The Marginalian
The Marginalian

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The Backfire Effect: The Psychology of Why We Have a Hard Time Changing Our Minds
The Backfire Effect: The Psychology of Why We Have a Hard Time Changing Our Minds

How the disconnect between information and insight explains our dangerous self-righteousness.

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Why Look at Animals: John Berger on What Our Relationship with Our Fellow Beings Reveals About Us
Why Look at Animals: John Berger on What Our Relationship with Our Fellow Beings Reveals About Us

“[Animals] are the objects of our ever-extending knowledge.”

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How the Invention of the Alphabet Usurped Female Power in Society and Sparked the Rise of Patriarchy in Human Culture
How the Invention of the Alphabet Usurped Female Power in Society and Sparked the Rise of Patriarchy in Human Culture

A brief history of gender dynamics from page to screen.

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Reinventing the Wheel: A Design History of the Circle as a Visual Metaphor for Information
Reinventing the Wheel: A Design History of the Circle as a Visual Metaphor for Information

How nature’s perfect shape came to contain the imperfections of the human condition.

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The 13 Best Art and Design Books of 2013
The 13 Best Art and Design Books of 2013

Imaginative maps, illuminating infographics, literary cats, vintage Soviet propaganda, Gertrude Stein’s favorite objects, and other treats for eye and spirit.

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Blast Off: Visionary Vintage Children’s Book Celebrates Equality, Diversity, and Space Exploration
Blast Off: Visionary Vintage Children’s Book Celebrates Equality, Diversity, and Space Exploration

“The blackness of space was dotted with stars.”

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Marketing the Moon: How NASA Sold Space to Earth
Marketing the Moon: How NASA Sold Space to Earth

When the mission became the message and NASA undertook the monumental task of explaining rocket science to an audience looking to the stars.

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The Poetic Principle: Poe on Truth, Love, Reason, and the Human Impulse for Beauty
The Poetic Principle: Poe on Truth, Love, Reason, and the Human Impulse for Beauty

“A poem deserves its title only inasmuch as it excites, by elevating the soul. The value of the poem is in the ratio of this elevating excitement.”

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The 13 Best Science and Technology Books of 2013
The 13 Best Science and Technology Books of 2013

The wonders of the gut, why our brains are wired to be social, what poetry and math have in common, swarm intelligence vs. “God,” and more.

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Mondrian Meets Euclid: An Eccentric Victorian Mathematician’s Masterwork of Art and Science
Mondrian Meets Euclid: An Eccentric Victorian Mathematician’s Masterwork of Art and Science

Math in primary colors and graphic design before there was graphic design.

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