The Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators
In The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators, authors Jeffrey Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clayton Christensen uncover the origins of “innovative-and often …
Culture
Edward Frenkel: Love and Math —The Heart of Hidden Reality
“The laws of Nature are written in the language of mathematics.” — Galileo *** Most of us are unaware of the hidden world of mathematics. Actually, we’d rather avoid the subject entirely. …
Seven Books Everyone Should Read
Little differences over a long lifetime create big disparities. Making decisions slightly better than your cohort translates into a big difference over a long life. This is the nature of compounding. …
The Top 3 Most Effective Ways to Take Notes While Reading
There are three steps to effectively taking notes while reading: At the end of each chapter write a few bullet points that summarize what you’ve read and make it personal if you can — …
Decisions Under Uncertainty
If you’re a knowledge worker you make decisions every day. In fact, whether you realize it or not, decisions are your job. Decisions are how you make a living. Of course, not every decision is …
The Science of Sleep
Sleep is way more important than we realize. It’s also, according to David Randall in Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep, “the largest overlooked part of your life and …
In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World
Equations are the lifeblood of mathematics, science, and technology. Without them, our world would not exist in its present form. However, equations have a reputation for being scary: Stephen …
The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are
“Friendships are the least institutionalized and most voluntary social relationship we have.” In Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are, Carlin Flora explores …
A History of Genius
“Geniuses … were believed to possess rare and special powers: the power to create, redeem, and destroy; the power to penetrate the fabric of the universe; the power to see into the future, …
Richard Feynman on Curiosity
Following, beauty, and honors, the final part of Canadian filmmaker Reid Gower’s trilogy on Richard Feynman, covers curiosity. The world is strange. The whole universe is very strange, but you …
Zibaldone
I picked up a copy of the first complete English edition of Giacomo Leopardi‘s Zibaldone. Giacomo Leopardi is the most radical and channelling of nineteenth-century poets and thinkers, yet the …
Much of What You’re Going to Do or Say Today is Not Essential
If you’re a modern knowledge worker, your typical day might look something like this: you go to work, read and reply to emails, attend meetings, grab a coffee, have lunch, attend more meetings, …
Marcus Aurelius on How to Act and Four Habits of Thought to Eliminate
Some advice from Marcus Aurelius in Meditations: Never under compulsion, out of selfishness, without forethought, with misgivings. Don’t gussy up your thoughts. No surplus words or unnecessary …
Neil Gaiman on The Importance of Reading, Libraries, and Imagination
Neil Gaiman, who brought us one of the best commencement speeches ever, chimes in on with a lecture explaining why using our imaginations is an obligation for all citizens. The correlation between …
Stephen Hawking’s Theory of Everything Animated in 2.5 Minutes
Don’t have time to read Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time? Don’t worry. In two and a half minutes, The Guardian’s Made Simple series explains why black holes are doomed …
Richard Feynman Explains How Rubber Bands Work
Richard Feynman has a gift for taking something that seems pretty simple and turning it into something beautifully complex. Watch as he explains how something as simple as rubber bands work.