How it's all connected.
February 26, 2010 9:29 PM Subscribe
What non-fiction have you read that shows the unity underlying vastly different subject matter?
I just read Lawrence Weschler's Everything that Rises: A Book of Convergences.
This is an incredible book that draws connections between "The Anatomy Lesson" and Che Guevera's death photos, Tetris and Gorbachev, Gingrich and Milosevic, branching diagrams and our own neural hardware, Civil War photos and photos of clean-up crews at Ground Zero.
It's all deeply fascinating, and even when I didn't buy all of Weschler's associations, I loved watching him take my mind to new places.
OTHER BOOKS that I've read that draw connections between widely divergent subject matter include Douglas Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach (much of which went over my head), and the same author's Le Ton Beau de Marot (which was straight up my alley); Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; Robert Anton Wilson's Quantum Psychology.
I am aware that there are fictional works that do this, but for the purposes of this question I'd like to talk only about non-fiction.
I would like to avoid glib pop-sci books that read attempt to do this but come across like stretched-thin magazine articles: one that I can remember reading and disliking was Faster by James Gleick. I'm aware that this criterion is subjective.
TL;DR VERSION: What non-fiction have you read that draws connections between stuff you'd never think was connected?
I just read Lawrence Weschler's Everything that Rises: A Book of Convergences.
This is an incredible book that draws connections between "The Anatomy Lesson" and Che Guevera's death photos, Tetris and Gorbachev, Gingrich and Milosevic, branching diagrams and our own neural hardware, Civil War photos and photos of clean-up crews at Ground Zero.
It's all deeply fascinating, and even when I didn't buy all of Weschler's associations, I loved watching him take my mind to new places.
OTHER BOOKS that I've read that draw connections between widely divergent subject matter include Douglas Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach (much of which went over my head), and the same author's Le Ton Beau de Marot (which was straight up my alley); Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; Robert Anton Wilson's Quantum Psychology.
I am aware that there are fictional works that do this, but for the purposes of this question I'd like to talk only about non-fiction.
I would like to avoid glib pop-sci books that read attempt to do this but come across like stretched-thin magazine articles: one that I can remember reading and disliking was Faster by James Gleick. I'm aware that this criterion is subjective.
TL;DR VERSION: What non-fiction have you read that draws connections between stuff you'd never think was connected?
haha, I just came in here to recommend Everything that Rises. Oh well.
It's not quite the same thing, but from the other books you mentioned you might like Edward Tufte's books on displaying information--I feel like they go to the same place in my brain.
posted by exceptinsects at 9:44 PM on February 26, 2010
It's not quite the same thing, but from the other books you mentioned you might like Edward Tufte's books on displaying information--I feel like they go to the same place in my brain.
posted by exceptinsects at 9:44 PM on February 26, 2010
I was going to recommend GEB but you're already there. Perhaps Chaos by Gleick; it's not really pop-sci but if you don't like him you might not like it.
posted by polyglot at 9:56 PM on February 26, 2010
posted by polyglot at 9:56 PM on February 26, 2010
Some of Stephen Jay Gould's books match your criteria quite well. I'm reminded especially of Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin, which examines refinement and specialization in systems and treats subjects as varied as equine evolution and the disappearance of .400 hitting in baseball.
You might also look at Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time, which starts off as an analysis of historical ideas in geology but later turns into a peculiar, wide-ranging rumination on motifs of symmetry and progress that draws on Christian art and folk sculpture.
posted by cirripede at 9:58 PM on February 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
You might also look at Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time, which starts off as an analysis of historical ideas in geology but later turns into a peculiar, wide-ranging rumination on motifs of symmetry and progress that draws on Christian art and folk sculpture.
posted by cirripede at 9:58 PM on February 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
That's pretty much Malcolm Gladwell's shtick, but it might fall under the category of things you don't like.
posted by Nattie at 10:31 PM on February 26, 2010
posted by Nattie at 10:31 PM on February 26, 2010
James Burke, hands down. Connections is free on YouTube, by the way.
posted by McBearclaw at 11:24 PM on February 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by McBearclaw at 11:24 PM on February 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
I loved Godel, Escher, Bach but I remember it being pretty challenging in parts (and I read it fifteen or even twenty years ago, when my brain was rather more elastic). That shouldn't put you off, but if maths / physics really aren't your thing you might find yourself skipping parts.
posted by tigrefacile at 12:02 AM on February 27, 2010
posted by tigrefacile at 12:02 AM on February 27, 2010
OK, I'll cautiously recommend Kevin Kelly's Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World about decentralization and the evolution of complex systems. Everything from robotics and space exploration to game playing to ecology. While the subject matter is very different from GEB, it reminded me a great deal of that book in hammering away at a common theme from different angles and drawing on examples from different fields. The caution is because the first review comment on Amazon says "comes across like a 475 page magazine article." Oh, well. I certainly didn't get the impression but that may be enough to scare you away.
posted by zanni at 12:21 AM on February 27, 2010
posted by zanni at 12:21 AM on February 27, 2010
Joseph Campbell - The Hero With A Thousand Faces
Stephen Wolfram - A New Kind of Science
Mario Livio - The Golden Ratio
It's not a book, and I'm not necessarily recommending it, but LSD also seems to do this quite well.
posted by surfgator at 12:40 AM on February 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
Stephen Wolfram - A New Kind of Science
Mario Livio - The Golden Ratio
It's not a book, and I'm not necessarily recommending it, but LSD also seems to do this quite well.
posted by surfgator at 12:40 AM on February 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
The Computational Beauty of Nature by Gary William Flake is a fantastic romp across the computational landscape, linking fractals, computability, the game of life and many other topics together.
posted by pharm at 12:52 AM on February 27, 2010
posted by pharm at 12:52 AM on February 27, 2010
Connections was also published as a book and a regular column in Scientific American. He is awesome.
A non-fiction wrapped in fiction book you may be interested in would be The Loom of God, by Clifford Pickover. Specifically it explores the connections between mathematics and various religions from Pythagoras on up. The non-fiction material dominates, but is connected and commented on by a couple fictional characters. Pickover wrote (writes?) for Discover.
posted by whatzit at 1:15 AM on February 27, 2010
A non-fiction wrapped in fiction book you may be interested in would be The Loom of God, by Clifford Pickover. Specifically it explores the connections between mathematics and various religions from Pythagoras on up. The non-fiction material dominates, but is connected and commented on by a couple fictional characters. Pickover wrote (writes?) for Discover.
posted by whatzit at 1:15 AM on February 27, 2010
Although they might qualify as pop-sci, I enjoyed:
posted by purephase at 5:58 AM on February 27, 2010
- Dr. Strangelove's Game: A Brief History of Economic Genius - Paul Strathern
- Salt: A World History - Mark Kurlansky
- A Brief History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
posted by purephase at 5:58 AM on February 27, 2010
Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (obviously) connects theology and economics, and is short and fascinating, but I'd guess there is secondary literature that's more current.
posted by mbrock at 6:09 AM on February 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mbrock at 6:09 AM on February 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
For non-fiction you could try John Barrow's The Artful Universe (expanded 2nd ed.). I was able to find a pdf on http://avaxhome.ws/
You could also read Herman Hesse's Glass bead game. Although it's fictional, it's highly inspirational for that kind of world view, and he did win a nobel prize for it.
posted by leibniz at 8:10 AM on February 27, 2010
You could also read Herman Hesse's Glass bead game. Although it's fictional, it's highly inspirational for that kind of world view, and he did win a nobel prize for it.
posted by leibniz at 8:10 AM on February 27, 2010
Ah. Clifford Pickover. He's got lots of books, but his blog is consistenyl strange and, well, what you describe seems to be all that this guy does in one way or another.
I can never tell how serious he is.
posted by cmoj at 9:02 AM on February 27, 2010
I can never tell how serious he is.
posted by cmoj at 9:02 AM on February 27, 2010
A few years ago I read Philip Ball's The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature and since then hardly a day goes by without me seeing, hearing or doing something that makes me think of something I learned in that book. It's being refactored and expanded into three volumes: Shapes, Flow, and Branches. I intend to start reading them this summer. I can hardly wait. His other books look good too.
posted by wobh at 9:19 AM on February 27, 2010
posted by wobh at 9:19 AM on February 27, 2010
I really enjoyed The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. I wasn't convinced of it's central hypothesis but I found it to be beautifully written (something that is sometimes lacking in non-fiction) and it made me think.
posted by fermezporte at 9:29 AM on February 27, 2010
posted by fermezporte at 9:29 AM on February 27, 2010
His books are not as large in scope as the books listed here, but I highly recommend Robert Sapolsky, starting with A Primate's Memoir.
posted by theora55 at 9:45 AM on February 27, 2010
posted by theora55 at 9:45 AM on February 27, 2010
On a more literary/social-history level:
Hugh Kenner, The Pound Era
Marshall Berman, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity
posted by languagehat at 10:21 AM on February 27, 2010
Hugh Kenner, The Pound Era
Marshall Berman, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity
posted by languagehat at 10:21 AM on February 27, 2010
The Invisible Landscape by Terence McKenna. Brings together the Mayan calendar, the I Ching, timewaves, and "the ingress of novelty". This book, and McKenna's work in general, is surrounded by a lot of nutters, but I'd encourage you to read it anyway. Whether you "believe" it or not, it's a great example of just how elastic the human mind can become.
posted by crazylegs at 12:47 PM on February 27, 2010
posted by crazylegs at 12:47 PM on February 27, 2010
Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography by Roger Shattuck. It's a really wonderful book that explores the idea that there may be some things that people should not be allowed to know. Say, "Y" is a terrible horrifying act of cruelty. If knowing about X could encourage someone to do Y, should knowledge of X be forbidden? Don't be too quick to defend complete freedom of information. Shattuck makes some good arguments for why SOME bits of knowledge should be forbidden. (Arguments that don't completely persuade me but that are interesting, nonetheless.)
posted by rhartong at 3:19 PM on February 27, 2010
posted by rhartong at 3:19 PM on February 27, 2010
Am I the only Ken Wilbur fan around here? A Brief History of Everything makes a lot of things much easier for me.
posted by mearls at 4:06 PM on February 27, 2010
posted by mearls at 4:06 PM on February 27, 2010
Consilience by Edward O. Wilson is some musings on how the sciences and humanities might be linked together.
Forbidden Knowledge, as mentioned above, is great too. It mixes together a bunch of perspectives (pornography, biotechnology, literature) on the ethics of knowledge.
The Trickster and the Paranormal by George Hansen. It's a philosophical/sociological account of the pseudoscience of parapsychology and other groups that end up interacting with the paranormal in some manner; like skeptics, con artists, magicians (the ones that do illusions, not tricks, Michael), intelligence agencies (using UFOs as cover stories). It looks at the whole culture from a variety of angles including literary criticism, anthropology, psychology of irrationalism, the archetype of the trickster, the social structure/network of the groups (usually decentralized and somewhat marginalized by society).
The Shield of Achilles by Phillip Bobbitt. Written by a constitutional lawyer. It looks at wars through the prism of constitutional law. He suggests the major wars of the 1900s to 2000 was one long war over how to govern societies. He mixes up history and law to give an account of war.
A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History by Manuel De Landa combines geology, history, memetics, continental philosophy, biology, and a bunch of other disciplines to give an account of large scale macro history.
Also by De Landa again: War in the Age of Intelligent Machines. Was written in the early 90s about robots and AI in war (pretty prescient). He tried to write from the perspective of a 'robot historian' far off in the future.
De Landa also quotes Fernand Braudel extensively in his books. Braudel is another synthetic writer and historian that you'd like. I recommend the first volume of Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th Centuries. It uses economics, history, demographics, and a bunch of other disciplines to look at history and the interconnection between cultures and civilizations in the 15th-18th C.
posted by ollyollyoxenfree at 2:14 AM on February 28, 2010
Forbidden Knowledge, as mentioned above, is great too. It mixes together a bunch of perspectives (pornography, biotechnology, literature) on the ethics of knowledge.
The Trickster and the Paranormal by George Hansen. It's a philosophical/sociological account of the pseudoscience of parapsychology and other groups that end up interacting with the paranormal in some manner; like skeptics, con artists, magicians (the ones that do illusions, not tricks, Michael), intelligence agencies (using UFOs as cover stories). It looks at the whole culture from a variety of angles including literary criticism, anthropology, psychology of irrationalism, the archetype of the trickster, the social structure/network of the groups (usually decentralized and somewhat marginalized by society).
The Shield of Achilles by Phillip Bobbitt. Written by a constitutional lawyer. It looks at wars through the prism of constitutional law. He suggests the major wars of the 1900s to 2000 was one long war over how to govern societies. He mixes up history and law to give an account of war.
A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History by Manuel De Landa combines geology, history, memetics, continental philosophy, biology, and a bunch of other disciplines to give an account of large scale macro history.
Also by De Landa again: War in the Age of Intelligent Machines. Was written in the early 90s about robots and AI in war (pretty prescient). He tried to write from the perspective of a 'robot historian' far off in the future.
De Landa also quotes Fernand Braudel extensively in his books. Braudel is another synthetic writer and historian that you'd like. I recommend the first volume of Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th Centuries. It uses economics, history, demographics, and a bunch of other disciplines to look at history and the interconnection between cultures and civilizations in the 15th-18th C.
posted by ollyollyoxenfree at 2:14 AM on February 28, 2010
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Freakonomics yet - the authors use economic theory and econometrics to explain things in everyday life. Although that book may come too close to "magazine article stretched thin" for you. I found it engaging and illuminating, though.
posted by lunasol at 5:55 PM on February 28, 2010
posted by lunasol at 5:55 PM on February 28, 2010
Great stuff above. Definitely a fave question. I would add:
An Intimate History of Humanity by Theodore Zeldin
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley
posted by cross_impact at 7:44 AM on March 1, 2010
An Intimate History of Humanity by Theodore Zeldin
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley
posted by cross_impact at 7:44 AM on March 1, 2010
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Persig's _Lila:an enquiry into morals_ is an interesting follow up to Zen and the Art..., it's not everyone's cup of tea, but if you liked Zen you stand a good chance of appreciating it.
posted by Sparx at 9:37 PM on February 26, 2010 [1 favorite]