Edge News Highlights

"The World's Smartest Website … Edge is a salon for the world's finest minds."

"We'd certainly be better off if everyone sampled the fabulous Edge symposium which, like the best in science, is modest and daring at once." —David Brooks

"An epicenter of bleeding-edge insight across science, technology and beyond, hosting conversations with some of our era's greatest thinkers.... (A) lavish cerebral feast ... one of this year's most significant time-capsules of contemporary thought." 

"...the must-read hub of intellectual inquiry and head-spinning science..."

"Brockman has turned popular science into a sort of modern shamanism, packaged non-fiction into gobbets of smart thinking, made stars of unlikely writers and continues to direct, deepen and contribute to some of the most hotly contested conversations in civic life....Edge.org’s purpose has always been to collide scientists, business people and public intellectuals in fruitful ways." 

"[A] stimulating and ... venerable online forum.... Brockman's formula is tried and tested."

"... [B]ringing the ideas of renowned scientists to the people."

"Not just wonderful, but plausible."

"Brilliant, essential and addictive. The result of this ambitious venture, for those who have already experienced navigating the web pages of edge.org, is not only brilliant, but addictive. It interprets, it interrogates, it provokes. Each text can be a world in itself."

"Brockman's seeds of a new intellectualism have bloomed in the culture of ideas that has become so popular in the past years in the pages of magazines such as The Atlantic and The New Yorker, in numerous nonfiction bestsellers, or in the various incarnations of the TED conference ... Edge has remained one of the purest outlets of intellectual thought on the Web." 

"...[A] wonderful opportunity to savor the thoughts of many top scientists and thinkers of the world."

"If you want to increase the intellectual heft of your reading while keeping it entertaining..."

"Edge ... the most useful space at the moment for anyone who wants to peer into the flowering of the most advanced human thought...a surprising territory where one finds, in rigorous disarray, the vanguard of scientific knowledge."

"This inspired idea on the Edge website has led to this fabulous book—a mine of accessible science that is food for mind and soul. A real must-read."

"Edge has worked against the reciprocal ignorance of literary cultures and sciences of each other. Successfully. If you take the algorithms developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, which measure the value of links, Edge's website ranks seven on a global scale of ten. The New York Times ranks nine, eBay at eight." 

"Thrilling ... Everything is permitted, and nothing is excluded from this intellectual game."

"The trick, of course, is to get the question just right so that the great and good - and the wannabes - feel compelled to play what is often the smartest game in town."

"Offers a rare chance to discover big ideas before they hit the mainstream." 

"The most stimulating English-language reading to be had from anywhere in the world."

"The enticing collections roll in with impressive frequency (from) edge.org, a world-renowned online science salon … any curious reader can benefit from and be enthralled by Brockman's stimulating, jargon-free Edge books."

[IAN MCEWAN:] "The internet has created sites like John Brockman's wonderful edge.org, where it's possible for laymen to sit in on conversations between scientists. And when scientists have to address each other out of their specialisms they have to speak plain English, they have to abandon their jargons, and we're the beneficiaries of that."

"The brightest minds in the known universe."

#1 (The 10 Best Psychology And Philosophy Books Of 2012): "This Will Make You Smarter ... a formidable anthology of our time’s biggest thinkers ...The true gift of Brockman—is in acting as a potent rupture in the filter bubble of our curiosity, cross-pollinating ideas across a multitude of disciplines to broaden our intellectual comfort zones and, in the process, spark a deeper, richer, more dimensional understanding not only of science, but of life itself."

"John Brockman ... is an architect and impresario of 'scientific ideas' who has taken scientists out of their usual territory, and secured for them a global role as the most highly recognized thinkers in the society of informed intellectuals."

"The world's finest minds have responded with some of the most insightful, humbling, fascinating confessions and anecdotes, an intellectual treasure trove.... Best three or four hours of intense, enlightening reading you can do for the new year. Read it now."

"Open-minded, free ranging, intellectually playful ... an unadorned pleasure in curiosity, a collective expression of wonder at the living and inanimate world ... an ongoing and thrilling colloquium."— Ian McEwan

"Fantastically stimulating...It's like the crack cocaine of the thinking world.... Once you start, you can't stop thinking about that question."

"Astounding reading."

"...the fascinating website edge.org."

"Where Brainiacs Rap About The Questions That Keep Them Up At Night ...151 Of The Brightest Minds In The Known Universe ... a provocative, wiz bang collection of essays."

"The splendidly enlightened Edge website has rounded off each year of inter-disciplinary debate by asking its heavy-hitting contributors to answer one question. I strongly recommend a visit."

"A jolt of fresh thinking ...The answers address a fabulous array of issues. This is the intellectual equivalent of a New Year's dip in the lake - bracing, possibly shriek-inducing, and bound to wake you up."

"Intriguing ...The ethos of the edge.org crowd is one of unapologetic sophistication; its mission is to bring cutting-edge thinkers together in an ongoing, open-ended conversation, where ideas can beget ideas."

"Even the world’s best brains have to admit to being wrong sometimes: here, leading scientists respond to a new year challenge."

"Provocative ideas put forward today by leading figures."

"One of the most interesting stopping places on the Web."

"For those seeking substance over sheen, the videos released at Edge.org hit the mark. [The] long-form interview videos are a deep-dive into the daily lives and passions of its subjects, and their passions are presented without primers or apologies. The decidedly noncommercial nature of Edge's offerings, and the egghead imprimatur of the Edge community, lend its videos a refreshing air, making one wonder if broadcast television will ever offer half the off-kilter sparkle of their salon chatter."

"'Life: What A Concept' was one of those memorable events that people in years to come will see as a crucial moment in history. After all, it's where the dawning of the age of biology was officially announced."

"The greatest virtual research university in the world."

"Audacious and stimulating."

"What's the big idea?... When the lightbulb above your head is truly incendiary."

"Brilliant ... a eureka moment at the edge of knowledge, as scientists ponder the imponderable.... A website that will expand your mind."

"...fascinating and provocative reading."

"Brockman is a kind of thinker that does not exist in Europe."

"If you think the web is full of trivial rubbish, you will find the intellectual badinage of edge.org to be a blessed counterpoint."

"These are thoughts to make jaws drop."

"Uplifting ... enthralling."

"Full of fascinating discussion ... deep thinking."

"As in the past, these world-class thinkers have responded to  impossibly open-ended questions with erudition, imagination and clarity."

"Answers ring like scientific odes to uncertainty, humility and doubt; passionate pleas for critical thought in a world threatened by blind convictions."

"A remarkable feast of the intellect... an amazing group of reflections on science, culture, and the evolution of ideas. Reading the Edge question is like being invited to dinner with some of the most interesting people on the planet."

"A great event in the Anglo-Saxon culture."

"Danger — brilliant minds at work ... exhilarating, hilarious, and chilling."

"A selection of the most explosive ideas of our age."

"Scientific pipedreams at their very best."

"Wonderful reading."

"Strangely addictive."

"As fascinating and weighty as one would imagine ... I strongly recommend a visit to anyone who feels browbeaten by fans of that over-rated virtue: mere consistency."

"They are the intellectual elite, the brains the rest of us rely on to make sense of the universe and answer the big questions. But in a refreshing show of new year humility, the world's best thinkers have admitted that from time to time even they are forced to change their minds."

"Praised by everyone from the Guardian, Prospect magazine, Wired, The New York Times and BBC Radio 4, Edge is an online collective of deep thinkers. Their contributors aren't on the frontier, they are the frontier."

"He (Ian McEwan) loves the spirited playfulness evident in places such as John Brockman's celebrated website Edge, where 'neuroscientists might talk to mathematicians, biologists to computer-modelling experts,' and in an accessible, discipline-crossing language that lets us all eavesdrop."

"Edge.org... has established itself as a major force on the intellectual scene in the US and as required reading for humanities heads who want to keep up to speed with the latest in science and technology."

"Brilliant ... captivating ... overwhelming."

"Crystal Ball for Star Intellectuals: a stellar cast of intellectuals ... a stunning array of responses."

"An array of Nobel laureates, professors, Pulitzer Prize winners and bestselling authors ... in this impressive book."

"For an exceptionally high quotient of interesting ideas to words, this is hard to beat. ...What a feast of egg-head opinionating!"

"The coolest online forum? One where scientists and great minds from all over the world exchange opinions and ideas, and the one that keeps the scientific debate alive? Almost certainly, it's edge.org, an American website whose most ardent supporters ... are changing the present vision of the universe. This where you’ll run into debates that count."

"Edge and the Edge Reality Club, a kind of scientist’s salon, is doing wonders for advancing the national conversation about science and scientific thinking."

"Persuasively upbeat."

T

"There is much in many of these brief essays to astonish, to be appalled at, to mull over or to wish for...Most of them are vitally engaging to anyone with an ounce of interest in matters such as being or whatever."

"There is much in many of these brief essays to astonish, to be appalled at, to mull over or to wish for ... Most of them are vitally engaging to anyone with an ounce of interest in matters such as being or whatever."

"Recommended read to detox a tired mind."

"...reads like an intriguing dinner party conversation among great minds in science."

"Intellectual and creative magnificence."

"An unprecedented roster of brilliant minds, the sum of which is nothing short of visionary."

"The most rarefied of chatrooms, has its premises on www.edge.org. Eavesdropping is fun. Ian McEwan, one of the few novelists who has contributed to Edge's ongoing debates, suggests that the project is not so far removed from the 'old Enlightenment dream of a unified body of knowledge, when biologists and economists draw on each other's concepts and molecular biologists stray into the poorly defended territory of chemists and physicists.'"

"Brilliant! Stimulating reading for anyone seeking a glimpse into the next decade."

"Sparky and provoking ... radiates bright ideas."

"A running fire of a provocative and fascinating thesis."

"A peerage culture, a peerage that network technology encouraged."

"A stellar cast of thinkers tackles the really big questions facing scientists."

"It is like having a front-row seat at the ultimate scientific seminar series."

"A fascinating site."

"Fascinating...a lot of fun."

"Fascinating and thought-provoking ...wonderful, intelligent."

"Today's visions of science tomorrow."

"You can improve your own science education at www.edge.org."

"Clever minds debate on Edge about God and the world: what life is, what will result from global warming, or what the most recent discoveries in immunology research tell us. It is almost as colorful as the days of Louis XVI, when philosophers, writers, and political thinkers disputed one another in Parisian living rooms— and prepared the way for revolution."

"Awesome indie newsletter with brilliant contributors."

"Deliciously creative ... the variety astonishes ... intellectual skyrockets of stunning brilliance. Nobody in the world is doing what Edge is doing."

"A marvellous showcase for the Internet, it comes very highly recommended."

"Profound, esoteric and outright entertaining."

"A terrific, thought provoking site."

"....a fascinating survey of intellectual and creative wonders of the world ... Thoughtful and often surprising ...reminds me of how wondrous our world is." — Bill Gates

"One of the Net's most prestigious, invitation-only free trade zones for the exchange of potent ideas."

"Edge proves that shopping and fucking are hardly the only reasons people go online.."

"An enjoyable read."

"A-list: Dorothy Parker's Vicious Circle without the food and alcohol ... a brilliant format."

"Big, deep and ambitous questions ... breathtaking in scope."

"Has raised electronic discourse on the Web to a whole new level."

"Lively, sometimes obscure and almost always ambitious."

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