Combining medical insights with ancient texts to understand past diseases. Francesco Galassi, a paleopathographist, explains its promise: Palaeopathography is a unique opportunity for palaeopathology, since it allows the investigation of symptoms and signs of diseases, vital for medicine, yet unavailable when only studying ancient bones or mummies. This is especially viable with famous historical figures [...]
The humanities at Davos: Yale's President Peter Salovey, a scholar of emotional intelligence, speaks at the World Economic Forum about the place of humanities. From the article: Speaking at the reception ... Salovey emphasized the ways that the humanities can promote understanding, such as how the study of languages can provide insights into a culture, reading literature can [...]
Singapore's sciences require the humanities: how a leading university understands the need for engineers to train in the humanities. From the article: Technology and innovation may be the twin forces to power Singapore’s new economy but increasingly, social sciences and humanities are getting some unexpected attention and gaining importance in the workplace and helping policymakers [...]
Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life David Attenborough wrote and narrated this informative documentary
The lily and the river: how much do we presume about our knowledge of the future, and how firmly rooted is our knowledge of our origins? Two fables from Renaissance scientists and polymaths: The lily set itself on the bank of the river Ticino, and the current swept away both the bank and the lily. Leonardo da [...]
From Bethlehem to Bedlam: classifying the incurables through science. What was founded as a place open to those in need became a palatial institution that housed those deemed mentally unsound. From the article: By the 17th Century, the asylum was well-known enough to appear in numerous Jacobean dramas and ballads. Often – as in Shakespeare’s plays [...]
The balance needed for wholeness.
Between wisdom and enlightenment: self-understanding outshines knowledge of other people and things Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment. Mastering others requires force; Mastering the self needs strength. He who knows he has enough is rich. Perseverance is a sign of power. He who stays where he is endures. To die but not [...]
Historians and health care: how the humanities can heal, body and soul. From the article: From my particular hospital bed, it seemed increasingly, blindingly clear how much humanities and sciences – in this case history and medicine – truly complemented each other. As Gretchen Busl wrote last year, training in the humanities teaches us “the language necessary [...]
The busyness of business, and the practice of inwardness: how business leaders are profiting from the ancient method of mindfulness, as it leads to more rewarding decisions. From the article: Research has found that mindfulness training alters our brains and how we engage with ourselves, others, and our work. When practiced and applied, mindfulness fundamentally alters the operating [...]
