It is my great pleasure to introduce professor jacob soll from the university of southern california. Among the most innovative and ambitious scholars in the field of intellectual history, professor solls work has shown that to understand the history of thought, we must understand the practical history of thinking, of the many mundane and often overlooked activities that go into making, storing and transmitting ideas. Professor soll received his ph. D. In 1998 and subsequently taught at princeton before his current position at usc. His work has been honored by the american philosophical society, the National Endowment for the humanities, the guggenheim and most recently the Macarthur Foundation who awarded a genius front in 2012. Hes the author of numerous articles, reviews and editorials including a wonderful New York Times oped in 2009 titled avoidance by the numbers as well as now three books, each of which has recovered in its own way the formative role with a different kind of int