Books in series
#1
Archimedes
Fulcrum of Science
2024
#2
Plato
A Civic Life
2025
Now in paperback, a new reading of Plato’s philosophy that reveals it as deeply shaped by his experiences in Athens.
Plato is a key figure from the beginnings of Western philosophy, yet the impact of his lived experience on his thought has rarely been explored. Born during a war that would lead to Athens’ decline, Plato lived in turbulent times. Carol Atack explores how Plato’s life in Athens influenced his thought, how he developed the Socratic dialogue into a powerful philosophical tool, and how he used the institutions of Athenian society to create a compelling imaginative world. Accessibly written, this book shows how Plato made Athens the place where diverse ideas were integrated into a new way of approaching the big questions about our lives, then and now.
Authors
Nicholas Nicastro
Author · 11 books
Nicholas Nicastro was born in Astoria, New York in 1963. His education includes a B.A. in English from Cornell University (1985), an M.F.A. in filmmaking from New York University (1991), an M.A. in archaeology and a Ph.D in psychology from Cornell (1996 and 2003). He has also worked as a film critic, a hospital orderly, a newspaper reporter, a library archivist, a college lecturer in anthropology and psychology, an animal behaviorist, and an advertising salesman. His writings include short fiction, travel and science articles in such publications as "The New York Times", "The New York Observer", "Film Comment", and "The International Herald Tribune". His books have been published by Penguin, St. Martin's, and HarperCollins.
