Genius is made, not born. And human beings are gifted with an almost unlimited potential for learning and creativity. Now you can uncover your own hidden abilities, sharpen your senses, and liberate your unique intelligence--by following the example of the greatest genius of all time, Leonardo da Vinci.
Acclaimed author Michael J. Gelb, who has helped thousands of people expand their minds to accomplish more than they ever thought possible, shows you how. Drawing on Da Vinci's notebooks, inventions, and legendary works of art, Gelb introduces Seven Da Vincian Principles--the essential...

Socrates has inspired and guided the brightest men and women for more than two thousand years. Now you can make him your mentor-to strengthen your thinking, enrich your life, and reach your goals.
In Socrates' Way, you meet Socrates face-to-face, hear his voice, and learn how he changes people's lives. The book provides step-by-step guidance on how to harness his methods to vastly enhance your own creativity and autonomy.Specifically, Socrates shares the seven keys to using one's mind to the utmost:

• Know thyself
  
• Grow with friends
  
• Ask great...

In 1932 Zara Witkin, a prominent American engineer, set off for the Soviet Union with two goals: to help build a society more just and rational than the bankrupt capitalist system at home, and to seek out the beautiful film star Emma Tsesarskaia.

His memoirs offer a detailed view of Stalin's bureaucracy--entrenched planners who snubbed new methods; construction bosses whose cover-ups led to terrible disasters; engineers who plagiarized Witkin's work; workers whose pride was defeated. Punctuating this document is the tale of Witkin's passion for Tsesarskaia and the record of his...