Deep Affinities


Book Description

An illustrated exploration of the fundamental connections between art and science, from an author who has lived in both worlds In this thought-provoking book, Philip F. Palmedo, a former physicist who now writes on art, reveals how the two defining enterprises of humankind—art and science—are rooted in certain common instincts, which we might call aesthetic: an appreciation of symmetry, balance, and rhythm; the drive to simplify and abstract natural forms, and to represent them symbolically. Palmedo traces these instincts back to a very early time in human history—demonstrating, for example, the level of abstract thinking required to create the stone tools and cave paintings of the Paleolithic—and then forward, to the builders of the Gothic cathedrals, to Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton, to Einstein and Picasso. Illustrated with more than 125 creations of the genus Homo—from a flint hand ax chipped half a million years ago to the abstractions of Hilma af Klint and the James Webb Space Telescope—Palmedo’s text leaves us with a new appreciation of the instinct for beauty shared by artists and scientists alike.




Strange Affinities


Book Description

Collection of essays that use queer studies and feminism as a lens for examining the relationships between racialized communities.




Illuminations:words of insight from Dharma Master Cheng Yen. Vol. 1 : On living and dying


Book Description

本叢書收錄證嚴法師針對各類疑問的解惑及開示數千則,年代最早是一九八〇年蔣經國總統至花蓮靜思精舍拜訪,法師說明慈濟功德會救濟的對象、範圍和運作;最近是今年二〇二一年四月,臺鐵太魯閣號在花蓮發生出軌重大傷亡事故,法師對在第一時間投入現場關懷服務的慈濟志工,表達人傷我痛的悲憫。史料前後長達四十一年,跨越了兩個世紀。 第一冊為生老病死篇。生死是很自然的現象,要看得開、放得下,不要掛礙,也不要執著。雖然生命有限,慧命卻是永恆。學佛要看淡生死,滋養慧命;要去除心中的雜質污染,回歸天真的清淨本性。 This book series contains thousands of Master Cheng Yen’s teachings or responses to questions on all sorts of matters. The earliest teaching documented in this series was given in 1980, when then president, Mr. Chiang Ching-kuo, visited the Jing Si Abode in Hualien. During this visit, Master Cheng Yen shared about the groups Tzu Chi Merit Association helped, the kinds of help provided, and its operating process. The most recent teaching was given in April 2021, after a Taroko Express train operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration derailed in and caused serious casualties. Master Cheng Yen expressed her empathy and compassion to the volunteers who went to the accident site right after the incident to provide help. The historical materials span as long as forty-one years and across two centuries. Volume One covers topics on living and dying. Life and death are natural phenomena. When we look at them with a broader perspective, we will be able to let them go. As such, we can be unhindered and unattached. Though life is limited, wisdom life lasts forever. Thus, for Buddhist practitioners, life and death can be taken more lightly; it is more important to nourish our wisdom life. We must eradicate the defilements in our minds and return to our innocent, pure, intrinsic nature.













East-West Poetry


Book Description

Poetry that responds to the Qur’an and to the tradition it created. Written for the general reader and the specialist, Muslim and non-Muslim, East-West Poetry responds to the Qur’an, scriptural heart of Islam, and to the tradition it created. An introduction relates the Qur’an to Hebrew and Christian biblical writing and to Rumi, who illumined the Qur’an with Sufi mystic wisdom; and we sample earlier Western poetic celebrations of Islamic culture. “Rarely has a book been so timely as this one. It is an East-West collection that comes at just the right moment in our cultural history, now that America is reawakening to the plenitude of its varied traditions. The double role of the book’s author as researcher and poet benefits the reader of the 140 Islam-related lyrics offered here.” — Katharina Mommsen “Martin Bidney has [brought] the Christian Gospel and the Muslim Qur’an together with the Torah to form a luminous torch of love and understanding.” — Khalil Semaan










Cross-cultural Studies: China and the World


Book Description

Cross-cultural Studies: China and the World, A Festschrift in Honor of Professor Zhang Longxi collects twelve essays by eminent scholars across several disciplines in Chinese and cross-cultural studies to celebrate Zhang Longxi’s scholarly achievements. As a leading scholar from post-Cultural Revolution China, Zhang Longxi’s academic career has set a milestone in cross-cultural studies between China and the world. With an introduction by Qian Suoqiao, and a prologue by Zhang Longxi himself, the volume features masterly essays by Ronald Egan, Torbjörn Lodén, Haun Saussy, Lothar von Falkenhausen, and Hwa Yol Jung among others, which will make significant contributions to Sinological and cross-cultural studies of themselves on the one hand, and demonstrate Zhang Longxi’s friendships and scholarly impact on the other.