{"id":652192,"date":"2013-04-12T12:58:30","date_gmt":"2013-04-12T16:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.ted.com\/?p=74693"},"modified":"2013-04-12T16:04:59","modified_gmt":"2013-04-12T20:04:59","slug":"7-writerartistthinker-groups-whose-members-made-a-tremendous-impact-on-their-time-as-well-as-ours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/652192","title":{"rendered":"7 writer\/artist\/thinker groups whose members made a tremendous impact on their time … as well as ours"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo:<\/p>\n

Photo: James Duncan Davidson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In 1812, four men met for a \u201cphilosophical breakfast\u201d at Cambridge University: Charles Babbage, John Herschel, Richard Jones and William Whewell. Over food and drinks, they debated the state of knowledge \u2013- imagining a world in which thinkers drew conclusions based on data, where research was done for the good of humanity rather than for financial gain, where researchers questioned each other in the name of moving each other forward and where research received outside funding rather than requiring an individual to pay for it themselves.<\/p>\n

\"LauraLaura Snyder: The Philosophical Breakfast Club<\/span><\/a> In today\u2019s talk<\/a>, historian Laura Snyder gives us an introduction to the discussions of these four men, who eventually became known as The Philosophical Breakfast Club<\/a>. While their ideas form the basis of scientific inquiry now, their concepts were radical at the time, says Snyder in this talk from TEDGlobal 2012. It would be another 20 years before the term \u201cscientist\u201d would be coined — by Whewell. To hear about the word\u2019s dramatic unveiling, watch this talk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Philsophical Breakfast Club members went on to great things. Babbage invented the first mechanical calculator, and the first prototype of a computer. Herschel was an astronomer who mapped the stars \u2013 and also invented photography. Jones was an economist who inspired Marx. And Whewell \u2013 who also originated the words cathode a<\/i>nd\u00a0ion<\/i> — spearheaded global research with his work on tides.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, groundbreaking work often seems to happen in groups. Throughout history, clubs of writers, philosophers and artists have formed, with thinkers in the same area gathering for discussion and collaboration. For some of these groups, multiple members went on to renown. It begs the question: Can collectivity push talented individuals to greater things than they could achieve on their own?<\/p>\n

Below, a few clubs notable for their influence on modern thought.<\/p>\n

The Socrates School<\/b>
\nNotable members<\/b>: philosophers Socrates, Aristophanes, Xenophon, and Plato, who in turn taught Aristotle
\nTime frame<\/b>: Approximately 400 years BC
\nNot at all a school with desks and a blackboard, this group was known for asking big questions about politics, human nature, life and reality, and debating the answers in riveting discussions, many of which were captured on paper in texts like Plato\u2019s Dialogues<\/i>. Socrates devoted his life to teaching the youth of Athens and, together, this group set the foundations for Western philosophy.<\/p>\n

The Bloomsbury Group<\/b>
\nNotable members<\/b>: writers Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster, economist John Maynard Keynes, critic Clive Bell and painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant
\nTime frame<\/b>: 1907 through the 1930s
\nWhile it\u2019s clear that they had meetings, often at the home of Clive and Vanessa Bell in the Bloomsbury district of Central London, this circle of thinkers is hard to pin down as they denied being a formal group at all. The network included husbands, wives, siblings, friends and rivals, all exploring concepts of modernity in literature, criticism, economics and art.<\/p>\n

Stratford-on-Odeon<\/b>
\nNotable members<\/b>: writers Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein, poet Ezra Pound, composer George Antheil, artist Man Ray
\nTime frame<\/b>: 1920s
\n“Stratford-on-Odeon” was James Joyce\u2019s nickname for the bookstore Shakespeare and Company<\/a>, in Paris\u2019 Left Bank on the Rue de l’Od\u00e9on. The store became a hub for British and American modernists, and store owner Sylvia Beach published James Joyce’s Ulysses <\/i>in 1922. The store was closed during the German occupation of Paris in WWII — despite Hemingway\u2019s fabled effort to liberate it himself. (A second bookstore, popular with the Beat Generation, continues to exist at 37 rue de la B\u00fbcherie.)<\/p>\n

The Algonquin Round Table<\/b>
\nNotable members<\/b>: writers Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, Alexander Woollcott, George S. Kauffman, Franklin Pierce Adams, Marc Connolly, Edna Ferber
\nTime frame<\/b>: 1920s
\nThis New York City writers group formed as a lark, convened to share wisecracks and snide remarks among a group of humor writers, critics, columnists and playwrights, many associated with the young New Yorker <\/i>magazine. The group ended up meeting almost daily for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel.<\/p>\n

The Inklings<\/b>
\nNotable members<\/b>: writers J.R.R Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, Roger Lancelyn Green, Adam Fox, Nevil Coghilland
\nTime frame<\/b>: 1930s and 1940s
\nA literary discussion group at Oxford, the Inklings would read and discuss each others\u2019 work — most famously helping Tolkien shape The Lord of the Rings<\/i>. While meetings were generally held in C.S. Lewis\u2019 room, some were held at an Oxford pub called The Eagle and the Child.<\/p>\n

The Factory<\/b>
\nNotable members<\/b>: artists Andy Warhol and his stars Edie Sedgwick and Gerard Malanga, artist Salvador Dali, writers Allen Ginsburg and Truman Capote, musicians Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger, designer Betsey Johnson
\nTime frame<\/b>: The 1960s
\nThe Factory was the name of Andy Warhol\u2019s 1960s studio in New York City. The aluminum-foil-covered space became a gathering spot for artists, filmmakers and musicians, many who were pioneering experimental art. The Factory was also famous for wild parties and sexual exploration \u2013 and for being the place where many of our modern ideas of fame were formed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: James Duncan Davidson In 1812, four men met for a \u201cphilosophical breakfast\u201d at Cambridge University: Charles Babbage, John Herschel, Richard Jones and William Whewell. Over food and drinks, they debated the state of knowledge \u2013- imagining a world in which thinkers drew conclusions based on data, where research was done for the good of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7344,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7344"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652192\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}