To carry out their calculations, merchants in the early 13th century used an abacus or a system called finger reckoning. Commerce changed when Leonardo of Pisa â known today as Fibonacci â published the first arithmetic textbook. Mathematician Keith Devlin talks about the history of arithmetic and his new book "The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci’s Arithmetic Revolution."
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/12/139579620/how-fibonacci-introduced-the-world-to-numbers?ft=1&f=1007
For nearly 20 years, neuroscientist Jim Fallon has studied the brains of psychopaths. After learning that his ancestry included alleged murderers, he decided to study his own brain. He was shocked at what he discovered.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127888976
Tagged with neuroscience crime psychopaths npr science
Writer John Hodgman expounds on a variety of fascinating and sublimely ridiculous subjects â historical, literary and hobo â in his book The Areas of My Expertise.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5764627
Tagged with npr john hodgman areas or my expertise
Why would a company rent an office in a tiny town in East Texas, put a nameplate on the door, and leave it completely empty for a year? The answer involves a controversial billionaire physicist in Seattle, a 40 pound cookbook, and a war waging right now, all across the software and tech industries.
We take you inside this war, and tell the fascinating story of how an idea enshrined in the US constitution to promote progress and innovation, is now being used to do the opposite.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/441/when-patents-attack
Tagged with npr this american life patents technology law innovation
New research suggests that misinformed people rarely change their minds when presented with the facts — and often become even more attached to their beliefs. The finding raises questions about a key principle of a strong democracy: that a well-informed electorate is best.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128490874
Tagged with npr cognitive dissonance facts
Neuroscientist David Eagleman says everything we think, do and believe is determined by complex neural networks battling it out in our brains. In Incognito, he explains what scientists are learning about this hidden world of cognition.
http://www.npr.org/2011/05/31/136495499/incognito-whats-hiding-in-the-unconscious-mind
Tagged with inconscious mind neuroscience david eagleman npr fresh air
Andy Carvin (@acarvin), senior strategist for NPR’s social media desk, discusses his recent work on Twitter. He’s been tweeting about protests in Egypt and Tunisia, now Libya and Bahrain. Carvin has sought multiple sources on the ground and reported on the minute-by-minute revelations.
Huffduffed from http://www.npr.org/2011/02/21/133943604/The-Revolution-Will-Be-Tweeted
The co-founder of Twitter talks about how the service was used in Egypt to help organize the protests, and about the rumors that the popular microblogging service could be purchased by Google or Facebook.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/16/133775340/twitters-biz-stone-on-starting-a-revolution
Tagged with npr freshair
Mark Twain changed the rules of American fiction when, in Huckleberry Finn, he let a redneck kid tell his story in his own dialect. But the brilliant satirist had a hard time figuring out what rules to break as he struggled for years to tell his own life story. Now, 100 years after his death, Mark Twain’s autobiography is being published the way the author himself wished — from dictated stories collected by the University of California, Berkeley’s Mark Twain Project. The first volume (of three) is out now, and the long-anticipated release is drawing attention from Twain-lovers around the world.
Tagged with mark twain autobiography npr
Jon Stewart on Fresh Air
From: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130321994
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