This Idea Is Brilliant: Lost, Overlooked, and Underappreciated Scientific Concepts Everyone Should Know

This Idea Is Brilliant: Lost, Overlooked, and Underappreciated Scientific Concepts Everyone Should Know

Author: Airwave Literature December 8, 2020 Duration: 16:12:21
by John Brockman—The latest volume in the bestselling series from Edge.org—dubbed “the world’s smartest website” by The Guardian—brings together 206 of the world’s most innovative thinkers to discuss the scientific concepts that everyone should know.As science informs public policy, decision making, and so many aspects of our everyday lives, a scientifically literate society is crucial. In that spirit, Edge.org publisher and author of Know This, John Brockman, asks 206 of the world’s most brilliant minds the 2017 Edge Question: What scientific term or concept ought to be more widely known?Contributors include: author of The God Delusion RICHARD DAWKINS on using animals’ “Genetic Book of the Dead” to reconstruct ecological history; MacArthur Fellow REBECCA NEWBERGER GOLDSTEIN on “scientific realism,” the idea that scientific theories explain phenomena beyond what we can see and touch; author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics CARLO ROVELLI on “relative information,” which governs the physical world around us; theoretical physicist LAWRENCE M. KRAUSS on the hidden blessings of “uncertainty”; cognitive scientist and author of The Language Instinct STEVEN PINKER on “The Second Law of Thermodynamics”; biogerontologist AUBREY DE GREY on why “maladaptive traits” have been conserved evolutionarily; musician BRIAN ENO on “confirmation bias” in the internet age; Man Booker-winning author of Atonement IAN MCEWAN on the “Navier-Stokes Equations,” which govern everything from weather prediction to aircraft design and blood flow; plus pieces from RICHARD THALER, JARED DIAMOND, NICHOLAS CARR, JANNA LEVIN, LISA RANDALL, KEVIN KELLY, DANIEL COLEMAN, FRANK WILCZEK, RORY SUTHERLAND, NINA JABLONSKI, MARTIN REES, ALISON GOPNIK, and many, many others.

Warren Buffett’s idea that reading is the ultimate level playing field is where this conversation begins. The Bookshelf: Business & Self-Improvement, from Airwave Literature, isn’t about quick tips or hype. Instead, it’s a quiet, thoughtful space dedicated to the books that shape how we think about work, leadership, and personal growth. Each episode takes a single title-whether a timeless classic or a contemporary analysis-and unpacks its core ideas, not just summarizing but exploring how its lessons apply to real decisions and challenges. You’ll hear the host reflect on key passages, connect themes across different authors, and consider the practical implications of what’s on the page. The tone is more like a guided reading session than a lecture, designed for anyone who believes that deep understanding comes from engaging seriously with good writing. This podcast operates on the belief that the right book, properly considered, can change a mindset or a method. It’s for listeners who want to move beyond the headlines and dig into the substance that fuels lasting improvement, making your reading time more focused and impactful. Tune in to fill your own shelf with ideas that matter.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Bookshelf: Business & Self-Improvement
Podcast Episodes
Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:11:29
by Jordan B. Peterson—The sequel to 12 Rules for Life offers further guidance on the periolus path of modern life.In 12 Rules for Life, clinical psychologist and celebrated professor at Harvard and the University of Toro…
Mastery [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:09:08
by Robert Greene—In this book, Robert Greene demonstrates that the ultimate form of power is mastery itself. By analyzing the lives of such past masters as Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and Leonard…
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:14:35
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb—From the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost philosophers of our time, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a book on how some systems actually benefit from disorder.In The Black Swan…
Thinking, Fast and Slow [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:01:48
by Daniel Kahneman—In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emot…
Principles: Life and Work [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:05:58
by Ray Dalio—Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in bo…
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:20:14
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb—A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appe…
How to Survive a Pandemic [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:18:37
by Michael Greger—A vital, timely text on the viruses that cause pandemics and how to face them, by the New York Times bestselling author of How Not to Die.From tuberculosis to bird flu and HIV to coronavirus, these infe…