The American Scholar

Growing Up

MONICA L. SMITH, a professor of anthropology at UCLA, specializes in the history of cities with a focus on ancient urban development on the Indian subcontinent. She is the author of A Prehistory of Ordinary People and the forthcoming Cities: The First 6,000 Years. We asked her to pose five questions about the future of cities.

Cities are efficient places to get anything we

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The American Scholar

The American Scholar4 min read
The Choice Is Ours
In December 1866, mathematician Mary Boole wrote to Charles Darwin: Do you consider the holding of your Theory of Natural Selection, in its fullest & most unreserved sense, to be inconsistent,—I do not say with any particular scheme of Theological do
The American Scholar4 min read
Our Pets, Our Plates
Jeremy Bentham scorned polite society but loved his London cats, even the pasta-eating swashbuckler Sir John Langbourne. Life with Langbourne led to feline character-study (“His moral qualities were most despotic—his intellectual extraordinary; but h
The American Scholar16 min read
The Redoubtable Bull Shark
JOHN GIFFORD is a writer and conservationist based in Oklahoma. His books include Red Dirt Country: Field Notes and Essays on Nature; Pecan America: Exploring a Cultural Icon; and the forthcoming Landscaping for Wildlife: Essays on Our Changing Plane

Related Books & Audiobooks