literature

The evolutionary biologist reads Robert Frost.

Why Stanislaw Lem’s futurism deserves attention.

A daguerrotype of Poe made several months before his death in 1849 During the waning months of 1847, Edgar Allan Poe sat at his desk with a tortoiseshell cat draped around his shoulders and dreamed the universe into being. Poe believed the book he wrote in that feline-festooned state to be his best work, and […]

Where technology leads to exile and yearning.

Critical reading gets even better when you use your computer.

In the huge range of different human cultural inclinations, one of the most widespread is a fondness for stories. We just love to get lost in a good book or movie. When we do, we tend to ignore where we are and become completely absorbed in the story. Psychologists call this “transportation,” and have conducted […]