Anthropologist S. Ann Dunham (above, left) documented traditional crafts in Indonesia. Her field notes are now digitized and the Smithsonian is looking for digital transcribers. National ...

Field biology: the very words conjure up romance, danger, excitement. There is a thrill to fieldwork that makes lab-based scientists ask “How was your holiday?” when one returns from a stint outside.

Working scientists have all manner of high-tech gizmos to gather field data. But Michael Canfield argues that doing it the old-fashioned way still makes sense. If you teleported Charles Darwin from ...