The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “history”

Maria Merian’s Butterflies: The Illustrated Story of How a 17th-Century Woman Forever Changed the Course of Science Through Art
Maria Merian’s Butterflies: The Illustrated Story of How a 17th-Century Woman Forever Changed the Course of Science Through Art

A heartening homage to a courageous woman who fought superstition with science and love.

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The Difference Between the Beautiful and the Sublime, Animated
The Difference Between the Beautiful and the Sublime, Animated

A 100-second anatomy of astonishment.

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Found Meals of the Lost Generation: An Edible Time-Capsule of the Creative Scene of 1920s Paris
Found Meals of the Lost Generation: An Edible Time-Capsule of the Creative Scene of 1920s Paris

From James Joyce’s cocoa to Gertrude Stein’s nameless cookies.

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William James on Choosing Purpose Over Profit and the Life-Changing Power of a Great Mentor
William James on Choosing Purpose Over Profit and the Life-Changing Power of a Great Mentor

“After all, the great problem of life seems to be how to keep body and soul together.”

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Mark Twain on Racism, How Religion Is Used to Justify Injustice, and What His Mother Taught Him About Compassion
Mark Twain on Racism, How Religion Is Used to Justify Injustice, and What His Mother Taught Him About Compassion

“She never used large words, but she had a natural gift for making small ones do effective work.”

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Voltaire on How to Write Well and Stay True to Your Creative Vision
Voltaire on How to Write Well and Stay True to Your Creative Vision

“Beware, lest in attempting the grand, you overshoot the mark and fall into the grandiose.”

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The Mirror and the Meme: A 600-Year History of the Selfie
The Mirror and the Meme: A 600-Year History of the Selfie

How glass, tin, and mercury converged on a Venetian island in the 15th century to fundamentally change the way we look at ourselves.

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Cosmigraphics: Picturing Space Through Time in 4,000 Years of Mapping the Universe
Cosmigraphics: Picturing Space Through Time in 4,000 Years of Mapping the Universe

A visual catalog of our quintessential quest to understand the cosmos and our place in it.

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Sylvia Plath on Poetry and a Rare Recording of Her Reading the Poem “The Disquieting Muses”
Sylvia Plath on Poetry and a Rare Recording of Her Reading the Poem “The Disquieting Muses”

“Darker emotions may well put on the mask of quite unworldly things.”

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A Wave in the Mind: Virginia Woolf on Creativity and Consciousness
A Wave in the Mind: Virginia Woolf on Creativity and Consciousness

“A sight, an emotion, creates this wave in the mind, long before it makes words to fit it.”

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