Foundations

In the 1960s, immunologists took matters into their own hands—and under their own skin—to characterize an immunoglobulin involved in allergies.

The 19th century biologist’s drawings, tainted by scandal, helped bolster, then later dismiss, his biogenetic law.

In the middle of the 20th century, the National Cancer Institute began testing plant extracts for chemotherapeutic potential—helping to discover some drugs still in use today.

Newton’s rainbow forms the familiar ROYGBIV because he thought the range of visible colors should be analogous to the seven-note musical scale.

A maple branch and shattered equipment led to the cohesion-tension theory, the counterintuitive claim that water’s movement against gravity involves no action by trees.

Balto, Togo, and other huskies famously delivered life-saving serum to a remote Alaskan town in 1925—but newspapers didn’t tell the whole story. 

In 1992, advancements in microscopy zoomed in on the precise architecture of the complex, including unforeseen structural repetition in two halves of the ring.

In the 1990s, the development of this gentler and more precise microscopy method improved scientists’ ability to probe neurons’ activity and anatomy.

Tweaks to a transformation protocol in 1986 cemented the little plant's mighty role in plant genetics research.

In the 1930s, parapsychologist Joseph Banks Rhine aimed to use scientific methods to confirm the existence of extrasensory perception, but faced criticisms of dubious analyses and irreproducible results.

By ditching traditional agar-based media, two biochemists captured iconic images of Myxococcus in 1982.

Moses Harvey’s photograph brought the mysterious creature out of legend and into science.