Adaptation is the stuff of human history – and our current moment is no exception. It undergirds the Monitor’s recent series The Climate Generation. It’s present in our graphic today on falling global birthrates. It even extends into a new TV series based on the beloved young adult book series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” which Cameron Pugh writes about today.

People understandably resist calls to adapt. But done well, adaptation can ensure that important values live on. Cameron points to one well-known author’s work. “Part of the enduring power of Shakespeare is that we’ve managed to adapt his work into modern stories,” he says. “The way they’re expressing it has changed, but the theme hasn’t.”