books

We bring multifaceted selves to our interactions, and in these interactions co-create each other again and again. 

The utilitarian “greatest happiness principle” has remained popular for two centuries — is it time for a rethink?

That scary swirling void from which nothing can escape is our perfect universal translation tool.

Pick up the paintbrush and get to work.

Some classic books, like Mark Twain’s "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," remain controversial to this day.

Albert Camus was a Franco-Algerian philosopher with some great insights on the meaning of life, why you should look to this life and not the next, and why suicide is a poor choice.

What is Captain America doing in ancient Mesopotamia?

In all mammals, there are two brain pathways for processing information from the eyes: an evolutionarily ancient one and a more modern one.

The first "running machine" — later known as the bicycle — symbolizes a key design idea.

The restoration of public confidence is crucial for strong democratic governance around the world.

Civil engineer Martin Lebek has a brilliant plan to redress the world’s phosphorus imbalance.

The secret may lie in an old idiom: "Sleep on it."

The 1,200-year-old "Book of Ingenious Devices" contains designs for futuristic inventions like gas masks, water fountains, and digging machines.

Jules Verne wrote about gasoline-powered vehicles, weapons of mass destruction, and global warming more than a century ago.

The state of global democracy is relatively strong — but there are clear signs of recent erosion.

"Painfully forced" is how one contemporary critic described Fitzgerald's writing style.

Extreme home environments — either very supportive or harshly negligent — tend to produce more sensitive kids.

As improving biotech offers us longevity, we can prepare to live much better as we age.

Deep underwater, temperatures are close to freezing and the pressure is 1,000 times higher than at sea level.

In a state of "hyperwar," accidents or unexpected AI decisions could lead to widespread devastation before humans could intervene.

The body uses its own electricity to repair wounds. Faster healing may be possible with additional electrical stimulation.

Democratic freedom, rapturous religion, and newspapers created a hotbed for social experimentation in 19th-century America.

If you lost your religion, it might be because the internet and social media are having a secularizing effect on American society.

This year marks 2,000 years since the birth of the Roman author of the first natural encyclopedia.

In 1934, American Communists translated a Stalinist book about revolution into a children’s game. Curiously, it didn't catch on.

Skepticism is appropriate when gazing into the futurist's crystal ball.

Instead of walking a mile in someone’s shoes, try reading a chapter in their book.

According to Peter Ward's "Medea hypothesis," photosynthesizing organisms regularly doom most life on Earth by over-consuming carbon dioxide.

Science will lead us to a universal morality and a cosmic religion.

Simple physics makes hauling vast ice chunks thousands of miles fiendishly difficult — but not impossible.