Welcome to the final weekend of 2024,
Here are five things I thought worth sharing this weekend.
On the popular textbook that helped a failing 16-year-old Benjamin Franklin master his maths. It’s somewhat endearing to learn what these colossuses of humans struggled with in their formative years.
How the black market for luxury cheese took off.
I’ve been dipping in and out of this paper, “Intellectual Furnishings,” which is fascinating in the broad range of furnishings it addresses, including bookcases, security mechanisms, writing desks, and “entertainment centers.”
“I truly think that autodidacts are responsible for all that is good and great about alternative culture.” I tend to agree and enjoyed this outlining of “research as leisure activity.”
Past, present, and future: On memory and the spirit of Christmas.
Currently reading: The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
Have a wonderful weekend and a very Happy New Year.
Image credit: Still Life. Claesz, Pieter. Dutch, 1625.
