|
Showing 1 - 9 of
9 matches in All Departments
'It has been said by its opponents that science divorces itself
from literature; but the statement, like so many others, arises
from lack of knowledge.' John Tyndall, 1874 Although we are used to
thinking of science and the humanities as separate disciplines, in
the nineteenth century that division was not recognized. As the
scientist John Tyndall pointed out, not only were science and
literature both striving to better 'man's estate', they shared a
common language and cultural heritage. The same subjects occupied
the writing of scientists and novelists: the quest for 'origins',
the nature of the relation between society and the individual, and
what it meant to be human. This anthology brings together a
generous selection of scientific and literary material to explore
the exchanges and interactions between them. Fed by a common
imagination, scientists and creative writers alike used stories,
imagery, style, and structure to convey their meaning, and to
produce work of enduring power. The anthology includes writing by
Charles Babbage, Charles Darwin, Sir Humphry Davy, Charles Dickens,
George Eliot, Michael Faraday, Thomas Malthus, Louis Pasteur, Edgar
Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Mark Twain and many others, and
introductions and notes guide the reader through the topic's many
strands. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's
Classics has made available the widest range of literature from
around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's
commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a
wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions
by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text,
up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
|
Clean (Paperback)
Laura Otis
|
R359
R298
Discovery Miles 2 980
Save R61 (17%)
|
Ships in 10 - 15 working days
|
Rethinking Thought takes readers into the minds of 30 creative
thinkers to show how greatly the experience of thought can vary. It
is dedicated to anyone who has ever been told, "You're not
thinking!", because his or her way of thinking differs so much from
a spouse's, employer's, or teacher's. The book focuses on
individual experiences with visual mental images and verbal
language that are used in planning, problem-solving, reflecting,
remembering, and forging new ideas. It approaches the question of
what thinking is by analyzing variations in the way thinking feels.
Written by neuroscientist-turned-literary scholar Laura Otis,
Rethinking Thought juxtaposes creative thinkers' insights with
recent neuroscientific discoveries about visual mental imagery,
verbal language, and thought. Presenting the results of new,
interview-based research, it offers verbal portraits of novelist
Salman Rushdie, engineer Temple Grandin, American Poet Laureate
Natasha Trethewey, and Nobel prize-winning biologist Elizabeth
Blackburn. It also depicts the unique mental worlds of two
award-winning painters, a flamenco dancer, a game designer, a
cartoonist, a lawyer-novelist, a theoretical physicist, and a
creator of multi-agent software. Treating scientists and artists
with equal respect, it creates a dialogue in which neuroscientific
findings and the introspections of creative thinkers engage each
other as equal partners. The interviews presented in this book
indicate that many creative people enter fields requiring skills
that don't come naturally. Instead, they choose professions that
demand the hardest work and the greatest mental growth. Instead of
classifying people as "visual" or "verbal," educators and managers
need to consider how thinkers combine visual and verbal skills and
how those abilities can be further developed. By showing how
greatly individual experiences of thought can vary, this book aims
to help readers in all professions better understand and respect
the diverse people with whom they work.
Fearing they would compromise his scientific career, neurobiologist
Ramon y Cajal waited almost twenty years to publish these stories:
five ingenious tales that take a microscopic look at the nature,
allure, and danger of scientific curiosity. Now available for the
first time in an English paperback edition, Cajal's stories reveal
a great deal about the collusion of human ambition and greed that
prey on the hapless, whether in the name of science, religion, or
the state. Laura Otis, whose dual background in literature and
science echoes that of the author, has written a substantial
introduction that describes Cajal as a scientist and an artist. She
has also crafted a sparkling translation that captures the wit and
imagination of the original.
|
You may like...
Poor Things
Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, …
DVD
R357
Discovery Miles 3 570
|