A conversation with 2011 MacArthur Fellow Jacob Soll

Hour 1

MacArthur Fellow Jacob Soll (Courtesy the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation)

Last week Rutgers history professor JACOB SOLL received word that he had been selected as a 2011 MacArthur Fellow.  The honor, which recognizes creative accomplishments in varied fields, is known as the "genius grant" and comes with a $500,000 financial award to be used over five years.  Soll's scholarship focuses on the birth of information systems in modern Europe mixing the history of science, finance, libraries and politics.  Among his current research interests is the role of accounting in making modern states from Renaissance Italy to current day Wall Street.  Said Soll about his award, "History is having time to think, meander, find strange connections and follow improbable leads.  The MacArthur will let me put some of this humanity back into my research and life."   We've invited JACOB Soll to join us in this hour of Radio Times to talk about his work and how it informs current events.

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