“Where did the universe come from?” The “big bang” theory has become the dominant answer to that question. But what happened before the big bang?

Whatever his intentions and sources were, Edgar Allan Poe would probably be surprised by how well his ideas are borne out in modern cosmology’s story of the universe.

In his book Breeding Bin Ladens, Zachary Shore addresses whether Islamist extremism is bred rather than born. Is it produced by influence or by inheritance?

Infants need caretakers who demonstrate that they love them. Too many children suffer the consequences of complete neglect or dysfunctional family relationships.

Ishmael Beah was 12 years old when Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war reached his village in 1993. Soon he found himself swept up into the army, a child soldier.

Middle East scholar David Hulme interviews MK Effie Eitam, whose new proposal highlights cooperation between Israel, Jordan and Egypt in Middle East conflict.

Society admits that a father is important to a boy’s well-being, but how important are fathers to the well-being of their daughters?

Parents provide the earliest influence on children. By modeling leadership in their own lives, they profoundly affect the kind of leaders their children become.

Despite the wealth of knowledge gained both during the International Geophysical Year and since, too many of us may still take the Earth for granted.

Most parents desperately want the best for their children, but what is “the best”?

The trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor coincidentally followed the release of a book by former child soldier Ishmael Beah.

As King Pyrrhus admitted, some victories can effectively undo a person. At times we, too, have battles to fight that may not be worth the price of winning.

Vision’s Gina Stepp interviews psychologist Linda Nielsen about her book Embracing Your Father: Build the Relationship You Always Wanted With Your Dad.

Have we unwittingly and unwisely established a pattern of teaching youths the subject of sex while neglecting to teach them about relationships?

In the aftermath of Russia’s 1917 revolution, the exploitation of religious fervor helped foster one of the most murderous regimes in history.

Vision examines the predictions of futurologists such as Ray Kurzweil who believe that advances in technology will allow humans to transcend their biology.

Richard Dawkins’s 2006 book, The God Delusion, severely criticizes any belief in a personal, all-powerful God and vigorously promotes atheism.

Two stories from the 1967 Six-Day War—concerning David Ben-Gurion and Yasser Arafat—illustrate the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Returning to a nostalgic past may not be what is required to equip the family to face the rigors and pressures of modern life.

The year 2007 marks the 200^th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade. Vision gives a brief history of the origins of the African slave trade.