The Mystery of Things - Hardcover

Grayling, A. C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0297645595 ISBN 13: 9780297645597

Publisher: Orion Publishing, 2004

Synopsis

In is new book, A. C. Grayling shows how much understanding people can gain about themselves and their world by reflecting on the lessons offered by science, the arts, and history. In the book's essays, Grayling illustrates what each area offers to thought, and in doing so, he covers subjects as wide-ranging as Jane Austen's Emma, The Rosetta Stone, Shakespeare, the Holocaust, and the brain.

About this title

About the Author:

Anthony Grayling teaches philosophy at Birkbeck College, London and is a Fellow of St Anne's, Oxford. He reviews frequently in the Financial Times and has a regular column in Prospect.

Review:

"Here, diverting and diverse as ever, is another platter of intellectual not so dim sum from a master chef... Grayling has three gifts. He roams far beyond his philosophical brief. He is wonderfully prolific. And he writes with a wry, crafted simplicity." -- PETER PRESTON, OBSERVER

"These essays on science, the arts and history examine what they offer to our understanding of ourselves and the world around us." -- NEW SCIENTIST

"This book is that rare bird, a volume of essays. We all love reading essays." -- THE TABLET

"This informative, witty collection of essays and reviews is loosely tied together by the idea that reflecting on the inner nature of things, the personal aspect of philosophy, happens most readily in the areas of the arts, history and science. As ever, Grayling, is worth reading, partly for the sheer weight of knowledge he brings to bear... Grayling's is clearly a more intelligent book than 99 per cent of others... A smashing bedside companion." -- TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT

“Open–ended epistemological meditations.” -- Kirkus Reviews

You could do far worse than spend an evening or three in the company of this book. Like good conversation, it engages you in a flow of topics without ever pausing long enough to bore. The essays and reviews are succinct, informative and always reasonable... The order of essays parallels the order of evenings and guests - arts, history, science - and with a similar purpose in mind. That purpose is enlightenment. Ignorance must be banished... The aim is laudable." -- Lisa Appignanesi, THE INDEPENDENT

About this edition

• Publisher: Orion Publishing
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0297645595
• ISBN 13: 9780297645597
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288