Let's face it: There have been hundreds of "notable" New Yorkers, and picking even those individuals who grew up in just one of the city's hundreds of neighborhoods would be hard. Fortunately, the good souls at the History Research Office of the Columbia University Libraries have plucked out some great interviews with ten New Yorkers from their rather prodigious collection. Now, before visitors...

Jonas Salk referred to the late Mary Lasker as "a matchmaker between science and society.� Lasker passed away in 1994, but her influence is still felt today, as she was a major player in the struggle to expand the National Institutes of Health after World War II. During the post-war period, Lasker successfully entered the largely male-dominated world of policy making and scientific research. On...