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Reviews

""[An] incredibly interdisciplinary exploration of knowledge and meaning . . . It is one of those books so ambitious in scope and form that it can only succeed--or fail--spectacularly. Traversal succeeds."" --Urmila Chadayammuri, Nature ""Maria Popova is a national treasure--actually, make that an international treasure . . . Her material is always fascinating, inspired by the writings of novelists, scientists, poets, and philosophers, but her true magic lies in her skill at making connections among subjects that are revelatory. Her new book, Traversal, is a masterpiece . . . that will always leave you wanting more."" --Jim Kelly, AirMail ""[Traversal] delivers a masterful exploration of life's meaning by weaving together profiles of visionaries and discussions of science, art, and nature . . . In Popova's hands, their struggles and successes combine in a lyrical symphony of truth . . . This is multifaceted and marvelous."" --Publishers Weekly (starred review) ""In her second illumination of the symbiosis between literature and science, following Figuring (2019), Popova creates an even more luminous double helix . . . One genius leads to another in a gloriously intricate web of connections and influences, struggles personal and societal . . . Sorrows and marvels inspirit this exquisite and revelatory historical and biographical constellation incandescent with Popova's sustaining belief that ""our love of truth will always triumph over our love of power."" --Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review) ""In chronicling her subjects' intellectual and emotional passions, Popova makes much of intersections and interconnections among individuals, from various times, places, and circumstances, who have measured, dissected, rhapsodized, and invented as they grappled with the vexing conundrums, and the grandeur, of being . . . A stirring, kaleidoscopic intellectual history."" --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ""Maria Popova is a national treasure. She combines poetic writing with prodigious historical research, a wide-ranging mind, and an extraordinary ability to connect literature and events from different places and times. Traversal is an intellectual feast of discovery and imagination."" --Alan Lightman, author of Einstein's Dreams ""What a brave and beautiful book. Maria Popova has a great gift for seeing the invisible threads that bind us, science, and poetry across space and time."" --James Gleick, author of Chaos

""In chronicling her subjects' intellectual and emotional passions, Popova makes much of intersections and interconnections among individuals, from various times, places, and circumstances, who have measured, dissected, rhapsodized, and invented as they grappled with the vexing conundrums, and the grandeur, of being . . . A stirring, kaleidoscopic intellectual history."" --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ""Maria Popova is a national treasure. She combines poetic writing with prodigious historical research, a wide-ranging mind, and an extraordinary ability to connect literature and events from different places and times. Traversal is an intellectual feast of discovery and imagination."" --Alan Lightman, author of Einstein's Dreams ""What a brave and beautiful book. Maria Popova has a great gift for seeing the invisible threads that bind us, science, and poetry across space and time."" --James Gleick, author of Chaos

Author Information

Maria Popova is the creator of The Marginalian--a wide-ranging record of the search for meaning, founded in 2006 and included in the Library of Congress permanent digital archive of culturally valuable materials. Her books and projects include Figuring, An Almanac of Birds: 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days, and The Universe in Verse.

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