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A sheet of Thomas Jefferson stamps.
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Thomas Jefferson Fights for the Metric System

A story of math and political stasis.
by Amir Alexander via HNN on June 5, 2024
Ripped green ScanTron sheet

The End of Scantron Tests

Machine-graded bubble sheets are the defining feature of American schools. Today’s kindergartners may never have to fill one out.
by Matteo Wong via The Atlantic on September 19, 2023
Picture of a parent holding a child in a run-down room

The US Hasn't Changed How it Measures Who's Poor Since LBJ Began His War

Newer measures of poverty may do a better job of counting America's poor, which is necessary to helping them.
by Mark Robert Rank via The Conversation on July 12, 2021

Counting the Dead at Hiroshima and Nagasaki

How many people really died because of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings? It’s complicated. There are at least two credible answers.
by Alex Wellerstein via Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on August 4, 2020
Various foods, such as milk, peanuts, potatoes, bread, and bananas, on a beige background.

A Brief History of the Calorie

The measure of thermal energy expended by exercise was adapted from the study of explosives and engines.
by Livia Gershon, Nick Cullather via JSTOR Daily on February 6, 2020

The Public Health Origins of Census Data Collection

How the "census tract" came into being.
by Paul Theerman via Books, Health and History on February 3, 2020
Title card for "Legacies of Eugenics" series, with a drawing of a form board for teaching shapes.

Trumpian “Common Sense” and the History of IQ Tests

On the troubling history of IQ tests and special education.
by Pepper Stetler via Los Angeles Review of Books on May 8, 2025

How Business Metrics Broke the University

The push to make students into customers incentivizes faculty to seek visibility through controversy rather than through traditional scholarly achievement.
by Hollis Robbins via Compact on March 18, 2025
Thomas Jefferson against a backdrop of his weather observations.

Discover Why Thomas Jefferson Meticulously Monitored the Weather Wherever He Went

The third president knew that the whims of nature shaped Americans’ daily lives as farmers and enslavers.
by Sara Georgini via Smithsonian on January 3, 2025
A bird perched on top of a broken tree trunk, surrounded by snow covered bushes and trees.
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For the Birds

In 1973, the Christmas Bird Count formed the basis for a press freedom case that centered on the impacts of DDT.
by Santiago Flórez via HNN on December 24, 2024
Skeletons in a museum posed with varying postures, as if they are performing different tasks.

Why Americans Are Obsessed With Poor Posture

The 20th-century movement to fix slouching questions the moral and political dimensions of addressing bad backs over wider public health concerns.
by Zoe Adams via The Nation on November 20, 2024
Picture of a baseball card of designated runner, Herb Washington.

Speed Kills

Two striking reminders of the game-changing potential of great speed and its limited value unless accompanied by other essential skills.
by John Thorn via Our Game on October 7, 2024
George Gallup reenacting his polling methods on a talk show.

The Problems with Polls

Political polling’s greatest achievement is its complete co-opting of our understanding of public opinion, which we can no longer imagine without it.
by Samuel Earle via New York Review of Books on September 26, 2024
A scale measuring the weight of gold flakes; with a quill, wax seals, lace, and jewelry.

Where Inflation Comes From

How we calculate inflation has always been a subject of debate. Small changes that might seem trivial lead to enormous changes in how well-off we think we are.
by Carola Conces Binder via Works In Progress on August 30, 2024
Human figures colored either blue or green.

Mortality Wars

Estimating life and death in Iraq and Gaza.
by Shaan Sachdev via The Drift on July 8, 2024
A man stands before four doorways with cryptic letters on them.

Sorting the Self

The self has never been more securely an object of classification than it is today.
by Christopher Yates via The Hedgehog Review on March 3, 2024
Photo of a female jogger drinking water out of a pink metal water bottle.
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Your New Year's Resolution to Drink More Water Has a History

Our water bottle obsession speaks to deeper historical trends.
by Emily J. H. Contois via Made By History on January 2, 2024
A man walking down an unpaved street in an impoverished Appalachian neighborhood.

What the Best Places in America Have in Common

The Index of Deep Disadvantage reflects a more holistic view of how we can define "poverty."
by H. Luke Shaefer, Timothy J. Nelson, Kathryn J. Edin via The Atlantic on August 5, 2023
Cartoon spoofing weight loss and weight gain patent medicines.

How the Use of BMI Fetishizes White Embodiment and Racializes Fat Phobia

Size-based health and beauty ideals emanated from eugenic pseudoscientific postulates, and BMI continues to advance white supremacist embodiment norms. 
by Sabrina Strings via AMA Journal Of Ethics on July 1, 2023
Line graph showing decline in minority enrollment at elite schools after California's Proposition 209.

Supreme Court Bans Affirmative Action: What It Means for College Admissions

Lessons on race-neutral admissions from California.
via The Wall Street Journal on June 29, 2023
Designed picture of Lambert Adolphe Quetelet and Ancel Keys.

The Strange History of BMI, the Body Mass Index

BMI is a simple calculation, but how it is translated into a diagnosis is complex and flawed.
via STAT on March 9, 2023
House Energy Committee Chairwoman Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) speaks during a subcommittee hearing about the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic on Feb. 8.
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The Eugenic Roots of ‘Quality Adjusted Life Years,’ and Why They Matter

Why a powerful House Republican wants to ban a common insurance practice.
by Pepper Stetler via Made By History on March 8, 2023
US Signal Station on the trail to Pike’s Peak.

Civil War Weather

The U.S. Army's contributions to meteorology.
by Cecily Nelson Zander via Emerging Civil War on February 28, 2023
Opened standardized test booklet with pencil on top.

Can Standardized Testing Escape Its Racist Past?

High-stakes testing has struggled with overt and implicit biases. Should it still have a place in modern education?
by Deborah Blum via UnDark on December 14, 2022
Illustration of Economists in Different Positions in the Government

May God Save Us From Economists

Over the last half-century, economics has infiltrated parts of the federal government where it has no business intruding.
by Timothy Noah via The New Republic on October 25, 2022
Painting entitled "Sulking," by Edgar Degas, c. 1870, depicting a man and woman perusing documents.

Rate the Room

The early history of rating credit in America.
by Bruce Carruthers via Lapham’s Quarterly on September 21, 2022
Eugene Sandow lifting a dumbell.

Buff Boys of America: Eugen Sandow and Jesus

Under the influence of Muscular Christianity, Jesus transformed into a muscle-bound Aryan, saving souls through strength and masculinity.
by Matthew Wills, Rachel McBride Lindsey via JSTOR Daily on July 6, 2022
Collage of photos including man in NYC Census 2020 shirt, chairs in the House chamber, and a "critical error" message

Democracy Is Asking Too Much of Its Data

The latest US Census—used to decide representation in Congress—is flawed. One surprising solution? Enlarge the House of Representatives.
by Dan Bouk via Wired on June 28, 2022
Collage of the U.S. Capitol, a factory, and the earth, connected by coins and price tag stickers.

How the Oil Industry Cast Climate Policy as an Economic Burden

For 30 years, the debate has largely ignored the soaring costs of inaction.
by Kate Yoder via Grist on April 7, 2022
Illustration of a mid-life crisis by Ruth Basagoitia. A man looking into the mirror imagining a cooler version of himself.

Climacteric!

Taking seriously the midlife crisis.
by Trevor Quirk via The Hedgehog Review on March 1, 2022
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