book pickings

a visual way to explore the brain pickings book archive :: otlet's shelf theme :: back to brain pickings

CREATIVITY :: DESIGN :: SCIENCE :: HISTORY :: PSYCHOLOGY :: ART

anthropology

  1. Speak Italian: The Fine Art of the Gesture Bruno Munari A vintage pocket guide to Neapolitan nonverbal communication from iconic graphic designer Bruno Munari.

    Speak Italian: The Fine Art of the Gesture

    Bruno Munari

    A vintage pocket guide to Neapolitan nonverbal communication from iconic graphic designer Bruno Munari.
  2. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People Susan Weinschenk “The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public,” George Jessel famously quipped. Dr. Susan Weinschenk unpacks the secrets of eliciting response from people — the core purpose of design, it’s been argued — through a combination of behavioral science, psychology, and practical examples to alleviate the misery and mystery of public speaking.

    100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People

    Susan Weinschenk

    “The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public,” George Jessel famously quipped.

    Dr. Susan Weinschenk unpacks the secrets of eliciting response from people — the core purpose of design, it’s been argued — through a combination of behavioral science, psychology, and practical examples to alleviate the misery and mystery of public speaking.
  3. The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution Faramerz Dabhoiwala A formidably research, absorbing, eloquent account of how, contrary to the modern mythology of the 1960s, today’s permissive sexual behavior first developed, seemingly suddenly, some three hundred years earlier, in 17th-century Western Europe. What emerges is a new lens for understanding the Enlightenment as a cultural phenomenon, by connecting this critical sexual transformation to the intellectual, political, and social forces that shaped the period.

    The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution

    Faramerz Dabhoiwala

    A formidably research, absorbing, eloquent account of how, contrary to the modern mythology of the 1960s, today’s permissive sexual behavior first developed, seemingly suddenly, some three hundred years earlier, in 17th-century Western Europe. What emerges is a new lens for understanding the Enlightenment as a cultural phenomenon, by connecting this critical sexual transformation to the intellectual, political, and social forces that shaped the period.
  4. A Girl and Her Room Rania Matar Photographer Rania Matar explores the inner lives of teenage girls through the interiors of their bedrooms. “I was discovering a person on the cusp on becoming an adult, but desperately holding on to the child she barely outgrew, a person on the edge between two worlds.”

    A Girl and Her Room

    Rania Matar

    Photographer Rania Matar explores the inner lives of teenage girls through the interiors of their bedrooms.

    “I was discovering a person on the cusp on becoming an adult, but desperately holding on to the child she barely outgrew, a person on the edge between two worlds.”
  5. Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone Eric Klinenberg “Despite its prevalence, living alone is one of the least discussed and, consequently, most poorly understood issues of our time.”

    Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone

    Eric Klinenberg

    “Despite its prevalence, living alone is one of the least discussed and, consequently, most poorly understood issues of our time.”
  6. Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia Volume I Danzig Baldaev In the 1970′s, while American hippies were busy inking themselves with peace signs and psychedelic rainbows, Danzig Baldayev, a guard at St. Petersburg’s notorious Kresty Prison, began documenting the far less Woodstockian body art of Russia’s most infamous criminals. For 33 years, Baldayev used his exclusive access to and rapport with the prisoners to hand-illustrate and capture in artful photographs more than 3,600 inmate tattoos — as admirable a feat artistically as it was sociologically. This is the result.

    Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia Volume I

    Danzig Baldaev

    In the 1970′s, while American hippies were busy inking themselves with peace signs and psychedelic rainbows, Danzig Baldayev, a guard at St. Petersburg’s notorious Kresty Prison, began documenting the far less Woodstockian body art of Russia’s most infamous criminals.

    For 33 years, Baldayev used his exclusive access to and rapport with the prisoners to hand-illustrate and capture in artful photographs more than 3,600 inmate tattoos — as admirable a feat artistically as it was sociologically.

    This is the result.
  7. Visions of the Jinn: Illustrators of the Arabian Nights Robert Irwin A visual history of Arabian Nights, some of the most influential storytelling of all time, in 300 years of illustrations.

    Visions of the Jinn: Illustrators of the Arabian Nights

    Robert Irwin

    A visual history of Arabian Nights, some of the most influential storytelling of all time, in 300 years of illustrations.
  8. James Mollison: Where Children Sleep Documentary photographer James Mollison’s remarkable series capturing the diversity of and, often, disparity between children’s lives around the world through portraits of their bedrooms. The project began on a brief to engage with children’s rights and morphed into a thoughtful meditation on poverty and privilege, its 56 images spanning from the stone quarries of Nepal to the farming provinces of China to the silver spoons of Fifth Avenue.

    James Mollison: Where Children Sleep

    Documentary photographer James Mollison’s remarkable series capturing the diversity of and, often, disparity between children’s lives around the world through portraits of their bedrooms. The project began on a brief to engage with children’s rights and morphed into a thoughtful meditation on poverty and privilege, its 56 images spanning from the stone quarries of Nepal to the farming provinces of China to the silver spoons of Fifth Avenue.
  9. Nomad Jelle Brandt Corstius A fascinating and strikingly beautiful visual anthropology of the Northern Hemisphere’s last living nomadic peoples, from Greenland to Turkey. A decade in the making, this multi-continent journey unfolds in 150 black-and-white and full-color photos that reveal what feels like an alternate reality of a life often harsh, sometimes poetic, devoid of many of our modern luxuries and basic givens, from shiny digital gadgets to a permanent roof over one’s head.

    Nomad

    Jelle Brandt Corstius

    A fascinating and strikingly beautiful visual anthropology of the Northern Hemisphere’s last living nomadic peoples, from Greenland to Turkey. A decade in the making, this multi-continent journey unfolds in 150 black-and-white and full-color photos that reveal what feels like an alternate reality of a life often harsh, sometimes poetic, devoid of many of our modern luxuries and basic givens, from shiny digital gadgets to a permanent roof over one’s head.