The Mystery of Things

Description

'Human genius has done much, and promises much, in the way of removing the mystery from many things in our world; at the same time it recognises and honours the mystery in things too.' In this collection A.C. Grayling extends the range of his previous two books to show how much understanding people can gain about themselves and their world by reflecting on the lessons offered by science, the arts (including literature) and history. Covering subjects as diverse as Jane Austen's EMMA, the Rosetta Stone, Shakespeare, the Holocaust, quantum physics, Galileo, and even alien abductions, A..C. Grayling's latest collection is a rich source for reflection and contemplation over the mysteries of life.

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 and The Times

"It is no disrespect to either author to describe AC Grayling's latest work as a thinking person's Schott's Miscellany." WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY "Anthony Grayling is a philosopher by trade but he's also a latter-day Renaissance Man, as this collection of his journalism shows." SUNDAY TELEGRAPH "Fast becoming Britain's philosopher of choice... Certainly more of substance and merit than a mountain of Paulo Coelho." THE HERALD "In covering the fields of art, history and science, Grayling's thoughts sweep over a vast landscape of knowledge, offering an alluring glimpse and encouraging greater study on the reader's part. How refreshing, ultimately, in this age of dumbing down, to be asked to learn and inform oneself without a hint of condescension." THE IRISH TIMES