Midweek Notes
Lucien R. Karhausen,"Mozart's 140 causes of death and 27 mental disorders," BMJ, argues that the plethora of diagnoses is a function of our need to reduce the great musician to a human scale.
Edward Rothstein,"Reopening a House That's Still Divided," NYT, 14 December, is a critical review of"The Presidents House" museum that opens today in Philadelphia.
Karolyn Shindler,"Richard Owen: the greatest scientist you've never heard of," Telegraph, 7 December, celebrates the founder of Great Britain's Natural History Museum.
R. M. Healy,"The most intelligent man in the world," Bookride, 12 December, introduces William Sidis (1898-1944), whose real accomplishments are so remarkable that they are difficult to distinguish from apparently false claims.
Adam Kirsch,"The Structuralist," Tablet, 14 December, reviews Patrick Wilcken's Claude Lévi-Strauss: The Poet in the Laboratory.
Congratulations to our colleague, Aaron Bady, whose"Julian Assange and the Computer Conspiracy; ‘To destroy this invisible government'," zunguzungu, 29 November, is one of nine finalists for 3 Quarks Daily's 2010 Prize in Politics. From them, Lewis Lapham will select first, second, and third place winners.