archive

The value of not knowing

A new issue of Economic Sociology is out. An interview with Tim Parsons, author of Rule of Empires: Those Who Built Them, Those Who Endured Them, and Why They Always Fall (and more and more and more). There’s sweet nostalgia, and then there’s refried crap: The Eighties are back, and they’re bad. From Plus!, uncoiling the spiral: Marianne Freiberger on maths and hallucinations; do you prefer your maths in exotic locations? Then perhaps you should join a band of bell ringers, engaged in the grand old practice of ringing the changes; Liz Newton on the power of origami; and fractals are a treat for your eyes, but what about your ears? From National Geographic, an article on the 21st century grid: Can we fix the infrastructure that powers our lives? The value of not knowing: When did people become so unwilling to get in a little over their heads? "They called me a child pornographer": Jody Jenkins took some photos of her kids naked on a camping trip — a drugstore employee called the police and her family's life became a living hell. Mens sana in corpore sano: Parasites and pathogens may explain why people in some parts of the world are cleverer than those in others. Boys’ voices are breaking earlier; girls are developing breasts as young as six — but why? An interview with A. J. Jacobs, author of My Life as an Experiment. Trooper down: Why drivers hit officers on the side of the road.