EGGHEAD CHOICE – Crack open for a hard boiled think

Crack open for a hard boiled think

Colors of the Mind by Angus Fletcher

Many dedicated readers, who are devoted to the life of the mind, understand that deep thought can be represented in literature. Angus Fletcher (http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=183131649) shows here how thought gets expressed in the language of history writing, poetic writing, philosophical writing, and fiction writing. Fletcher’s references are wide and rich. We are taken into the mind

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Animals strike curious poses by Elena Passarello

In this collection of 17 brief essays Elena Passarello (https://www.elenapassarello.com/bio/) traces stories of famous animals and how they have reshaped our thinking about humans. She reflects on our need for new language in an age of mass extinction, the way that Albrecht Dürer’s wildly inaccurate rhinoceros prints influenced popular imagination in 16th century Europe, and

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The Usefulness of the Useless by Nuccio Ordine

Happiness studies have shown repeatedly that people with accumulated wealth are less fulfilled than those with little money. How, then, can we explain the glorification of profit and the insatiable quest for riches that pervades our culture? From Hippocrates, Plato, and Seneca to Montaigne and Cervantes, many first rate minds have viewed the love of

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Inner Vision by Semir Zeki

The experience of looking at art has neurobiological correlates in the brain. Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain describes these. Semir Zeki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semir_Zeki) uses a range of examples from artists including Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Magritte, Malevich and Picasso. The book constitutes a kind of aesthetic tour of the brain. Zeki offers a systematic

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Natural Goodness by Philippa Foot

It’s often useful to absorb the best arguments of thinkers whom one disagrees with most sharply. Only then can your own position be strengthened. In the same way, a chess player wishing to improve seeks out the strongest opponent. In this book Philippa Foot (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/05/philippa-foot-obituary) sets out a naturalistic theory of ethics, which she calls

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The Inner Citadel by Pierre Hadot

One of the texts from the Ancient world of lasting influence, and which can still be enjoyed with sympathy by the modern reader, is Meditations (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marcus-aurelius/#ChaMed) by Marcus Aurelius. This Roman Emperor spent most of his life campaigning against barbarians, dealing with conspiracy at home, and combating Christianity. Yet the most powerful man in the world

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A New Map of Wonders by Caspar Henderson

Catching a mysterious pool of early morning sunlight playfully cast across his kitchen ceiling gave Caspar Henderson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_Henderson) pause for wonder. The experience inspired him to think more closely about the nature of wonder. His reflections have issued in this enthusiastic tour of much that seems ordinary but which is upheld by the complex and

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