Books published by Princeton University Press

How sharing a home with extended family or friends serves as a crucial, but imperfect, private safety net for families with childrenMore than fifteen percent of U.S. children-over eleven million-live in doubled-up households, sharing space with extended family or friends. These households are even more common among low-income families, families of color, and single-parent families, functioning as a private safety net for many in a country with extremely limited public support for families. Yet despite their prevalence, we know little about how shared households form and how they shape family life. Doubled Up is an in-depth look at the experiences of families with children living in doubled-up households. Drawing on extensive interviews with sixty parents living in doubled-up households, Hope Harvey examines what circumstances and motivations lead families to form doubled-up households, how living in shared households affects daily routines, and how families fare after these arrangements dissolve. Harvey shows that although families rely on doubling up to get by in the face of rapidly rising housing costs, precarious labor markets, and unaffordable childcare, these private arrangements are rarely sufficient to overcome such structural barriers.And doubling up incurs its own costs for both host and guest families. For doubled-up families, negotiating household relationships and navigating shared space reshapes family life. Understanding the dynamics of doubled-up households extends scholarship on family life beyond the nuclear family and points the way toward better policies that will serve all families.

Why do we use eighty-year-old metrics to understand today's economy?The ways that statisticians and governments measure the economy were developed in the 1940s, when the urgent economic problems were entirely different from those of today. In The Measure of Progress, Diane Coyle argues that the framework underpinning today's economic statistics is so outdated that it functions as a distorting lens, or even a set of blinkers. When policymakers rely on such an antiquated conceptual tool, how can they measure, understand, and respond with any precision to what is happening in today's digital economy? Coyle makes the case for a new framework, one that takes into consideration current economic realities. Coyle explains why economic statistics matter. They are essential for guiding better economic policies; they involve questions of freedom, justice, life, and death. Governments use statistics that affect people's lives in ways large and small. The metrics for economic growth were developed when a lack of physical rather than natural capital was the binding constraint on growth, intangible value was less important, and the pressing economic policy challenge was managing demand rather than supply. Today's challenges are different. Growth in living standards in rich economies has slowed, despite remarkable innovation, particularly in digital technologies. As a result, politics is contentious and democracy strained. Coyle argues that to understand the current economy, we need different data collected in a different framework of categories and definitions, and she offers some suggestions about what this would entail. Only with a new approach to measurement will we be able to achieve the right kind of growth for the benefit of all.

Explore the nature of love in this charming new translation of selections from Plato’s great dramatic work, the SymposiumWhat is love? In poetry, songs, fiction, movies, psychology, and philosophy, love has been described, admired, lamented, and dissected in endless ways. Is love based on physical attraction? Does it bring out our better selves? How does it relate to sex? Is love divine? Plato’s Symposium is one of the oldest, most influential, and most profound explorations of such questions—it is even the source of the idea of “Platonic love.” How to Talk about Love introduces and presents the key passages and central ideas of Plato’s philosophical dialogue in a lively and highly readable new translation, which also features the original Greek on facing pages.The Symposium is set at a fictional drinking party during which prominent Athenians engage in a friendly competition by delivering improvised speeches in praise of Eros, the Greek god of love and sex. The aristocrat Phaedrus, the legal expert Pausanias, the physician Eryximachus, the comic playwright Aristophanes, and the tragic poet Agathon—each by turn celebrates different aspects of love before Socrates proposes not to praise love but to tell the truth about it. In the final speech, the politician and libertine Alcibiades argues that Socrates himself is the epitome of love.Deftly capturing the essence and spirit of Plato’s masterpiece, How to Talk about Love makes the Symposium more accessible and enjoyable than ever before.

A marvelously illustrated look at everything we now know about the fearsome king of the dinosaursTyrannosaurus rex is the world’s favorite dinosaur, adored by the public and the subject of intense study and debate by paleontologists. This stunningly illustrated book brings together everything we have learned about T. rex—the “King of the Tyrant Lizards”—since it was first given its famous name in 1905. It presents these creatures as science knows them rather than the version portrayed in movies, revealing them to be dramatically different, and far more amazing, than ever imagined. With numerous original paintings and diagrams by the author, King Tyrant draws on the latest discoveries to offer a modern understanding of Tyrannosaurus, pulling back the curtain of media hype that often obscures these extraordinary extinct animals while cementing their reputation as the most formidable carnivores of the Mesozoic.Features more than 150 breathtaking illustrations, photos, and diagramsCovers everything from the research history of T. rex to their anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, behavior, and extinctionReveals how the Tyrannosaurus known to science is characterized as much by radical changes in body form throughout its growth as its enormous size and powerful jawsDiscloses details about their lifestyles and behavior evidenced from fossils, from violent face-biting between rivals to their capacity to literally pull the heads off Triceratops carcassesGets to the bottom of the many controversies surrounding T. rex, such as: Was there really more than one species of Tyrannosaurus? Did they live and hunt in groups? How fast could they run and how hard could they bite? Can we truly distinguish males from females?Discusses T. rex in popular culture, showing how our love for this dinosaur has both helped and hindered research

A richly illustrated field guide to all of North America’s major habitats—packed with invaluable information to help you get the most out of your outdoor adventuresWhether you’re a birder, naturalist, outdoor enthusiast, or ecologist, knowing the surrounding habitat is essential to getting the most out of your experiences in the field. This compact, easy-to-use guide provides an unparalleled treatment of the wonderfully diverse habitats of North America. Incisive and up-to-date descriptions cover the unique features of each habitat, from geology and climate to soil and hydrology. Requiring no scientific background, Habitats of North America offers quick and reliable information for anyone who wants a deeper understanding and appreciation of the habitats around them.Covers 85 major North American habitats, including wetlands and oceanic habitatsFeatures hundreds of color photos of habitats and their wildlife, a wealth of helpful diagrams and illustrations, and a high-resolution distribution map for each land habitatConcise text provides all the information you need to identify and understand habitats anywhere in North America quickly and accuratelyDiscusses iconic and indicator species of birds, mammals, and plantsIncludes an in-depth section on habitat classification—invaluable for ecologistsRepresentative habitat accounts describe what you can expect to see and experience thereFormatted like a field guide for easy reference

The rich and ongoing development of Russian lyric poetry, explored through close readings of thirty-four poems by poets ranging from Alexander Blok to Maria StepanovaThe Russian cultural tradition treats poetry as the supreme artistic form, with Alexander Pushkin as its national hero. Modern Russian lyric poets, often on the right side of history but the wrong side of their country's politics, have engaged intensely with subjectivity, aesthetic movements, ideology (usually subversive), and literature itself. All the World on a Page gathers thirty-four poems, written between 1907 and 2022, presenting each poem in the original Russian and an English translation, accompanied by an essay that places the poem it its cultural, historical, and biographical contexts. The poems, both canonical and lesser-known works, extend across a range of moods and scenes: The poems, both canonical and lesser-known works, extend across a range of moods and scenes: Velimir Khlebnikov's Futurist revolutionary prophecy, Anna Akhmatova's lyric cycle about poetic inspiration, Vladimir Nabokov's Symbolist erotic dreamworld, Joseph Brodsky's pastiche of a Chekhovian play set on a country estate, Maria Stepanova's pandemic allegory of political repression, Galina Rymbu's energetic manifesto "My Vagina."An introduction explores the abiding inspiration of modernism on the Russian lyric tradition. The separate chapter essays, informed by extensive knowledge of the existing scholarship and critical styles of interpretation consider how the interplay of originality and tradition, form and voice work to engage the reader. The poems themselves, many of them in newly commissioned translations, operate outside state-mandated poetic styles to address the reader directly, "tête-à-tête," as Brodsky said in his 1987 Nobel lecture. With each chapter devoted to a different poem, All the World on a Page allows readers to experience the richness of Russian poetry through poems and poets.

"An abundantly illustrated field guide to 85 African habitats and their distinctive flora and fauna"--

A major biography of a mesmerizing statesman whose complex bond with the Jewish people forever shaped their lives—and his legacyA scion of the Protestant elite, Theodore Roosevelt was an unlikely ally of the waves of impoverished Jewish newcomers who crowded the docks at Ellis Island. Yet from his earliest years he forged ties with Jews never before witnessed in a president. American Maccabee traces Roosevelt’s deep connection with the Jewish people at every step of his dazzling ascent. But it also reveals a man of contradictions whose checkered approach to Jewish issues was no less conflicted than the nation he led.As a rising political figure in New York, Roosevelt barnstormed the Lower East Side, giving speeches to packed halls of Jewish immigrants. He rallied for reform of the sweatshops where Jewish laborers toiled for pitiful wages in perilous conditions. And Roosevelt repeatedly venerated the heroism of the Maccabee warriors, upholding those storied rebels as a model for the American Jewish community. Yet little could have prepared him for the blood-soaked persecution of Eastern European Jews that brought a deluge of refugees to American shores during his presidency. Andrew Porwancher uncovers the vexing challenges for Roosevelt as he confronted Jewish suffering abroad and antisemitic xenophobia at home.Drawing on new archival research to paint a richly nuanced portrait of an iconic figure, American Maccabee chronicles the complicated relationship between the leader of a youthful nation and the people of an ancient faith.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Shia Revival, a revelatory account of Iran’s grand strategy at home and on the world stageIran presents one of the most significant foreign policy challenges for America and the West, yet very little is known about what the country’s goals really are. Vali Nasr examines Iran’s political history in new ways to explain its actions and ambitions on the world stage, showing how, behind the veneer of theocracy and Islamic ideology, today’s Iran is pursuing a grand strategy aimed at securing the country internally and asserting its place in the region and the world.Drawing on memoirs, oral histories, and original in-depth interviews with Iranian decision makers, Nasr brings to light facts and events in Iran’s political history that have been overlooked until now. He traces the roots of Iran’s strategic outlook to its experiences over the past four decades of war with Iraq in the 1980s and the subsequent American containment of Iran, invasion of Iraq in 2003, and posture toward Iran thereafter. Nasr reveals how these experiences have shaped a geopolitical outlook driven by pervasive fear of America and its plans for the Middle East.Challenging the notion that Iran’s foreign policy simply reflects its revolutionary values or theocratic government, Iran’s Grand Strategy provides invaluable new insights into what Iran wants and why, explaining the country’s resistance to the United States, its nuclear ambitions, and its pursuit of influence and proxies across the Middle East.

A haunting image of an unnamed Native child and a recovered story of the American WestIn 1868, celebrated Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner traveled to Fort Laramie to document the federal government’s treaty negotiations with the Lakota and other tribes of the northern Plains. Gardner, known for his iconic portrait of Abraham Lincoln and his visceral pictures of the Confederate dead at Antietam, posed six federal peace commissioners with a young Native girl wrapped in a blanket. The hand-labeled prints carefully name each of the men, but the girl is never identified. As The Girl in the Middle goes in search of her, it draws readers into the entangled lives of the photographer and his subjects.Martha A. Sandweiss paints a riveting portrait of the turbulent age of Reconstruction and westward expansion. She follows Gardner from his birthplace in Scotland to the American frontier, as his dreams of a utopian future across the Atlantic fall to pieces. She recounts the lives of William S. Harney, a slave-owning Union general who earned the Lakota name “Woman Killer,” and Samuel F. Tappan, an abolitionist who led the investigation into the Sand Creek massacre. And she identifies Sophie Mousseau, the girl in Gardner’s photograph, whose life swerved in unexpected directions as American settlers pushed into Indian Country and the federal government confined Native peoples to reservations.Spinning a spellbinding historical tale from a single enigmatic image, The Girl in the Middle reveals how the American nation grappled with what kind of county it would be as it expanded westward in the aftermath of the Civil War.

From bestselling cartoonist C. C. Tsai, a delightful graphic version of the stories and teachings of the important Chinese philosopher MenciusC. C. Tsai is one of Asia's most popular cartoonists, and his graphic editions of the Chinese classics have sold more than 40 million copies in over twenty languages. In A Cure for Chaos, he uses his virtuosic artistic skill and sly humor to create an entertaining and enlightening illustrated version of key selections from the Mencius, a profoundly influential work of Chinese philosophy. You cannot understand Chinese philosophy without understanding Mencius (fourth century BCE), who is known as the Second Sage, after Confucius, and whose ideas were for many centuries part of the standard Confucian curriculum. A Cure for Chaos is a playful and accessible comic that brings alive the clever stories and thought experiments that Mencius uses to convey his ideas. Through conversations with potentates and colorful episodes involving tigers, chicken thieves, and bear paws, this vivid graphic narrative shows Mencius arguing for a government that puts the people first, for morality over fame or fortune, and for the need of each person to cultivate their innate goodness-all of which is a prescription to cure chaos in the world. Translated and introduced by Tsai's longtime collaborator Brian Bruya, a philosopher and scholar of ancient Chinese thought, A Cure for Chaos also features the original Chinese text on the margins of each page, enriching the book for readers and students of Chinese without distracting from the English-language cartoons. Filled with unforgettable stories and shrewd insights, A Cure for Chaos is a marvelous and inviting edition of a timeless classic.

An authoritative, self-contained reference text on theoretical and computational seismologyOver the past several decades, computational advances have revolutionized seismology, making it possible to simulate seismic wave propagation in complex Earth models and create detailed images of the planet's interior. This cutting-edge text introduces students and scholars to the fundamentals, techniques, and applications of this exciting field of research and discovery. After establishing a strong foundation in continuum mechanics, the book presents the fundamentals of theoretical seismology, providing a basis for subsequent forward and inverse modeling grounded in numerical methods, and then focuses on computational seismology, investigating numerical solutions to seismic wave equations. The adjoint-state method is covered next, along with applications of this technique to waveform inversions across scales, after which the book concludes with a set of appendixes that provide a primer to differential geometry and tensor calculus, which are used throughout the book to explain the fundamental concepts of deformation, strain, and stress from both Eulerian and Lagrangian perspectives. Including over 150 student-tested exercises, the book is an essential resource for motivated students and scholars seeking to master the state of the art of theoretical and computational seismology. Establishes a strong foundation through a geometric analysis of continuum mechanicsReveals how linearizing the resulting equations of motion enables the simulation of seismic wave propagation across nine decades of frequencies and wavelengthsDemonstrates how to leverage the capabilities of simulations to create detailed tomographic images from the information embedded in seismographic recordingsCovers diverse application areas, including seismology, helioseismology, underwater acoustics, medical imaging, and non-destructive testingFeatures a wealth of exercises (with online solutions)Includes a comprehensive set of appendixes on differential geometry and tensor calculusAn ideal textbook for graduate students studying theoretical seismology, computational seismology, or optimization and inverse problemsAn essential reference for researchers and scholars

What issues divide-and do not divide-Russian public opinion in the post-Soviet eraThe collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 created a new Russia, with new territorial boundaries and new political and economic systems. The hybrid political economy that emerged incorporated commitments to markets and democracy that were undermined by the state's economic interventions and authoritarian restrictions. In this book, Paul Chaisty and Stephen Whitefield argue that the hybridity of the post-Soviet system provided a strong basis for the consolidation of Russian public opinion-and for the management of contestation so that it did not threaten the system itself. Drawing on almost thirty years of original public opinion research in Russia, Chaisty and Whitefield find that the territorial dimension of Russia's postcommunist transformation has disrupted public support for the hybrid political economy. In particular, they trace the reopening of system-level disagreement between system supporters and system opponents to the nationalist turn in Russia politics that culminated in the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the reactivation of Soviet identities. How Russians Understand the New Russia provides the first longitudinal study of Russian public opinion on the system of political and economic power that replaced communism. It offers unique insights into how Russian citizens have adapted their views of the new Russia, identifying the issues that are the most-and the least-divisive. Chaisty and Whitefield track Russian public opinion on a broad range of policy questions, discuss the political importance of both voting and not voting and consider problems of nation-building and national identity. Finally, they weigh the impact of the Ukraine war on Russia's hybrid system, and whether consolidation or further contestation is more likely.

An in-depth history of modal logic in analytic philosophy, from a leading philosopher of languageThis is the third of five volumes of a definitive history of analytic philosophy from the invention of modern logic in 1879 to the end of the twentieth century. Scott Soames, a leading philosopher of language and historian of analytic philosophy, provides the fullest and most detailed account of the analytic tradition yet published, one that is unmatched in its chronological range, topics covered, and depth of treatment. Focusing on the major milestones and distinguishing them from detours, Soames gives a seminal account of where the analytic tradition has been and where it appears to be heading. Volume 3 explains the most important achievement in the analytic tradition in the twentieth century-the rise and development of the epistemic and metaphysical modalities of necessity, possibility, and conceivability-and how it opened new vistas for the understanding of mind, meaning, and metaphysics. At the center of the story is Saul Kripke, who generated new modal systems and their open-ended philosophical applications, and his undergraduate teacher, W.V.O. Quine, who rejected the modalities plus our notions of linguistic meaning and reference. Part 1 traces the rise of modal logic from C. I. Lewis's unhappiness with Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell's Principia Mathematica, through Lewis's modal S-systems, Ruth Marcus's proof-theoretic quantified modal logic, Rudolph Carnap's Meaning and Necessity, and Kripke's logical and philosophical breakthrough. Part 2 chronicles Quine's rejection of meaning, necessity, synonymy, and reference. Part 3 assesses the philosophical framework provided by Kripke's Naming and Necessity, separating its revolutionary insights from its unsolved problems.

From the acclaimed author of Blue and other color histories, a beautifully illustrated history of pink, from the first ancient pink pigments to BarbiePink has such powerful associations today that it's hard to imagine the color could ever have meant anything different. But it's only since the introduction of the Barbie doll in 1959 that pink has become decisively feminized. Indeed, in the eighteenth century, pink was frequently masculine, and the color has signified many things beyond gender over the course of its long history-from the prim to the vulgar, and from the romantic to the eccentric. In this richly illustrated book, Michel Pastoureau, a celebrated authority on the history of colors, presents a fascinating visual, social, and cultural history of pink in the West, from antiquity to today. Pink pigments first appear in ancient Macedonian paintings, but it was not until the eighteenth century that vivid, saturated pinks were developed for dyeing and painting. At the same time, a popular new flower-the pink rose-finally gave the color a standard name, and pink, assuming a place in everyday life, began to acquire its own symbolism, distinct from that of red, yellow, or white. Bringing the story up to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Pink describes how the color, both adored and detested, became associated with many other things, from softness and pleasure to nudity and sex. Illustrated throughout with a wealth of captivating images, Pink is an entertaining and enlightening account of the evolving role and significance of the color in art, fashion, literature, religion, science, and everyday life across the millennia.

From the author of Calculus Simplified, an accessible, personalized approach to Calculus 2Second-semester calculus is rich with insights into the nature of infinity and the very foundations of geometry, but students can become overwhelmed as they struggle to synthesize the range of material covered in class. Oscar Fernandez provides a "Goldilocks approach" to learning the mathematics of integration, infinite sequences and series, and their applications-the right depth of insights, the right level of detail, and the freedom to customize your student experience. Learning calculus should be an empowering voyage, not a daunting task. Calculus 2 Simplified gives you the flexibility to choose your calculus adventure, and the right support to help you master the subject. Provides an accessible, user-friendly introduction to second-semester college calculusThe unique customizable approach enables students to begin first with integration (traditional) or with sequences and series (easier)Chapters are organized into mini lessons that focus first on developing the intuition behind calculus, then on conceptual and computational masteryFeatures more than 170 solved examples that guide your learning and more than 400 exercises, with answers, that help assess your understandingIncludes optional chapter appendixesComes with supporting materials online, including video tutorials and interactive graphs

An illuminating look at the adaptive nature of our memories-and how their flexibility and fallibility help us survive and thriveWe tend to think of our memories as impressions of the past that remain fully intact, preserved somewhere inside our brains. In fact, we construct and reconstruct our memories every time we attempt to recall them. Memory Lane introduces readers to the cutting-edge science of human memory, revealing how our recollections of the past are constantly adapting and changing, and why a faulty memory isn't always a bad thing. Shedding light on what memory is and what it evolved to do, Ciara Greene and Gillian Murphy discuss the many benefits of our flexible yet fallible memory system, including helping us to maintain a coherent identity, sustain social bonds, and vividly imagine possible futures. But these flexible and easily distorted memories can also result in significant harm, leading us to provide erroneous eyewitness testimony or fall victim to fake news. Greene and Murphy explain why our flawed memories are not a failure of evolution but rather a byproduct of the perfectly imperfect way our minds have evolved to solve problems. They also grapple with important ethical questions surrounding the study and manipulation of memory. Blending engaging storytelling with the latest science, the authors demonstrate how our continuous reconstruction of the past makes us who we are, helps us to interpret our experiences, and explains why no two trips down memory lane are ever quite the same.

The hidden history of a nation sleepwalking its way into evilCharlotte Beradt began having unsettling dreams after Adolf Hitler took power in 1933. She envisioned herself being shot at, tortured and scalped, surrounded by Nazis in disguise, and breathlessly fleeing across fields with storm troopers at her heels. Shaken by these nightmares and banned as a Jew from working, she began secretly collecting dreams from her friends and neighbors, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Disguising these "diaries of the night" in code and concealing them in the spines of books from her extensive library, she smuggled them out of the country one by one. Available again for the first time since its publication in the 1960s, this sensational book brings together this uniquely powerful dream record, offering a visceral understanding of how terror is internalized and how propaganda colonizes the imagination. After Beradt herself fled Germany for New York, she collected these dream accounts and began to trace the common symbols and themes that appeared in the collective unconscious of a traumatized nation. The fear of dictatorship was ever-present. Dreams of thought control, even the prohibition of dreaming itself, bore witness to the collapse of outer and inner worlds. Now in a haunting new translation by Damion Searls, The Third Reich of Dreams provides a raw, unfiltered, and prophetic look inside the experience of living through Hitler's terror.

A sweeping history of the rise of personal choice in the modern world and how it became equated with freedomChoice touches virtually every aspect of our lives, from what to buy and where to live to whom to love, what profession to practice, and even what to believe. But the option to choose in such matters was not something we always possessed or even aspired to. At the same time, we have been warned by everybody from marketing gurus to psychologists about the negative consequences stemming from our current obsession with choice. It turns out that not only are we not very good at realizing our personal desires, we are also overwhelmed with too many possibilities and anxious about what best to select. There are social costs too. How did all this happen? The Age of Choice tells the long history of the invention of choice as the defining feature of modern freedom. Taking readers from the seventeenth century to today, Sophia Rosenfeld describes how the early modern world witnessed the simultaneous rise of shopping as an activity and religious freedom as a matter of being able to pick one's convictions. Similarly, she traces the history of choice in romantic life, politics, and the ideals of human rights. Throughout, she pays particular attention to the lives of women, those often with the fewest choices, who have frequently been the drivers of this change. She concludes with an exploration of how reproductive rights have become a symbolic flashpoint in our contemporary struggles over the association of liberty with choice. Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from novels and restaurant menus to the latest scientific findings about choice in psychology and economics, The Age of Choice urges us to rethink the meaning of choice and its promise and limitations in modern life.

A panoramic history of the Jewish American South, from European colonization to todayIn 1669, the Carolina colony issued the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, which offered freedom of worship to "Jews, heathens, and other dissenters," ushering in an era that would see Jews settle in cities and towns throughout what would become the Confederate States. The Jewish South tells their stories, providing the first narrative history of southern Jews. Drawing on a wealth of original archival findings spanning three centuries, Shari Rabin sheds new light on the complicated decisions that southern Jews made-as individuals, families, and communities-to fit into a society built on Native land and enslaved labor and to maintain forms of Jewish difference, often through religious innovation and adaptation. She paints a richly textured and sometimes troubling portrait of the period, exploring how southern Jews have been targets of antisemitism and violence but also complicit in racial injustice. Rabin considers Jewish immigration and institution building, participation in the Civil War, the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank, and the Jewish participation in and resistance to the modern fight for civil rights. She examines shifting understandings of Jewishness, highlighting both the reality of religious diversity and the ongoing role of Christianity in defining the region. Recovering a neglected facet of the American experience, The Jewish South enables readers to see the South through the eyes of people with a distinctive religious heritage and a southern history older than the United States itself.

How our image of the Renaissance's most famous artist is a modern mythLeonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) never signed a painting, and none of his supposed self-portraits can be securely ascribed to his hand. He revealed next to nothing about his life in his extensive writings, yet countless pages have been written about him that assign him an identity: genius, entrepreneur, celebrity artist, outsider. Addressing the ethical stakes involved in studying past lives, Stephen J. Campbell shows how this invented Leonardo has invited speculation from figures ranging from art dealers and curators to scholars, scientists, and biographers, many of whom have filled in the gaps of what can be known of Leonardo's life with claims to decode secrets, reveal mysteries of a vanished past, or discover lost masterpieces of spectacular value. In this original and provocative book, Campbell examines the strangeness of Leonardo's words and works, and the distinctive premodern world of artisans and thinkers from which he emerged. Far from being a solitary genius living ahead of his time, Leonardo inhabited a vibrant network of artistic, technological, and literary exchange. By investigating the politics and cultural tensions of the era as well as the most recent scholarship on Leonardo's contemporaries, workshop, and writings, Campbell places Leonardo back into the milieu that shaped him and was shaped by him. He shows that it is in the gaps and contradictions of what we know of Leonardo's life that a less familiar and far more historically significant figure appears.