Russell Shorto is the author of a book on the Dutch origins of New York City: The Island at the Center of the World. His most recent work, published in October 2008, is Descartes' Bones, which traces the wanderings of the literal skull and bones of René Descartes through three and a half centuries, and also traces the metaphorical remains of the French philosopher in the modern world.A 1981 graduate of George Washington University, Shorto is also a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and is the Director of The John Adams Institute in Amsterdam.
