Maps and Ideas

I was having a beer with my friend Melinda (a Two Sides listener). Among other things, we talked about the podcast and books. Thinking that the title sounded familiar, she asked about the book I had with me. It was familiar because I mentioned it in a recent podcast episode.

Listeners might remember that Lory sent me off to the library to give her time to prepare for a spur-of-the-moment interview of me. During the interview, she asked if I had gotten any books while I was waiting for her. I picked up two including this one, The Map of Knowledge: A Thousand-Year History of How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found by Violet Moller.

It is my current car book and I’m not deep into it, but I am enjoying it. The book looks at the rise of centers of learning and libraries, and how nearly lost ancient Greek advances were recovered and built on. If you like history and ideas, this is worth checking out.

Then she asked if I had read a book called On Trails that talked about protozoa and ants following paths. I asked if there was an idea about dragging your finger across an ant trail and them losing the trail. She looked up with surprise, “Yes!”

I looked it up online and recognized the cover and author. I read it about five years ago. A fascinating book about how creatures including humans make and use trails, and the idea of trails. A good book if you like to be spurred to think about ideas that hadn’t occurred to you before.

On Trails: An Exploration by Robert Moor

Thanks Melinda!