Dynamic road pricing could solve congestion problems, but is it socially equitable?

Other countries have it. Why doesn’t the U.S.? Because we’ve been unwilling to pay.

When it comes to adopting transportation issues, the federal government has a special role as a cheerleader.

Transportation systems have to operate on these dimensions to be effective: economic development, environmental protection and social equity.

A conversation with the MIT professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

The creator of “thing theory” suspects his professional curiosity about objects stems from his private inability to attach much importance to them.

The UChicago critic names the works he loved best as a young reader and the author that excites him most these days.

Is the nature of “the text” changing in the Web age? Are blogs hurting criticism? And could the growing interest in “thing theory” be a response to an increasingly virtual […]

The term “thing theory” is a joke, but not a joke about physics.

By inviting us to pay close attention to the object itself, “thing theory” can tease out new meaning in the simplest artwork—even an apparent prank like Duchamp’s “Fountain.”

Many modern artists have explored the idea that the material world “might want to be organized other than the way we’ve organized it.”

From Daisy weeping into Gatsby’s shirts to Tom Hanks chatting with Wilson the volleyball, stories are as much about things as people.

The critic’s signature “thing theory” is an exploration of how inanimate objects transform us, in art and life.

Bill Brown first sensed his calling when he realized he read very slowly—a habit he thinks is integral to the critic’s discipline.

A conversation with the professor of English and visual arts at the University of Chicago.

His fellow physicist Steven Weinberg says the Nobel committee has “fleeced” Freeman Dyson. But Dyson prefers the infamy of never having won.

When the physicist expressed reservations about climate change, he stirred heated controversy. “It doesn’t disturb me at all,” he says.

“We don’t only have to worry about warming,” the physicist argues. “It could very well be the climate gets colder. Nobody knows”—and we waste time arguing when we should be […]

Last week, Obama signed an ambitious nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia. So why does the “Weapons and Hope” author fear that George Bush, Sr. will go down in history […]

Freeman Dyson never spoke to Einstein, but revered him from afar. He was a “totally exceptional person”—as was another colleague, Nobelist and “clown” Richard Feynman.

The sheer unpredictability of atoms exempts them from ordinary rules of causality. The brain may be a “clever device” that turns that freedom into freedom of action.

Why looking for extraterrestrial life gets more and more efficient—and less and less expensive—each year.

With NASA’s future in doubt, the physicist recalls designing an ingenious (and sadly, radioactive) rocket that could have had us “scooting all around the solar system” 50 years ago. Will […]

Freeman Dyson recalls the excitement of contributing a missing puzzle piece to the study of atomic science.

From WWI chemical warfare to nuclear weapons, Freeman Dyson thinks misguided science was “quite rightly” blamed for many 20th-century atrocities. What dangers could it pose for the future?

Freeman Dyson fell in love with math, science, and nature as a child. Later, as a statistician in World War II, he had a “front-row seat view” of mass tragedy.

A conversation with the physicist and writer.

When designers volley designs back and forth in a battle of one-upmanship, the result is an esoteric, but fun, digital-age sport.

Khoi Vinh connects the early childhood disruption he experienced as an immigrant from Vietnam with his fastidious style as a designer.

The NYTimes.com designer talks favorite fonts and websites.