Showing results by author "Stephen S. Hall"

The hundred or so farmers crowding the ballroom of the Mendenhall Inn in Chester County, Pennsylvania, might not have had a background in gene editing, but they knew mushrooms. These local growers produce a staggering 1.1 million pounds of mushrooms on average every day, which is one reason Pennsylvania dominates the annual $1.2-billion U.S. market. Some of the mushrooms they produce, however, turn brown and decay on store shelves.

A compelling investigation into one of our most coveted and cherished ideals, and the efforts of modern science to penetrate the mysterious nature of this timeless virtue. We all recognize wisdom, but defining it is more elusive. In this fascinating journey from philosophy to science, Stephen S. Hall gives us a dramatic history of wisdom, from its sudden emergence in four different locations (Greece, China, Israel, and India) in the fifth century B.C. to its modern manifestations.