Verso

There are jobs, and then there are callings. Most of us have at least a passing acquaintance with the former; we take a job because we need a paycheck, and we move along without regret when a better offer presents itself.

From Rome's Colosseum to the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, ruins hold an enduring fascination for millions of visitors each year. It's hardly a new phenomenon. From the 16th to the 19th century, many young Englishmen embarked on the Grand Tour

Legendary photographer Ansel Adams (1902-1984) produced seven limited-edition portfolios over the course of his long and storied career. He published the first portfolio in 1948 and the last in 1976, referring to the 90 photographs all told as "an excellent cross section of my work."

Aristotle's Masterpiece was the bestselling book about sex and reproduction on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean from the late 17th to the early 20th century—but the book isn't by Aristotle, and it's not usually considered a masterpiece.

"All the world's a stage," declares Jaques in William Shakespeare's play As You Like It. While that may be true, there's something to be said for an auditorium with a beautiful stage, state-of-the-art acoustics, raked seating, and clear sight lines.

On the evening of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln as he attended a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. The president died at 7:22 a.m. the next day in a boarding house across the street from the theater, surrounded by a small group of shocked witnesses. Four years of warfare had ended less than a week before with the surrender of the Confederacy.

Is it possible that the English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest theorists in the history of science, practiced alchemy? That a giant of the scientific revolution shared a dream common among charlatans of his age—to turn lead into gold?

People who appreciate green tea for its antioxidant properties don't know the half of it. In a recent Huntington lecture, "Searching for the Spirit of the Sages: The Japanese Tea Ceremony for Sencha" (which you can listen to on iTunes U)