FWIW, one could argue that many of these elements are also present in a book like Godel Escher Bach.

- Your book is actually going to be a collection of essays drawn together by a loose thread. - "strange loops"

- Each of your essays is going to revolve around a single idea - pretty much every Achilles and Tortoise chapter

- Illustrate the idea with stories about real people - Godel, Escher, Bach

and so on...

I don't know about the rest of you, but I read Gladwell and Hofstadter because they are entertaining in an brain-stimulating way. When I want raw non-embezzled science, I read scientific papers. In both cases, I'll come to my own conclusions.

I don't get all this passive-agressive "holier-than-thou" attitude towards Gladwell being famous I've been seeing lately. Who cares if he's famous?