What We Talk About When We Talk About Math 55

Just five years ago, the Math Department’s official word on Math 55 was that it was “probably the most difficult undergraduate math class in the country.” Now, they say, “if you’re reasonably good at math, you love it, and you have lots of time to devote to it, then Math 55 is completely fine for you.” So, what changed?

Vaccine Booster Argument

An HMS paper published this December in the Journal of Medical Ethics does a risk-benefit assessment of booster mandates, ultimately concluding that the mandates may have been misguided. Contrary to the intentions of the authors, the data now serves as material for conservative medical organizations like AFLDS skeptical of Covid-19 vaccine efficacy.

stickleback fish shelves

The MCZ's collection of stickleback fish is stored in over 2,000 mason jars in the museum's basement.

Bill Hanage

Bill Hanage is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Co-Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

stickleback fish

The Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology acquired half a million skeletons of stickleback fish, a species central to evolutionary research. How did this happen, and what will be done with the thousands of jars?

Math 55

Welcome to Math 55, the undergraduate course surrounded by what is perhaps the most intrigue and infamy of any class at Harvard.

Half a Million Fish

After the museum processes its newest donation, the collection will include half a million skeletons of three-spined stickleback fish alone. Now, the Harvard Ichthyology collection at the MCZ is in the middle of a year-long process to curate and catalog these fish that, once completed, will help inform ichthyology and evolutionary research at large.

Scooped by ‘Freedom Lovers’: Anti-Vax Group Cites an HMS Paper

Contrary to the intentions of the authors, the data now serves as material for conservative medical organizations like AFLDS  skeptical of Covid-19 vaccine efficacy.

Salmaan A. Keshavjee

Salmaan A. Keshavjee, a board-certified internist and the Director of Harvard Medical School’s Center for Global Health Delivery, co-authored the paper in question.

octopus

“Having it at Northwest kind of gives it a second life,” Laborde says.

Black Mamo

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; ©President and Fellows of Harvard College

papier mache octopus design

Hanging in Harvard’s Northwest Building, this model of the Pacific octopus has been in Harvard’s hands for the last 140 years

octopus 2

The octopus lies suspended above a grand staircase in the spacious, modern, glassy foyer of Harvard’s Northwest Building, home to labs, classrooms, and offices for Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

octopus 3

Preservation of the octopus’ historic and artistic value, rather than precise scientific accuracy, guided the team’s effort.

Kate Smith 1

Typically, Smith is very organized and analytical with her work. “I’m very Capricorn,” she tells us.

Kate Smith 2

Her intimate proximity to paintings differs from the plebeian museum goer’s protocol.

Harvard Ornithology Collection

Harvard’s Ornithology Collection has become the fifth-largest ornithological collection on Earth, boasting around 400,000 specimens and about 8,300 species.

Bird Brilliance: Exploring Harvard’s Ornithology Collection

Founded in 1859, Harvard’s Ornithology Collection has become the fifth-largest ornithological collection on Earth, boasting around 400,000 specimens and 8,300 species — over 85 percent of all known bird species.

A Centuries-Old Papier-Mâché Octopus Swims Northwest, Finds a “A Second Life”

After decades of collecting dust in a Harvard Museum of Natural History classroom, a life-size papier-mâché model of an octopus has found a new home. With each of its looping tentacles stretching out about eight feet, it lies suspended above a grand staircase in the spacious, modern, glassy foyer of Harvard’s Northwest Building, home to labs, classrooms, and offices for Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Wilson's bird-of-paradise

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; ©President and Fellows of Harvard College

Jeremiah Trimble at Work

Jeremiah Trimble

Jeremiah Trimble is a curatorial associate and the manager of the Harvard Ornithology Collection

rhinoceros hornbill (full body)

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; ©President and Fellows of Harvard College

vulturine guineafowl wing

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; ©President and Fellows of Harvard College

king birds-of-paradise

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; ©President and Fellows of Harvard College