Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 075

About this book

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. Is the sound of a dripping faucet music? According to Aldous Huxley, "The music of the drops is the symbol and type of the whole universe... asymptotic to sense, infinitely close to significance, but never touching it." (Water Music). Sensory and psychological exploration define several recordings in Vol. 075 (On the Pleasures of Friendship; Prohibition; The Danger of Lying in Bed; The Effects of Opium in Lowness of Spirits; How to Listen to Music; The Story of the Alphabet; Letter from William Blake; and Poets). Narrative history and biography apply a more traditional approach to questions of motivation (Jesse James; Europe in the Mid-17th Century; The History of British India; On the Federal Constitution; John Quincy Adams and the Right of Petition; Saving Mr. Lincoln; Moses Maimonides). Lastly, the importance of critical and scientific observation are highlighted in Velocities Expressed in Meters per Second; The Original Hudson Tunnel; and The Peruvian Earthquake of 1868. Summary by Sue Anderson The Subways and Tunnels of New York was co-authored by Lucius I Wightman and William Lawrence Saunders.