Faculty Archive

When ice cubes melt, the solid crystals turn to water. It’s pretty simple, right? Not really, says physics professor Arjun Yodh, the James M. Skinner Professor of Science. “Melting is one of the most fundamental phenomena in physics, and yet there are lots of things we don’t understand about it,” he says. “When ice heats up, molecules within the ice acquire more energy and jiggle around more, driving the transition from a solid to a liquid.

A sociologist and an economist weigh the roles of partners and children in the happy life.

Studies in early Chinese philosophy.

School of Arts and Sciences Dean Rebecca Bushnell’s new book reinvigorates a classic genre for today’s readers.

Classics professor Thomas Tartaron explores a Bronze Age harbor to understand the mechanisms of expansion and trade in ancient Greece.

John DiIulio's new book argues for the middle ground between secular and religious extremes in America's public life.

Sociologist Frank Furstenberg’s new book explores why the topic of teen pregnancy has become so politically powerful — and so misunderstood.

David Grazian takes readers on a “sociological tour” of Philadelphia’s nightlife.

Forty years ago, in an attempt to deal with a country rocked by racial unrest, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, also known as the Kerner Commission. Last week, the intense public scrutiny garnered by Senator Barack Obama’s speech on race testified that the issue continues to strike at the nation’s soul. The recently published Kerner Plus 40 Report assesses just how far the U.S.

Tom Sugrue talks about his upcoming book, Sweet Land of Liberty.

Sociologist Jason Schnittker's new study shows that the rise of a genetic model of mental illness has not increased tolerance.

Anthropologist Theodore Schurr studies the connection between Native Americans and the Altai population.

Sociologist Melissa Wilde offers a new explanation for the revolutionary transformation of the Roman Catholic Church.

PIK Professor John Jackson talks about the new reality of race in America.

Ruth Schwartz Cowan’s new book explores the case for genetic screening.

Sociologist Randall Collins argues that violent confrontations go against human hardwiring.

Brig Williams and team close in on the mysterious “God particle.”

Sarah Trice and Gary Molander alter the landscape of pharmaceutical synthesis.

Technology Historian Nathan Ensmenger checks the pulse of the e-health revolution.

Making Sense of the 2008 Presidential Election in Real Time