Great Minds on Small Things by Matthew Qvortrup (hardback)

When they were not thinking about deep questions of metaphysics and the meaning of life, history’s most renowned thinkers turned their intellects to relatively frivolous matters. Qvortrup has produced a light-hearted compendium of their less highbrow wisdom, including Laozi’s dislike of roads, Aristotle’s advice for curing hiccups, Hannah Arendt’s views on laughter and Wittgenstein’s reflections on the artichoke.