I lived in the suburbs of New York City for the first 18 years of my life. Our family home was bordered on both sides by other homes built in the ‘40s, but our backyard was adjacent to undeveloped land we called “the woods.” Though... Continue

A report recently released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has revealed that antidepressants are the most frequently prescribed drugs in America. Tripling in use between the periods of 1988-1994 and 1999-2000, such drug use increased 48 percent, and prescriptions last year numbered 118... Continue

When I was young, I used to love to take things apart and reassemble them into something else. Electric clocks were a particular favorite; I would remove the motors and gears and attach propellers or colored disks made from shirt cardboards, reattach the wires, install... Continue

At the level of sub-atomics, where quantum effects can be predicted and observed, the customary distinctions between that which exists and that which might exist become blurred. Depending upon the desire of the observer and the methodology of observation, at the quantum level things can... Continue

When I was 22 years old my wife, newborn daughter and I moved into a small 1950s house in the eastern hills above St. Helena. We shared the old orchard property with the original 1920 farmhouse, in which three elderly gentlemen lived. Fred was 101,... Continue

While it’s all too easy to become pessimistic about the world, during the past few weeks, I’ve had the exhilarating experience of interacting with some very remarkable young people whose confidence and vitality were positively infectious. I’m the last person someone would describe as shy;... Continue

Historically, large suburban housing developments created on either open space or agricultural lands have utilized fairly routine site design and landscaping plans that meet the conventional aesthetic requirements of the marketplace. Front lawns, flowering shrubs, trees of a wide variety, lots of impermeable surfaces and... Continue

The word "war" used to mean something; its invocation shook the heart, set us atremble, brought forth tears and darkened our vision. "WAR!" The word itself seemed enormous and foreboding; after all, death always prospers during war. Its declaration was the biggest news of the... Continue

Two taxonomically distinct chimp families, common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) have been observed in both the wild and captivity. Superficially the two chimp families resemble each other, though bonobos are slightly smaller and less powerfully built and spend more time standing upright,... Continue