Critics have long treated the most important intellectual movement of modern history - the Enlightenment - as if it took shape in the absence of opposition. In this groundbreaking new study, Darrin McMahon demonstrates that, on the contrary, contemporary resistance to the Enlightenment was a major c[...]
"Genius." With hints of madness and mystery, moral license and visionary force, the word suggests an almost otherworldly power: the power to create, to divine the secrets of the universe, even to destroy. Yet the notion of genius has been diluted in recent times. Today, rock stars, football coaches,[...]
Happiness: A History draws on a multitude of sources, including art and architecture, poetry and scripture, music and theology, and literature and myth, to offer a sweeping history of mans most elusive yet coveted goal. Ranging from psychology to genetics to the invention of the smiley face, McMahon[...]