ScientistPankaj: This Month in the Archives

Friday, March 25, 2022

This Month in the Archives

View all Scientific American publications.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Scientific American’s 177 years’ worth of archives! This month we’re highlighting Women’s History, Daylight Saving Time and, just for fun, crocodiles. The Senate recently passed a bill making DST permanent, but scientists say “Let’s sleep on it.” In a highly unscientific poll we ran on Twitter, 48% of respondents said they’d rather have permanent Standard Time, with 36% choosing permanent DST and 16% preferring to change the clock twice a year as much of the U.S. does now.

Best wishes for a sunny springtime,
Laura Helmuth, Editor in Chief

Women’s History Month

Women munition worker, France, 1916

March 1916:

The demand for men to fight in the front lines in the First World War created opportunities for women in a wide array of civic occupations.

March 1936:

Question and answer from 1936: “Why Aren’t More Women Athletes?” “Muscular development interferes with motherhood” and “women tend to shun competition.” Paging Serena Williams.

January 2004:

A Neolithic settlement in Turkey yields clues about the roles played by women and men in early agricultural societies.

Daylight Saving Time