Euripides is my favourite of all the Greek playwrights. Medea's howls and cries still resound today. Isn't Jason's "rational" refusal to acknowledge Medea's pain resonant with how men - across history - deal with women's "emotionality"? For those wanting to try Greek classics, Euripides is the "most modern" of them all, hence, the most accessible. This Penguin edition captures the very best of Euripides. Pick it up!

#classics #greek #tragedy

While the Greeks gave us the four humours, it was the Romans that put some sense to it.

There's so much to unpack in Martial's Epigrams, but for now, I'll settle with this quick hilarious put-down which is also medically related (I do research on medical history so it's extra amusing).

#history #science #romans #medicine #health #humour

Took a break from writing medical history which led me to think, "wait a minute, have I ever read a medical novel?" Well, turns out I have. Ten years ago I read Sinclair Lewis' Arrowsmith. And let me tell you this: it's much better than his two most famous works, Babbit and Main Street. Oh btw, Sinclair Lewis is the first American novelist to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

#classics #medicine #science #history

"I feel once more the scars of the old flame."

From Book IV of Virgil's epic masterpiece, The Aeneid.

Some unfairly consider this as just a fanfic of The Iliad, but I think there's something about Virgil's sensibilities that make this work stand out and truly shine on its own.

#poetry #classics #history

I ended my 2018 with this book and I sure made the right choice! Kevin Brown's Poxed and Scurvied is well researched and carefully written read for those interested in medical history or those who just gets a kick out of history. For those who want to start their years right, pick this book up! 📖

I wrote✍ a full review of it here for those interested: https://scalpen.blog/poxed-scurvied

#science #history #medicine #health

"But while the Crusade is chiefly remembered as a war of religion, its most important implications were worldly. The first great struggle between the powers of Europe for position, riches and prestige in faraway lands was about to begin, triggered by the realisation of the prizes on offer. Things had shifted in such a way that, suddenly, the west was about to drag itself closer to the heart of the.world."

Sharp and scholarly!

#history #world

Reading this book about a map will ironically make you feel lost. Winchester's attempt at biography ends up as a pathetic exercise in marketing. Such a shame since the subject topic and person are both interesting.

Read my full review here: https://scidols.com/2017/11/06/book-review-the-map-that-changed-the-world-will-l...

#maps #history #science #biography

One of the greatest historical surveys of western intellectual culture.

Barzun writes with the confidence of an outlaw and the learning of a sage. Contentious. Invoking. Empathetic. A very exciting historical romp through the minds of history's greats!

#history #philosophy #culture