Margaret Randall , the author, editor, and translator of nearly 200 books, turns her mind to the process of thinking - the purpose of which is to engage in the act of curiosity, inquiry, and examination. What results is an intimate, keen, and far-ranging collection of exploration from one of the great minds of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. These thirty-one pieces range from current political events to the history of communication, from deciphering the Maya code to a childhood admiration of Elizabeth Taylor, from Alan Turing to the New York City subway maps. And each one concerns itself more with the act of thinking than reaching conclusions, engaging readers with their own ability to think.