Edison's ghosts: the untold weirdness of history's greatest geniuses
(Book)
Author:
Published:
New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2023.
Format:
Book
Edition:
First edition.
Physical Desc:
342 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Status:
Description
"Overturn everything you knew about history's greatest minds in this raucous and hilarious book, where it turns out there's a finer line between "genius" and "idiot" than we've previously known"--
As Albert Einstein almost certainly never said, everyone is a genius - but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." So begins Katie Spalding's spunky takedown of the Western canon, and how genius may not be as irrefutably great as we commonly understand. While most of us may never become Einstein, it may surprise you to learn that there's probably a bunch of stuff you can do that Einstein couldn't. And, as Spalding shows, the famous prodigies she explores here were quite odd by any definition.
Copies
Location
Call Number
Status
North Branford/Smith Adult Nonfiction
609.2 Spalding
In Transit
Location
Call Number
Status
East Lyme Public Adult Non-Fiction
920.02 Spalding
On Shelf
Orange/Case Adult Nonfiction Book
305.908 Spalding
On Shelf
Wallingford NEW Adult Nonfiction
609.2 SPALDING
On Shelf
Subjects
Other Subjects
More Details
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780316529525, 0316529524
Notes
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-332) and index.
Description
"Overturn everything you knew about history's greatest minds in this raucous and hilarious book, where it turns out there's a finer line between "genius" and "idiot" than we've previously known"--,Provided by publisher.
Description
As Albert Einstein almost certainly never said, everyone is a genius - but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." So begins Katie Spalding's spunky takedown of the Western canon, and how genius may not be as irrefutably great as we commonly understand. While most of us may never become Einstein, it may surprise you to learn that there's probably a bunch of stuff you can do that Einstein couldn't. And, as Spalding shows, the famous prodigies she explores here were quite odd by any definition.
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Spalding, K. (2023). Edison's ghosts: the untold weirdness of history's greatest geniuses. First edition. New York, Little, Brown and Company.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Spalding, Katie. 2023. Edison's Ghosts: The Untold Weirdness of History's Greatest Geniuses. New York, Little, Brown and Company.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Spalding, Katie, Edison's Ghosts: The Untold Weirdness of History's Greatest Geniuses. New York, Little, Brown and Company, 2023.
MLA Citation (style guide)Spalding, Katie. Edison's Ghosts: The Untold Weirdness of History's Greatest Geniuses. First edition. New York, Little, Brown and Company, 2023.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
a9bcac01-fdf6-efaf-30a6-50cdecd63717
Record Information
| Last Sierra Extract Time | Apr 27, 2024 08:02:24 PM |
|---|---|
| Last File Modification Time | Apr 27, 2024 08:03:13 PM |
| Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Apr 27, 2024 08:02:30 PM |
MARC Record
| LEADER | 04246cam 2200421Ii 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | on1378722437 | ||
| 003 | OCoLC | ||
| 005 | 20230519115324.0 | ||
| 008 | 230510s2023 nyua e b 001 0deng d | ||
| 019 | |a 1345215107 | ||
| 020 | |a 9780316529525|q (hardcover) | ||
| 020 | |a 0316529524|q (hardcover) | ||
| 035 | |a (OCoLC)1378722437|z (OCoLC)1345215107 | ||
| 040 | |a NjBwBT|b eng|e rda|c JBL|d JBL|d YDX|d BDX|d TOH|d MJ8|d IK2|d RNL|d WHP|d NB|d EL | ||
| 050 | 1 | 4 | |a CT9990|b .S63 2023 |
| 082 | 0 | 4 | |a 920.02|2 23/eng/20230428 |
| 100 | 1 | |a Spalding, Katie,|e author. | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | |a Edison's ghosts :|b the untold weirdness of history's greatest geniuses /|c Katie Spalding. |
| 250 | |a First edition. | ||
| 264 | 1 | |a New York :|b Little, Brown and Company,|c 2023. | |
| 300 | |a 342 pages :|b illustrations ;|c 25 cm | ||
| 336 | |a text|b txt|2 rdacontent | ||
| 337 | |a unmediated|b n|2 rdamedia | ||
| 338 | |a volume|b nc|2 rdacarrier | ||
| 504 | |a Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-332) and index. | ||
| 505 | 0 | |a Introduction -- The mathematical cult leader Pythagoras, and his incredibly stupid death -- Confucius was an ugly nerd with low self-esteem -- Never, ever hire Leonardo da Vinci -- Galileo utterly fails to read the room -- The entirely unbelievable life of Tycho Brahe -- When René Descartes got baked -- Isaac Newton and the philosopher's stone -- Mozart uses his superstar status to tell us all to kiss his arse ... over and over again -- Benjamin Franklin uses world-changing technology to prank friends, self -- Émilie du Châtelet cares not for your social mores, and she will fight you in her underwear to prove it -- Johann Christian Reil invents psychiatry and things get really weird really quickly -- Napoleon Bonaparte's fluffiest foe -- Lord Byron, the patron saint of fuckboys -- Ada Lovelace's (husband's) family jewels -- Galois hunting -- John Couch Adams ignores his mail, loses Neptune -- You really wouldn't want to hang out with Karl Marx -- Charles Darwin: glutton; worm dad; murderer? -- James Glaisher, the Victorian weatherman who nearly became an astronaut -- Sigmund Freud used cocaine so much he thought numbers wanted to kill him -- Arthur Conan Doyle gets pranked so hard he claims fairies exist -- Thomas Edison's lesser-known invention: dial-a-ghost -- Real-life supervillain Nicola Tesla takes the term 'pigeon fancying' a bit too literally -- Marie Curie defies all the odds to accidentally poison both herself and thousands of strangers -- Albert Einstein: public nuisance, love rat -- Kurt Gödel, the Disney princess who broke time -- Maya Angelou, in: stop! or my mom will shoot -- Ernest Hemingway may have been the worst double agent ever -- Yukio Mishima and the shortest, gayest fascist coup in history -- NASA forgets about women, toilets and the metric system. | |
| 520 | |a "Overturn everything you knew about history's greatest minds in this raucous and hilarious book, where it turns out there's a finer line between "genius" and "idiot" than we've previously known"--|c Provided by publisher. | ||
| 520 | |a As Albert Einstein almost certainly never said, everyone is a genius - but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." So begins Katie Spalding's spunky takedown of the Western canon, and how genius may not be as irrefutably great as we commonly understand. While most of us may never become Einstein, it may surprise you to learn that there's probably a bunch of stuff you can do that Einstein couldn't. And, as Spalding shows, the famous prodigies she explores here were quite odd by any definition. | ||
| 650 | 0 | |a Eccentrics and eccentricities|v Anecdotes. | |
| 650 | 0 | |a Gifted persons|v Anecdotes. | |
| 655 | 7 | |a Anecdotes.|2 lcgft | |
| 655 | 7 | |a Biographies.|2 lcgft | |
| 907 | |a .b2737676x | ||
| 945 | |y .i68476735|i 32159002498638|l oran|s -|h |u 6|x 6|w 0|v 0|t 2|z 06-19-23|o -|a 305.908 Spalding | ||
| 945 | |y .i68535594|i 21707986788|l wabn|s -|h |u 4|x 4|w 0|v 3|t 2|z 07-05-23|o -|a 609.2 SPALDING | ||
| 945 | |y .i68644693|i 3 1278 00312 1402|l ntan|s t|h |u 9|x 5|w 4|v 6|t 2|z 08-07-23|o -|a 609.2 Spalding | ||
| 945 | |y .i68676645|i 20603774314|l elan|s -|h |u 5|x 3|w 2|v 6|t 2|z 08-16-23|o -|a 920.02 Spalding | ||
| 998 | |e -|d a |f eng|a el|a nt|a or|a wa | ||
