The Marginalian
The Marginalian

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On Tenderness: What Genetics Godfather Gregor Mendel Teaches Us about the Heart of Science
On Tenderness: What Genetics Godfather Gregor Mendel Teaches Us about the Heart of Science

“There is tenderness in the chemist measuring and re-measuring salts in the hood; in the mathematician kneading his equations to understand the shape of the cosmos; in the marine biologist learning to talk to dolphins…”

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Brave Genius: How the Unlikely Friendship of Scientist Jacques Monod and Philosopher Albert Camus Shaped Modern Culture
Brave Genius: How the Unlikely Friendship of Scientist Jacques Monod and Philosopher Albert Camus Shaped Modern Culture

“Being aware of one’s life, one’s revolt, one’s freedom, and to the maximum, is living, and to the maximum.”

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The Odd Habits and Curious Customs of Famous Writers
The Odd Habits and Curious Customs of Famous Writers

Color-coded muses, rotten apples, self-imposed house arrest, and other creative techniques at the intersection of the superstitious and the pragmatic.

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“Tip-of-the-Tongue Syndrome,” Transactive Memory, and How the Internet Is Making Us Smarter
“Tip-of-the-Tongue Syndrome,” Transactive Memory, and How the Internet Is Making Us Smarter

“A public library keeps no intentional secrets about its mechanisms; a search engine keeps many.”

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The Art of Thought: A Pioneering 1926 Model of the Four Stages of Creativity
The Art of Thought: A Pioneering 1926 Model of the Four Stages of Creativity

How to master the beautiful osmosis of conscious and unconscious, voluntary and involuntary, deliberate and serendipitous.

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How Much a Planet Costs: Astronomy, Economics, and the Trouble with Pricing the Priceless
How Much a Planet Costs: Astronomy, Economics, and the Trouble with Pricing the Priceless

“In our lives we all in some way contribute to this greater choice, either drawing our collective future down to Earth or thrusting it out closer to the stars.”

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Wisdom from a MacArthur Genius: Psychologist Angela Duckworth on Why Grit, Not IQ, Predicts Success
Wisdom from a MacArthur Genius: Psychologist Angela Duckworth on Why Grit, Not IQ, Predicts Success

“Character is at least as important as intellect.”

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Edgar Allan Poe on the Joy of Marginalia and What Handwriting Reveals about Character
Edgar Allan Poe on the Joy of Marginalia and What Handwriting Reveals about Character

“In the marginalia … we talk only to ourselves; we therefore talk freshly — boldly — originally — with abandonment — without conceit.”

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What Is Creativity? Cultural Icons on What Ideation Is and How It Works
What Is Creativity? Cultural Icons on What Ideation Is and How It Works

Bradbury, Eames, Angelou, Gladwell, Einstein, Byrne, Duchamp, Close, Sendak, and more.

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Pioneering 19th-Century Astronomer Maria Mitchell on Education and Women in Science
Pioneering 19th-Century Astronomer Maria Mitchell on Education and Women in Science

“No woman should say, ‘I am but a woman!’ But a woman! What more can you ask to be?”

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