The Waste Books by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
German scientist and man of letters Georg Christoph Lichtenberg was an 18th-century polymath- an experimental physicist, an astronomer, a mathematician, a practicing critic both of art and literature. He is most celebrated, however, for the casual notes and aphorisms that he collected in what he called his Waste Books. With unflagging intelligence and encyclopedic curiosity, Lichtenberg wittily deflates the pretensions of learning and society, examines a range of philosophical questions, and tracks his own thoughts down hidden pathways to disconcerting and sometimes hilarious conclusions.Lichtenberg's Waste Books have been greatly admired by writers as very different as Tolstoy, Einstein, and Andre Breton, while Nietzsche and Wittgenstein acknowledged them as a significant inspiration for their own radical work in philosophy. The record of a brilliant and subtle mind in action, The Waste Books are above all a powerful testament to the necessity, and pleasure, of unfettered thought.
Born on July 1, 1742, in Oberramstadt, Darmstadt, and died on February 24, 1799, in Gottingen. Lichtenberg belonged to the 18th century. A child of a Generalsuperintendent. He was bucklig as a result of a rachitic illness when he was a child. He attended Darmstadt's Gymnasium and studied mathematics and natural sciences in Gottingen from 1763 to 1766.
He was appointed Professor of Experimental Physics in 1770. He began writing the Gottiger Taschenkalender in 1778. Lichtenberg is known for his witty aphorisms and scholarly writings. In his final years of life, he threw himself on the ground due to a series of misfortunes.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780940322509 |
| ISBN 10 | 0940322501 |
| Title | The Waste Books |
| Author | Georg Christoph Lichtenberg |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | The New York Review of Books, Inc |
| Year published | 2000-09-30 |
| Number of pages | 264 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |