This extraordinary book examines how ‘animate beings can come out of inanimate matter’ and how meaningless symbols acquire meaning despite themselves. Illustrated with a rich array of metaphors, dialogues, allusions, paradoxes and plenty of puns, and riffing on the mind-bending art of MC Escher, and the intricately composed works of Bach.
First published in 2007, The Black Swan’s influence has continued to be felt, and its advice ignored as people continue to be surprised by events.
As Australia considers loosening the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, I post on a more contemporary topic than usual
After watching an episode of Netflix’s the Crown and thinking about the decline of the British Empire and the rise… Read more Why the years start in Rome, the hours in Greenwich and there’s no .us on internet addresses
In The Trial of Socrates, the prominent dissident journalist I. F. Stone takes a contrarian view of Socrates and shows that he is something other than the unalloyed saint he is often remembered as.
As the name suggests, this book is brief, very brief in fact – the seven lessons are about 10 pages each. But there is great deal of wisdom packed in this brevity.
In Homer’s Iliad the heroes strike blows and fire arrows that on their own may not be enough to do… Read more Hubris and Nemesis: or what the Ancient Greeks knew about beating the market
Through a careful study of human evolution, this book shows how so many health problems we face today are the result of a mismatch between our evolutionary biology and our current lifestyle.
The author combines his extensive knowledge of the plays with his experiences as a jobbing actor to make suggestions for the roles which Shakespeare played in each of his own plays.
No amount of time spent looking at maps can provide the same understanding as actually visiting a place. Nowhere was this made clearer to me when visiting Istanbul, the unique geography of which has played such a key role in its history.