In 1921, the world was still struggling to recover from the ravages of World War I and the influenza pandemic that had killed 50 million people. The global economy slid into a brief depression. The media magnate E.W. Scripps was contemplating the parallel goals he saw in science and journalism: to discover how the world works, and to explain it truthfully and in a way that people can understand. An informed, educated public, he believed, was essential to a democratic society.
Scripps had become an avid student of science in his later years, thanks in part to his friendship with zoologist William E.
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