If the engineering feats of that early decade remains impressive – boring a mile-long tunnel through a solid mountain, and turning the eastward flow of two rivers westward – the arduous conditions in which the engineers worked are no less remarkable.

Galton’s claim that fingerprints are unique is almost universally accepted despite using less than one hundred samples for his initial investigation and statistical methods that are not entirely convincing.

In his best-selling book The Omnivore's Dilemma, which social critics see as yet another piece of evidence to support their thesis of a burgeoning interest in natural food among Americans, Michael Pollan elucidates industrial farming, explains organic farming, and discusses hunting and gathering food for oneself.