Want to know what books Hector McDonnell recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Hector McDonnell's favorite book recommendations of all time.
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In 1900 a group of sponge divers blown off course in the Mediterranean discovered an Ancient Greek shipwreck dating from around 70 BC.
Lying unnoticed for months amongst their hard-won haul was what appeared to be a formless lump of corroded rock, which turned out to be the most stunning scientific artefact we have from antiquity. For more than a century this 'Antikythera mechanism' puzzled academics, but now, more than 2000 years after the device was lost at sea, scientists have pieced together its intricate workings.
In Decoding the Heavens, Jo Marchant tells... more In 1900 a group of sponge divers blown off course in the Mediterranean discovered an Ancient Greek shipwreck dating from around 70 BC.
Lying unnoticed for months amongst their hard-won haul was what appeared to be a formless lump of corroded rock, which turned out to be the most stunning scientific artefact we have from antiquity. For more than a century this 'Antikythera mechanism' puzzled academics, but now, more than 2000 years after the device was lost at sea, scientists have pieced together its intricate workings.
In Decoding the Heavens, Jo Marchant tells for the first time the story of the 100-year quest to understand this ancient computer. Along the way she unearths a diverse cast of remarkable characters - ranging from Archimedes to Jacques Cousteau - and explores the deep roots of modern technology not only in Ancient Greece, the Islamic world and medieval Europe. less 
Hector McDonnellMarchant’s book demonstrates how slight is our understanding of the knowledge and the science that existed in the Greek world, before the Romans smashed it up. (Source)
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Privately published in 1973, Hubert Butler's masterpiece, 'Ten Thousand Saints', was received with scepticism by his peers. He uses linguistics to trace the origins of myths and saints back to pre-Celtic Ireland and Europe, and shows how these stories and names - ancestors of half-forgotten tribes - became absorbed by Christian mythology. more Privately published in 1973, Hubert Butler's masterpiece, 'Ten Thousand Saints', was received with scepticism by his peers. He uses linguistics to trace the origins of myths and saints back to pre-Celtic Ireland and Europe, and shows how these stories and names - ancestors of half-forgotten tribes - became absorbed by Christian mythology. less Hector McDonnellButler drew on his extensive knowledge of Irish history to argue that Iron Age politics and society, across Europe, are the source of Ireland’s fantastical saints and their legends. (Source)
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Emerging from the narrow underground passages into the chambers of caves such as Lascaux, Chauvet, and Altamira, visitors are confronted with symbols, patterns, and depictions of bison, woolly mammoths, ibexes, and other animals.
Since its discovery, cave art has provoked great curiosity about why it appeared when and where it did, how it was made, and what it meant to the communities that created it. David Lewis-Williams proposes that the explanation for this lies in the evolution of the human mind. Cro-Magnons, unlike the Neanderthals, possessed a more advanced neurological... more Emerging from the narrow underground passages into the chambers of caves such as Lascaux, Chauvet, and Altamira, visitors are confronted with symbols, patterns, and depictions of bison, woolly mammoths, ibexes, and other animals.
Since its discovery, cave art has provoked great curiosity about why it appeared when and where it did, how it was made, and what it meant to the communities that created it. David Lewis-Williams proposes that the explanation for this lies in the evolution of the human mind. Cro-Magnons, unlike the Neanderthals, possessed a more advanced neurological makeup that enabled them to experience shamanistic trances and vivid mental imagery. It became important for people to "fix," or paint, these images on cave walls, which they perceived as the membrane between their world and the spirit world from which the visions came. Over time, new social distinctions developed as individuals exploited their hallucinations for personal advancement, and the first truly modern society emerged.
Illuminating glimpses into the ancient mind are skillfully interwoven here with the still-evolving story of modern-day cave discoveries and research. The Mind in the Cave is a superb piece of detective work, casting light on the darkest mysteries of our earliest ancestors while strengthening our wonder at their aesthetic achievements. less See more recommendations for this book...
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