Literary Cat
Is Nature A Gigantic Cat?
Nikola Tesla | Letters Of Note | 21st July 2023
Tesla owed his fascination with electricity, according to this 1939 letter, to a youthful encounter with a cat. "As I stroked Macak’s back, I saw a miracle that made me speechless with amazement. Macak’s back was a sheet of light and my hand produced a shower of sparks loud enough to be heard all over the house." At the age of 83, he still has no answer to question "what is electricity?" (1,180 words)
*as far as we know
Death: A Literary Guide
Ted Gioia | Honest Broker | 6th June 2023
Literary recommendations for those who would like to make a more enlightened and contented acquaintance with their mortality and inevitable death (a psychically beneficial exercise, we are told). Start with Plato, then proceed via Julian of Norwich, Herman Hesse, Joan Didion, Willa Cather and Leo Tolstoy. If you read well, you will no longer waste energy battling ageing (1,950 words)