What We Are Reading Today: The Man Who Caught the Storm

What We Are Reading Today: The Man Who Caught the Storm
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Updated 27 March 2023

What We Are Reading Today: The Man Who Caught the Storm

What We Are Reading Today: The Man Who Caught the Storm

Author: Brantley Hargrove

“The Man Who Caught the Storm” offers insight into the life and death saga of one of history’s greatest storm chasers. It is a tale of obsession, ingenuity, and the race to understand nature’s fiercest phenomenon — the tornado.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, the tornado was one of the last true mysteries of the modern world. It was a monster that ravaged the American heartland a thousand times each year, yet science’s every effort to divine its inner workings had ended in failure. Researchers all but gave up, until the arrival of an outsider.

Tim Samaras didn’t attend a day of college in his life.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Secrets of The Heart’

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Updated 06 June 2023

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Secrets of The Heart’

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  • The first section explores the many different forms of love including the romantic, platonic and familial. Gibran writes about the joys and pains of love and the importance of giving and receiving it in our lives

“Secrets of the Heart” is a book by author and poet Kahlil Gibran, first published in 1947, after his death.

The collection of his writing on love and friendship is divided into several sections, each focusing on different aspects of the human heart.

The book is written through the eyes of a woman whose father made her marry a wealthy nobleman. The unnamed woman begins to write a letter to her beloved sister, pouring her heart out that while her husband cherishes her, she believes he is not meant for her love.

The first section explores the many different forms of love including the romantic, platonic and familial. Gibran writes about the joys and pains of love and the importance of giving and receiving it in our lives.

The second section delves into the nature of true friendship and the qualities that make a good companion. The author emphasizes the importance of honesty, loyalty and understanding in building strong friendships.

The third section consists of meditations on the human heart and its mysteries. Gibran reflects on what lies within the heart, its connection to the soul, and its role in our emotional and spiritual lives.

Throughout the book, Gibran’s writing is poetic and philosophical.

He uses metaphors to explore the complex and often contradictory nature of the human experience, shedding light on how the woman sees herself as a “martyr in this belittling world.”

“Secrets of the Heart” is one of many essays Gibran wrote using both prose and poetry.

While Gibran did not belong to any literary movement, his works reflect elements of symbolism from the Romantic and New Thought movements. He is revered as the voice of the East, which found its way into the hearts of Western readers.

 


What We Are Reading Today: What’s the Good of Education?

What We Are Reading Today: What’s the Good of Education?
Updated 06 June 2023

What We Are Reading Today: What’s the Good of Education?

What We Are Reading Today: What’s the Good of Education?

Authors: Stephen Machin & Anna Vignoles  

Volumes have been written about the value of more and better education. But is there sufficient evidence to support the commonly held belief that we, as individuals and as a community, should be investing more in education?

This book explores that question in unprecedented detail, drawing on empirical evidence from an impressive array of sources. While much of the focus is on the educational system in the UK, the book offers lessons of international applicability.


What We Are Reading Today: The Army and Politics in Indonesia

What We Are Reading Today: The Army and Politics in Indonesia
Updated 05 June 2023

What We Are Reading Today: The Army and Politics in Indonesia

What We Are Reading Today: The Army and Politics in Indonesia

Author: Harold Crouch 

The book offers a comprehensive description of the Indonesian army’s history of political involvement.

Harold Crouch shares his incredible knowledge of so many facets of intrigue and manipulation, of names, dates, enemies and friends, and specific circumstances under which each attempted coup and counter effort was made.

His attention to the supporting literature and his own personal experiences indicate that Crouch is a leading expert in this complex and bewildering subject.


What We Are Reading Today: How to Do Things with Emotions

What We Are Reading Today: How to Do Things with Emotions
Updated 04 June 2023

What We Are Reading Today: How to Do Things with Emotions

What We Are Reading Today: How to Do Things with Emotions

Author: Owen Flanagan 

The world today is full of anger. Everywhere we look, we see values clashing and tempers rising, in ways that seem frenzied, aimless, and cruel. At the same time, we witness political leaders and others who lack any sense of shame, even as they display carelessness with the truth and the common good.

In “How to Do Things with Emotions,” Owen Flanagan explains that emotions are things we do, and he reminds us that those like anger and shame involve cultural norms and scripts.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Enchanted by Daphne’

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Updated 03 June 2023

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Enchanted by Daphne’

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Author: PETER R. GRANT

“Enchanted by Daphne” is legendary ecologist Peter Grant’s personal account of his remarkable life and career. In this revelatory book, Grant takes readers from his childhood in World War II–era Britain to his ongoing research today in the Galápagos archipelago, vividly describing what it’s like to do fieldwork in one of the most magnificent yet inhospitable places on Earth.

This is also the story of two brilliant and courageous biologists raising a family together while balancing the demands of professional lives that would take them to the far corners of the globe.