Strange Brains and Genius

Strange Brains and Genius

Author: Clifford A. Pickover

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 1999-05-19

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 0688168949

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Never has the term mad scientist been more fascinatingly explored than in internationally recognized popular science author Clifford Pickover's richly researched wild ride through the bizarre lives of eccentric geniuses. A few highlights: "The Pigeon Man from Manhattan" Legendary inventor Nikola Tesla had abnormally long thumbs, a peculiar love of pigeons, and a horror of women's pearls. "The Worm Man from Devonshire" Forefather of modern electric-circuit design Oliver Heaviside furnished his home with granite blocks and sometimes consumed only milk for days (as did Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison). "The Rabbit-Eater from Lichfield" Renowned scholar Samuel Johnson had so many tics and quirks that some mistook him for an idiot. In fact, his behavior matches modern definitions of obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette's syndrome. Pickover also addresses many provocative topics: the link between genius and madness, the role the brain plays in alien abduction and religious experiences, UFOs, cryonics -- even the whereabouts of Einstein's brain!


Book Synopsis Strange Brains and Genius by : Clifford A. Pickover

Download or read book Strange Brains and Genius written by Clifford A. Pickover and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1999-05-19 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Never has the term mad scientist been more fascinatingly explored than in internationally recognized popular science author Clifford Pickover's richly researched wild ride through the bizarre lives of eccentric geniuses. A few highlights: "The Pigeon Man from Manhattan" Legendary inventor Nikola Tesla had abnormally long thumbs, a peculiar love of pigeons, and a horror of women's pearls. "The Worm Man from Devonshire" Forefather of modern electric-circuit design Oliver Heaviside furnished his home with granite blocks and sometimes consumed only milk for days (as did Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison). "The Rabbit-Eater from Lichfield" Renowned scholar Samuel Johnson had so many tics and quirks that some mistook him for an idiot. In fact, his behavior matches modern definitions of obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette's syndrome. Pickover also addresses many provocative topics: the link between genius and madness, the role the brain plays in alien abduction and religious experiences, UFOs, cryonics -- even the whereabouts of Einstein's brain!

Possessing Genius

Possessing Genius

Author: Carolyn Abraham

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 9781840466256

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One of Galileo's fingers is in a museum in Florence, Napoleon's severed penis is in the hands, as it were, of an American urologist. And the brain of the greatest thinker of the 20th century lay until recently in two muday cookie jars under a box behind a beer cooler in Wichita, Kansas. On Einstein's death in 1955 Princeton pathologist Thomas Harvey seized the chance to salvage the great thinker's brain. Possessed by the idea that it might hold the key to the enigma of Einstein's genius, Harvey became the unlikely custodian of the organ responsible for the Theory of Relativity - a theory whose centenary is celebrated in 2005. The author tells the bizarre story of Einstein's brain as it roamed the world in mayonnaise jars and courier packages, taking over one man's life for half a century.


Book Synopsis Possessing Genius by : Carolyn Abraham

Download or read book Possessing Genius written by Carolyn Abraham and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of Galileo's fingers is in a museum in Florence, Napoleon's severed penis is in the hands, as it were, of an American urologist. And the brain of the greatest thinker of the 20th century lay until recently in two muday cookie jars under a box behind a beer cooler in Wichita, Kansas. On Einstein's death in 1955 Princeton pathologist Thomas Harvey seized the chance to salvage the great thinker's brain. Possessed by the idea that it might hold the key to the enigma of Einstein's genius, Harvey became the unlikely custodian of the organ responsible for the Theory of Relativity - a theory whose centenary is celebrated in 2005. The author tells the bizarre story of Einstein's brain as it roamed the world in mayonnaise jars and courier packages, taking over one man's life for half a century.

The Superhuman Mind

The Superhuman Mind

Author: Berit Brogaard, PhD

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2015-08-25

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 069819036X

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Did you know your brain has superpowers? Berit Brogaard, PhD, and Kristian Marlow, MA, study people with astonishing talents—memory champions, human echolocators, musical virtuosos, math geniuses, and synesthetes who taste colors and hear faces. But as amazing as these abilities are, they are not mysterious. Our brains constantly process a huge amount of information below our awareness, and what these gifted individuals have in common is that through practice, injury, an innate brain disorder, or even more unusual circumstances, they have managed to gain a degree of conscious access to this potent processing power. The Superhuman Mind takes us inside the lives and brains of geniuses, savants, virtuosos, and a wide variety of ordinary people who have acquired truly extraordinary talents, one way or another. Delving into the neurological underpinnings of these abilities, the authors even reveal how we can acquire some of them ourselves—from perfect pitch and lightning fast math skills to supercharged creativity. The Superhuman Mind is a book full of the fascinating science readers look for from the likes of Oliver Sacks, combined with the exhilarating promise of Moonwalking with Einstein.


Book Synopsis The Superhuman Mind by : Berit Brogaard, PhD

Download or read book The Superhuman Mind written by Berit Brogaard, PhD and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-08-25 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did you know your brain has superpowers? Berit Brogaard, PhD, and Kristian Marlow, MA, study people with astonishing talents—memory champions, human echolocators, musical virtuosos, math geniuses, and synesthetes who taste colors and hear faces. But as amazing as these abilities are, they are not mysterious. Our brains constantly process a huge amount of information below our awareness, and what these gifted individuals have in common is that through practice, injury, an innate brain disorder, or even more unusual circumstances, they have managed to gain a degree of conscious access to this potent processing power. The Superhuman Mind takes us inside the lives and brains of geniuses, savants, virtuosos, and a wide variety of ordinary people who have acquired truly extraordinary talents, one way or another. Delving into the neurological underpinnings of these abilities, the authors even reveal how we can acquire some of them ourselves—from perfect pitch and lightning fast math skills to supercharged creativity. The Superhuman Mind is a book full of the fascinating science readers look for from the likes of Oliver Sacks, combined with the exhilarating promise of Moonwalking with Einstein.

Story Genius

Story Genius

Author: Lisa Cron

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Published: 2016-08-09

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1607748894

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Following on the heels of Lisa Cron's breakout first book, Wired for Story, this writing guide reveals how to use cognitive storytelling strategies to build a scene-by-scene blueprint for a riveting story. It’s every novelist’s greatest fear: pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page one rewrite. The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this problem: pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron has spent her career discovering why these methods don’t work and coming up with a powerful alternative, based on the science behind what our brains are wired to crave in every story we read (and it’s not what you think). In Story Genius Cron takes you, step-by-step, through the creation of a novel from the first glimmer of an idea, to a complete multilayered blueprint—including fully realized scenes—that evolves into a first draft with the authority, richness, and command of a riveting sixth or seventh draft.


Book Synopsis Story Genius by : Lisa Cron

Download or read book Story Genius written by Lisa Cron and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2016-08-09 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following on the heels of Lisa Cron's breakout first book, Wired for Story, this writing guide reveals how to use cognitive storytelling strategies to build a scene-by-scene blueprint for a riveting story. It’s every novelist’s greatest fear: pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page one rewrite. The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this problem: pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron has spent her career discovering why these methods don’t work and coming up with a powerful alternative, based on the science behind what our brains are wired to crave in every story we read (and it’s not what you think). In Story Genius Cron takes you, step-by-step, through the creation of a novel from the first glimmer of an idea, to a complete multilayered blueprint—including fully realized scenes—that evolves into a first draft with the authority, richness, and command of a riveting sixth or seventh draft.

A Beginner's Guide to Immortality

A Beginner's Guide to Immortality

Author: Clifford A Pickover

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2009-04-13

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 0786734612

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A Beginner's Guide to Immortality is a celebration of unusual lives and creative thinkers who punched through ordinary cultural norms while becoming successful in their own niches. In his latest and greatest work, world-renowned science writer Cliff Pickover studies such colorful characters as Truman Capote, John Cage, Stephen Wolfram, Ray Kurzweil, and Wilhelm Rontgen, and their curious ideas. Through these individuals, we can better explore life's astonishing richness and glimpse the diversity of human imagination. Part memoir and part surrealistic perspective on culture, A Beginner's Guide to Immortality gives readers a glimpse of new ways of thinking and of other worlds as he reaches across cultures and peers beyond our ordinary reality. He illuminates some of the most mysterious phenomena affecting our species. What is creativity? What are the religious implications of mosquito evolution, simulated Matrix realities, the brain's own marijuana, and the mathematics of the apocalypse? Could we be a mere software simulation living in a matrix? Who is Elisabeth Kobler-Ross and Emanuel Swedenborg? Did church forefathers eat psychedelic snails? How can we safely expand our minds to become more successful and reason beyond the limits of our own intuition? How can we become immortal?


Book Synopsis A Beginner's Guide to Immortality by : Clifford A Pickover

Download or read book A Beginner's Guide to Immortality written by Clifford A Pickover and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2009-04-13 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Beginner's Guide to Immortality is a celebration of unusual lives and creative thinkers who punched through ordinary cultural norms while becoming successful in their own niches. In his latest and greatest work, world-renowned science writer Cliff Pickover studies such colorful characters as Truman Capote, John Cage, Stephen Wolfram, Ray Kurzweil, and Wilhelm Rontgen, and their curious ideas. Through these individuals, we can better explore life's astonishing richness and glimpse the diversity of human imagination. Part memoir and part surrealistic perspective on culture, A Beginner's Guide to Immortality gives readers a glimpse of new ways of thinking and of other worlds as he reaches across cultures and peers beyond our ordinary reality. He illuminates some of the most mysterious phenomena affecting our species. What is creativity? What are the religious implications of mosquito evolution, simulated Matrix realities, the brain's own marijuana, and the mathematics of the apocalypse? Could we be a mere software simulation living in a matrix? Who is Elisabeth Kobler-Ross and Emanuel Swedenborg? Did church forefathers eat psychedelic snails? How can we safely expand our minds to become more successful and reason beyond the limits of our own intuition? How can we become immortal?

My Madness Saved Me

My Madness Saved Me

Author: Thomas Szasz

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-12-02

Total Pages: 213

ISBN-13: 1351503979

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"The vast literature on Virginia Woolf's life, work, and marriage falls into two groups. A large majority is certain that she was mentally ill, and a small minority is equally certain that she was not mentally ill but was misdiagnosed by psychiatrists. In this daring exploration of Woolf's life and work, Thomas Szasz--famed for his radical critique of psychiatric concepts, coercions, and excuses--examines the evidence and rejects both views. Instead, he looks at how Virginia Woolf, as well as her husband Leonard, used the concept of madness and the profession of psychiatry to manage and manipulate their own and each other's lives.Do we explain achievement when we attribute it to the fictitious entity we call ""genius""? Do we explain failure when we attribute it to the fictitious entity we call ""madness""? Or do we deceive ourselves the same way that the person deceives himself when he attributes the easy ignition of hydrogen to its being ""flammable""? Szasz interprets Virginia Woolf's life and work as expressions of her character, and her character as the ""product"" of her free will. He offers this view as a corrective against the prevailing, ostensibly scientific view that attributes both her ""madness"" and her ""genius"" to biological-genetic causes. We tend to attribute exceptional achievement to genius, and exceptional failure to madness. Both, says Szasz, are fictitious entities."


Book Synopsis My Madness Saved Me by : Thomas Szasz

Download or read book My Madness Saved Me written by Thomas Szasz and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-12-02 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The vast literature on Virginia Woolf's life, work, and marriage falls into two groups. A large majority is certain that she was mentally ill, and a small minority is equally certain that she was not mentally ill but was misdiagnosed by psychiatrists. In this daring exploration of Woolf's life and work, Thomas Szasz--famed for his radical critique of psychiatric concepts, coercions, and excuses--examines the evidence and rejects both views. Instead, he looks at how Virginia Woolf, as well as her husband Leonard, used the concept of madness and the profession of psychiatry to manage and manipulate their own and each other's lives.Do we explain achievement when we attribute it to the fictitious entity we call ""genius""? Do we explain failure when we attribute it to the fictitious entity we call ""madness""? Or do we deceive ourselves the same way that the person deceives himself when he attributes the easy ignition of hydrogen to its being ""flammable""? Szasz interprets Virginia Woolf's life and work as expressions of her character, and her character as the ""product"" of her free will. He offers this view as a corrective against the prevailing, ostensibly scientific view that attributes both her ""madness"" and her ""genius"" to biological-genetic causes. We tend to attribute exceptional achievement to genius, and exceptional failure to madness. Both, says Szasz, are fictitious entities."

The Physics Book

The Physics Book

Author: Clifford A. Pickover

Publisher: Union Square + ORM

Published: 2011-11-01

Total Pages: 1054

ISBN-13: 1402790996

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“A thrilling, fast-paced excursion through the history of physical discovery . . . from silly putty to string theory” (Dr. Paul Halpern, author of Collider). Following his previous volumes, The Science Book and The Math Book, acclaimed science writer Clifford Pickover returns with a richly illustrated chronology of physics, containing 250 short, entertaining, and thought-provoking entries. In addition to exploring such engaging topics as dark energy, parallel universes, the Doppler effect, the God particle, and Maxwells demon, The Physics Book extends back billions of years to the hypothetical Big Bang and forward trillions of years to a time of “quantum resurrection.” Like the previous titles in this series, The Physics Book offers a lively and accessible account of major concepts without getting bogged down in complex details.


Book Synopsis The Physics Book by : Clifford A. Pickover

Download or read book The Physics Book written by Clifford A. Pickover and published by Union Square + ORM. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 1054 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A thrilling, fast-paced excursion through the history of physical discovery . . . from silly putty to string theory” (Dr. Paul Halpern, author of Collider). Following his previous volumes, The Science Book and The Math Book, acclaimed science writer Clifford Pickover returns with a richly illustrated chronology of physics, containing 250 short, entertaining, and thought-provoking entries. In addition to exploring such engaging topics as dark energy, parallel universes, the Doppler effect, the God particle, and Maxwells demon, The Physics Book extends back billions of years to the hypothetical Big Bang and forward trillions of years to a time of “quantum resurrection.” Like the previous titles in this series, The Physics Book offers a lively and accessible account of major concepts without getting bogged down in complex details.

The Dark Side of Charles Darwin

The Dark Side of Charles Darwin

Author: Dr. Jerry Bergman

Publisher: New Leaf Publishing Group

Published: 2011-03-01

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 161458009X

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A single man stands behind the greatest deception in history. Charles Darwin's ideas still penetrate every aspect of our culture, including science, religion, and education. And while much has been made of his contribution to the evolutionary hypothesis, little has been publicized about the dark side of the man himself and how this may have impacted the quality and legitimacy of his research. This daring and compelling book takes its readers behind the popular facade of a man revered worldwide as a scientific pioneer, and unveils what kind of person Darwin really was. The book reveals disturbing facts that will help you: Perceive Darwin firsthand through the eyes of family and friends, and his own correspondence Discern this darkly troubled man, struggling with physical and mental health issues Uncover his views on eugenics and racism, and his belief that women were less evolved than men Thoroughly documented, this book reveals Darwin's less-than-above board methods of attempting to prove his so-called scientific beliefs, and his plot to "murder God" by challenging the then-dominant biblical worldview.


Book Synopsis The Dark Side of Charles Darwin by : Dr. Jerry Bergman

Download or read book The Dark Side of Charles Darwin written by Dr. Jerry Bergman and published by New Leaf Publishing Group. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A single man stands behind the greatest deception in history. Charles Darwin's ideas still penetrate every aspect of our culture, including science, religion, and education. And while much has been made of his contribution to the evolutionary hypothesis, little has been publicized about the dark side of the man himself and how this may have impacted the quality and legitimacy of his research. This daring and compelling book takes its readers behind the popular facade of a man revered worldwide as a scientific pioneer, and unveils what kind of person Darwin really was. The book reveals disturbing facts that will help you: Perceive Darwin firsthand through the eyes of family and friends, and his own correspondence Discern this darkly troubled man, struggling with physical and mental health issues Uncover his views on eugenics and racism, and his belief that women were less evolved than men Thoroughly documented, this book reveals Darwin's less-than-above board methods of attempting to prove his so-called scientific beliefs, and his plot to "murder God" by challenging the then-dominant biblical worldview.

Possessing Genius

Possessing Genius

Author: Carolyn Abraham

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 9781840465495

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Book Synopsis Possessing Genius by : Carolyn Abraham

Download or read book Possessing Genius written by Carolyn Abraham and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Culture of Chemistry

Culture of Chemistry

Author: Balazs Hargittai

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-04-20

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 1489975659

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Includes specially selected articles that previously appeared in The Chemical Intelligencer magazine published (1995-2000). Excerpts of these Editor's choice chapters chronicle the culture and history of chemistry, featuring great chemists and discoverers. Contributors from among the best-known authors of the chemistry community, including numerous Nobel laureates. Features behind the scenes stories about pivotal discoveries, intricacies of laboratory life and interactions among scientists, favorite recipes of renowned researchers, life histories and anecdotes. Chapters detail the human side of science but also present scientific information communicated in an easy-to-perceive and entertaining way. This unique book is not only aimed at chemists but individuals who are interested in the cultural aspects of our science.


Book Synopsis Culture of Chemistry by : Balazs Hargittai

Download or read book Culture of Chemistry written by Balazs Hargittai and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-04-20 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes specially selected articles that previously appeared in The Chemical Intelligencer magazine published (1995-2000). Excerpts of these Editor's choice chapters chronicle the culture and history of chemistry, featuring great chemists and discoverers. Contributors from among the best-known authors of the chemistry community, including numerous Nobel laureates. Features behind the scenes stories about pivotal discoveries, intricacies of laboratory life and interactions among scientists, favorite recipes of renowned researchers, life histories and anecdotes. Chapters detail the human side of science but also present scientific information communicated in an easy-to-perceive and entertaining way. This unique book is not only aimed at chemists but individuals who are interested in the cultural aspects of our science.