In this book leading cultural anthropologist Anton Blok sheds new light on the lives and achievements of pioneers who revolutionized science and art over the past five centuries, demonstrating that adversity rather than talent alone was crucial to their success. Through a collective biography of some ninety radical innovators, including Erasmus, Spinoza, Newton, Bach, Sade, Darwin, Melville, Mendel, Cezanne, Curie, Brancusi, Einstein, Wittgenstein, Keynes, and Goodall, Blok shows how a significant proportion in fact benefited from social exclusion. Beethoven s increasing deafness isolated him from his friends, creating more time for composing and experimenting, while Darwin s chronic illness gave him an excuse to avoid social gatherings and get on with his work. Adversity took various forms, including illegitimate birth, early parental loss, conflict with parents, bankruptcy, chronic illness, physical deficiencies, neurological and genetic disorders, minority status, peripheral origins, poverty, exile, and detention. Blok argues, however, that all these misfortunes had the same effect: alienation from mainstream society. As outsiders, innovators could question conventional beliefs and practices. With little to lose, they could take chances and exploit opportunities. With governments, universities and industry all emphasizing the importance of investing in innovation, typically understood to mean planned and focussed research teams, this book runs counter to conventional wisdom. For far more often, radical innovation in science and art is entirely unscripted, resulting from trial and error by individuals ready to take risks, fail, and start again.

In this book leading cultural anthropologist Anton Blok sheds new light on the lives and achievements of pioneers who revolutionized science and art over the past five centuries, demonstrating that adversity rather than talent alone was crucial to their success. Through a collective biography of some ninety radical innovators, including Erasmus, Spinoza, Newton, Bach, Sade, Darwin, Melville, Mendel, Cezanne, Curie, Brancusi, Einstein, Wittgenstein, Keynes, and Goodall, Blok shows how a significant proportion in fact benefited from social exclusion. Beethoven s increasing deafness isolated him from his friends, creating more time for composing and experimenting, while Darwin s chronic illness gave him an excuse to avoid social gatherings and get on with his work. Adversity took various forms, including illegitimate birth, early parental loss, conflict with parents, bankruptcy, chronic illness, physical deficiencies, neurological and genetic disorders, minority status, peripheral origins, poverty, exile, and detention. Blok argues, however, that all these misfortunes had the same effect: alienation from mainstream society. As outsiders, innovators could question conventional beliefs and practices. With little to lose, they could take chances and exploit opportunities. With governments, universities and industry all emphasizing the importance of investing in innovation, typically understood to mean planned and focussed research teams, this book runs counter to conventional wisdom. For far more often, radical innovation in science and art is entirely unscripted, resulting from trial and error by individuals ready to take risks, fail, and start again.

Anton Blok combines anthropology and history in a comparative exploration of the links between honour and violence in widely different settings. He draws on material from two interrelated projects: micro-studies of the rural mafia in Sicily, and banditry in the Dutch republic, each set in its historical context.

Blok discusses the social role of marginal people, such as those in 'infamous occupations' from chimney-sweeping to prostitution, arguing that the most despised members of society are often the most indispensable. He examines how nicknames reflect and reflect on cultural codes, and how the authority of female rulers throughout the centuries has relied on their singleness. The book also includes studies of the social meanings of violence, including public executions, rural banditry, and the minor differences which underlie violent conflicts. Drawing on the work of thinkers from Georg Simmel to Norbert Elias, Anton Blok explores the complex interrelations between honour and violence in European societies.

This highly original work will be of great interest to scholars and students of history, anthropology and sociology.

Dit boek is onderdeel van de TREDITION CLASSICS serie. De makers van deze serie zijn verbonden door hun passie voor literatuur en gedreven met de bedoeling om alle publieke domein boeken weer gedrukte vorm beschikbaar te maken - wereldwijd. De meeste geprinte TREDITION CLASSICS titels zijn al decennia verdwenen uit de boekenkasten. Bij tredition geloven wij dat een goed boek nooit uit de mode is en dat zijn waarde voor eeuwig is. Deze boeken serie helpt bij het behouden van de literatuur schatten. Het draagt bij in het behouden van prachtige wereldliteratuur werken.

Dit boek (hardcover) is onderdeel van de TREDITION CLASSICS serie. De makers van deze serie zijn verbonden door hun passie voor literatuur en gedreven met de bedoeling om alle publieke domein boeken weer gedrukte vorm beschikbaar te maken - wereldwijd. De meeste geprinte TREDITION CLASSICS titels zijn al decennia verdwenen uit de boekenkasten. Bij tredition geloven wij dat een goed boek nooit uit de mode is en dat zijn waarde voor eeuwig is. Deze boeken serie helpt bij het behouden van de literatuur schatten. Het draagt bij in het behouden van prachtige wereldliteratuur werken.