be a factor in the game Kansas basketball players give their thoughts on the return of Tre White and Melvin Council, Jr Hall of Famer Mike Ditka died Friday at […]
Beloved TV star’s health scare: ‘I had a part of my brain that died’
She revealed the frightening situation during an interview.
Mike Ditka’s final chapter raises new questions after years of health battles
Mike Ditka, the legendary NFL coach and Hall of Famer, died at 86 from natural causes after decades of battling heart attacks, a stroke, and other serious health issues.
Toby Keith had a near $400-million fortune. Here’s what happened to it
The singer died in 2024 after battling stomach cancer.
Toby Keith had a near $400-million fortune. Here’s what happened to it
The singer died in 2024 after battling stomach cancer.
Mathematician Who Waited 50 Years for Proper Credit for Her Work Has Died
At the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mary Tsingou Menzel’s computer programming helped set the stage for chaos theory and other fields.
Mike Ditka tributes pour in from former President Obama, Chicago's sports teams and around the NFL
Mike Ditka, known as "Iron Mike," has died at 86.
Mike Ditka tributes pour in from former President Obama, Chicago's sports teams and around the NFL
Mike Ditka was “Iron Mike” as a player who revolutionized the tight end position and later became the easily recognizable and often imitated fiery, mustached and sweater vest-wearing “Da Coach” of the Chicago Bears during a Super Bowl-winning tenure.Ditka died Friday at 86, his family announced in a statement.
Mike Ditka tributes pour in from former President Obama, Chicago's sports teams and around the NFL
Mike Ditka, known as "Iron Mike," has died at 86
Mike Ditka tributes pour in from former President Obama, Chicago's sports teams and around the NFL
Mike Ditka, known as "Iron Mike," has died at 86
Bob Mackie’s death certificate reveals shocking new details after rep confirmed designer died of pneumonia
The fashion designer suffered a fall in the days before his death.
Dr. André Carrington on audiofuturism: the Black history of science fiction radio drama, Oct. 16
“Audiofuturism: Science Fiction Radio Drama and the Black Fantastic Imagination” chronicles the largely understudied history of audio science fiction made for Black creators for Black audiences.
'Staff are scared and exhausted' Concerns raised by Health Department after resident died at Hopkinton assisted living residence
After a resident died in a 99-degree room at the assisted living facility, documents obtained by 5 Investigates show temperatures nearing 90 degrees in several areas of the building.
What's the 411?
We remember singer Freddie Jackson. He had been battling kidney disease for the past few years and he has died at the age of 70. Jackson was best known for
Michael Kearns, actor who made history with HIV reveal, dies at 76
Michael Kearns, an actor who broke barriers by announcing his HIV status in 1991, has reportedly died. He was 76.
Michael Kearns, barrier-breaking gay actor and activist, dies at 76
Gay actor and activist Michael Kearns has died at 76. Kearns was known for his work on stage and screen, including in “And the Band Played On.”
C.W. Morgan, actor in ‘Scream’ franchise, dies at 72
C.W. Morgan, the actor best known for playing Hank Loomis, the father of original Ghostface killer Billy Loomis in ‘Scream,’ has died. He was 72.
Steelers Land Big-Bodied Wide Receiver in 2027 Mock Draft
Rob Rang of Fox Sports has the Pittsburgh Steelers landing Texas wide receiver Cam Coleman at 13th overall in his […]
The big unanswered question about Russia's 'plague' death
Russia says it is winding down precautionary measures taken after a lab worker at a plague research institute died. But what made officials think these were needed at all?
Michael Kearns death: Out gay actor and AIDS activist was 76
Michael Kearns, the trailblazing actor, author and AIDS activist credited as the first Hollywood actor to come out as gay, has died at 76.
Nana Patekar dead: Indian 'Krantiveer' actor-filmmaker was 75
Nana Patekar, an acclaimed Indian actor and filmmaker, died Thursday at his home in the western state of Goa. He was 75.
Health officials report 74 new measles cases in Pennsylvania
Five people have died in the state.
Russia’s public health watchdog denies a second infection in suspected pneumonic plague case
Russia’s public health watchdog has denied that a lab worker who died in Siberia had spread infection to another person as global concerns swirled about suspected pneumonic plague.
Russia's public health watchdog denies a second infection in suspected pneumonic plague case
Russia's public health watchdog on Thursday denied that a lab worker who died in Siberia had spread infection to another person, as global concerns swirled about suspected pneumonic plague.Rospotrebna...
Russia's public health watchdog denies a second infection in suspected pneumonic plague case
Russia’s public health watchdog has denied that a lab worker who died in Siberia had spread infection to another person as global concerns swirled about suspected pneumonic plague.
Russia's public health watchdog denies a second infection in suspected pneumonic plague case
Russia’s public health watchdog has denied that a lab worker who died in Siberia had spread infection to another person as global concerns swirled about suspected pneumonic plague.
Indian actor and filmmaker Nana Patekar dies at 75
Acclaimed Indian actor and filmmaker Nana Patekar has died at his home in Goa. He was 75. The Press Trust of India reports that Patekar died of a suspected cardiac
A deadly crash, missed warnings and a nursing home under repeated federal sanctions
George Marks died after he left a Charlotte nursing home in his wheelchair and was struck by a garbage truck. Records show warnings about his safety weren't acted on.
Bollywood actor Nana Patekar dies at 75
MUMBAI, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Nana Patekar, a veteran Indian actor known for his fiery performances in Bollywood films and theatre, died on Thursday aged 75, local media reported.
Margaret Hamilton, whose software helped land Apollo astronauts on the moon, has died
The groundbreaking researcher who helped create the field of software engineering and whose code helped land NASA win the 20th century space race, has died at 90.
Four Ohio college basketball teams play Outdoor exhibition
CareSource Invitational event University of Dayton head coach Anthony Grant started four years ago after his daughter died by suicide.
Margaret Hamilton, Whose Software Guided the Apollo Missions, Has Died
Margaret Hamilton, the first female programmer hired to work on the space project at M.I.T., was 90.
The WHO seeks more details on the death of a plague research lab employee in Russia
The World Health Organization says it wants more information on what caused the death of an employee at a Russian plague research lab. Russia says the woman died of pneumonia of unknown origin.
Margaret Hamilton, computing pioneer who led software development for the Apollo program, dies at 90
Margaret H. Hamilton, a profoundly influential computer scientist best known for leading the software engineering team at MIT’s Instrumentation Lab during NASA’s Apollo program, died at age 90.
Sheila E. slams music festival after concertgoer dies in crowd amid extreme heat conditions
Sheila E. slammed the city of Carson, Calif., and its mayor after a woman died at the Carson Jazz Festival: ‘You guys should have shut down the festival.’
Vanderbilt mourns the loss of pediatrics leader and children’s health advocate Ian Burr
Ian M. Burr, MD, PhD, former Chair of the Vanderbilt Department of Pediatrics whose vision and advocacy helped establish Middle Tennessee’s first freestanding children's hospital, died Oct. 5.
People on weight-loss drugs report fingernails falling off as researchers uncover surprising link
Nail discoloration was reported by 46% of GLP-1 users versus 17% of non-users, while scalp inflammation accompanied hair loss in most medication users studied.
'Saved by the Bell' star Dennis Haskins' cause of death revealed
The cause of death for Dennis Haskins, an actor who played Principal Richard Belding across the 'Saved by the Bell' franchise, has been revealed. The sitcom star died Sept. 27 in Burbank.
CATIE | Canadian study links cardiovascular disease to declining brain health
As the population of people with HIV ages, researchers studied cognitive health changes; 46% of study participants were cognitively declining, with cardiovascular health playing a role.
Global health officials give update on Russian lab worker death
WHO says Russian health officials claim she died after getting severe pneumonia and plague not detected.
Eva Marie Saint, star of 'North by Northwest' and 'On the Waterfront,' dies at 102
Oscar winner Eva Marie Saint has died at the age of 102 | Newsradio 1140 WRVA
Freddie Jackson, fixture of '80s R&B, dead at 69
LOS ANGELES — Freddie Jackson, the bestselling singer and fixture of '80s R&B, has died. He was 69. A statement from Jackson's official social media accounts said on Tuesday that
Hollywood icon Eva Marie Saint dies at 102
Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar-winning actress known for her roles in ‘On the Waterfront’ and ‘North by Northwest,’ has died at 102.
Eva Marie Saint dead: 'North by Northwest,' 'On the Waterfront' actor dies
Eva Marie Saint, a graceful actor best known for her Oscar-winning film debut in 'On the Waterfront' and for her turn as a sultry spy in another 1950s film classic 'North by Northwest,' died Tuesday. She was 102.
We studied American Jews’ mental health after Oct. 7. They’re not OK.
Research showed invalidation in ways that were painful, isolating and sometimes startling, writes a co-founder of The Jewish Community Mental Health Initiative.
Grammy-nominated R&B singer Freddie Jackson, known for '80s hits like 'You Are My Lady,' dies at 70
Grammy-nominated R&B singer Freddie Jackson, known for hits like “Rock Me Tonight” and “You Are My Lady,” has died at 70 | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
Grammy-nominated R&B singer Freddie Jackson, known for '80s hits like 'You Are My Lady,' dies at 70
Grammy-nominated R&B singer Freddie Jackson, known for hits like “Rock Me Tonight” and “You Are My Lady,” has died at 70 | 830 WCCO
Soldiers Wounded by Iranian Drone Strike Accuse Military Health Care System of Failing Them
Six U.S. Army Reserve soldiers died and more than 30 suffered wounds during the March attack,
Students Use Forensic Science Skills in Escape Room
Hundreds of students from across the region put their problem-solving skills to the test this week during the Regional Science Consortium’s annual Forensic Science Escape Room. Elementary school students had just a few hours to figure out how someone died as part of a forensic science escape room activity. The Regional Science Consortium partnered with Mercyhurst University for the 10th year of the event, which is taking place at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center. It began Monday and runs through Thursday.Throughout the week, more than 250 students are working to solve murder mysteries using real forensic science techniques. Students must analyze the evidence, piece together clues and solve the crime before time runs out.Organizers said the event gives students interested in pursuing forensic science in college a firsthand look at what a career in the field could entail.Sarah Skelton, Special Gifts Coordinator at Iroquois, said the activity provides students with an opportunity to develop skills that can sometimes be difficult to practice in a traditional classroom. "It really helps them to work in teams and on critical thinking skills. Which, not that they don't get these opportunities, but it's hard sometimes in the classroom to develop those higher-level thinking skills”, said Skelton.Students also get a chance to learn how forensic science is used in real-life investigations. As Skelton explained, "What are the real-life applications? What would you actually see in a crime scene? How would you handle these types of forensic investigations? So it's really cool our kids get to see what opportunities are out there and possibly a career field one day."The popular event has grown over the years, with some students returning year after year. Organizers said watching those students grow and develop their interests is one of the highlights of the program.Jeanette Schnars, the Executive Director of the Regional Science Consortium said it's rewarding to see how students' interests evolve as they get older. According to Schnars, "How they have grown and matured and where their interests are going and maybe they aren't going into forensics, but if they are going into sciences or different disciplines, so it's really fulfilling to see how they have matured."One student who continues to enjoy the event is sixth-grader Mia Harvey of Iroquois. Harvey hopes to pursue a career in medicine and says the forensic science activities are helping her explore her interests, "One day I want to become a neurologist, and learning about the bones is probably going to help me."Harvey said her favorite part of the event is the real-life application of what she's learning. "While you are trying to find the clues, they teach real stuff that you would need to know”, said Harvey.Event organizers said if students are learning while having fun, then the program is accomplishing its goal. "Not only are they learning the science, but they are having fun with it too”, said Schnars.Adults will also have a chance to take part in the experience this Saturday during an adult version of the escape room, which will feature food, drinks and entertainment. For more information, click here.The Forensic Science Escape Room has become one of the Regional Science Consortium’s most popular events, with teachers signing up their students as soon as registration opens in August.
Bette Davis knew her ‘era’ was ‘over’ when she saw Michael Keaton as Batman
Legendary Hollywood star Bette Davis died just days after she saw a giant poster of Michael Keaton as Batman: ‘I’ve come here to pass the torch.’
Queen pays tribute to 'irrepressible' Jeffrey Archer
Tthe bestselling author and former politician died on Monday at the age of 86.
Second high school football coach dies unexpectedly at same school
The 31-year-old died last month.
Kenya reports first-ever Ebola death
Kenya has reported its first-ever Ebola death, the health minister announced on Tuesday, after a Kenyan man who had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo died after returning to the country....
Jeffrey Archer, UK novelist and former politician jailed for lying in libel case, dies at 86
Jeffrey Archer, a British bestselling author who sold more than 300 million book copies in his career and a former politician who was jailed for lying in a high-profile libel case, died Monday.
Kenya confirms first Ebola case imported from Congo, patient has died
Kenya has recorded its first confirmed Ebola case, a Kenyan citizen who has been living in Democratic Republic of Congo and arrived in Nairobi on Saturday, health minister Aden Duale said.
Jim Bakker, who built ‘PTL Club’ televangelism empire, has died at 86
Jim Bakker, who along with his then-wife Tammy Faye built an evangelical empire around the hugely successful “The PTL Club” TV show, only to lose it all over a sex
Isaiah Washington says his wife Jenisa Garland died in 2025
"Grey's Anatomy" star Isaiah Washington shared that his wife, Jenisa Garland, died of a hemorrhagic stroke and urged fans to take severe headaches seriously.
Child dies from bacterial infection, state health department reports
A child died last month from complications of the invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infection, DPHHS said.
1 killed, 2 injured when car crashes into Santa Fe Springs business
One person died and two people were injured when a car crashed into a business Monday afternoon in Santa Fe Springs. The crash was reported at about 2:30 p.m. near Telegraph Road and Slauson Avenue in the community about 15 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Details about what led to the crash into the front of the building, possible…
Reggie McFadden death: Comedian and actor dies at 57
'In Living Color' actor and comedian Reggie McFadden has died at the age of 57. His family received word from the State Department of his death in Tanzania.
UK author and politician Jeffrey Archer dies aged 86
Jeffrey Archer, the best-selling British novelist and former politician who was jailed for lying in a high-profile libel case, has died aged 86, his publisher HarperCollins said on Monday.
‘Days of Our Lives,’ ‘General Hospital’ star Robert Kelker-Kelly dies at 62
Prolific soap opera actor Robert Kelker-Kelly is dead at 62. Police in Missouri said in their report that the daytime star died Saturday in his St. Peters home around 8:16
Former Angels Scout Bobby Fontaine Jr. Dies at 73
The Los Angeles Angels announced former scouting director Bobby Fontaine Jr., who served the team for more than a decade, died aged 73. The post Former Angels Scout Bobby Fontaine Jr. Dies at 73 appeared first on LA Sports Report.
'Days of Our Lives' actor Robert Kelker-Kelly dies at 62
Soap opera star Robert Kelker-Kelly has reportedly died at the age of 62.
How a controversial camera system is monitoring mental health patients
The Lampard Inquiry started back in September 2024 and I remember going to the first hearing in Chelmsford. Subscribe The bereaved families made placards of their loved ones, they stood outside in silence and then laid flowers to mark the moment. Now, two years on, in a process meant to last another two years, there’s been a development. Last week, we were told the chair, Baroness Lampard, pictured below, could be looking at making interim recommendations. Throughout the process, she has remarked that although this inquiry is looking at almost 2,000 people who were under the care of Essex mental health services from 2000-2023 when they died, the findings could have national implications for other trusts. ‘Records 24 hours a day in patient’s bedroom’ So why has this happened? One system that the inquiry is going to take a closer look at is a controversial monitoring system called Oxevision. It monitors some vital signs of patients remotely by using a camera placed in a room. It’s used by 40% of NHS mental health trusts. But campaigners, particularly the group Stop Oxevision, have asked for this technology to be removed from mental health wards as soon as possible. I spoke to a member, Hat Porter, today and they described to me what they thought this technology did and explained their concerns: “It records 24 hours a day and it’s located in a patient’s bedroom, which is obviously somewhere you’d usually expect to be a private place. “Our concerns are that the use of the technology has been has been kind of implemented as a substitute for proper in-person support, that it’s kind of over relied on and that there’s a lot of misunderstandings and that the presence of a camera, which has often been used without people’s consent, sometimes without even their knowledge, that that has a really big impact on privacy, dignity and human rights.” ‘Not sufficient’ I put it to them that the company behind Oxevision would dispute their claims about consent and in videos I’ve seen online from NHS trusts, they make it clear that the technology is complementary to trained staff and not a replacement. [ ](https://channel4news.substack.com/p/the-nottingham-inquiry-what-lessons) [ How the Nottingham inquiry shines a spotlight on other key mental health care failings ](https://channel4news.substack.com/p/the-nottingham-inquiry-what-lessons) Victoria Macdonald · Feb 12 [ Read full story ](https://channel4news.substack.com/p/the-nottingham-inquiry-what-lessons) A team of lawyers has been working on the inquiry and with bereaved family members who have concerns about this technology. I spoke to solicitor Priya Singh, from Hodge Jones & Allen, who made the point that questions usually asked by nurses would be missing from using devices like this. “It’s not sufficient to say, oh, the patient is moving around. Somebody must go in and say, are you okay? Are you distressed? Do you want help? Is there anything I can do? Share Channel 4 News “How are you spending your time? So I think a lot of our families cannot see the function of it when ultimately the patient should only really be observed when they’ve been prescribed to be observed, they can be observed more, but that more should really be happening face to face.” The Chair will hear evidence over the next two weeks and then a decision made after that, which could have national impact if she does decide this technology should be investigated or even removed. The Department of Health and Social Care said: “The Government is committed to ensuring that lessons are learned from the Lampard Inquiry to improve patient safety. “We are confident that the Inquiry will play an important role in identifying wider learnings for the health system following the tragic events in Essex and will contribute to improvements in patient safety.” We approached LIO Health, which runs Oxevision, for comment. Subscribe Share Channel 4 News Leave a comment
CT business owners ID’d as couple who died in murder-suicide in Woodbridge
Police had gone to the home for a well-being check that was called in by an employee of their business.
Nutritional countermeasures to spaceflight studied at URI
KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 5, 2026 – As humans spend longer periods of time in outer space and venture further from Earth, it’s increasingly important for scientists to learn how varied gravity levels affect muscle function and muscle loss, and how those effects can be counteracted or minimized. Theodoros Pavlidis, a second-year doctoral student who […]
Dennis Hastert, speaker disgraced by sex abuse, dies at 84
Dennis Hastert, whose rise to U.S. House speaker in 1999 was as unexpected as the criminal conviction that sullied his reputation and sent him to prison years later, has died.
Dennis Hastert, longtime Republican House speaker who went to prison, dies at age 84
Dennis Hastert, who served as House speaker longer than any other Republican but later was sent to prison in a hush-money case, has died. The Kendall County, Illinois, coroner said
Dennis Hastert, House speaker sullied by abuse case, dies at 84
Dennis Hastert, whose rise to US House speaker in 1996 was as unexpected as the criminal conviction that sullied his reputation and sent him to prison years later, has died. He was 84.
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert dies at age 84
The Kendall County, Illinois, coroner said Monday that Hastert died of natural causes over the weekend
Dennis Hastert, longtime Republican House speaker who went to prison, dies at age 84
Dennis Hastert, who served as House speaker longer than any other Republican but later was sent to prison in a hush-money case, has died.
Dennis Hastert, longtime Republican House speaker who went to prison, dies at age 84
Dennis Hastert, who served as House speaker longer than any other Republican but later was sent to prison in a hush-money case, has died.
How tragedy, faith led Julia Letlow to run for Senate: ‘I needed those signs from the Lord’
After her husband, Luke, died of COVID, Julia Letlow faced a major decision.
Rodri Studied Business by Day, Played for Villarreal by Night
Rodri combined morning training at Villarreal with afternoon business administration lectures in Castellon, cycling between the two without his flatmates knowing he played professional football. They found out only when he appeared on television wearing Villarreal’s number six shirt, a moment Rodri has called the best period of his life. The 30-year-old turned down a…
Prick’s theatrical industrial punk is perfect for spooky season
If Trent Reznor studied musical theater instead of computer engineering NIN might have sounded like Prick.
Britney Spears and Natalie Portman understudied this Broadway star’s breakout role in the ’90s
Laura Bell Bundy is looking back on a pair of superstar understudies who shadowed her during her breakout performance in the off-Broadway musical ‘Ruthless!’ — Britney Spears and Natalie Portman.
Biljana Plavsic, a Former Bosnian Serb Political Leader, Has Died
Biljana Plavsic, a Bosnian Serb, pleaded guilty to one count of crimes against humanity. She later recanted and said she “would do the same again.”
Jason Bourne author, more celebrities died in SW Florida: Exclusive
Robert Ludlum wrote three Bourne books, including \
Montreal-raised Juno-award-winning singer Sass Jordan dies at 63
Sass Jordan, the Montreal-raised rock singer whose career spanned nearly four decades, has died at 63.
Artists remember veteran concert producer Susan Lim and her decades in entertainment
Photo from Facebook/@susan.o.lim Artists and colleagues are remembering veteran concert producer Susan Lim for a career that spanned Philippine productions and overseas tours for Filipino performers. Lim died Sept. 14. Pops Fernandez, Martin Nievera and Roderick Paulate were among those who later shared public tributes, recalling both her work in entertainment and their longtime friendships with her. Lim had been active in…
Grayson High alumnus killed in mental health facility attack
Grayson High School graduate Bryce Hayes died following an assault at a Minneapolis mental health facility, prompting his family to demand answers regarding facility safety.
Studying Science in an Anti-Scientific Time
This Chronicle Review Deep Cut was first published in 2025. By Julianne Werlin Thanks for reading The Chronicle Review! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Subscribe The last two decades have not been kind to science studies. Already bruised and battered by the “science wars” of the 1990s, by the 2000s sociologists of science — who had long argued that science had to be understood in its human context — were encountering the funhouse-mirror version of their own views in right-wing critiques of climate scientists. It was enough to give some prominent scholars pause. “Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?” asked Bruno Latour, the most famous sociologist of science in the world, in 2003. “Should we apologize for having been wrong all along? Or should we rather bring the sword of criticism to criticism itself and do a bit of soul-searching here: What were we really after when we were so intent on showing the social construction of scientific facts?” In response, Latour proposed a change of method and attitude. Science studies, now chastened and contrite, would no longer seek to strip facts of their authority, but to enrich and enhance them. What this meant in practice was never fully clear. But his diagnosis of problems resonated, even if his solutions did not. Latour’s exercise in public hand-wringing signaled a shift in mood. By 2016, with the first election of Donald Trump, the idea that skepticism of science was a right-wing position, not a left-wing one, had become a commonplace, discussed eagerly in The New York Times. For liberals, vaccine denial during the Covid era and Trump’s second-term attacks on the funding of scientific research, covered extensively in these pages, added a new urgency to the defense of science on both practical and principled grounds. There was little appetite for a sociology or philosophy of science that emphasized the messiness and missteps of the scientific process rather than its integrity and triumphs. The distinguished historian of science Peter Dear’s new book, The World as We Know It: From Natural Philosophy to Modern Science (Princeton University Press, 2025), which seeks to tell the story of 18th- and 19th-century science for a general public, may seem comfortably remote from these bitter contests. In its 16 short chapters, Dear draws swift, sure sketches of major discoveries from Newton to Einstein, ably guiding the reader through debates on stellar nebulae, animal taxonomy, atomic chemistry, evolution, and other flashpoints in the history of science. But though a work of history, Dear’s book must still negotiate our polarized present. In a blurb on its back cover, the historian of biology Lynn K. Nyhart alludes to the “present moment, when scientific knowledge is being swamped by misinformation and its institutions are under siege.” Dear himself, in his conclusion, refers to the “yard signs” and “bumper stickers” that proclaim “Science Is Real.” One antidote to both anti-science propaganda and to reductive slogans in science’s defense is a robust history and philosophy of science: exactly what Dear’s scholarship has long offered. But his new book illustrates how difficult such work has become. Dear, an emeritus professor of history at Cornell University, is best known as a creative and philosophically minded historian of the Scientific Revolution. His edited volume The Literary Structure of Scientific Argument (1991) analyzed the rhetoric of Galileo’s thought experiments to brilliant effect. Discipline and Experience: The Mathematical Way in the Scientific Revolution (1995) was a major contribution to the analysis of scientific experiments in early modern Europe and beyond, while Revolutionizing the Sciences: European Knowledge in Transition, 1500-1700 (2001), now in its third edition, remains one of the best overviews of the profound epistemological upheavals of 16th- and 17th-century science. But Dear has also ventured into later periods. Nearly two decades ago, in The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World (2006), he turned to the 18th and 19th centuries to sketch a history and theory of scientific knowledge. Aimed at a generalist audience, Dear’s simple prose belied serious philosophical ambitions. Science, Dear argued, has two aspects: “natural philosophy,” the quest to understand the true nature of the universe, and “instrumentality,” the applied skills and technologies that allow us to manipulate the world for human advantage. Both strands are ancient, but the innovation of the phenomenon we call “science” was to yoke them together. As Francis Bacon wrote, “Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known, the effect cannot be produced,” an insight typically abridged to “knowledge is power.” Or, in Bertrand Russell’s characteristically blunt phrase, science has two functions, “1. to enable us to know things, and 2., to enable us to do things.” So far, so conventional. But Dear took issue with this familiar story in one respect. Bacon’s formula implied that theory and practice could be fused in a single method. In fact, Dear argued, the quest to understand nature and the desire to manipulate it were coupled only loosely. They could come together, but they could also pull apart. Focusing on natural philosophy, the “knowing” half of the scientific circle, he used a series of case studies from cosmology, taxonomy, chemistry, electromagnetism, and quantum theory to show how theories changed over time, in dialogue with practice, but never reducible to it. Take the case of matter, the basic substrate of the physical world. In the 18th and 19th centuries, scientists not only disagreed about what it was, but also about how well it could be known. In 1789, the chemist Antoine Lavoisier dismissed speculation about the atomic composition of chemicals as “discussions entirely of a metaphysical nature,” as he sought to orient chemistry away from philosophical abstraction and toward laboratory results. But in the 19th century, atoms returned with a vengeance in the atomic chemistry of John Dalton, who wanted to explain the underlying structure of nature. It was not just that Dalton and Lavoisier had a different set of experimental results, or even a different theory, Dear showed. What counted as an explanation had changed. In arguing that scientific theories depended on their intelligibility to human beings with complex arrays of beliefs and commitments, Dear was in sympathy with science studies. Key figures such as the sociologist Steven Shapin emphasized the importance of psychological mechanisms like trust in the formation and acceptance of scientific ideas. But in focusing on the scientific pursuit of knowledge, not its politics or economics, Dear resisted the more cynical perspective of some of his colleagues. The Intelligibility of Nature strikes a very different note than Shapin’s collection of a few years later, Never Pure: Historical Studies of Science as If It Was Produced by People With Bodies, Situated in Time, Space, Culture, and Society, and Struggling for Credibility and Authority (2010), to name just one example. Walking a very fine line, Dear depicted science as driven at once by complex social dynamics and by the intellectual power of real discoveries. It was a testament not only to his own acumen but also to the vitality of the field that he was able to do so. Nearly two decades later, The World as We Know It returns to the questions broached in The Intelligibility of Nature. Like Dear’s earlier study, it begins with the Newtonian cosmos and ends with debates between Einstein and Bohr on quantum physics. Beyond its terminal figures, many of the same characters appear in both studies, including the naturalists John Ray and the Comte de Buffon; the chemists Étienne François Geoffroy, Antoine Lavoisier, and John Dalton; as well as Charles Darwin and Michael Faraday, among others. Its subject is nearly identical: As in The Intelligibility of Nature, The World as We Know It considers natural philosophy as opposed to instrumentality, here defined as the “desire to create a picture of what the world is really like — the world as God knows it — rather than simply having instrumental or operational control over it.” The two books also overlap in insights — and sometimes even in language. The reader who has learned in The Intelligibility of Nature that Buffon’s method of classifying animals “reflected his belief in the importance of the senses and empiricism in learning about nature (a doctrine associated with Newton and the philosopher John Locke)” will experience a sense of déjà vu on reading, in The World as We Know It, that the classification “reflects Buffon’s commitment to the epistemological stance of Newton and his philosophical underlaborer John Locke, who stressed the role of the senses in creating natural knowledge.” Later in the passage, we read that, “because of its stress on understanding the ways of life of animals in their environments, Buffon’s approach could almost be labeled (anachronistically) as ‘ecological.’” And again, “an anachronistic way of putting it would be to say that Buffon recommends an ecological mode of understanding.” Likewise, in The Intelligibility of Nature we read of Dalton that he was initially drawn to meteorology, and that: He did a bit of experimental work on these things, especially having to do with the water-holding capacity of gases, but his real interest lay in understanding what, at an underlying natural-philosophical level, was really going on physically.” Whereas, in The World as We Know It: He did experimental work on these things, especially concerning the water-holding capacity of gases — although not at a very refined level quantitatively — but he was continually trying to develop a theoretical conception of what was happening physically. The final full chapter of each book closes on the same resigned note. Intelligibility: These days, most serious work on the natural philosophical underpinnings and implications of quantum mechanics is performed not by physicists but by philosophers of science. Among scientific practitioners themselves, Bohr’s attempt to use instrumentality as sufficient grounds for a respectable science has met with a high degree of success. And again, in The World as We Know It: Bohr’s and Einstein’s concerns are now questions that are mostly discussed by philosophers of science rather than by physicists themselves. The marginalization of these sorts of questions amounts to the demise of natural philosophy, at least in physics, in the 20th century. Quantum mechanics “works,” and that’s good enough for most scientists who encounter it. Examples could be multiplied. When handling the same subject matter, some echoes are inevitable. Scholars should not feel that because they have written “Isaac Newton died in 1727” in one book, in the next they must describe him as perishing, expiring, or meeting his maker. But the repetitions of language and arguments (not to mention six reproduced images) threaded throughout The World as We Know It are more extensive than that. They should have been caught by Princeton University Press or its reviewers, and revised. Because the two books have so much in common, it is easy to see where they diverge. The World as We Know It is a less theoretical work than its predecessor. The sociology of knowledge that organized The Intelligibility of Nature has been reduced in scale and folded into readings and examples. The taut interplay between history and theory, which gave the earlier study so much interest, is there, but it is subtle. In the earlier book, the case studies demonstrated theoretical claims about the character and development of science. In the later work, each narrative of discovery is an end in itself. Insights emerge from the history, but they do not control the organization of the study. With the theory muted, it can be hard to understand the logic uniting Dear’s sprawling history of more than two centuries of scientific knowledge. The 16 brisk chapters cover an enormous amount of material. But the closer the volume edges to comprehensiveness, the more obvious the missing elements become. A chapter on “Institutions and Pedagogy,” describing the birth of the research university, illustrates the problem. Inserted roughly halfway through the book, the unnumbered chapter is designed as an “entr’acte,” in acknowledgement that it does not fit the study’s organization around scientific discoveries. Yet as Dear is well aware, no general history of the development of modern science can bracket its 19th-century institutionalization and professionalization. It was the 19th-century university, after all, that gave us the “scientist,” a term coined by the Cambridge philosopher William Whewell. Dear’s history of scientific discoveries implies a wider social and institutional history, but it remains largely subterranean, only occasionally extruded under the pressure of the narrative. It must be said that the balance is not all on the side of the earlier study. There are some advantages to the more historical, less theoretical organization of The World as We Know It. Dear’s accounts of paradigm shifts are remarkably lucid, no small accomplishment given that they span fields and centuries. He makes excellent use of the wealth of new scholarship on Darwin and his influences, to which he has himself contributed. It is satisfying to see puzzle pieces from Buffon’s natural history, Georges Cuvier’s animal taxonomy, Thomas Robert Malthus’s demography, and Charles Lyell’s geology recombined seamlessly in the Darwinian jigsaw. Likewise, Dear’s discussion of stellar nebulae, divided between chapters two and 15, shows vividly how Newton, Kant, Herschel, and Hubble reimagined insights and observations as they sought to discover whether the diffuse light that filtered through early telescopes was a glowing, gaseous substance or discrete but distant stars. Yet despite such pleasures, the book remains a more modest work than The Intelligibility of Nature. Dear has clearly not changed his views about the history of science. But in the two decades that have elapsed, the discipline and the world around it have changed, making it harder to write a sociologically and philosophically ambitious history of science for the general reader. That is a shame, because in the age of Silicon Valley and biotechnology, both the reciprocity and the tensions Dear identified between the epistemological and instrumental ambitions of science are more evident than ever. In recent years, some of the most exciting new books on the history of science in early modernity have focused precisely on this pressure point. Important studies such as Pamela H. Smith’s From Lived Experience to the Written Word (2022), James Poskett’s Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science (2022), and Vera Keller’s The Interlopers: Early Stuart Projects and the Undisciplining of Knowledge (2023) all shed new light on how early modern science negotiated the relationship between its instrumental and epistemological ambitions, or in Russell’s phrase, knowing and doing. There is every opportunity for a philosophically informed approach to draw new insights from this wealth of material. Dear, unfortunately, has not done so in The World as We Know It. But for future scholars of the history of science, his body of work over nearly four decades may provide just the model. Julianne Werlin is an associate professor of English at Duke University. 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