“... remembering that when a tower block gets the chop it is a rather cheerful affair – a bit of light relief at the end of the news, as often as not taking place with a cheering crowd in the foreground. Tacita Dean’s photograph of Donald Crowhurst’s Teignmouth Electron abandoned in the Caymans is, if anything, wryly ...”

“... for long distances, instead going via centres of population). Ultimately, however, the speed of light is an insuperable barrier. If Einstein is right, no message is ever going to get from Chicago to Mahwah in less than four milliseconds. The solution is what’s called ‘colocation’: placing the computer systems on which your algorithms run next to the ...”

“... regulation (a small but important example is the phasing out of old-fashioned, inefficient light bulbs), massively increased research and development spending, and a well-thought-out policy for tackling the many practical obstacles to the uptake of energy-saving measures and the cleaner technologies that already exist. Taxes, currently much less ...”

“... with that vote of thanks, at a Congress of Genetics in Stockholm Medawar spoke with Dr Hugh Donald, who was engaged in research on cattle twins. Donald had been trying to clarify the exact distinction between identical twins (so-called because they result from the division of one egg) and fraternal ones (so-called ...”

“... of being lost and trapped on our own in circumstances beyond our control, and yet also offers the light relief of its po-faced jokes, reminding us as an audience of the comparatively safe community we form with its makers. The script is full of ironic glances that mark and alleviate the cruel logic of the action – like the policeman early on who admonishes ...”

“... I do wish Donald Davidson would write a book. I mean, a proper book with a beginning, a middle and an end, in contrast to the collections of papers of which the present volume is an instance. My wishing so is not invidious. These bite-sized essays, each a mere fifteen or twenty pages long, often impress one as serious philosophical achievements even when they are read piecemeal, as they were written ...”

“... Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Soulja Boy and Nelly were listed as performers at events celebrating Donald Trump’s second inauguration. The announcement followed a wave of Black entertainers including Waka Flocka and the SlutWalk founder, reality TV star and social media influencer Amber Rose publicly stating that they backed Trump. Before Trump’s first ...”

“... Donald Davidson has this year been George Eastman Visiting Professor at Oxford: only the second philosopher to hold the august position (the first being W.V. Quine, a teacher of Davidson’s at Harvard and his greatest philosophical influence). This honour reflects his present stature in the academic world. Last year he was the subject of a massive conference held in New Jersey, organised by the indefatigable Ernie Lepore ...”

“... pieces, including some that have been unavailable in standard editions of the collected poetry, Donald Reiman and Neil Fraistat’s meticulously edited volume brings out the aims Shelley had for his verse, and the effects he sought, which remained surprisingly uniform.* Largely derivative in form and content, the poems divulge almost nothing of interest ...”

“... with some side-glances at his scientific and philosophical pretensions. It throws little further light upon his character and apart from diffusing an aura of reverence makes no attempt to assess his contribution to literature.* Yet this is to give us Hamlet without the prince. Darkness at Noon, which was first published in 1941, is one of the most ...”

“... the show should be seen. The other is its unexpected relevance, given the surprise election of Donald Trump. It is hard to forget that these paintings were all produced during a decade deeply marked by loss: lost wages, lost savings, lost homes and farms and lives and futures. Inevitably – necessarily – art had a role in answering to destruction so ...”

“... Hesse’s first major sculpture, not long before her death. Helen and Hesse’s dealer, Donald Droll, chose for the bequest not the drawings they thought her best – these were kept for the market – but those they felt would be ‘appreciated’ by Oberlin students: images that show her work changing and maturing.For many years, the Oberlin ...”

“... the model is the focus of an abstract pattern in black and white; forty years later, in the 1980s, Donald Trump in black tie sits on Mrs Trump’s golden lap and waves a champagne bottle as the pair gleam and glitter smugly against the skyline of New York. Most photographers, even fashion photographers, during those decades built reputations by making images ...”

“... Prynne’s collections: Standing by the window I heard it, while waiting for the turn. In hot light and chill air it was the crossing flow of even life, hurt in the mouth but exhausted with passion and joy. Free to leave at either side, at the fold line found in threats like herbage, the watch is fearful and promised before. The years jostle and bum up as ...”

“... field of candidates from any party in history.’ Why, the world wonders, did they end up with Donald Trump as their nominee? The primary voters could have picked Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, once the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, and, with four million votes, the runner-up to Mitt Romney in the 2012 primaries. Santorum is ...”