Features
Core stories
The story of the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction is one of science, of war, and of people.
An archive, Chicago born
What is it like to sort through the papers of one of America’s most celebrated writers?
Mammals like us
Two newly discovered species bring humans closer to understanding our lineage.
Maroon menagerie
Meet some of the fantastic beasts UChicago faculty helped introduce to the scientific record and the popular imagination.
First principles
Constitutional scholar Sonja R. West, JD’98, on press freedom and its future.
Reformer revisited
Remembering Martin Luther’s far-reaching legacy 500 years after the 95 Theses.
Editor’s notes
Chain reflections
Remembering Chicago Pile-1.
Letters
Readers sound off
Readers celebrate the legacy of Philip Gossett; advocate wetland restoration; correct a grotesque error; don’t want nobody nobody sent; and more.
On the agenda
Serious inquiry, engaged scholarship
Laurie Zoloth, Dean of the Divinity School and the Margaret E. Burton Professor, on the value of studying religion in a troubled world.
UChicago Journal
Game time: An alternate reality game turned first-years into sleuths
The ParaSite helped students get to know campus and one another.
Line items: Tackling gerrymandering with geometry
Moon Duchin, PhD’05, thinks she and her fellow mathematicians can help draw better electoral maps.
Cell power: A new weapon in the fight against cancer
A new type of immunotherapy is helping UChicago Medicine patients.
Original source: A lost letter, found
How a Law School librarian rediscovered a letter from John Marshall to George Washington.
Up for debate: Teaching debate to eight-year-olds
The founders of Debate it Forward believe playful wars of words can teach kids empathy and critical thinking.
Rethinking release: Easing the transition out of Cook County jail
A new program provides a softer landing for former inmates.
Side by side: Tyehimba Jess’s contrapuntal poems
The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Olio discusses his inspirations.
Art for all: Alison Gass wants you to feel welcome at the Smart Museum
The Smartʼs new director believes art is for everyone.
Fig. 1: Artificial intelligence meets Yelp
UChicago computer scientists created a computer program that can write fake restaurant reviews.
William Rainey Harper’s Index: Chicago style icons
The Chicago Manual of Style, by the numbers.
Citations: Faculty research
Super-small semiconductors; secrets of the job hunt; reducing youth violence with summer jobs; a gene therapy breakthrough.
For the Record: University news
A selection of the latest headlines from UChicago.
Peer review
Releases
The Magazine lists a selection of general interest books, films, and albums by alumni. For additional alumni releases, browse the Magazine’s Goodreads bookshelf.
Notes
Highlights from the latest alumni news columns.
Alumni essay
Elizabeth Wallace, the King and I
Collector and self-proclaimed “Twainiac” Ivan Kane, AB’78, JD’81, remembers Mark Twain’s friendship with University of Chicago professor Elizabeth Wallace.
Deaths
University obituaries
Recent faculty, staff, and alumni obituaries.
Lite of the mind
The best medicine
Pritzker student Shirlene Obuobi takes a comic approach to medical school.
Plus, in Inquiry ...
Critical inqiury
A note from the dean of the Physical Sciences Division.
Sharpened focus
A mixture of theory and practice helps statistician Rina Foygel Barber, SM’09, PhD’12, optimize her results.
Manhattan’s critical moment
The University marks the 75th anniversary of Chicago Pile-1, the world’s first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear reaction.
Uncharted
From dark matter to gravitational waves to a balloon-borne telescope, scientists discuss how they handle setbacks.
A wider scope
Nancy Grace Roman, PhD’49, didn’t get tenure. She changed the course of astronomy instead.
Strength in numbers
Physics offers an example of how the division can support women in science.
Eclipsed
UChicago astronomers and astrophysicists brought family and friends to the path of totality to watch the solar eclipse on August 21.
Faculty additions, retirements, and accolades
Updates from the Physical Sciences Division.