What the textbooks don't tell you about psychology's most famous case study. The case study in question is the case of Phineas Gage, the nineteenth century railway worker who somehow survived the passing of a three-foot long tamping iron through the front of his brain and out the top of his head. Richard Griggs, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Florida, analysed the content of 23 contemporary textbooks and found most of them contain distortions, omissions and inaccuracies.
A video profile of the 2014 Fields medalist Maryam Mirzakhani, whose monumental work draws deep connections between topology, geometry and dynamical systems.
Thomas Piketty has lunch with the Financial Times.
Summer books. The must-read books of the year so far according to the Financial Times. I'll wait for the paperback, which probably means waiting until next summer.
Fish stocks off Chile's Pacific coast have been depleted. I must confess that I enjoy eating fish.
This site identifies movie filming locations so you can visit them.
Marina Warner reviews and compares old and new editions of the Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm.
The best time to post on social networks in order to maximize the probability of audience responses.
A recent study found that philosophers are as vulnerable to order and framing effects as everyone else. It doesn't surprise me.
A collection of picks by and about James Salter, who died 19 June. I quite enjoyed reading All That Is, his last novel.
The 100 best posters of 2014 from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
A journalist uncovers the identity of 2 bodies found on the coasts of Norway and the Netherlands. Excellent reporting.
In search of the best charitable cause in the world. Derek Thompson offers some thoughts on effective altruism.
Excerpt from the British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh's superb memoir Do No Harm.
Who needs CGI when you've got more than 20,000 extras?
I'm so tired of all this talk of Greece being the cradle of democracy. One could make the same case for tyranny, aristocracy and oligarchy.