When smallpox ravaged Boston, Cotton Mather turned to science to stop this “Destroying Angel.” American medicine was never the same.

TEACHERS & HEALERS, TEACHERSThe AtticSeptember 2, 2021Vaccination, Smallpox, Cotton Mather, Anti-vaxx Comment

LIFE AND LIFE SENTENCES

When Will Durant asked the wise about “the meaning of life,” he got the usual answers. Then he asked a prisoner.

teachers, TEACHERS, teachers & healers, BOOK-ISHThe AtticApril 22, 2021philosophy, will durant, meaning of life, Owen c. middleton Comment

JAIME ESCALANTE AND THE CALCULUS OF HOPE

Students called Jaime Escalante “Kimo.” He called them his “burros.” But the key to his success was ganas — the drive to succeed. (As seen in “Stand and Deliver.”)

teachers, TEACHERS, ATTIC AT THE MOVIESThe AtticFebruary 18, 2021Jaime Escalante, Teaching, Stand and Deliver Comments

BANNEKER VS. JEFFERSON -- THE ALMANAC OF INEQUALITY

Despite his glowing words, Jefferson thought blacks far from equal. Then a single letter took him to task.

teachers, TEACHERSThe AtticFebruary 12, 2021Benjamin Banneker, Thomas Jefferson, Education, Black history Comments

THE WOMAN WHO SAVES OLD GROWTH

Stepping into Old Growth, Joan Maloof felt the forest. Now she is set on saving “the ancients.”

Women, teachers, TEACHERS, TEACHERS & HEALERSThe AtticDecember 10, 2020Old Growth forests, Joan Maloof, Environment Comments

WATCHING US WATCH TV

Others saw TV as mindless, but George Gerbner saw it as mean. And he had the data to prove it.

teachers, TEACHERS, TEACHERS & HEALERS, teachers & healersThe AtticOctober 1, 2020George Gerbner, TV Watching, TV studies, TV violence Comments

JOE AND ELIZA -- AN A.I. LOVE STORY

He was a computer whiz. She was his creation, programmed to debunk AI. So why did people keep “talking” to ELIZA?

Science, TEACHERS, teachers, TEACHERS & HEALERSThe AtticJuly 16, 2020A.I., Artificial Intelligence, Joseph Weizenbaum, M.I.T., ElizaComment

ERIC HOFFER, LONGSHOREMAN FOR THE MASSES

When The True Believer made his name, Eric Hoffer was a San Francisco longshoreman. Decades later, the zealots he labeled “true believers,” are still “everywhere on the march.”

teachers, TEACHERS, BOOK-ISHThe AtticJune 19, 2019Eric hoffer, The True Believer, Philosophy, Self made man Comments

HELEN KELLER'S MOMENT

Deaf, dumb, and blind, she lived “at sea in a dense fog.” And then her teacher came. (As seen in “The Miracle Worker.”)

Women, teachers, TEACHERS, ATTIC AT THE MOVIESThe AtticNovember 29, 2018Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan, Deaf, Blind, Story of my life, The Miracle Worker Comments