February's Links
1. COMING UP SOON
“All about the Wellcome Book Prize”: a book group
New date: WEDNESDAY 21st February New venue: Flat Caps Coffee
Next 21st February (Wednesday) we will be hosting the last book group of the series: I Contain Multitudes, by Ed Yong.
Come and join us at the Flat Caps Coffee at 6pm, for the last book group of the Wellcome Book Prize collection! As always, an interesting conversation is guaranteed, with drinks and nibbles provided.
2. EVERY PIECE OF ART YOU'VE EVER WANTED TO SEE — UP CLOSE AND SEARCHABLE
What does a cultural Big Bang look like? For Amit Sood, director of Google's Cultural Institute and Art Project, it's an online platform where anyone can explore the world's greatest collections of art and artefacts in vivid, lifelike detail. Join here Sood and Google artist in residence Cyril Diagne in a mind-bending demo of experiments from the Cultural Institute and glimpse the exciting future of accessibility to arts and culture.
3. THE NEWYORKER
His systems were failing. The challenge was to understand what had sustained them for so long.
A fascinating essay by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
4. DETAILS MATTER: A MICRO MECHANICIAN IN THE MODERN ERA, by BILL ROBERTSON
In this TedX talk, Bill Robertson shares his astonishing body of work – historically accurate creations that have been featured in museums all around the world. But wait for it, there is a surprising twist that will blow your mind. William Robertson designs and builds historically accurate tools that in turn are used to build working replicas of objects. Robertson’s works range from a Chester County spice chest to a fully operational microscope. They have been displayed all over the world – from the Smithsonian to The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures in Kansas City, Missouri. Awesome!
5. TWO ARTICLES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
ON LIVING WITH SOMEONE WITH DEPRESSION: Alone With My Husband’s Secrets, by Carolyn Ali
“When my husband asked me to keep his secret, I didn’t hesitate. It never occurred to me, in fact, not to keep his secret. We had been married for nine years and that’s what partners do.
The hush developed as gradually as his illness did. For a few months, his energy level had been declining. He had stopped responding to friends’ phone calls. He always had a reason not to go out for movies, walks with me, or dinners with his parents.
It finally came out one random Tuesday morning. As he sat at the breakfast table nursing a cup of lukewarm coffee, he said very quietly, “I think I’m depressed.”
Continue reading this moving article here.
ON THE OPIOID CRISIS: A Doctor’s Painful Struggle With an Opioid-Addicted Patient, by Siddhartha Mukherjee
“I once found myself entrapped by a patient as much as she felt trapped by me. It was the summer of 2001, and I was running a small internal-medicine clinic, supervised by a preceptor, on the fourth floor of a perpetually chilly Boston building…”
Continue reading here!