Note: When applied to any particular department of knowledge, philosophy denotes the general laws or principles under which all the subordinate phenomena or facts relating to that subject are comprehended. Thus philosophy, when applied to God and the divine government, is called theology; when applied to material objects, it is called physics; when it treats of man, it is called anthropology and psychology, with which are connected logic and ethics; when it treats of the necessary conceptions and relations by which philosophy is possible, it is called metaphysics. [1913 Webster]
Note: ``Philosophy has been defined: -- the science of things divine and human, and the causes in which they are contained; -- the science of effects by their causes; -- the science of sufficient reasons; -- the science of things possible, inasmuch as they are possible; -- the science of things evidently deduced from first principles; -- the science of truths sensible and abstract; -- the application of reason to its legitimate objects; -- the science of the relations of all knowledge to the necessary ends of human reason; -- the science of the original form of the ego, or mental self; -- the science of science; -- the science of the absolute; -- the science of the absolute indifference of the ideal and real. --Sir W. Hamilton. [1913 Webster]
2. A particular philosophical system or theory; the hypothesis by which particular phenomena are explained. [1913 Webster]
[Books] of Aristotle and his philosophie. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
We shall in vain interpret their words by the notions of our philosophy and the doctrines in our school. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
3. Practical wisdom; calmness of temper and judgment; equanimity; fortitude; stoicism; as, to meet misfortune with philosophy. [1913 Webster]
Then had he spent all his philosophy. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
4. Reasoning; argumentation. [1913 Webster]
Of good and evil much they argued then, . . . Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
5. The course of sciences read in the schools. --Johnson. [1913 Webster]
6. A treatise on philosophy. [1913 Webster]
{Philosophy of the Academy}, that of Plato, who taught his disciples in a grove in Athens called the Academy.
{Philosophy of the Garden}, that of Epicurus, who taught in a garden in Athens.
{Philosophy of the Lyceum}, that of Aristotle, the founder of the Peripatetic school, who delivered his lectures in the Lyceum at Athens.
{Philosophy of the Porch}, that of Zeno and the Stoics; -- so called because Zeno of Citium and his successors taught in the porch of the Poicile, a great hall in Athens. [1913 Webster]
to french
philosophy [fil?s?fi?] philosophie
philosophie.idoneos.com
to deutch
philosophy [fil?s?fi?] Philosophie
philosophie.idoneos.com
philosophy (of life) [fil?s?fi??flaif]
Weltanschauung
weltanschauung.idoneos.com
Bible Dictionary
Philosophy
It is the object of the following article to give some account(i.) of that development of thought among the Jews whichanswered to the philosophy of the West; (ii.) of the systematicprogress of Greek philosophy as forming a complete whole; and(iii.) of the contact of Christianity with philosophy. I. THEPHILOSOPHIC DISCIPLINE OF THE JEWS
Philosophy, if we limitthe word strictly to describe the free pursuit of knowledge ofwhich truth is the one complete end is essentially of westerngrowth. In the East the search after wisdom has always beenconnected with practice. The history of the Jews offers noexception to this remark: there is no Jewish philosophy,properly so called. The method of Greece was to proceed fromlife to God; the method of Israel (so to speak) was to proceedfrom God to life. The axioms of one system are the conclusionsof the other. The one led to the successive abandonment of thenoblest domains of science which man had claimed originally ashis own, till it left bare systems of morality; the other, inthe fullness of time, prepared many to welcome the Christ--theTruth. The philosophy of the Jews, using the word in a largesense, is to be sought for rather in the progress of thenational life than in special books. Step by step the idea ofthe family was raised into that of the people; and the kingdomfurnished the basis of those wider promises which included allnations in one kingdom of heaven. The social, the political,the cosmical relations of man were traced out gradually inrelation to God. The philosophy of the Jews is thus essentiallya moral philosophy, resting on a definite connection with God.The doctrines of Creation and Providence, of an infinite divineperson and of a responsible human will, which elsewhere formthe ultimate limits of speculation, are here assumed at theoutset. The Psalms, which, among the other infinite lessonswhich they convey, give a deep insight into the need of apersonal apprehension of truth, everywhere declare the absolutesovereignty of God over the material and the moral world. Oneman among all is distinguished among the Jews as "the wiseman". The description which is given of his writings serves asa commentary on the national view of philosophy (1 kings4:30-33) The lesson of practical duty, the full utterance of "alarge heart," ibid. 29, the careful study of God screatures,--this is the sum of wisdom. Yet in fact the verypractical aim of this philosophy leads to the revelation of themost sublime truth. Wisdom was gradually felt to be a person,throned by God and holding converse with men. (proverbs 8:1)... She was seen to stand in open enmity with "the strangewoman"), who sought to draw them aside by sensuous attractions;and thus a new step was made toward the central doctrine ofChristianity:--the incarnation of the Word. Two books of theBible, Job and Ecclesiastes, of which the latter at any ratebelongs to the period of the close of the kingdom, approachmore nearly than any others to the type of philosophicaldiscussions. But in both the problem is moral and notmetaphysical. The one deals with the evils which afflict "theperfect and upright;" the other with the vanity of all thepursuits and pleasures of earth. The captivity necessarilyexercised a profound influence. The teaching of Persia Jewishthought. The teaching of Persia seems to have been designed tosupply important elements in the education of the chosenpeople. But it did yet more than this. The contact of the Jewswith Persia thus gave rise to a traditional mysticism. Theircontact with Greece was marked by the rise of distinct sects.In the third century B.C. the great Doctor Antigonus of Sochobears a Greek name, and popular belief pointed to him as theteacher of Sadoc and Boethus the supposed founders of Jewishrationalism. At any rate we may date from this time the twofolddivision of Jewish speculation, The Sadducees appear as thesupporters of human freedom in its widest scope; the Phariseesof a religious Stoicism. At a later time the cycle of doctrinewas completed, when by a natural reaction the Essenesestablished as mystic Asceticism. II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF GREEKPHILOSOPHY
The various attempts which have been made toderive western philosophy from eastern sources have signallyfailed. It is true that in some degree the character of Greekspeculation may have been influenced, at least in itsearliest-stages, by religious ideas which were originallyintroduced from the East; but this indirect influence does hotaffect the real originality of the Greek teachers. The veryvalue of Greek teaching lies in the fact that it was, as far asis possible, a result of simple reason, or, if faith assertsifs prerogative, the distinction is sharply marked. Of thevarious classifications of the Greek schools which have beenproposed, the simplest and truest seems to be that whichdivides the history of philosophy into three great periods, thefirst reaching to the era of the Sophists, the next to thedeath of Aristotle, the third to the Christian era. In thefirst period the world objectively is the great centre ofinquiry; in the second, the "ideas" of things, truth, andbeing; in the third, the chief interest of philosophy fallsback upon the practical conduct of life. After the Christianera philosophy ceased to have any true vitality in Greece, butit made fresh efforts to meet the conditions of life atAlexandria and Rome.
The pre-Socratic schools
The first Greek philosophy waslittle more than an attempt to follow out in thought themythic cosmogonies of earlier poets. What is the onepermanent element which underlies the changing forms ofthings?--this was the primary inquiry, to which the Ionicschool endeavored to find an answer. Thales (cir. b.c.639-543) pointed to moisture (water) as the one source andsupporter of life. Anaximenes (cir. b.c. 520-480) substitutedair for wafer. At a much later date (cir. b.c. 460) Diogenesof Apollonia represented this elementary "air" as endowedwith intelligence.
The Socratic schools
In the second period of Greekphilosophy the scene and subject were both changed. Aphilosophy of ideas, using the term in its widest sense,succeeded a philosophy of nature, in three generations Greekspeculation reached its greatest glory in the teaching ofSocrates, Plato and Aristotle. The famous sentence in whichAristotle characterizes the teachings of Socrates(b.c.465-399) places his scientific position in the clearestlight. There are two things, he says, which we may rightlyattribute to Socrates--inductive reasoning and generaldefinition. By the first he endeavored to discover thepermanent element which underlies the changing forms ofappearances and the varieties of opinion; by the second hefixed the truth which he had thus gained. But, besides this,Socrates rendered another service to truth. Ethics occupiedin his investigations the primary place which had hithertobeen held by Physics. The great aim of his induction was toestablish the sovereignty of Virtue. He affirmed theexistence of a universal law of right and wrong. He connectedphilosophy with action, both in detail and in general. On theone side he upheld the supremacy of Conscience, on the otherthe working of Providence.
The post-Socratic schools
after Aristotle, philosophy tooka new direction. Speculation became mainly personal. Epicurus(b.c. 352-270) defined the object of philosophy to be theattainment of a happy life. The pursuit of truth for its ownsake he recognized as superfluous. He rejected dialectics asa useless study, and accepted the senses, in the widestacceptation of the term, as the criterion of truth. But hediffered widely from the Cyrenaics in his view of happiness.The happiness at which the wise man aims is to be found, hesaid, not in momentary gratification, but in life-longpleasure. All things were supposed to come into being bychance, and so pass away. The individual was left master ofown life. While Epicurus asserted in this manner the claimsof one part of man s nature in the conduct of life, Zeno ofCitium (cir. b.c. 280), with equal partiality advocated apurely spiritual (intellectual) morality. Opposition betweenthe two was complete. The infinite, chance-formed worlds ofthe one stand over against the one harmonious world of theother. On the one aide are gods regardless of materialthings, on the other a Being permeating and vivifying allcreation. This difference necessarily found its chiefexpression in Ethics. III. CHRISTIANITY IN CONTACT WITHANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
The only direct trace of the contact ofChristianity with western philosophy in the New Testament isin the account of St. Paul s visit to Athens, (acts 17:18)and there is nothing in the apostolic writings to show thatit exercised any important influence upon the early Church.Comp. (1 corinthians 1:22-24) But it was otherwise witheastern speculation, which penetrated more deeply through themass of the people. The "philosophy" against which theColossians were warned, (colossians 2:8) seems undoubtedly tohave been of eastern origin, containing elements similar tothose which were afterward embodied in various shapes ofGnosticism, as a selfish asceticism, and a superstitionsreverence for angels, (colossians 2:16-23) and in theEpistles to Timothy, addressed to Ephesians, in which citySt. Paul anticipated the rise of false teaching, (acts 20:30)two distinct forms of error may be traced in addition toJudaism, due more or less to the same influence. The writingsof the sub-apostolic age, with the exception of the famousanecdote of Justin Martyr (dial. 2--1), throw little lightupon the relations of Christianity and philosophy. Christianphilosophy may be in one sense a contradiction in terms, forChristianity confessedly derives its first principles fromrevelation, and not from simple reason; but there is no lessa true philosophy of Christianity, which aims to show howcompletely these meet the instincts and aspirations of allages. The exposition of such a philosophy would be the workof a modern Origen.
The Revolution: A Manifesto
by Ron Paul
from Grand Central Publishing
This Much Is True: You Have Been Lied To.
- The government is expanding.
- Taxes are increasing.
- More senseless wars are being planned.
- Inflation is ballooning.
- Our basic freedoms are disappearing.
The Founding Fathers didn't want any of this. In fact, they said so quite clearly in the Constitution of the
In THE REVOLUTION,
Despite a media blackout, this septuagenarian physician-turned-congressman sparked a movement that has attracted a legion of young, dedicated, enthusiastic supporters . . . a phenomenon that has amazed veteran political observers and made more than one political rival envious. Candidates across
"Dr. Paul cured my apathy," says a popular campaign sign. THE REVOLUTION may cure yours as well.
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism
by Timothy Keller
from Dutton Adult
The End of Faith. The God Delusion. God Is Not Great. Letter to a Christian Nation. Bestseller lists are filled with doubters. But what happens when you actually doubt your doubts?
Although a vocal minority continues to attack the Christian faith, for most Americans, faith is a large part of their lives: 86 percent of Americans refer to themselves as religious, and 75 percent of all Americans consider themselves Christians. So how should they respond to these passionate, learned, and persuasive books that promote science and secularism over religion and faith? For years, Tim Keller has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced “doubts” skeptics bring to his Manhattan church. And in The Reason for God, he single-handedly dismantles each of them. Written with atheists, agnostics, and skeptics in mind, Keller also provides an intelligent platform on which true believers can stand their ground when bombarded by the backlash. The Reason for God challenges such ideology at its core and points to the true path and purpose of Christianity.
Why is there suffering in the world? How could a loving God send people to Hell? Why isn’t Christianity more inclusive? Shouldn’t the Christian God be a god of love? How can one religion be “right” and the rest “wrong”? Why have so many wars been fought in the name of God? These are just a few of the questions even ardent believers wrestle with today. In this book, Tim Keller uses literature, philosophy, real-life conversations and reasoning, and even pop culture to explain how faith in a Christian God is a soundly rational belief, held by thoughtful people of intellectual integrity with a deep compassion for those who truly want to know the truth.
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
from Random House
Bestselling author Nassim Nicholas Taleb continues his exploration of randomness in his fascinating new book, The Black Swan, in which he examines the influence of highly improbable and unpredictable events that have massive impact. Engaging and enlightening, The Black Swan is a book that may change the way you think about the world, a book that Chris Anderson calls, "a delightful romp through history, economics, and the frailties of human nature." See Anderson's entire guest review below.
Guest Reviewer: Chris Anderson
Chris Anderson is editor-in-chief of Wired magazine and the author of The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. Four hundred years ago, Francis Bacon warned that our minds are wired to deceive us. "Beware the fallacies into which undisciplined thinkers most easily fall--they are the real distorting prisms of human nature." Chief among them: "Assuming more order than exists in chaotic nature." Now consider the typical stock market report: "Today investors bid shares down out of concern over Iranian oil production." Sigh. We're still doing it.
Our brains are wired for narrative, not statistical uncertainty. And so we tell ourselves simple stories to explain complex thing we don't--and, most importantly, can't--know. The truth is that we have no idea why stock markets go up or down on any given day, and whatever reason we give is sure to be grossly simplified, if not flat out wrong.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb first made this argument in Fooled by Randomness, an engaging look at the history and reasons for our predilection for self-deception when it comes to statistics. Now, in The Black Swan: the Impact of the Highly Improbable, he focuses on that most dismal of sciences, predicting the future. Forecasting is not just at the heart of Wall Street, but it's something each of us does every time we make an insurance payment or strap on a seat belt.
The problem, Nassim explains, is that we place too much weight on the odds that past events will repeat (diligently trying to follow the path of the "millionaire next door," when unrepeatable chance is a better explanation). Instead, the really important events are rare and unpredictable. He calls them Black Swans, which is a reference to a 17th century philosophical thought experiment. In Europe all anyone had ever seen were white swans; indeed, "all swans are white" had long been used as the standard example of a scientific truth. So what was the chance of seeing a black one? Impossible to calculate, or at least they were until 1697, when explorers found Cygnus atratus in Australia.
Nassim argues that most of the really big events in our world are rare and unpredictable, and thus trying to extract generalizable stories to explain them may be emotionally satisfying, but it's practically useless. September 11th is one such example, and stock market crashes are another. Or, as he puts it, "History does not crawl, it jumps." Our assumptions grow out of the bell-curve predictability of what he calls "Mediocristan," while our world is really shaped by the wild powerlaw swings of "Extremistan."
In full disclosure, I'm a long admirer of Taleb's work and a few of my comments on drafts found their way into the book. I, too, look at the world through the powerlaw lens, and I too find that it reveals how many of our assumptions are wrong. But Taleb takes this to a new level with a delightful romp through history, economics, and the frailties of human nature. --Chris Anderson
A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives.
Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don’t know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the “impossible.”
For years, Taleb has studied how we fool ourselves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. Now, in this revelatory book, Taleb explains everything we know about what we don’t know. He offers surprisingly simple tricks for dealing with black swans and benefiting from them.
Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications The Black Swan will change the way you look at the world. Taleb is a vastly entertaining writer, with wit, irreverence, and unusual stories to tell. He has a polymathic command of subjects ranging from cognitive science to business to probability theory. The Black Swan is a landmark book–itself a black swan.
Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao
by Wayne W. Dyer
from Hay House
In this book, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer has reviewed hundreds of translations of the Tao Te Ching and has written 81 distinct essays on how to apply the ancient wisdom of Lao-tzu to today’s modern world. This work contains the entire 81 verses of the Tao, compiled from Wayne’s researching of 12 of the most well-respected translations of text that have survived for more than 25 centuries. Each chapter is designed for actually living the Tao or the Great Way today. Some of the chapter titles are “Living with Flexibility,” “Living Without Enemies,” and “Living by Letting Go.” Each of the 81 brief chapters focuses on living the Tao and concludes with a section called “Doing the Tao Now.”
Wayne spent one entire year reading, researching, and meditating on Lao-tzu’s messages, practicing them each day and ultimately writing down these essays as he felt Lao-tzu wanted you to know them.
This is a work to be read slowly, one essay a day. As Wayne says, “This is a book that will forever change the way you look at your life, and the result will be that you’ll live in a new world aligned with nature. Writing this book changed me forever, too. I now live in accord with the natural world and feel the greatest sense of peace I’ve ever experienced. I’m so proud to present this interpretation of the Tao Te Ching, and offer the same opportunity for change that it has brought me.”
Climate Confusion: How Global Warming Hysteria Leads to Bad Science, Pandering Politicians and Misguided Policies that Hurt the Poor
by Roy Spencer
from Encounter Books
If you listen to the media, you would think that man-made environmental catastrophe was about to engulf the world and imperil civilization. From Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth to nightly jeremiads about CO2 emissions and carbon footprints, we are bombarded around the clock with alarmist reports that disasterous global warming is on the rise and that it's our fault. In Climate Confusion, noted climatologist Roy Spencer shows that fears about global warming are vastly exaggerated and are driven by politics, not truth. He shows that a global superstorm has already arrived-but it is a storm of hype and hysteria. Climate Confusion is a ground-breaking book that combines impeccable scientific authority with great wit and literary panache to expose the hysteria surrounding the myths of global warming and climate change. Spencer shows that the earth is far more resilient than exopessimists pretend and that increasing wealth and technology ingenuity, far from being the enemies of the environment, are the only means we possess to solve environmental problems as they arise.
Just Who Will You Be?: Big Question. Little Book. Answer Within. (ROUGHCUT)
by Maria Shriver
from Hyperion
"Maria Shriver is wise, funny and caring--and it all comes through in her winning guide to life, JUST WHO WILL YOU BE? We're lucky to have her show us the way."
-- Tom Brokaw
"Maria teaches all of us in the graduate program of life to seek meaning through the joy of following your heart. Just the kind of advice a heart surgeon cherishes."
--Mehmet Oz, M.D.
"Everything Maria Shriver does is a testament to how deeply she respects and cares about people; all people, all over the world. She really does. She is as charming and funny as she is brilliant and profoundly humane."
--Anne Lamott
"Maria Shriver is real, vulnerable, humble, honest (just like her book) and not afraid to say so. A lovely book by a lovely person."
--Danielle Steel
"This honest, straight-talking, profound little book is worth a lifetime of reflection. It calls readers of all ages to think again-and differently-about who they've been in the past and who they want to be now. This book is a life-stopper, a truly universal piece. It's a must for everyone-of any age."
--Sister Joan Chittister
"Every graduate (of anything) ought to be given a copy of this book along with their diploma. There's wisdom, compassion and truth between these covers. For anyone -- at any age."
--Linda Ellerbee, Executive Producer, "Nick News"
"I've learned that asking ourselves not just what we want to be, but who we want to be is important at every stage of our lives, not just when we're starting out in the world. That's because in a way, we're starting out fresh in the world every single day."
Just Who Will You Be? is a candid, heartfelt, and inspirational book for seekers of all ages. Inspired by a speech she gave, Maria Shriver's message is that what you do in your life isn't what matters. It's who you are. It's an important lesson that will appeal to anyone of any age looking for a life of meaning.
In her own life, Shriver always walked straight down her own distinctive path, achieving her childhood goal of becoming "award-winning network newswoman Maria Shriver". But when her husband was elected California's Governor and she suddenly had to leave her job at NBC News, Maria was thrown for a loop. Right about then, her nephew asked her to speak at his high school graduation. She resisted, wondering how she could possibly give advice to kids, when she was feeling so lost herself. But in the end she relented and decided to dig down and dig deep, and the result is this little jewel.
Just Who Will You Be? reminds us that the answer to many of life's question lie within -- and that we're all works in progress. That means it's never too late to become the person you want to be.
Now the question for you is this: Just who will you be?
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
by Mary Roach
from W. W. Norton
The best-selling author of Stiff turns her outrageous curiosity and infectious wit on the most alluring scientific subject of all: sex.
The study of sexual physiology—what happens, and why, and how to make it happen better—has been a paying career or a diverting sideline for scientists as far-ranging as Leonardo da Vinci and James Watson. The research has taken place behind the closed doors of laboratories, brothels, MRI centers, pig farms, sex-toy R&D labs, and Alfred Kinsey's attic.
Mary Roach, "the funniest science writer in the country" (Burkhard Bilger of The New Yorker), devoted the past two years to stepping behind those doors. Can a person think herself to orgasm? Can a dead man get an erection? Is vaginal orgasm a myth? Why doesn't Viagra help women—or, for that matter, pandas? In Bonk, Roach shows us how and why sexual arousal and orgasm, two of the most complex, delightful, and amazing scientific phenomena on earth, can be so hard to achieve and what science is doing to slowly make the bedroom a more satisfying place. 16 illustrations.
The 48 Laws of Power
by Robert Greene
from Penguin (Non-Classics)
"Learning the game of power requires a certain way of looking at the world, a shifting of perspective," writes Robert Greene. Mastery of one's emotions and the arts of deception and indirection are, he goes on to assert, essential. The 48 laws outlined in this book "have a simple premise: certain actions always increase one's power ... while others decrease it and even ruin us."
The laws cull their principles from many great schemers--and scheming instructors--throughout history, from Sun-Tzu to Talleyrand, from Casanova to con man Yellow Kid Weil. They are straightforward in their amoral simplicity: "Get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit," or "Discover each man's thumbscrew." Each chapter provides examples of the consequences of observance or transgression of the law, along with "keys to power," potential "reversals" (where the converse of the law might also be useful), and a single paragraph cleverly laid out to suggest an image (such as the aforementioned thumbscrew); the margins are filled with illustrative quotations. Practitioners of one-upmanship have been given a new, comprehensive training manual, as up-to-date as it is timeless.
Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills three thousand years of the history of power in to forty-eight well explicated laws. As attention--grabbing in its design as it is in its content, this bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun-tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other great thinkers. Some laws teach the need for prudence ("Law 1: Never Outshine the Master"), the virtue of stealth ("Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions"), and many demand the total absence of mercy ("Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally"), but like it or not, all have applications in real life. Illustrated through the tactics of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissinger, P. T. Barnum, and other famous figures who have wielded--or been victimized by--power, these laws will fascinate any reader interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
from Random House Trade Paperbacks
If the prescriptions for getting rich that are outlined in books such as The Millionaire Next Door and Rich Dad Poor Dad are successful enough to make the books bestsellers, then one must ask, Why aren't there more millionaires? In Fooled by Randomness, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a professional trader and mathematics professor, examines what randomness means in business and in life and why human beings are so prone to mistake dumb luck for consummate skill. This eccentric and highly personal exploration of the nature of randomness meanders from the court of Croesus and trading rooms in New York and London to Russian roulette, Monte Carlo engines, and the philosophy of Karl Popper. Part of what makes this book so good is Taleb's ability to make seemingly arcane mathematical concepts (at least to this reviewer) entirely relevant in evaluating and understanding everything from the stock market to the success of those millionaires cited in the aforementioned bestsellers. Here's an articulate, wise, and humorous meditation on the nature of success and failure that anyone who wants a little more of the former would do well to consider. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards
“[Taleb is] Wall Street’s principal dissident. . . . [Fooled By Randomness] is to conventional Wall Street wisdom approximately what Martin Luther’s ninety-nine theses were to the Catholic Church.”
–Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker
Finally in paperback, the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about the markets and the world.This book is about luck: more precisely how we perceive luck in our personal and professional experiences.
Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill–the world of business–Fooled by Randomness is an irreverent, iconoclastic, eye-opening, and endlessly entertaining exploration of one of the least understood forces in all of our lives.
A Short History of Nearly Everything
by Bill Bryson
from Broadway
From primordial nothingness to this very moment, A Short History of Nearly Everything reports what happened and how humans figured it out. To accomplish this daunting literary task, Bill Bryson uses hundreds of sources, from popular science books to interviews with luminaries in various fields. His aim is to help people like him, who rejected stale school textbooks and dry explanations, to appreciate how we have used science to understand the smallest particles and the unimaginably vast expanses of space. With his distinctive prose style and wit, Bryson succeeds admirably. Though A Short History clocks in at a daunting 500-plus pages and covers the same material as every science book before it, it reads something like a particularly detailed novel (albeit without a plot). Each longish chapter is devoted to a topic like the age of our planet or how cells work, and these chapters are grouped into larger sections such as "The Size of the Earth" and "Life Itself." Bryson chats with experts like Richard Fortey (author of Life and Trilobite) and these interviews are charming. But it's when Bryson dives into some of science's best and most embarrassing fights--Cope vs. Marsh, Conway Morris vs. Gould--that he finds literary gold. --Therese Littleton
One of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer.
In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand -- and, if possible, answer -- the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, travelling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.
From the Hardcover edition.
Bill Bryson is one of the world's most beloved and bestselling writers. In A Short History of Nearly Everything, he takes his ultimate journey—into the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer. It's a dazzling quest, the intellectual odyssey of a lifetime, as this insatiably curious writer attempts to understand everything that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. Or, as the author puts it, "...how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since." This is, in short, a tall order.
To that end, Bill Bryson apprenticed himself to a host of the world's most profound scientific minds, living and dead. His challenge is to take subjects like geology, chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people, like himself, made bored (or scared) stiff of science by school. His interest is not simply to discover what we know but to find out how we know it. How do we know what is in the center of the earth, thousands of miles beneath the surface? How can we know the extent and the composition of the universe, or what a black hole is? How can we know where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out?
On his travels through space and time, Bill Bryson encounters a splendid gallery of the most fascinating, eccentric, competitive, and foolish personalities ever to ask a hard question. In their company, he undertakes a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only this superb writer can render it. Science has never been more involving, and the world we inhabit has never been fuller of wonder and delight.
“Stylish [and] stunningly accurate prose. We learn what the material world is like from the smallest quark to the largest galaxy and at all the levels in between... brims with strange and amazing facts... destined to become a modern classic of science writing.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Bryson has made a career writing hilarious travelogues, and in many ways his latest is more of the same, except that this time Bryson hikes through the world of science.”
PEOPLE
“Bryson is surprisingly precise, brilliantly eccentric and nicely eloquent... a gifted storyteller has dared to retell the world’s biggest story.”
SEATTLE TIMES
“Hefty, highly researched and eminently readable.”
SIMON WINCHESTER, THE GLOBE AND MAIL
“All non-scientists (and probably many specialized scientists, too) can learn a great deal from his lucid and amiable explanations.”
NATIONAL POST
"Bryson is a terrific stylist. You can’t help but enjoy his writing, for its cheer and buoyancy, and for the frequent demonstration of his peculiar, engaging turn of mind.”
OTTAWA CITIZEN
“Wonderfully readable. It is, in the best sense, learned.”
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
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