Selects: MC Escher and His Trippy Art

In Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson narrates the life, accomplishments, and struggles of the Italian painter, engineer, and scientist—the ultimate Renaissance man. He traces Leonardo’s evolution, finds explanations for his flaws, and extracts lessons from his life and work that you can apply to your own.

Isaacson believes that making cross-disciplinary connections is at the core of being innovative, creative, and, ultimately, a genius. There’s no better example of this than Leonardo da Vinci. His studies in science, engineering, and art helped him satisfy his curiosity and understand the world around him, and they contributed to making his masterpieces scientifically accurate, innovative, and intriguing.

Our guide explores the known facts of Leonardo’s life, the key elements of his genius, and the lessons you can learn from him. We also discuss the historical context of Leonardo's life and work and connect Isaacson's lessons to other authors’ complementary advice.

In Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson narrates the life, accomplishments, and struggles of the Italian painter, engineer, and scientist—the ultimate Renaissance man. He traces Leonardo’s evolution, finds explanations for his flaws, and extracts lessons from his life and work that you can apply to your own.

Isaacson believes that making cross-disciplinary connections is at the core of being innovative, creative, and, ultimately, a genius. There’s no better example of this than Leonardo da Vinci. His studies in science, engineering, and art helped him satisfy his curiosity and understand the world around him, and they contributed to making his masterpieces scientifically accurate, innovative, and intriguing.

Our guide explores the known facts of Leonardo’s life, the key elements of his genius, and the lessons you can learn from him. We also discuss the historical context of Leonardo's life and work and connect Isaacson's lessons to other authors’ complementary advice.

In The Art of Learning, chess prodigy and tai chi World Champion Josh Waitzkin argues that a passionate commitment to growth leads to both competitive success and a fulfilling life. He explains what he learned in becoming the U.S. Junior Chess Champion as well as World Champion in Tai Chi Chuan Push Hands, arguing that excellence comes from unwavering focus, tenacious training, and creative self-actualization.

Waitzkin builds from basic to advanced strategies for both the psychological and technical sides of skill-building, showing that your growth as a competitor parallels your growth as an individual. In our guide, we’ll explain how to build any skill from the bottom up, from mastering the basic elements to developing high-level competitive tactics. We’ll also clarify and expand Waitzkin’s ideas with other perspectives on learning, from The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle, Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed, and others.

Though it takes time and tenacity to excel, Waitzkin’s lessons will improve your approach to learning and help you find fulfillment in mastery.

How does the way you see something affect what you see? Does the public really need museums and art critics to explain an artwork’s meaning to them? In Ways of Seeing, published in 1972, critic John Berger argues that throughout history, the way we see art has been manipulated by a privileged minority to preserve their social and economic dominance. The book challenges the idea that to understand and appreciate works of art, we need experts to “translate” them for us. Rather, Berger urges us to pull back the curtain and look at the images before us with our own eyes.

In this guide, we explore Berger’s premise that, throughout history, the dominant class has used art and art criticism to “mystify” the working class. Additionally, we add historical background on both the artwork Berger analyzes and the landscape in which Berger is writing, and compare Berger’s ideas to those of contemporary art and culture.

“I’m not a math person” might be your mantra—until you read these 7 books. They reveal how mathematical thinking shapes our world, from city design to the spread of viruses, all without making you solve a single equation.

Award-winning scientist Richard Feynman is more commonly remembered for his colorful personality and quirky sense of humor than for his achievements in the world of theoretical physics. His scientific discoveries were merely one result of his lifelong love of learning, his spirit of adventure, and his determination to live life to its fullest. His memoir Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! demonstrates his drive to solve puzzles, his joy at new discoveries, and his sense of inquisitive delight.

In this guide, we’ll chart Feynman’s life from his college days to his years on the team that developed the atomic bomb, and finally to his academic career that led to his Nobel Prize. We’ll examine his values of curiosity, persistence, and scientific rigor while comparing Feynman’s personal philosophy with the writings of others on the scientific process, the value of education, and getting the most enjoyment out of life.

In Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson narrates the life, accomplishments, and struggles of the Italian painter, engineer, and scientist—the ultimate Renaissance man. He traces Leonardo’s evolution, finds explanations for his flaws, and extracts lessons from his life and work that you can apply to your own.

Isaacson believes that making cross-disciplinary connections is at the core of being innovative, creative, and, ultimately, a genius. There’s no better example of this than Leonardo da Vinci. His studies in science, engineering, and art helped him satisfy his curiosity and understand the world around him, and they contributed to making his masterpieces scientifically accurate, innovative, and intriguing.

Our guide explores the known facts of Leonardo’s life, the key elements of his genius, and the lessons you can learn from him. We also discuss the historical context of Leonardo's life and work and connect Isaacson's lessons to other authors’ complementary advice.

“I’m not a math person” might be your mantra—until you read these 7 books. They reveal how mathematical thinking shapes our world, from city design to the spread of viruses, all without making you solve a single equation.

How does the way you see something affect what you see? Does the public really need museums and art critics to explain an artwork’s meaning to them? In Ways of Seeing, published in 1972, critic John Berger argues that throughout history, the way we see art has been manipulated by a privileged minority to preserve their social and economic dominance. The book challenges the idea that to understand and appreciate works of art, we need experts to “translate” them for us. Rather, Berger urges us to pull back the curtain and look at the images before us with our own eyes.

In this guide, we explore Berger’s premise that, throughout history, the dominant class has used art and art criticism to “mystify” the working class. Additionally, we add historical background on both the artwork Berger analyzes and the landscape in which Berger is writing, and compare Berger’s ideas to those of contemporary art and culture.