Thank goodness I am now in a job which allows me to take public transport again as I now have a good deal of time to read each day.
On the old board, somebody recommended "German Genius" by Peter Watson. I have finally got around to starting it. Very much enjoyed the first chapter on music ("The high renaissance in music: the symphony as philosophy") which would be of interest to many here, based on several posts. Good stuff on Gauss and then separately on the origins of homeopathy in the following chapter ("Cosmos, Cuneiform, Clausewitz"), the latter which may also be of some interest here.