Pushing the Limits of Knowledge We humans seem to be on a constant quest for a greater understanding of the world. It’s how we improve our lives. Solve problems. Satisfy our curiosity. We push ourselves to root out information from existing sources — and our own experimentation. Knowledge is dynamic and expanding, driven by people with an insatiable thirst for more. You’re about to explore how far we humans will push the limits of knowledge.
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Read the featured book below. Watch the video interview with the author. Watch the knowledge-themed featured video. Jumpstart your group conversation with our discussion questions. Pick a new themed topic, and repeat! |
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The Land of the Painted Caves
This book concludes the best-selling Earth’s Children series, following the prehistoric life of Ayla, a Cro-Magnon woman. It explores the idea of Neanderthal’s knowledge as coming from genetic memory (a theoretical inheritance of knowledge and abilities through the genes of their parents), and attributes the acquisition of experiential knowledge to the Cro-Magnons. The novel explores the effects of each type of knowledge on the culture, relationships, and even the continued existence of both species. Ayla's preparations for her initiation as a Zelandoni bring The Land of Painted Caves to a riveting climax. The rituals themselves bring her close to death. But through those rituals, Ayla gains A Gift of Knowledge so important that it will change the world. [Goodreads.com] (read more)
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Jean Auel Auel considers her work speculative history, combining her deeply researched work with a compelling “what if” question. She never lets her storylines conflict with proven facts. But within the gaps of our understanding, she’s free to play. In this interview, she points to plot twists where she used knowledge to spark creative speculation. Her decades-long passion has been to explore the possibility that Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon peoples intersected during the early Neolithic era. In her hunt for knowledge on the topic, she’s conducted her own research, spent over 30 years consulting with experts around the world, and visited numerous archeological sites. Interestingly, it was after the publication of The Land of the Painted Caves that scientists confirmed the existence of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans – proving Auel’s speculations correct! (read more) Watch in English Watch w/Spanish Subtitles |
Pushing the Limits of Knowledge Chef Sean Brock reaches back into the golden age of Southern cuisine to research and revitalize heritage vegetables and livestock. Leaning forward, he experiments with technology and cooking methods, discovering ways to coax flavor to its peak. His award-winning restaurants and media presence are not what drive him. Sean’s true passion is tapping into the past, then using lessons learned to expand the boundaries of his knowledge. He pursues this through the seed saving of heirloom crops, raising his own heritage breed pigs, and pushing the limits of molecular gastronomy in his recipes. He’s been featured on PBS, the Cooking Channel, in Food and Wine Magazine and The New Yorker. He has two Charleston, South Carolina restaurants and two James Beard Awards to his credit.
(read more)
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Consider using these other suggested knowledge-themed books and media for future gatherings. Take a look at the other items below, curated for this theme. How do people push the limits of knowledge in each book or video? The joy is in the discovery! Making those connections as you read will enrich your follow-up conversations.
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The Earth has been destroyed. It had to go — to make way for a hyperspace bypass. In what has become an international multi-media phenomena, this story follows the misadventures of the last surviving man. Seconds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor. Together, this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by a galaxyful of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox — the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian (formerly Tricia McMillan), Zaphod's girlfriend, whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he's bought over the years. (amazon.com) [Douglas Adams - Fiction] (read more)
What do silver and silicon have in common? They’re two of the minerals that have changed the course of human history. And there are five others, all vividly portrayed in this personal story from a fellow of the Royal Society. Our use of the Earth's mineral resources is not always for the benefit of humankind — our relationship with the elements is one of great ambivalence. Uranium is both productive (nuclear power) and destructive (nuclear bombs); iron is the bloody weapon of war, but also the economic tool of peace; our desire for alluring gold is the foundation of global trade, but has also led to the death of millions. John Browne, CEO of British Petroleum (BP) for twelve years, vividly describes how seven elements are shaping the world around us, for better and for worse. Combining history, science, and politics, Seven Elements takes you on a present-day adventure of human passion and innovation. This journey is far from over: we continue to find surprising new uses for these seven elements. In this narrative of discovery, readers will come to understand how titanium pervades modern consumer society, how natural gas is transforming the global energy sector, and how an innovative new form of carbon could be starting a technology revolution. (goodreads.com) [John Browne - Nonfiction] (read more)
Did you know that Moby Dick was inspired by a true story? In 1820, a sperm whale willfully rammed and sank the whaleship Essex. The surviving crew members drifted for months in tiny boats... (read more)
Eighty percent of the world's biodiversity is within Indigenous territories, yet these communities often don't have a say when it comes to protecting the lands they inhabit. Environmental... (read more)
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Get onboard for a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths. The setting? The hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C. The high-stakes chase takes place under the watchful eye of Dan Brown’s most terrifying villain to date. As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object — artfully encoded with five symbols — is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation. One meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom. When Langdon's beloved mentor, Peter Solomon — a prominent Mason and philanthropist — is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations - all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth. (goodreads.com) [Dan Brown - Fiction] (read more)
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Shadow’s wife is killed in a mysterious car crash. A few days later, Shadow is released from prison. Flying home to an unsure future, he meets someone who will take him on an adventure he could never have imagined for himself. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr. Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break. Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, American Gods takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You'll be surprised by what - and who - it finds there. (goodreads.com) [Neil Gaiman - Fiction] (read more)
Maybe you’ve seen the major motion picture based on this book. Trapper and tracker, Hugh Glass, is mauled by a bear. Against all odds, he rallies and drags himself through hundreds of wilderness miles to seek... (read more)
This collection of stories features characters whose lives lack heroism, and yet who continue to rebel against their challenges and find ways to survive. Long-listed for the National Book Award... (read more)
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When Gastón Acurio started his now world-famous restaurant Astrid & Gastón in the 1990s, no one suspected that he would elevate the Peruvian home-cooking he grew up with to haute cuisine. Nearly thirty years and a storied career later, the chef wants the rest of us to embrace our culinary roots and transform the world with the meals we prepare each day. Speaker Gastón Acurio is a chef, writer, entrepreneur, and one of the most important promoters of Peruvian cooking in the world. (TED talk) (read more)
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The atomic bomb. And an even more dangerous invention. These core ingredients don’t sound like the foundation for a highly entertaining, humorous book. And yet — Vonnegut preys upon your most primal fears while somehow getting you laughing, feeling hopeful, and reflecting on your future. Cat’s Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet’s ultimate fate, it features a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat’s Cradle is one of the twentieth century’s most important works—and Vonnegut at his very best. (amazon.com) [Kurt Vonnegut - Fiction] (read more)
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In this award-winning story, a 13-year-old boy crash-lands a plane in the forest. And his world only gets worse from there. He endures a constant barrage of nature’s fury with only... (read more)
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