Description
By a curious set of circumstances, Howard Burton found himself hired as a fundraising consultant at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters. Overwhelmed by the bureaucratic double-speak and smug complacency that he encountered everywhere he went, he decided to use his clear-eyed analytical skills to ask a very different sort of question: What, exactly, was UNESCO doing that was actually worth funding in the first place? Filled with his customary dry wit and penetrating observations, this book is another insightful and provocative work of societal commentary from the author of First Principles: Building Perimeter Institute and Exceptionally Upsetting: How Americans are increasingly confusing knowledge with opinion & what can be done about it. For his award-winning multimedia initiative Ideas Roadshow, Howard Burton has hosted and filmed in-depth conversations with more than 100 world-leading experts, including 3 Nobel Laureates, through a focused yet informal setting. Howard has been able to capture candid, behind-the-scenes insights into frontline academic research featuring world-leading researchers, including 3 Nobel Laureates, while revealing the inspirations and personal journeys behind the research. Howard Burton was the Founding Director of Canada’s Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics and an MA in philosophy.
