Exploring ideas about art, science, and innovation through short essays.
The availability of useful and novel encyclopedic information made the Dutch one of the most literate and intellectual societies in the 17th century. This intellectual flourishing changed the way we think with the power of books.
What is color? A wavelength or a way to express yourself on the canvas? The history of color is a long thread of science and art interweaved together in one beautiful mess. And this is what makes color so interesting. It is a complex dynamic of precise optics and spiritual art.
Using genetic toolkits and fate maps, we discover the underlying similarities between organisms. By examining nature's parts individually, we uncover simple rules that explain complex biological phenomena. There is order to the architecture of animals.
Fish cluster together into schools and bird flocks paint the most beautiful 3D structures in the sky. But how do these groups organize themselves? Who is the leader that tells everyone what to do? This is what self-organization aims to explain and what this essay introduces.
Everywhere I look, there are decisions to make, opportunities to evaluate, and problems to solve. But how do you know you are making the right choice? It's a question I've contemplated for a while and concluded that there is no single answer. There are infinite.
You enter the 26th best restaurant in the world. Pairings from king crab and passion fruit to dark chocolate with butternut squash come after each other. Powders, sauces, and garnishes decorate your table. But who is behind this radical culinary creativity? Meet Grant Achatz, the chef who battled oral cancer while pioneering molecular gastronomy.