History is not an outdated Operating System. Or, why those who ignore history are doomed to reinvent the wheel (and make me cranky).

Alfonso Montuori

A colleague and I were recently discussing texts for an upcoming course. Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein’s Sparks of genius: The thirteen thinking tools of the world’s most creative people came up, and excellent choice. My colleague replied glumly that she liked the book a lot, but students would inevitably get all …