Topic: John Muir

Has the bookshelf become a dinosaur?

Ikea is redesigning its iconic “Billy” bookcase, assuming that digital-age customers will be using them more and more for "tchotchkes" and less and less for books.

Everett Ruess: two new biographies

The story of Everett Ruess – the young explorer of the American West who vanished in the 1930s – remains an unsolved mystery to this day.

The Quiet World: Saving Alaska’s Wilderness Kingdom, 1879-1960

Development or conservation? Douglas Brinkley traces the debate over Alaska's riches.

Edward Burtynsky and Ansel Adams: A pairing of devastation and beauty

In a new exhibition, Ansel Adams's iconic nature images are contrasted with Edward Burtynsky's industrial scapes of rock quarries, coal heaps, and rusty ships.

Happy Earth Day: Apologies for the late thank-you card

We're marking the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. That's a little embarrassing considering our 4.5 billion-year-old planet has been so hospitable.

Long to-do list for new US parks chief

The Big Burn

The story of the largest wildfire in the history of the United States.

Ken Burns on how democracy saved the best places for all

Filmmaker Ken Burns discusses his latest project: a series on the National Parks System.

Preserve US national parks

Americans must make a renewed commitment to their 'best idea.'

Art: a basic necessity of life

The unique individual expression of the qualities we all have in common is true art.

Help the Smithsonian solve a garden mystery

The Smithsonian Institution is trying to identify images of American gardens in its archives.

Big, beautiful garden books

Garden book reviews

What book critics are talking about the week of Dec. 16, 2008.

Etc.

Keeping up with the Jameses

A 'House of Wits' that dazzled even as it disappointed.

For kids: Look at that moth!

Meet a man who raises cecropia moths, one of the largest species in North America.