This philosophical inquiry into the problem of human suffering is "insightful, informative and deeply humane . . . a genuine pleasure to read" ( Times Higher Education).Suffering is an inescapable part of the human condition—which leads to a question that has proved just as inescapable throughout the centuries: Why? In Seven Ways of Looking at Pointless Suffering, Scott Samuelson tackles this fundamental question. To do so, he travels through the h...

This accessible and thought-provoking introduction to philosophy shows how the eternal questions can shed light on our lives and struggles.These days, we generally leave philosophical matters to professional philosophers. Scott Samuelson thinks this is tragic, for our lives as well as for philosophy. In The Deepest Human Life, he restores philosophy to its proper place at the center of our humanity, rediscovering it as our most profound effort toward unders...

A unique, portable guidebook that sketches Rome's great philosophical tradition while also providing an engaging travel companion to the city.This is a guidebook to Rome for those interested in both la dolce vita and what the ancient Romans called the vita beata—the good life. Philosopher Scott Samuelson offers a thinker's tour of the Eternal City, rooting ideas from this philosophical tradition within the geography of the city itself. As he intro...

Cognition Switch: An Artefact for the Transmission of New IdeasIssue #1: December 2018Featuring Ideas by: Peter Harrison, Marcel Zentner, George Zarkadakisis, Danielle Celermajer, Paul Raeburn, Scott Samuelson, Nicolas Langlitz, Andrew Taggart, Donald S Lopez Jr, and Regina Rini

Cognition Switch: An Artefact for the Transmission of New IdeasIssue #2: January 2019Featuring Ideas by:Michael Shermer, Peter Staudenmaier, Sabine Hossenfelder, Kate Raworth, Benjamin G Martin, Noah Charney, David Wengrow, Kimberley Brownlee, Tali Sharot, Robert Simpson, Thea Bechshoft, Martin Rees, Jon Butterworth, Bill Nye, Huw Price, and Henry Cowles

"Science and the Modern World" by Alfred North Whitehead, originally published in 1925 redefines the concept of modern science. This book takes readers through the history of modern science and shows how cultural history has affected science over time in Romanticism, Quantum Theory, religion, and movements for social progress. Whitehead invites his audience to understand and read with celebration about the contemporary, historical, and cultural context of scientific discovery. “The most si...

This enlightening and gorgeously illustrated book explores the beauty and mystery of the divine proportion in art, architecture, nature, and beyond.From the pyramids of Giza, to quasicrystals, to the proportions of the human face, the golden ratio has an infinite capacity to generate shapes with exquisite properties. Author Gary Meisner has spent decades researching the subject, investigating and collaborating with people across the globe in dozens of professions an...

" In a unique take on the cosmos, Gould makes the case that the emergence of a great many things are not only pre-ordained, but predictable." ( Forbes)We know the universe has a history, but does it also have a story of self-creation to tell? Yes, in Roy R. Gould's account. He offers a compelling narrative of how the universe?with no instruction other than its own laws?evolved into billions of galaxies and gave rise to life. Far from being a random accident...

A history of the world's first democracy from its beginnings in Athens circa fifth century B.C. to its downfall 200 years later.The first democracy, established in ancient Greece more than 2,500 years ago, has served as the foundation for every democratic system of government instituted down the centuries. In this lively history, author Thomas N. Mitchell tells the full and remarkable story of how a radical new political order was born out of the revolutionary move...

A "wide-ranging, witty, and astonishingly learned" scientific and cultural history of the concept of the capacity to act in nature ( London Review of Books).Today, a scientific explanation is not meant to ascribe agency to natural phenomena: we would not say a rock falls because it seeks the center of the earth. Even for living things, in the natural sciences and often in the social sciences, the same is true. A modern botanist would not say that plants pur...

"A useful reference [and] a fun read, chock-full of telling examples and pop-culture references." —Charles Euchner, author of Keep It ShortMost of us are not poets or novelists, but we are all writers. We email, text, and post; we craft memos and reports, menus and outdoor signage, birthday cards and sticky notes on the fridge. And just as we should think before we speak, we need to think before we write.Get a Grip on Your Grammar is a gramm...

This acclaimed biography of 19th century scientist Gregor Mendel is " a fascinating tale of the strange twists and ironies of scientific progress" ( Publishers Weekly).A National Book Critics Circle Award finalistIn The Monk in the Garden, award-winning author Robin Marantz Henig vividly chronicles the birth of genetics, a field that continues to challenge the way we think about life itself. Tending to his...