In snowy climates, school superintendents must frequently decide whether an impending storm warrants closing schools for the day. Concerns about student and teacher safety must be weighed against the loss of student learning time, along with state requirements for days of instruction and the cost and inconvenience of extending the school year into…

The Northeast United States just experienced one of the region's worst natural disasters. Fortunately, because of the confluence of modern computing power and scientific computing methods, weather forecasting models predicted Sandy's very complicated trajectory and development with a precision that would not have been possible even a decade ago.…

While it is commonly recognized that laboratory experiments and demonstrations have made a considerable contribution to our understanding of fluid dynamics, few U.S. universities that offer courses in meteorology and/or oceanography provide opportunities for students to observe fluid experiments in the classroom. This article explores the…

The war contributions of the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory in Cambridge, MA, were recorded in 169 Technical Reports, most of which were sent to the Office of the Quartermaster General. Earlier reports were sent to the National Research Council and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Many of the reports from 1941 and later dealt with…

Technologies like solar, wind, and geothermal are exciting, but relatively new and untested in the context of universities, many of which are large enough to be cities unto themselves. And, like cities, universities count on a reliable, uninterruptible source of power. It is imperative, too, that precious dollars are wisely invested in the right…

Swiss-born Arnold Henri Guyot (1807-1884) was the first professionally trained geographer to hold an academic position in the United States. After his migration to this country in 1848 he lived for several years in Massachusetts. During this period he introduced contemporary German-Swiss ideas of geography to key opinion leaders in an important…