Sublime

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Ivar’s grand idea was to do just what Harley had done, except with matches instead of South Seas trade. Ivar would lend money to the governments of Europe in exchange for a monopoly concession for the production and sale of matches within their territories. It was a brilliant concept. There was one immediate problem, though: Ivar didn’t have enough

Sam had handed Ryan his checkbook and told him to buy office space and as much worker housing as fast as possible without worrying about the cost. No man was ever so good at not worrying about the cost as Ryan. In a matter of weeks, he had snapped up between $250 and $300 million in real estate, including $153 million worth of condos in an expensiv

The spadefoot toad is following a basic biological law. That same principle makes the rapid rise in good fortune among humans a dangerous thing indeed. Nature shuts down the expenditure of energy when resources disappear, but she unleashes energy when fresh resources arrive. She makes those who are deprived sit still and endure their fate, but when

In the months that followed, Hunt made hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Igorrotes — on top of ticket receipts, enthralled bystanders threw coins at the feet of the performers. Instead of allowing the Igorrotes to keep their tips from the crafts they sold, as he had promised, he insisted that they turn over the proceeds for safekeeping. He

The legacy was truly amazing. His work on fish, the initial research on glaciers, the impact of his writing on the Ice Age, the zest and glamour he brought to American culture at a critical moment, were all contributions of the first order. His beloved Museum of Comparative Zoology—the Agassiz Museum, or simply the Agassiz, as it came to be known i