What We Are Reading Today: ‘The First King of England’ by David Woodman

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Updated 03 September 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘The First King of England’ by David Woodman

“The First King of England” is a foundational biography of Æthelstan (d. 939), the early medieval king whose territorial conquests and shrewd statesmanship united the peoples, languages, and cultures that would come to be known as the “Kingdom of the English.”

In this panoramic work, David Woodman blends masterful storytelling with the latest scholarship to paint a multifaceted portrait of this immensely important but neglected figure, a man celebrated in his day as much for his benevolence, piety, and love of learning as he was for his ambitious reign.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Self-Assembling Brain’ by Peter Robin Hiesinger

Updated 11 November 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Self-Assembling Brain’ by Peter Robin Hiesinger

How does a neural network become a brain? While neurobiologists investigate how nature accomplishes this feat, computer scientists interested in artificial intelligence strive to achieve this through technology. “The Self-Assembling Brain” tells the stories of both fields, exploring the historical and modern approaches taken by the scientists pursuing answers to the quandary: What information is necessary to make an intelligent neural network?
As Peter Robin Hiesinger argues, “the information problem” underlies both fields, motivating the questions driving forward the frontiers of research.