Discourse cheers us to companionable reflection. Such reflection neither parades polemical opinions nor does it tolerate complaisant agreement. The sail of thinking keeps trimmed hard to the wind of the matter. -- from "On the Experience of Thinking," Heidegger "Philosophy is not a theory but an activity." -- from "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus," Wittgenstein Join us soon for friendship, cooperative discourse and mental exercise, all organized around an interest in our own engagements …

We like reading compelling books on feats of science, technology and engineering derring-do! If you love reading about the amazing lives of radical inventors, laboratory wizards, eccentric investigators, audacious builders and their triumphs and tragedies, then you've found your club! We'll pick out a book, devour it cover-to-cover, and then meetup to discuss what we really liked about it. We'll pick different meeting places in or around Chicago, so everyone's welcome!

The objective of the Big Picture Book Club is focus on and discuss books addressing the big questions of human history, science and technology, social and political issues, the future, and how we, as individuals, can flourish and even make a difference in the Big Picture. You can check out an initial list of books we're interested in here. No one can read every book for every meeting. In each meeting notice, there are at least a few online "book content cheats," including links materials about t …