In 1917, the German sociologist Max Weber delivered a stirring speech at the University of Munich to a hall full of students and faculty. The topic of his address was what it takes to make it in the profession of science; Weber was a stern man and a proud scientist, who believed that only those single-mindedly devoted to the scientific ideal should pursue it. But Weber’s lecture, “Science as a Vocation,” is rarely remembered for its career counseling; rather, what has endured is the account of modern life that framed his advice. “The fate of our times,” Weber famously declared, “is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the ‘disenchantment of the world.’”

Max Weber claimed today’s world is disenchanted. Actually, it’s teeming with new enchantments.