Smithsonian Magazine

Before ether was used as an anesthetic in surgery, doctors relied on less effective techniques for pain relief, such as hypnosis

Fires can leap rapidly from building to building and even cause extreme weather events such as pyrocumulonimbus storm clouds

Studying the layers of Earth’s crust, scientists have created a “Geological Orrery” to measure planetary motions dating back hundreds of millions of years

A hormone called androsterone, produced in the placenta and other organs, plays a role in fetal development in the womb

French writers such as Voltaire and Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle helped shape the Enlightenment with stories of science

Years of expeditions in the world’s tallest mountain range reveal that Himalayan wolves have developed genetic adaptations to living at high altitudes

Johannes Hevelius drew some of the first maps of the moon, praised for their detail, from his homemade rooftop observatory in the Kingdom of Poland

Ellen Swallow Richards applied chemistry to the home to advocate for consumer safety and women’s education

We are the naked apes of the world, having shed most of our body hair long ago