Science and's bookshelf: read en-US Sun, 04 May 2025 17:24:28 -0700 60 Science and's bookshelf: read 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain]]> 1297985 400 Oliver Sacks Science and 4 psychology 3.95 2007 Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
author: Oliver Sacks
name: Science and
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/05/04
shelves: psychology
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness]]> 41822884 230 Bruce Rosenblum 0715643177 Science and 5 science, consciousness What the Bleep for its overreaching sensationalism.

For readers who want an overview on all the salient talking points about quantum theory in a single book this gets my highest recommendation. What sets it apart from other popularizers is that the joint authors Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner (identified whenever one of them is talking) have developed and taught a course for liberal arts undergraduates (non-science majors) and over the years they have learned what the most effective tools and analogies are for students who are not strong in mathematics or particle physics. Others have taught such courses, such as David Mermin at Cornell, but Rosenblum and Kuttner have put all their insights into this excellent book.

Other popularizers � Brian Greene, Michio Kaku, Sean Carroll - no doubt have a talent for communication, and different readers respond to their different styles, but aside from short interviews when promoting books, or spending twenty minutes trying to explain something to Joe Rogan (!), these other authors spend most of their time with science majors, post-docs, fellow colleagues, and attending specialty conferences. Rosenblum and Kuttner have learned where the points of resistance are and have carefully curated answers to break through the cognitive fog.

Even though I’ve been studying this topic since the 70's and even heard Feynman lecture, the presentation of contested interpretations put things into a new perspective for me. It also prompted me fine-hone my own positions, which led me to pull down a few books from my shelf to review the concept of determinism vs. free will (Dan Dennett’s Consciousness Explained, and Sabine Hossenfelder’s Existential Physics).

The disconnect between Newtonian Physics and Quantum Theory is something that bothered both Schrodinger and Einstein, and while others shrugged off the underlying mystery because the experimental results were infallible, several decades were lost until John Bell looked at the problem again. Rosenblum and Kuttner show us exactly how important Bell’s work was. I too share the opinion that a reconciliation must be out there.

My own takeaway (which might not be your takeaway) is that the ultimate answer to the problem will not be revealed by delving further down the reductionist trail to the Planck length. The answer, seems to me, will likely be at the macro level, something that impacts and influences both systems. Maybe when we learn more about Dark Energy we will get closer to the truth of the place of consciousness in the cosmos.]]> 4.19 Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness
author: Bruce Rosenblum
name: Science and
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/05/03
date added: 2025/05/04
shelves: science, consciousness
review:
This is an excellent book on three accounts: it provides a clear overview of Newtonian (deterministic) physics; it gives an impartial review of the various interpretations of the quantum enigma; it presents an open-minded look at the interface of physics and consciousness without venturing into woo-woo pseudoscience. This last point was where I initially had some trepidation when I saw “physics encounters consciousness� in the title. I was therefore relieved when early on in the book the authors have this to say: “You can summarize the implications of Copernicus or Darwin in a few sentences. Try summarizing the implications of quantum theory, and what you get sounds mystical.� They go on to denounce the movie What the Bleep for its overreaching sensationalism.

For readers who want an overview on all the salient talking points about quantum theory in a single book this gets my highest recommendation. What sets it apart from other popularizers is that the joint authors Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner (identified whenever one of them is talking) have developed and taught a course for liberal arts undergraduates (non-science majors) and over the years they have learned what the most effective tools and analogies are for students who are not strong in mathematics or particle physics. Others have taught such courses, such as David Mermin at Cornell, but Rosenblum and Kuttner have put all their insights into this excellent book.

Other popularizers � Brian Greene, Michio Kaku, Sean Carroll - no doubt have a talent for communication, and different readers respond to their different styles, but aside from short interviews when promoting books, or spending twenty minutes trying to explain something to Joe Rogan (!), these other authors spend most of their time with science majors, post-docs, fellow colleagues, and attending specialty conferences. Rosenblum and Kuttner have learned where the points of resistance are and have carefully curated answers to break through the cognitive fog.

Even though I’ve been studying this topic since the 70's and even heard Feynman lecture, the presentation of contested interpretations put things into a new perspective for me. It also prompted me fine-hone my own positions, which led me to pull down a few books from my shelf to review the concept of determinism vs. free will (Dan Dennett’s Consciousness Explained, and Sabine Hossenfelder’s Existential Physics).

The disconnect between Newtonian Physics and Quantum Theory is something that bothered both Schrodinger and Einstein, and while others shrugged off the underlying mystery because the experimental results were infallible, several decades were lost until John Bell looked at the problem again. Rosenblum and Kuttner show us exactly how important Bell’s work was. I too share the opinion that a reconciliation must be out there.

My own takeaway (which might not be your takeaway) is that the ultimate answer to the problem will not be revealed by delving further down the reductionist trail to the Planck length. The answer, seems to me, will likely be at the macro level, something that impacts and influences both systems. Maybe when we learn more about Dark Energy we will get closer to the truth of the place of consciousness in the cosmos.
]]> <![CDATA[The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World]]> 10483171
In our search for truth, how far have we advanced? This uniquely human quest for good explanations has driven amazing improvements in everything from scientific understanding and technology to politics, moral values and human welfare. But will progress end, either in catastrophe or completion - or will it continue infinitely?

In this profound and seminal book, David Deutsch explores the furthest reaches of our current understanding, taking in the Infinity Hotel, supernovae and the nature of optimism, to instill in all of us a wonder at what we have achieved - and the fact that this is only the beginning of humanity's infinite possibility.

'This is Deutsch at his most ambitious, seeking to understand the implications of our scientific explanations of the world ... I enthusiastically recommend this rich, wide-ranging and elegantly written exposition of the unique insights of one of our most original intellectuals' Michael Berry, Times Higher Education Supplement

'Bold ... profound ... provocative and persuasive' Economist

'David Deutsch may well go down in history as one of the great scientists of our age' Scotsman]]> 487 David Deutsch 0670022756 Science and 0 currently-reading, science 4.16 2011 The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World
author: David Deutsch
name: Science and
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/03
shelves: currently-reading, science
review:

]]> This Alien Shore 1538498 Jamisia has always lived in Shido Habitat, a corporate satellite in Earth's outer orbit. She has no memories of her parents, but has been nurtured by the fatherly care of her tutor. Protected by her biological brain-ware systems, and accompanied by the many voices in her head, she has grown into a resourceful, if unusual, young woman. When Shido is viciously attacked by corporate raiders, Jamisia's tutor risks his life to smuggle her onto a ship bound for the nearest ainniq - the Gueran jump station to the Up-and-Out. But before he dies, he tells her something which rocks the foundation of her world - the raiders were searching for her....]]> 565 C.S. Friedman 0886777984 Science and 0 3.92 1998 This Alien Shore
author: C.S. Friedman
name: Science and
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/03
shelves: currently-reading, science-fiction
review:

]]> Stand on Zanzibar 41069 U.S.A. Trilogy, Stand on Zanzibar is a cross-section of a world overpopulated by the billions. Where society is squeezed into hive-living madness by god-like mega computers, mass-marketed psychedelic drugs, and mundane uses of genetic engineering. Though written in 1968, it speaks of 2010, and is frighteningly prescient and intensely powerful.

This edition comes with a tipped in collectors' note and an introduction by David Brin.]]> 672 John Brunner 1857988361 Science and 3 speculative-fiction Stand on Zanzibar is the most famous, winner of the 1969 Hugo award, though I prefer Sheep Look Up (1972) for its better character development and drama. Shockwave Rider (1975), exploring the cyber world, also has its fans. All three looked at different ways to present information to the reader including news reports, dreamlike reveries, flashbacks, side conversations, self-reference, and even some stream-of-consciousness passages. Written at the peak of the science fiction New Wave movement (focusing on social issues rather than science or technology) Brunner was cutting edge. Only Philip K. Dick pushed the envelope further (the later works with their drug-induced haze, too far in my opinion). Other writers popular at this time, such as Robert Silverberg or Ursula Le Guin, explored new ideas but always maintained a more traditional writing style and communication to the reader.

All that to say: prepare yourself for the cognitive cacophony that begins right at the start of Stand on Zanzibar. You’ll get a good dose of the made-up slang “Afram" (African-American) including words like shiggies, codders, and drecky, so you’ll have to guess meanings by context. On this re-read I did skim over some of the news reports and random info feed that is just background noise against the actual narrative. The theme of overpopulation and clamor over depleting resources was a big theme when this was written, though much of that scare will hardly resonate with readers now living in an era of consumer over-abundance, more calories than we need for a healthy lifestyle, hyper capitalism that preys on our insecurities to buy more stuff, world population in the developed world on the decline, and where even indigenous peoples living without indoor plumbing still have their cellphones and escapist entertainment right at their fingertips.

Brunner gave us a glimpse of what might happen with an overly passive and/or corrupt government that fails to check the unbridled greed of mega-corporations and allows them to become de facto arbiters of power and policy in society. Brunner also saw the decline of macro development in the United States in favor of communication technology, computers, pharmaceuticals and genetic engineering. This was shown to be true a few years back when the Empire State Building needed all its windows replaced to more be more energy efficient and they had to outsource the job to Germany and the Netherlands because engineering and construction design (the macro world) has all but been left behind in America (which is why our bridges and water processing plants are falling apart while largesse from Tech Titans get hospital wings named after themselves). So read Stand on Zanzibar for its insights into corporate greed; something that developed to an art form and has its pernicious reach every time we do an internet search.

If you are looking to explore Brunner I’d suggest try one of the experimental novels like Sheep Look Up and compare that against one of his works written in a more traditional style, like The Whole Man (1964) and see which style you prefer.]]> 3.95 1968 Stand on Zanzibar
author: John Brunner
name: Science and
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1968
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/03
date added: 2025/05/03
shelves: speculative-fiction
review:
John Brunner’s claim to fame rests on three experimental novels written between 1967 and 1975. Of the three, Stand on Zanzibar is the most famous, winner of the 1969 Hugo award, though I prefer Sheep Look Up (1972) for its better character development and drama. Shockwave Rider (1975), exploring the cyber world, also has its fans. All three looked at different ways to present information to the reader including news reports, dreamlike reveries, flashbacks, side conversations, self-reference, and even some stream-of-consciousness passages. Written at the peak of the science fiction New Wave movement (focusing on social issues rather than science or technology) Brunner was cutting edge. Only Philip K. Dick pushed the envelope further (the later works with their drug-induced haze, too far in my opinion). Other writers popular at this time, such as Robert Silverberg or Ursula Le Guin, explored new ideas but always maintained a more traditional writing style and communication to the reader.

All that to say: prepare yourself for the cognitive cacophony that begins right at the start of Stand on Zanzibar. You’ll get a good dose of the made-up slang “Afram" (African-American) including words like shiggies, codders, and drecky, so you’ll have to guess meanings by context. On this re-read I did skim over some of the news reports and random info feed that is just background noise against the actual narrative. The theme of overpopulation and clamor over depleting resources was a big theme when this was written, though much of that scare will hardly resonate with readers now living in an era of consumer over-abundance, more calories than we need for a healthy lifestyle, hyper capitalism that preys on our insecurities to buy more stuff, world population in the developed world on the decline, and where even indigenous peoples living without indoor plumbing still have their cellphones and escapist entertainment right at their fingertips.

Brunner gave us a glimpse of what might happen with an overly passive and/or corrupt government that fails to check the unbridled greed of mega-corporations and allows them to become de facto arbiters of power and policy in society. Brunner also saw the decline of macro development in the United States in favor of communication technology, computers, pharmaceuticals and genetic engineering. This was shown to be true a few years back when the Empire State Building needed all its windows replaced to more be more energy efficient and they had to outsource the job to Germany and the Netherlands because engineering and construction design (the macro world) has all but been left behind in America (which is why our bridges and water processing plants are falling apart while largesse from Tech Titans get hospital wings named after themselves). So read Stand on Zanzibar for its insights into corporate greed; something that developed to an art form and has its pernicious reach every time we do an internet search.

If you are looking to explore Brunner I’d suggest try one of the experimental novels like Sheep Look Up and compare that against one of his works written in a more traditional style, like The Whole Man (1964) and see which style you prefer.
]]> Wild Dark Shore 211004089
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.

Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.]]> 303 Charlotte McConaghy 1250827957 Science and 4 fiction
The reason I’m not giving five stars is not so much for the ending but for the emotionally-drenched display of asymmetrical unihemispheric cognitive processing in all these characters. Everybody in this story seems to spend their entire day brooding about past losses and stewing in guilt and regret. I’d characterize the two adults as being on the verge of a psychotic break, the two teens extremely troubled, and the only character that seems remotely sane is the youngest, Orly, who is engaged in learning about the world and manages to keep the interpersonal drama at bay ([spoilers removed]). I suspect that the five star raves are for readers who found some sort of emotional catharsis in this story.

Additionally, I found at least a dozen passages in the book to be cringe-worthy. Passages where Rowan intimates that she wants to drink in his scent, taste and feel the texture of his skin with her tongue. I find that kind of creepy. Or this passage where Dominic ruminates about the relationship with his children: “Mine are the blood of me, and the oxygen in that blood, the airflow and the neurons firing and the stretch and release of muscles in limbs, they are the foundations that make up my skeleton, all the collagen and calcium upon which I stand and fall, and the pulse and the flow and the beat.� Maybe my network of friends and family is too small to compare, but I don’t know of any father figures who would entertain such thoughts.

I don’t think my response has anything to do with my being of an older generation of reader, nor much to do with my gender; it’s probably just a personality thing. This is why I generally stay in my own lane reading science and science fiction. But based on the overall high rating I’d say the author was spot on for the intended audience who love a good weepy.
]]> 4.25 2025 Wild Dark Shore
author: Charlotte McConaghy
name: Science and
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: fiction
review:
Four stars for the evocative writing which vividly portrays the landscape and the characters that scrabble for existence on this bleak and inhospitable island at the edge of the world. The premise of a family hanging on after the research station has been closed is interesting and there’s a bit of a mystery as a newcomer washes ashore and the various primary characters each guard their own secrets from each other. The writing craft itself is very good, and the author’s ability to portray a look and feel in the reader’s mind is admirable, so I was never tempted to go lower than four stars. But I can understand that the ending is what made some readers rate this lower. All I can say without spoilers is that given the madness and peril at every turn it would be unrealistic to expect every character to make it out alive by the end.

The reason I’m not giving five stars is not so much for the ending but for the emotionally-drenched display of asymmetrical unihemispheric cognitive processing in all these characters. Everybody in this story seems to spend their entire day brooding about past losses and stewing in guilt and regret. I’d characterize the two adults as being on the verge of a psychotic break, the two teens extremely troubled, and the only character that seems remotely sane is the youngest, Orly, who is engaged in learning about the world and manages to keep the interpersonal drama at bay ([spoilers removed]). I suspect that the five star raves are for readers who found some sort of emotional catharsis in this story.

Additionally, I found at least a dozen passages in the book to be cringe-worthy. Passages where Rowan intimates that she wants to drink in his scent, taste and feel the texture of his skin with her tongue. I find that kind of creepy. Or this passage where Dominic ruminates about the relationship with his children: “Mine are the blood of me, and the oxygen in that blood, the airflow and the neurons firing and the stretch and release of muscles in limbs, they are the foundations that make up my skeleton, all the collagen and calcium upon which I stand and fall, and the pulse and the flow and the beat.� Maybe my network of friends and family is too small to compare, but I don’t know of any father figures who would entertain such thoughts.

I don’t think my response has anything to do with my being of an older generation of reader, nor much to do with my gender; it’s probably just a personality thing. This is why I generally stay in my own lane reading science and science fiction. But based on the overall high rating I’d say the author was spot on for the intended audience who love a good weepy.

]]> Veronika Decides to Die 1431 The Alchemist addresses the fundamental questions asked by millions: What am I doing here today? and Why do I go on living?

Twenty-four-year-old Veronika seems to have everything she could wish for: youth and beauty, plenty of attractive boyfriends, a fulfilling job, and a loving family. Yet something is lacking in her life. Inside her is a void so deep that nothing could possibly ever fill it. So, on the morning of November 11, 1997, Veronika decides to die. She takes a handful of sleeping pills expecting never to wake up.

Naturally Veronika is stunned when she does wake up at Villete, a local mental hospital, where the staff informs her that she has, in fact, partially succeeded in achieving her goal. While the overdose didn't kill Veronika immediately, the medication has damaged her heart so severely that she has only days to live.

The story follows Veronika through the intense week of self-discovery that ensues. To her surprise, Veronika finds herself drawn to the confinement of Villete and its patients, who, each in his or her individual way, reflect the heart of human experience. In the heightened state of life's final moments, Veronika discovers things she has never really allowed herself to feel before: hatred, fear, curiosity, love, and sexual awakening. She finds that every second of her existence is a choice between living and dying, and at the eleventh hour emerges more open to life than ever before.

In Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho takes the reader on a distinctly modern quest to find meaning in a culture overshadowed by angst, soulless routine, and pervasive conformity. Based on events in Coelho's own life, Veronika Decides to Die questions the meaning of madness and celebrates individuals who do not fit into patterns society considers to be normal. Poignant and illuminating, it is a dazzling portrait of a young woman at the crossroads of despair and liberation, and a poetic, exuberant appreciation of each day as a renewed opportunity.

]]> 285 Paulo Coelho Science and 0 3.75 1998 Veronika Decides to Die
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Science and
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves:
review:

]]> The Alchemist 865 197 Paulo Coelho 0061122416 Science and 0 3.85 1988 The Alchemist
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Science and
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves:
review:

]]> Eleven Minutes 1430 Eleven Minutes is the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heartbroken. At a tender age, she becomes convinced that she will never find true love, instead believing that “love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer. . . .� A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, where she dreams of finding fame and fortune.

Maria’s despairing view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter. In this odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose between pursuing a path of darkness—sexual pleasure for its own sake—or risking everything to find her own “inner light� and the possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.]]> 273 Paulo Coelho 0060589280 Science and 0 3.74 2003 Eleven Minutes
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Science and
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves:
review:

]]> The Pilgrimage 2759537 The Pilgrimage paved the way to Paulo Coehlo's international bestselling novel The Alchemist. In many ways, these two volumes are companions—to truly comprehend one, you must read the other.

Step inside this captivating account of Paulo Coehlo's pilgrimage along the road to Santiago. This fascinating parable explores the need to find one's own path. In the end, we discover that the extraordinary is always found in the ordinary and simple ways of everyday people. Part adventure story, part guide to self-discovery, this compelling tale delivers the perfect combination of enchantment and insight.]]> 280 Paulo Coelho Science and 0 3.72 1987 The Pilgrimage
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Science and
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Science of Being Human: Why We Behave, Think and Feel the Way We Do]]> 45992774 224 Marty Jopson 178929164X Science and 4 science, biology
Do I really need to know any of this, or does it help me understand my place in the cosmos? No. But, it is interesting enough to pass the time, or for a commuter read of something that is not too engrossing of one’s attention, and for what it sets out to do it is fine.]]> 3.59 The Science of Being Human: Why We Behave, Think and Feel the Way We Do
author: Marty Jopson
name: Science and
average rating: 3.59
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/17
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: science, biology
review:
In the vein of Steven Johnson and Bill Bryson, Jopson offers us odd facts of our biology, including uncanny valley, micturition (fighting the urge to urinate in order to increase mental focus!), why two thirds of the world is lactose intolerant, various theories for how different skin colors arose (when 10,000 years humans were a more uniform brown), and a good dose of trivia stumpers like how 3D cinema was developed or finding out that the inventor of the lie-detector was also the creator of the comic book heroine Wonder Woman.

Do I really need to know any of this, or does it help me understand my place in the cosmos? No. But, it is interesting enough to pass the time, or for a commuter read of something that is not too engrossing of one’s attention, and for what it sets out to do it is fine.
]]> The Whole Man 872226
At first Howson thought his peculiar ability was odd, and then he thought he might be able to get a little extra money by snooping on people. But when his ability finally was discovered by others, he became so powerful that he could use his gift to heal the minds of those who suffered from terrible emotional or psychological trauma...or he could withdraw into a phatasmagoric wonderland of psychic imagining, never to emerge into the real world of human experience again. Whichever decision he made, his life and the lives of countless others would never be the same again.

The Whole Man is one of the most brilliantly original and colorfully told adventures of inner space ever written. Hugo Award winner John Brunner makes utterly real a fantastic concept that most writers can't even write about.]]> 188 John Brunner 0020302754 Science and 4 science-fantasy
In some alternate view of world events Brunner has most of the world involved in petty wars and societies verging on dystopian collapse. What keep things from getting worse is that the UN has a task force of telepathic “peacekeepers� who tamp down violence at every flare point. At the heart of the story is a Gerry Howson, born with disabling deformities, yet also the strongest telepathic ability ever seen. Brunner shows the day-to-day reality of how the social pariah discovers his ability and sees the consequence of using the power for good or bad intent. Once the UN task force discovers him, we have a whole new cast of supporting characters who are all interesting in their own right. Especially as one of the other agents succumbs to a life of inward fantasy (as the Greek hero Pericles) and begins to radiate outward chaos. There are also telepathic “battles� and telepathic “near death� experiences. Brunner had a fertile imagination, no question.

The story is somewhat uneven in pacing, ranging from three to five stars depending on what is happening. At its slowest, as when we witness how Howson initially explores his abilities, I felt I either needed another cup of coffee or a nap. But at its most engaging it was as good as any Michael Crichton thriller. An example of that is when we get an entire chapter (borrowed from a previously published short story) devoted to a showdown between two master telepathists involving an elaborate fantasy world of a camel caravan traveling along the ancient Silk Road.

All the while, whether the pacing is slow or fast, we get some of Brunner’s most powerful writing, possibly his best, and in support of this opinion I would guide the reader to pages 53 and 54 as a prime example. It’s not that the writing is “beautiful� because it is describes some of the ugliness of humanity, but it is the power and vividness of it that I found so striking.

On the topic of opinions, I’ve been wondering why this is not counted among one of Brunner’s best works. My theory is that Brunner has been canonized as a New Wave writer, and all his major works from the late 60’s and 70’s dealing with the big social issues of the time are what gave his name claim to fame. Written in 1964, Whole Man, is right on this cusp in terms of concepts, but still anchored in a realistic writing style that I can relate to. If you are fan of peak New Wave science fiction where the weirder the better, then Whole Man will seem a rather middling work. Hence the overall lower average score on ŷ: it just doesn’t fit the profile of what readers expect from Brunner.

I prefer books that present a bit of a brain tickle, not so much whole-scale mind-bending incoherence. I appreciate a story that is told in chronological sequence, that doesn’t rely on tricks of narrative technique for innovation, and where interesting and unusual concepts are presented in a fashion that doesn’t leave you pondering what the heck is actually going on. For me it’s a difference between getting through a book as an intellectual exercise just to understand the premise (like Shockwave Rider), versus looking forward to each sitting to see how things evolve (like Whole Man). That may be why I tend to rate books like the Whole Man, Total Eclipse, and Maze of Stars, all somewhat higher than the ŷ average.

Verdict: if you are fan of Brunner’s peak New Wave style this may seem too straight forward; for me, Whole Man, while at times a bit of a slow burn, has some of Brunner’s best and most powerful writing.
]]> 3.69 1964 The Whole Man
author: John Brunner
name: Science and
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1964
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/17
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: science-fantasy
review:
I see that I read this in 1992 and gave it an 8.5/10 rating, and that’s pretty much where I land on the re-read. But I put off the re-read because the premise about telepathy didn’t seem very promising to me. ESP and psychic powers as a pseudoscience caught the imagination of the public in the 60s and 70s, but as a scientific empiricist I don’t care for stories that involve inexplicable paranormal ability. Brunner treats the idea of telepathy seriously and throws in a lot of scientific-sounding ideas to give some semblance of credibility, and if one is willing to allow the conceit of fantastical and paranormal powers, an author deserves credit for telling a story in a beautiful and compelling manner. What really makes this story work for me is how Brunner creates a character who, despite his flaws, elicits our sympathies and understanding. The character development and the powerful imagery of the writing are what kept me invested in the outcome.

In some alternate view of world events Brunner has most of the world involved in petty wars and societies verging on dystopian collapse. What keep things from getting worse is that the UN has a task force of telepathic “peacekeepers� who tamp down violence at every flare point. At the heart of the story is a Gerry Howson, born with disabling deformities, yet also the strongest telepathic ability ever seen. Brunner shows the day-to-day reality of how the social pariah discovers his ability and sees the consequence of using the power for good or bad intent. Once the UN task force discovers him, we have a whole new cast of supporting characters who are all interesting in their own right. Especially as one of the other agents succumbs to a life of inward fantasy (as the Greek hero Pericles) and begins to radiate outward chaos. There are also telepathic “battles� and telepathic “near death� experiences. Brunner had a fertile imagination, no question.

The story is somewhat uneven in pacing, ranging from three to five stars depending on what is happening. At its slowest, as when we witness how Howson initially explores his abilities, I felt I either needed another cup of coffee or a nap. But at its most engaging it was as good as any Michael Crichton thriller. An example of that is when we get an entire chapter (borrowed from a previously published short story) devoted to a showdown between two master telepathists involving an elaborate fantasy world of a camel caravan traveling along the ancient Silk Road.

All the while, whether the pacing is slow or fast, we get some of Brunner’s most powerful writing, possibly his best, and in support of this opinion I would guide the reader to pages 53 and 54 as a prime example. It’s not that the writing is “beautiful� because it is describes some of the ugliness of humanity, but it is the power and vividness of it that I found so striking.

On the topic of opinions, I’ve been wondering why this is not counted among one of Brunner’s best works. My theory is that Brunner has been canonized as a New Wave writer, and all his major works from the late 60’s and 70’s dealing with the big social issues of the time are what gave his name claim to fame. Written in 1964, Whole Man, is right on this cusp in terms of concepts, but still anchored in a realistic writing style that I can relate to. If you are fan of peak New Wave science fiction where the weirder the better, then Whole Man will seem a rather middling work. Hence the overall lower average score on ŷ: it just doesn’t fit the profile of what readers expect from Brunner.

I prefer books that present a bit of a brain tickle, not so much whole-scale mind-bending incoherence. I appreciate a story that is told in chronological sequence, that doesn’t rely on tricks of narrative technique for innovation, and where interesting and unusual concepts are presented in a fashion that doesn’t leave you pondering what the heck is actually going on. For me it’s a difference between getting through a book as an intellectual exercise just to understand the premise (like Shockwave Rider), versus looking forward to each sitting to see how things evolve (like Whole Man). That may be why I tend to rate books like the Whole Man, Total Eclipse, and Maze of Stars, all somewhat higher than the ŷ average.

Verdict: if you are fan of Brunner’s peak New Wave style this may seem too straight forward; for me, Whole Man, while at times a bit of a slow burn, has some of Brunner’s best and most powerful writing.

]]> <![CDATA[On the Fringe: Where Science Meets Pseudoscience]]> 55332410
On the Fringe explores the philosophical and historical attempts to address this problem of demarcation. This book argues that by understanding doctrines that are often seen as antithetical to science, we can learn a great deal about how science operated in the past and does today. This exploration raises several questions: How does a doctrine become demonized as pseudoscientific? Who has the authority to make these pronouncements? How is the status of science shaped by political or cultural contexts? How does pseudoscience differ from scientific fraud?

Michael D. Gordin both answers these questions and guides readers along a bewildering array of marginalized doctrines, looking at parapsychology (ESP), Lysenkoism, scientific racism, and alchemy, among others, to better understand the struggle to define what science is and is not, and how the controversies have shifted over the centuries. On the Fringe provides a historical tour through many of these fringe fields in order to provide tools to think deeply about scientific controversies both in the past and in our present.
]]> 136 Michael D. Gordin 0197555764 Science and 4 pseudo-science, science
The book is short and to the point - only 101 pages before notes - and is clearly organized by topic, with extensive notes and suggestions for further reading. Areas covered include UFO’s, water memory, cold fusion, eugenics, flat-Earthers, and much more. Those readers just beginning to explore the sciences will be captivated by how easily pseudoscience passes for real science, and how easily pseudoscience attains funding and dissemination in the infosphere. I found the last chapter most interesting: how think tanks sponsored by corporations or special interest groups submit studies and white papers that pass as scientific information, when in fact, they are not peer reviewed and usually aim to sow dissension or confusion against a consensus based on verifiable evidence. This all began in 1954 with an American marketing firm hired by the tobacco industry to forestall the research that was showing the negative effects of smoking.

Falling under the category of misinformation, and something I’ve noticed more in the last couple years since this book was written in 2021, is the rise of AI-generated scientific “fake news.� Every day on Google News, Facebook, and YouTube I see fantastic clickbait with titles like “Scientist proves there was never a Big Bang,� or “Evidence that conscious intelligence arose before life� which are all tempting to look at. But, after being burned 99% of the time, I know better than to click, because that will only increase the algorithm to disseminate this nonsense. Most of these AI-generated articles and AI-voiced videos have as a root a single speculative comment by some well-known popularizer like Michio Kaku or Neil deGrasse Tyson, then AI extrapolates an entire article designed for maximum views. But remember folks, like Carl Sagan admonished: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence!�

The most interesting point in the book for me was that to stifle all pseudoscience by insisting on peer review and conformity to established scientific methods, nearly all innovation in the sciences would be lost. Certainly any of the revolutionary ideas that change the face of science. And, as I’ve said myself in reviews on books about education, we can’t blame the internet or scream that we need to throw more money at the education system, because pseudoscience has been around for centuries, and the flat-Earthers making the rounds on media outlets today all had the same education as I had or any other scientist. It comes down to whether students are brought up in an environment that values the process of how to think, how to arrive at an understanding of something by looking at facts rather than just sitting passively and absorbing information that may very well be tainted by ideology, religion, or cultural traditions. Gordin’s last chapter describes perfectly how this all plays out, and that, unfortunately, science will always have the shadow of pseudoscience at its side. Whether the shadows are benign or if they hide monsters is something that rational human beings will have to continue to wrestle with well into the future.
]]> 3.73 2021 On the Fringe: Where Science Meets Pseudoscience
author: Michael D. Gordin
name: Science and
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/12
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: pseudo-science, science
review:
This book, about the distinction between science and pseudoscience, would make for the perfect course outline for a part of an “introduction to the sciences� class in the later years of secondary education or early years of college. I hope it inspires some teacher to integrate these talking points into a good portion of a semester class. As a book, I’m resigned to believe that it won’t have as much impact as it could have simply because enthusiasts such as myself already know most of this, and the people most likely to benefit will probably never pick it up.

The book is short and to the point - only 101 pages before notes - and is clearly organized by topic, with extensive notes and suggestions for further reading. Areas covered include UFO’s, water memory, cold fusion, eugenics, flat-Earthers, and much more. Those readers just beginning to explore the sciences will be captivated by how easily pseudoscience passes for real science, and how easily pseudoscience attains funding and dissemination in the infosphere. I found the last chapter most interesting: how think tanks sponsored by corporations or special interest groups submit studies and white papers that pass as scientific information, when in fact, they are not peer reviewed and usually aim to sow dissension or confusion against a consensus based on verifiable evidence. This all began in 1954 with an American marketing firm hired by the tobacco industry to forestall the research that was showing the negative effects of smoking.

Falling under the category of misinformation, and something I’ve noticed more in the last couple years since this book was written in 2021, is the rise of AI-generated scientific “fake news.� Every day on Google News, Facebook, and YouTube I see fantastic clickbait with titles like “Scientist proves there was never a Big Bang,� or “Evidence that conscious intelligence arose before life� which are all tempting to look at. But, after being burned 99% of the time, I know better than to click, because that will only increase the algorithm to disseminate this nonsense. Most of these AI-generated articles and AI-voiced videos have as a root a single speculative comment by some well-known popularizer like Michio Kaku or Neil deGrasse Tyson, then AI extrapolates an entire article designed for maximum views. But remember folks, like Carl Sagan admonished: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence!�

The most interesting point in the book for me was that to stifle all pseudoscience by insisting on peer review and conformity to established scientific methods, nearly all innovation in the sciences would be lost. Certainly any of the revolutionary ideas that change the face of science. And, as I’ve said myself in reviews on books about education, we can’t blame the internet or scream that we need to throw more money at the education system, because pseudoscience has been around for centuries, and the flat-Earthers making the rounds on media outlets today all had the same education as I had or any other scientist. It comes down to whether students are brought up in an environment that values the process of how to think, how to arrive at an understanding of something by looking at facts rather than just sitting passively and absorbing information that may very well be tainted by ideology, religion, or cultural traditions. Gordin’s last chapter describes perfectly how this all plays out, and that, unfortunately, science will always have the shadow of pseudoscience at its side. Whether the shadows are benign or if they hide monsters is something that rational human beings will have to continue to wrestle with well into the future.

]]> The Shockwave Rider 52726127
Nickie Halflinger, the only person to escape from Tarnover- where they raise hyper-intelligent children to maintain the political dominance of the USA in the 21st century � is on the run, dodging from loophole to crevice to crack in the computerised data-net that binds the continent like chains. After years of flight and constant changes of identity, at the strange small town called Precipice he discovers he is not alone in his quest. But can his new allies save him when he falls again into the sinister grasp of Tarnover...?]]> 320 John Brunner 1473228301 Science and 3
Basically, the story is about a conman grifter and fugitive who hides out in virtual realities, changing his persona when the government sniffers get too close. This is Brunner’s “hero� of the story, but hardly an upstanding person that I can rally behind, even though Brunner does fill in a little backstory about his tough childhood, being abandoned by his parents and bouncing from family to family as a sort of “rent-a-kid.�

It’s a convoluted story of corporate espionage, a government run like a crime syndicate, flashbacks and hallucinogenic episodes, everybody taking tranquilizers to help with stress, weird dream-like relationships, genetically enhanced canines, and of course, the now famous first discussion of a computer virus, developed as a tool to try and keep the government sniffers at bay.

The government goons are minimally described and function almost as anonymous people who try to track down the conman. In principle, this could make a good plot, but think of how this compares with the film The Fugitive where we are given just enough backstory to sympathize with the fugitive (Harrison Ford) and fully understand his righteous indignation at being falsely accused. We also understand the unyielding code of honor of the pursuer (Tommy Lee Jones). But Brunner doesn’t give us any reason to have sympathy or empathy for any of the characters here.

At this point I’m sticking with my three recommendations for Brunner: Firstly Maze of Stars (his final masterpiece in my opinion, which also has the advantage of being set far in the future and thus insulated from some of the context that gives other Brunner works a dated feel), then, Stand on Zanzibar and Sheep Look Up which still seem to have some resonance in today’s world. If you like New Wave works that have you guessing about what’s going on, like most of late Philip K. Dick, you may very well like this more than I did. If so, skip my recommendation for Maze of Stars, which, with its narrative clarity, represents a near polar opposite in terms of writing style. I’d summarize Shockwave Rider as a convoluted quasi-hallucinogenic tale of dystopia, and with organizations with names like Hearing Aid and Electric Skillet, we also get a side order of absurdism. If that sounds enticing then go for it.

By the way, I’m disappointed with the SF Masterworks edition of Shockwave Rider. For the re-read I got rid of my old paperback and purchased this newer edition because I’ve liked other books in this SF reprint series. The introduction is in nice crisp print, but the actual novel looks like it might have been enlarged from a low resolution scanner (you can see the scan clipped the edges off of sentences on some pages) and for a fussy older reader such as myself this does not make for a pleasant reading experience. As I said, other books in this series have nice clear printing, and maybe it was just one printing run that was subpar, but I advise looking for a different edition unless you can physically inspect the book.]]> 3.77 1975 The Shockwave Rider
author: John Brunner
name: Science and
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1975
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: dystopia, science-fiction, virtual-reality
review:
This last year I’ve been re-reading the ten Brunner novels in my collection (two more to go), but I don’t think Shockwave Rider will end up among my top three. When I first read this back in 1981 (and remember liking it a bit more) I had just come off a period of reading the French existentialists and just about everything from the absurdist playwrights (Ionesco, Beckett, etc.), so Brunner’s dissociative narrative in Shockwave Rider seemed reasonable. Now, not so much. Plus, back in 1981 many of the ideas presented here were still to come in the future. Now, it has lost most of its Toffler-inspired paranoia. What we are left with is lack of a plot and almost zero character development.

Basically, the story is about a conman grifter and fugitive who hides out in virtual realities, changing his persona when the government sniffers get too close. This is Brunner’s “hero� of the story, but hardly an upstanding person that I can rally behind, even though Brunner does fill in a little backstory about his tough childhood, being abandoned by his parents and bouncing from family to family as a sort of “rent-a-kid.�

It’s a convoluted story of corporate espionage, a government run like a crime syndicate, flashbacks and hallucinogenic episodes, everybody taking tranquilizers to help with stress, weird dream-like relationships, genetically enhanced canines, and of course, the now famous first discussion of a computer virus, developed as a tool to try and keep the government sniffers at bay.

The government goons are minimally described and function almost as anonymous people who try to track down the conman. In principle, this could make a good plot, but think of how this compares with the film The Fugitive where we are given just enough backstory to sympathize with the fugitive (Harrison Ford) and fully understand his righteous indignation at being falsely accused. We also understand the unyielding code of honor of the pursuer (Tommy Lee Jones). But Brunner doesn’t give us any reason to have sympathy or empathy for any of the characters here.

At this point I’m sticking with my three recommendations for Brunner: Firstly Maze of Stars (his final masterpiece in my opinion, which also has the advantage of being set far in the future and thus insulated from some of the context that gives other Brunner works a dated feel), then, Stand on Zanzibar and Sheep Look Up which still seem to have some resonance in today’s world. If you like New Wave works that have you guessing about what’s going on, like most of late Philip K. Dick, you may very well like this more than I did. If so, skip my recommendation for Maze of Stars, which, with its narrative clarity, represents a near polar opposite in terms of writing style. I’d summarize Shockwave Rider as a convoluted quasi-hallucinogenic tale of dystopia, and with organizations with names like Hearing Aid and Electric Skillet, we also get a side order of absurdism. If that sounds enticing then go for it.

By the way, I’m disappointed with the SF Masterworks edition of Shockwave Rider. For the re-read I got rid of my old paperback and purchased this newer edition because I’ve liked other books in this SF reprint series. The introduction is in nice crisp print, but the actual novel looks like it might have been enlarged from a low resolution scanner (you can see the scan clipped the edges off of sentences on some pages) and for a fussy older reader such as myself this does not make for a pleasant reading experience. As I said, other books in this series have nice clear printing, and maybe it was just one printing run that was subpar, but I advise looking for a different edition unless you can physically inspect the book.
]]> The Turing Test 3111676 243 beckett-chris 0955318181 Science and 4 science-fiction
The first bit of serendipity was discovering that the short story Dark Eden is actually a prelude to the Dark Eden trilogy that I recently read. I wish this prelude had been included at the start of the first book of the trilogy because it explains so much. But I understand that was probably not possible because this collection is with a different publisher.

The next engaging story should serve as a prelude for a fleshed out novel: The Gates of Troy. The son of a trillionaire is gifted a time travel device for his birthday and he and his buddy venture off to visit Troy as the Trojan Horse is passed through the gates. This premise could make for a whole series of adventures and misadventures! What if one of the trillionaire’s competitors tries to use the technology to thwart his present day power but the son comes to the rescue? What if true love is found in the past? Lots of permutations possible. As a one-off shorty this is a just a tasty appetizer.

Lastly, the two companion stories, The Perimeter, and Piccadilly Circus, make up some the most captivating cyber-realism I’ve ever read. There’s nothing quite like it that I know of, where there are very few actual physical people left in the developed world (an interesting backstory behind that) and everybody seems to be part of a vast communal virtual reality superimposed over the remnants of the decaying physical world. In this cyberscape, Beckett has Dickens-like street urchins who don’t go to school and spend their days idly exploring the ghostly remains of London. There is a caste-like economic structure wherein the wealthiest citizens are rendered in ultra-high resolution, middling level citizens are in medium resolution, poor folk are not only in low resolution but also in black and white, and the lowliest destitute are either blind or deformed smudges who howl out in anguish from the sidelines. The Perimeter is told mainly from the perspective of a cyber person, while Piccadilly Circus is told mainly from the perspective of an old physical human being on her last legs. What a concept! Very interesting how they interact.

Plenty to recommend here beyond just the few I’ve profiled, and for fans of the Dark Eden trilogy this is a must-have book.
]]> 3.94 2008 The Turing Test
author: beckett-chris
name: Science and
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: science-fiction
review:
Even though I’m not a fan of the short story format, I figured a few short stories here and there would serve as a good “palate cleanser� between weightier novels. Some of the stories hit around the three-star mark, pleasant but imminently forgettable, a few like Karel’s Prayer are five-star gems that demonstrate that a short story can have a complete and satisfying arc without a lot of page count. Overall I’d say the collection warrants four stars. I’ll discuss a few of my favorites here (reasonably spoiler free).

The first bit of serendipity was discovering that the short story Dark Eden is actually a prelude to the Dark Eden trilogy that I recently read. I wish this prelude had been included at the start of the first book of the trilogy because it explains so much. But I understand that was probably not possible because this collection is with a different publisher.

The next engaging story should serve as a prelude for a fleshed out novel: The Gates of Troy. The son of a trillionaire is gifted a time travel device for his birthday and he and his buddy venture off to visit Troy as the Trojan Horse is passed through the gates. This premise could make for a whole series of adventures and misadventures! What if one of the trillionaire’s competitors tries to use the technology to thwart his present day power but the son comes to the rescue? What if true love is found in the past? Lots of permutations possible. As a one-off shorty this is a just a tasty appetizer.

Lastly, the two companion stories, The Perimeter, and Piccadilly Circus, make up some the most captivating cyber-realism I’ve ever read. There’s nothing quite like it that I know of, where there are very few actual physical people left in the developed world (an interesting backstory behind that) and everybody seems to be part of a vast communal virtual reality superimposed over the remnants of the decaying physical world. In this cyberscape, Beckett has Dickens-like street urchins who don’t go to school and spend their days idly exploring the ghostly remains of London. There is a caste-like economic structure wherein the wealthiest citizens are rendered in ultra-high resolution, middling level citizens are in medium resolution, poor folk are not only in low resolution but also in black and white, and the lowliest destitute are either blind or deformed smudges who howl out in anguish from the sidelines. The Perimeter is told mainly from the perspective of a cyber person, while Piccadilly Circus is told mainly from the perspective of an old physical human being on her last legs. What a concept! Very interesting how they interact.

Plenty to recommend here beyond just the few I’ve profiled, and for fans of the Dark Eden trilogy this is a must-have book.

]]> <![CDATA[Conjuring the Universe: The Origins of the Laws of Nature]]> 36559704 from? And why are the laws so fruitful when written in the language of mathematics?

Peter Atkins considers the minimum effort needed to equip the Universe with its laws and its constants. He explores the origin of the conservation of energy, of electromagnetism, of classical and quantum mechanics, and of thermodynamics, showing how all these laws spring from deep symmetries. The
revolutionary result is a short but immensely rich weaving together of the fundamental ideas of physics. With his characteristic wit, erudition, and economy, Atkins sketches out how the laws of Nature can spring from very little. Or arguably from nothing at all.
]]> 181 Peter Atkins Science and 4 science
From this Atkins also seems to derive a humorous pleasure in dividing the laws of nature into various ranks and cast of characters that include in-laws and outlaws. But his answer to the Ur-Universe question is based on mathematical symmetry, specifically Noether’s Theorem. Atkins posits that Nothingness simply rolled over (or, in its infinite slumber, burped us into existence) and our known and observable universe was set into being. Atkins does provide some interesting thoughts on how the blueprint of nothingness has left an imprint on our universe.

Along the meandering journey of this book, which never fully answers the promise of conjuring the universe, Atkins talks about a lot of interesting things. I especially liked the section on wave optics. None of this was really new material for me but reading about topics told from different perspectives always seems to deepen my understanding, so I welcome that.

The main reason for the downgrade is the writing style itself, which I oftentimes found exasperating. Atkins has a circuitous and easily distracted writing style that draws to mind a more highbrow version of Professor Irwin Corey. But I’m not laughing. If I read a promising sentence at the top of a page and keep reading in anticipation of an answer, by the bottom of the page there is still no answer: “We’ll get to that later . . . but first let’s consider this . . . but let’s set that aside for a moment . . .� Get to the point man!

I’m sure there are nuggets of wisdom in Atkins other books, but based on my impatience with how he writes I doubt I’ll be exploring anything else from this author. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.]]> 3.57 Conjuring the Universe: The Origins of the Laws of Nature
author: Peter Atkins
name: Science and
average rating: 3.57
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: science
review:
Speculating on what happened before the Big Bang may be intriguing but ultimately remains unknowable. Richard Feynman and Lawrence Krauss have written about this, and in interviews over the years others have also weighed in on the subject. At least Atkins doesn’t defer the question of infinite regression, as have Sean Carroll and Sir Roger Penrose (cyclic universe) and instead talks about a primordial Ur-Universe of complete Nothingness. No random quantum fluctuations, nothing. “The law of the conservation of energy is at the heart of the understandability of the universe in the sense that it lies at the root of causality, that one event can cause another, and therefore lies at the heart of all explanation.�

From this Atkins also seems to derive a humorous pleasure in dividing the laws of nature into various ranks and cast of characters that include in-laws and outlaws. But his answer to the Ur-Universe question is based on mathematical symmetry, specifically Noether’s Theorem. Atkins posits that Nothingness simply rolled over (or, in its infinite slumber, burped us into existence) and our known and observable universe was set into being. Atkins does provide some interesting thoughts on how the blueprint of nothingness has left an imprint on our universe.

Along the meandering journey of this book, which never fully answers the promise of conjuring the universe, Atkins talks about a lot of interesting things. I especially liked the section on wave optics. None of this was really new material for me but reading about topics told from different perspectives always seems to deepen my understanding, so I welcome that.

The main reason for the downgrade is the writing style itself, which I oftentimes found exasperating. Atkins has a circuitous and easily distracted writing style that draws to mind a more highbrow version of Professor Irwin Corey. But I’m not laughing. If I read a promising sentence at the top of a page and keep reading in anticipation of an answer, by the bottom of the page there is still no answer: “We’ll get to that later . . . but first let’s consider this . . . but let’s set that aside for a moment . . .� Get to the point man!

I’m sure there are nuggets of wisdom in Atkins other books, but based on my impatience with how he writes I doubt I’ll be exploring anything else from this author. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.
]]> Immortality 920138
'It will make you cleverer, maybe even a better lover. Not many novels can do that.' Nicholas Lezard, GQ]]> 345 Milan Kundera 0802111114 Science and 4 fiction
As Agnes crosses a busy street she contemplates the world as a perpetual border (or boundary) between interior and exterior realities. People will take flowers to a loved one or kill another person on sight. “It will take very little for the glass to overflow, perhaps just one drop: perhaps just one car too many, or one person, or one decibel. There is a certain quantitative border that must not be crossed, yet no one stands guard over it and perhaps no one even realizes that it exists.�

Later on as Agnes continues her walk there is a cacophony of noises which her mind tries to make sense of. Pattern recognition, a hallmark of human consciousness. Amidst the bustle of cars and a worker pounding asphalt with a pneumatic drill music from afar joins the chorus: “into this racket, from somewhere overhead, as if from heaven, came a piano rendition of a Bach fugue . . . Bach’s severe beauty sounded a warning to a world gone awry. However, Bach’s fugue was no match for pneumatic drills and cars; on the contrary, cars and drills appropriated Bach as part of their own fugue.�

Through his characters Kundera goes on at length with a rather pointed criticism of art, literature and music, saying in effect (page 238) that cultured and sophisticated art forms are simply contrived methods of conveying dramatic tension to a final resolution. In the end I have to believe Kundera must have been an existentialist, must have believed that life itself has no final resolution.

Thought provoking, but a bit of a downer mood-wise. Recommended if you have the bandwidth.
]]> 4.12 1990 Immortality
author: Milan Kundera
name: Science and
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: fiction
review:
Intellectually there are some thought-provoking ideas here, but the reason for my downgrading to four stars is the pervasive sullenness of mood. Kundera seems to believe that sober self-reflection is “deep� while anything joyful or rapturous is frivolous at best, delusional at worst. It is this imbalance of intellect and emotion that keeps me from fully embracing the powerful imagery of the book. Here is an example (page 22):

As Agnes crosses a busy street she contemplates the world as a perpetual border (or boundary) between interior and exterior realities. People will take flowers to a loved one or kill another person on sight. “It will take very little for the glass to overflow, perhaps just one drop: perhaps just one car too many, or one person, or one decibel. There is a certain quantitative border that must not be crossed, yet no one stands guard over it and perhaps no one even realizes that it exists.�

Later on as Agnes continues her walk there is a cacophony of noises which her mind tries to make sense of. Pattern recognition, a hallmark of human consciousness. Amidst the bustle of cars and a worker pounding asphalt with a pneumatic drill music from afar joins the chorus: “into this racket, from somewhere overhead, as if from heaven, came a piano rendition of a Bach fugue . . . Bach’s severe beauty sounded a warning to a world gone awry. However, Bach’s fugue was no match for pneumatic drills and cars; on the contrary, cars and drills appropriated Bach as part of their own fugue.�

Through his characters Kundera goes on at length with a rather pointed criticism of art, literature and music, saying in effect (page 238) that cultured and sophisticated art forms are simply contrived methods of conveying dramatic tension to a final resolution. In the end I have to believe Kundera must have been an existentialist, must have believed that life itself has no final resolution.

Thought provoking, but a bit of a downer mood-wise. Recommended if you have the bandwidth.

]]> Jaws (Jaws, #1) 126232 368 Peter Benchley Science and 0 fiction 3.97 1974 Jaws (Jaws, #1)
author: Peter Benchley
name: Science and
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1974
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> Cloud Atlas 49628
Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite. . . .

Abruptly, the action jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, contrives his way into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter. . . . From there we jump to the West Coast in the 1970s and a troubled reporter named Luisa Rey, who stumbles upon a web of corporate greed and murder that threatens to claim her life. . . . And onward, with dazzling virtuosity, to an inglorious present-day England; to a Korean superstate of the near future where neocapitalism has run amok; and, finally, to a postapocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii in the last days of history.

But the story doesn't end even there. The narrative then boomerangs back through centuries and space, returning by the same route, in reverse, to its starting point. Along the way, Mitchell reveals how his disparate characters connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky.

As wild as a videogame, as mysterious as a Zen koan, Cloud Atlas is an unforgettable tour de force that, like its incomparable author, has transcended its cult classic status to become a worldwide phenomenon.]]> 509 David Mitchell 0375507256 Science and 3 fiction 4.02 2004 Cloud Atlas
author: David Mitchell
name: Science and
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: fiction
review:
The meta concept is interesting - about each piece of the sextet being read by another - and thankfully the author shows the connection at the end. But, with such a varied group of stories across so much time my engagement level was just as varied, dipping as low as two stars, and maybe as high as four � but honestly, none of them were really that great or memorable for me. Interesting to see this compared to PKD, who at his most focused (such as in Do Androids Dream) demonstrated impressive creativity, but when “under the influence� succumbed to a feverish unmooring from reality that just doesn’t appeal to me. If the proof of concept is in the pudding then in the end the pudding didn’t set properly for me. Book put in the donation box.
]]> Perihelion Summer 41940371 Perihelion Summer is a story of people struggling to adapt to a suddenly alien environment, and the friendships and alliances they forge as they try to find their way in a world where the old maps have lost their meaning.

Taraxippus is coming: a black hole one tenth the mass of the sun is about to enter the solar system.

Matt and his friends are taking no chances. They board a mobile aquaculture rig, the Mandjet, self-sustaining in food, power and fresh water, and decide to sit out the encounter off-shore. As Taraxippus draws nearer, new observations throw the original predictions for its trajectory into doubt, and by the time it leaves the solar system, the conditions of life across the globe will be changed forever.]]> 224 Greg Egan 1250313783 Science and 3
The story is divided into three parts in this short 214-page novel and as I finished the first part I was thinking this was going to be a four star book. I liked the concept, and as a science geek and avid stargazer I liked all the talk of astronomy (don’t worry, nothing too technical). I also like Egan’s deadpan humor. Unfortunately, when the story shifted from the astronomical problem to the day-to-day reality of living with the aftermath, the story meanders and frequently stalls in descriptions of technical challenges to overcome.

A group of scientists and engineers have created a sort of modern self-sustaining Ark that floats around in the southern ocean in the summer and wanders northward toward the equator during winter to avoid temperate extremes. The way it is described I kept having flashbacks to Kevin Costner in Waterworld. It doesn’t help that Egan isn’t really interested in developing characters; they each serve as cogs in the machinery of his flotilla refugee camp.

The last few chapters pick up the pace when a threatening situation emerges. Even here Egan can’t resist taking too much time explaining detailed plans and solutions when a few clever MacGyverisms would have sufficed. Overall, I really think the ideas and situations of the story would work much better as a movie thriller or mini-series. That way the actors could then provide the characterization that is only vaguely portrayed here.

There are some interesting ideas here, but they are cast in an awkward format: too much to distill into a short story, not enough characterization or backstory to make a satisfying and memorable novel. While not great, as a quick ‘palate cleanser� between weightier works it was fine.
]]> 3.24 2019 Perihelion Summer
author: Greg Egan
name: Science and
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: climatology, dystopia, science-fiction
review:
The concept is clever, and avoids any political fallout from either side of the climate change debate: a close call with a pair of passing black holes throws Earth’s orbit off just enough to make winters colder and summers hotter. And by hotter I mean hot enough that critical services begin to fail and the elderly, children and pets are dying by the thousands. So, it’s not mankind’s folly but a cold and uncaring universe that sets humanity’s greatest challenge in motion.

The story is divided into three parts in this short 214-page novel and as I finished the first part I was thinking this was going to be a four star book. I liked the concept, and as a science geek and avid stargazer I liked all the talk of astronomy (don’t worry, nothing too technical). I also like Egan’s deadpan humor. Unfortunately, when the story shifted from the astronomical problem to the day-to-day reality of living with the aftermath, the story meanders and frequently stalls in descriptions of technical challenges to overcome.

A group of scientists and engineers have created a sort of modern self-sustaining Ark that floats around in the southern ocean in the summer and wanders northward toward the equator during winter to avoid temperate extremes. The way it is described I kept having flashbacks to Kevin Costner in Waterworld. It doesn’t help that Egan isn’t really interested in developing characters; they each serve as cogs in the machinery of his flotilla refugee camp.

The last few chapters pick up the pace when a threatening situation emerges. Even here Egan can’t resist taking too much time explaining detailed plans and solutions when a few clever MacGyverisms would have sufficed. Overall, I really think the ideas and situations of the story would work much better as a movie thriller or mini-series. That way the actors could then provide the characterization that is only vaguely portrayed here.

There are some interesting ideas here, but they are cast in an awkward format: too much to distill into a short story, not enough characterization or backstory to make a satisfying and memorable novel. While not great, as a quick ‘palate cleanser� between weightier works it was fine.

]]> <![CDATA[Directionality of Humankind's Development. History]]> 219329697 The book also unveils an encyclopedic list of more than 300 top innovations and other contributions to humankind.
A review of world history has been done from a complex systems viewpoint.
This book is intended for a broad audience, with eighth grade and above.

Victor Torvich specializes in complex systems. He is the author of "Subsurface History of Direction of History" and other works.]]> 531 Victor Torvich Science and 4 science-history
Each step of the way Torvich lays out the criteria and definitions which are an attempt to give an objective, rather than subjective, understanding of how we got to where we are today, and what these trends might suggest when extended into the future. He identifies 23 categories (or “resources�) such as food production or mass transportation, and then beginning about 42,000 years ago, identifies 318 specific events that form the basis for the data set.

The amount of research required to plot these 318 data points chronologically is impressive, and factually, there is nothing to argue about any of these data points. However, we all know how statistics can be manipulated to show vastly different outcomes. Therefore, any niggling questions that I may have arise from a more subjective assessment: why these specific 318 points and not others? Torvich himself acknowledges that this research is only a starting point of what should be a larger conversation.

Much of the data entries are interesting and worthy of inclusion, such as the first use of dentistry, or the first use of the wheel and axle (as opposed to rolling heavy objects over logs). But I felt that some of the data points were rather arbitrary, and certainly peripheral to the larger scope of events. For example, data point 109 of 318 is the cucumber. Why does the cucumber get singled out and not zucchini or peach? It’s not like any of them are global staples of the diet compared to grains (rice, wheat, barley). Furthermore, the detailed entries in Part Two do not always align with information given in the concluding table. In Part Two the emergence of cucumber as a resource is given as 1000 BC, while in the concluding table it is listed as 5000 BC. Not that I care either way.

Some data points also seem arbitrarily inflated, or at the very least, strangely contorted, in chapter 2.21 awkwardly titled: Massive Involvement of Women in Humankind’s Activities. Some of the data points are straight forward, such as: First Country Where Women Right to Vote Accepted Legally (1893 in New Zealand). But further data points seems arbitrary, possibly limited by what verified documentation could be found by the researchers, they are: First 10% share of Self-Made Women at the Top of the Social Hierarchy; First 39% Percentage of Employed Women (why not 41%, or a more logical milestone like 50%?), First Less than 20% Gap with Men in Years of Schooling; First Less than 21% Gap with Men in Earnings; and so on. While not without interest, I wondered why these specific percentage points, and some of the data points seemed to be data fluff just to appear to be more gender inclusive.

Then there is the question of negative events. Torvich hints at this during the discussion of why data points are not weighted (veers too heavily into the subjective), but I would have liked at least a few paragraphs about the Murder of Hypatia, the first woman philosopher and astronomer, and the burning of the Alexandria Library, which (by some estimates) set back humankind a thousand years. Also interesting to see how the Dark Ages (after the fall of the Roman Empire) was a veritable black hole of nothingness in terms of humankind’s advancement. The correlation is, of course, that when anarchy prevails or small villages are left to fend on their own at a subsistence level, the lack of a governing body to coordinate the efficiency of society does not bode well for humankind.

Quibbles over data points aside, there are two further reasons why I’m not giving five stars for this book. The first would be easy enough to address should there be a second edition, and that would be the copious amount of typesetting errors. We have partial sentences that skip down a line and repeat; some paragraphs are indented, others not; gaps of five or six spaces between words in a sentence; chapter headers appear at the bottom of the page when a hard control page break should have been used; unidiomatic and awkward expressions everywhere. This book needs a good editor, and they need know nothing about the subject matter � anybody with eyes can look at the pages and see problems everywhere. I suspect that part of what happened here is what happened when my wife submitted a white paper that looked great on the home computer but somehow got reformatted with different margins into something quite screwy on the office printer.

The second reservation I have will require further clarification from the author in the conclusion (which is only a single page here). I kept waiting for an answer to Why? The direction of humanity seems obvious to me and the book offered nothing new to ponder. If you have read Henry Gee’s excellent A Very Short History of Life on Earth, you will know that since the first organism co-opted another organism to increase complexity and efficiency through specialized tasks, life has become ever more complex, not less. As self-aware beings with opposable thumbs that live in a medium (land and air) which allows metallurgy and precision technology (as opposed to dolphins or cephalopods that are handicapped by the medium in which they live) we are uniquely capable of creating technology for our own increase in efficiency, survival, and creature comfort. Thus, unless we annihilate ourselves, the progression of humankind will always have an upward trajectory. No big mystery or big reveal there.

A good example of how complexity (adding new resources) might play out over millions of years can be found in the excellent science fiction work Medusa’s Gauntlet, by Kishore Tipirneni, where superior beings reveal that the pursuit of complexity is the primary hallmark of emergent consciousness. So I’d like to see Torvich wrap up the book with something a little more inspired. The book really does deserve a second edition, cleaned up and ready for prime time, and then possibly worthy of five stars.]]> 3.74 Directionality of Humankind's Development. History
author: Victor Torvich
name: Science and
average rating: 3.74
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: science-history
review:
From the awkward title you might not know what to expect with this book. Indeed, although this is listed as a history book, you will find no discussion of kings and queens, battles and wars, famines and plagues. Instead, you will find a statistical analysis of pivotal ideas in humankind’s past, a data-rich chronological catalog of ideas, inventions, and social experiments which have moved the progress of humankind ever forward. These are the big ideas which mostly affect us at a global level on a day-to-day basis, so there is really no concern for countries, dynasties, political ideology, or religion. Think of the impact of domesticating animals, cultivating plants, the first wheel on an axle, the printing press, electricity, nuclear power.

Each step of the way Torvich lays out the criteria and definitions which are an attempt to give an objective, rather than subjective, understanding of how we got to where we are today, and what these trends might suggest when extended into the future. He identifies 23 categories (or “resources�) such as food production or mass transportation, and then beginning about 42,000 years ago, identifies 318 specific events that form the basis for the data set.

The amount of research required to plot these 318 data points chronologically is impressive, and factually, there is nothing to argue about any of these data points. However, we all know how statistics can be manipulated to show vastly different outcomes. Therefore, any niggling questions that I may have arise from a more subjective assessment: why these specific 318 points and not others? Torvich himself acknowledges that this research is only a starting point of what should be a larger conversation.

Much of the data entries are interesting and worthy of inclusion, such as the first use of dentistry, or the first use of the wheel and axle (as opposed to rolling heavy objects over logs). But I felt that some of the data points were rather arbitrary, and certainly peripheral to the larger scope of events. For example, data point 109 of 318 is the cucumber. Why does the cucumber get singled out and not zucchini or peach? It’s not like any of them are global staples of the diet compared to grains (rice, wheat, barley). Furthermore, the detailed entries in Part Two do not always align with information given in the concluding table. In Part Two the emergence of cucumber as a resource is given as 1000 BC, while in the concluding table it is listed as 5000 BC. Not that I care either way.

Some data points also seem arbitrarily inflated, or at the very least, strangely contorted, in chapter 2.21 awkwardly titled: Massive Involvement of Women in Humankind’s Activities. Some of the data points are straight forward, such as: First Country Where Women Right to Vote Accepted Legally (1893 in New Zealand). But further data points seems arbitrary, possibly limited by what verified documentation could be found by the researchers, they are: First 10% share of Self-Made Women at the Top of the Social Hierarchy; First 39% Percentage of Employed Women (why not 41%, or a more logical milestone like 50%?), First Less than 20% Gap with Men in Years of Schooling; First Less than 21% Gap with Men in Earnings; and so on. While not without interest, I wondered why these specific percentage points, and some of the data points seemed to be data fluff just to appear to be more gender inclusive.

Then there is the question of negative events. Torvich hints at this during the discussion of why data points are not weighted (veers too heavily into the subjective), but I would have liked at least a few paragraphs about the Murder of Hypatia, the first woman philosopher and astronomer, and the burning of the Alexandria Library, which (by some estimates) set back humankind a thousand years. Also interesting to see how the Dark Ages (after the fall of the Roman Empire) was a veritable black hole of nothingness in terms of humankind’s advancement. The correlation is, of course, that when anarchy prevails or small villages are left to fend on their own at a subsistence level, the lack of a governing body to coordinate the efficiency of society does not bode well for humankind.

Quibbles over data points aside, there are two further reasons why I’m not giving five stars for this book. The first would be easy enough to address should there be a second edition, and that would be the copious amount of typesetting errors. We have partial sentences that skip down a line and repeat; some paragraphs are indented, others not; gaps of five or six spaces between words in a sentence; chapter headers appear at the bottom of the page when a hard control page break should have been used; unidiomatic and awkward expressions everywhere. This book needs a good editor, and they need know nothing about the subject matter � anybody with eyes can look at the pages and see problems everywhere. I suspect that part of what happened here is what happened when my wife submitted a white paper that looked great on the home computer but somehow got reformatted with different margins into something quite screwy on the office printer.

The second reservation I have will require further clarification from the author in the conclusion (which is only a single page here). I kept waiting for an answer to Why? The direction of humanity seems obvious to me and the book offered nothing new to ponder. If you have read Henry Gee’s excellent A Very Short History of Life on Earth, you will know that since the first organism co-opted another organism to increase complexity and efficiency through specialized tasks, life has become ever more complex, not less. As self-aware beings with opposable thumbs that live in a medium (land and air) which allows metallurgy and precision technology (as opposed to dolphins or cephalopods that are handicapped by the medium in which they live) we are uniquely capable of creating technology for our own increase in efficiency, survival, and creature comfort. Thus, unless we annihilate ourselves, the progression of humankind will always have an upward trajectory. No big mystery or big reveal there.

A good example of how complexity (adding new resources) might play out over millions of years can be found in the excellent science fiction work Medusa’s Gauntlet, by Kishore Tipirneni, where superior beings reveal that the pursuit of complexity is the primary hallmark of emergent consciousness. So I’d like to see Torvich wrap up the book with something a little more inspired. The book really does deserve a second edition, cleaned up and ready for prime time, and then possibly worthy of five stars.
]]> Ashes of Man (Sun Eater, #5) 60427253
The galaxy is burning.

With the Cielcin united under one banner, the Sollan Empire stands alone after the betrayal of the Commonwealth. The Prophet-King of the Cielcin has sent its armies to burn the worlds of men, and worse, there are rumors...whispers that Hadrian Marlowe is dead, killed in the fighting.

But it is not so. Hadrian survived with the help of the witch, Valka, and together they escaped the net of the enemy having learned a terrible truth: the gods that the Cielcin worship are real and will not rest until the universe is dark and cold.

What is more, the Emperor himself is in danger. The Prophet-King has learned to track his movements as he travels along the borders of Imperial space. Now the Cielcin legions are closing in, their swords poised to strike off the head of all mankind.]]> 544 Christopher Ruocchio 0756416604 Science and 4 science-fantasy Kingdoms of Death. Hadrian seems to have more defined purpose, not stuck in the domestic holding pattern of the previous book, but at the same time he is reduced to repeating his story from book four over and over to different people, and as readers are we supposed to look for a new nuance, a new turn of phrase each time which will reveal some new inner self-discovery? If so, I guess I missed it.

We lost a character in the previous book, and we lose another one here. Given the high-risk situations that was inevitable, and would have stretched credulity to have everybody last to the end. We know Hadrian is the only one who can dodge the bullet time and again, because he’s writing the story at the end of the adventure. Still, I was not happy at some of the changes in direction Ruocchio gives us for one of the departing characters. Didn’t ring true to me. Almost enough for me to downgrade this to three stars.

Also, if I didn’t already know two more books come after this to wrap up the story, I would have expected the series could come to an end with just one more book. But no, Ruocchio milks every scene for all it’s worth, and book six will be a beast to get through before finding any resolution. I just hope the two concluding books will bring it home for me with five-star winners because at this particular juncture I’m less enthusiastic about the series than I was at the start.
]]> 4.49 2022 Ashes of Man (Sun Eater, #5)
author: Christopher Ruocchio
name: Science and
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: science-fantasy
review:
Not up to previous heights but by the end it seems to at least be back on track from the low point that was Kingdoms of Death. Hadrian seems to have more defined purpose, not stuck in the domestic holding pattern of the previous book, but at the same time he is reduced to repeating his story from book four over and over to different people, and as readers are we supposed to look for a new nuance, a new turn of phrase each time which will reveal some new inner self-discovery? If so, I guess I missed it.

We lost a character in the previous book, and we lose another one here. Given the high-risk situations that was inevitable, and would have stretched credulity to have everybody last to the end. We know Hadrian is the only one who can dodge the bullet time and again, because he’s writing the story at the end of the adventure. Still, I was not happy at some of the changes in direction Ruocchio gives us for one of the departing characters. Didn’t ring true to me. Almost enough for me to downgrade this to three stars.

Also, if I didn’t already know two more books come after this to wrap up the story, I would have expected the series could come to an end with just one more book. But no, Ruocchio milks every scene for all it’s worth, and book six will be a beast to get through before finding any resolution. I just hope the two concluding books will bring it home for me with five-star winners because at this particular juncture I’m less enthusiastic about the series than I was at the start.

]]> <![CDATA[Asimov's Chronology of the World: The History of the World From the Big Bang to Modern Times]]> 30012 704 Isaac Asimov 0062700367 Science and 5 history, science-history tour de force of intelligence, concision, and overall grasp of how the events of the past have shaped our world. I especially appreciate how Asimov explains the inherent biases in the telling of historical events, glorification or vilification, depending on whether the sources recording events are Persian, Judean, Greek, or Roman.

The book will be easy to use in the future should I need a refresher on anything. It is organized firstly by timeline, at first in blocks of a thousand years, then five hundred years, then as civilization spreads out, every hundred years, until we approach the modern era where each block is just a decade. Then it is organized by country or region, with each entry relating key historical events such as who the king or queen were, key battles, natural disasters, and who the most influential people were in terms of artists, writers, musicians, scientists and innovators. Let’s say I need a perspective on what happened in the decade leading up to the First World War: since the timeline is given at the top of each page it takes me about four seconds to thumb to that section. But let’s say you are a student writing a report on a country. Could be anything: New Zealand, Ethiopia, Sweden, Japan, or the Kingdom of Hawaii. Just cruise through each of the time headers and look for your subject header in easy-to-find bold lettering.

I find this organization much more user-friendly than the primary competitor, Peter Stearn’s Encyclopedia of World History. Plus the entries in the encyclopedia are very dry and mostly just list facts and dates, whereas Asimov provides and engaging narrative throughout.

The first twenty-five pages should be mandatory reading for every high school student, for it explains briefly and in plain language why countries developed as an acceptable loss of freedoms over a hunter gatherer mode of existence, how the idea of personal property arose, how the idea of a specialized workforce arose to the benefit of all, and how law and order allow civilizations to thrive while accepting that certain personal liberties will be curtailed (i.e. we don’t just drive through a red light because we do whatever we feel like doing). Especially important, given the conflict of Russia and Ukraine, and the Middle East: “one of the miseries of history� is that “every nation remembers how things were at the time of its maximum extent [of territory] and power, which is what it considers just and natural. Naturally, there are overlappings in every direction and the territorial quarrels never end.�

Asimov conveys the most salient information without getting bogged down in detailed minutia. For example, the timeline section of 1775-1800 contains four-and-a-half pages on the American Revolution and its founding as a new country. It explains that the celebrated Fourth of July was not really the birth of a new nation; that was simply a declaration that the thirteen colonies no longer wanted to be part of the British Empire. But, as Asimov explains, they remained a bitterly divided groups of colonies that didn’t as yet see themselves as united. Asimov leaves out specialist information like the proposed three confederations (New England, Middle Atlantic, and Southern colonies), and doesn’t mention the monarchist movement headed by Ben Franklin’s son, then governor of New Jersey. Sentiments were still too raw for those who fought in the war to go back to being British, but it was suggested that perhaps George Washington could become the new king of America. What Asimov does include is that it took a lot of effort to decide how the colonies would unite as a federation and have a centralized banking system to facilitate commerce, and that a workable constitution wasn’t proposed until May 25, 1787, and even then not fully ratified until June 21, 1788. That is the real birthdate of the United Sates, a full twelve years after the Declaration of Independence in 1776. So you see, Asimov conveys essential information without being sidelined by specialist details.

While Victorian England was enjoying its “Blessed Isolation� Otto von Bismarck was busy wielding “remarkable diplomacy� and keeping continental Europe from any major wars for two decades. Asimov dedicates five pages to Bismarck and some of this, while engaging, seems to verge on specialist information. Asimov also spends a lot of time describing the events leading up to WWII, and here I do feel like he spends too much time enumerating each sequential action by Hitler while the French and British attempted appeasement. I think it more important that Asimov should have included a segment on the communist-led independent city state of Freistadt Munchen with its diplomatic ties to the Soviet Union, and the demographic that in block (68%) voted for communism. This explains where a lot of the tension arose, especially elsewhere in Germany which was staunchly anti-communist, which Hitler was able to tap into.

Overall, the only thing that might have made this better would be the inclusion of maps at the beginning of each of the periods under review, simply to remind the reader of the ever-shifting borders of empires as they come and go. And such maps need only apply to areas of the world where significant change was happening. So maybe that lacking drops the book down to a 4.9/5 rating, but still nearly perfect. I’m very impressed by the wealth of knowledge and wisdom this man possessed.]]> 4.36 1989 Asimov's Chronology of the World: The History of the World From the Big Bang to Modern Times
author: Isaac Asimov
name: Science and
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1989
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: history, science-history
review:
This is really one of the best books of history I’ve read; a real tour de force of intelligence, concision, and overall grasp of how the events of the past have shaped our world. I especially appreciate how Asimov explains the inherent biases in the telling of historical events, glorification or vilification, depending on whether the sources recording events are Persian, Judean, Greek, or Roman.

The book will be easy to use in the future should I need a refresher on anything. It is organized firstly by timeline, at first in blocks of a thousand years, then five hundred years, then as civilization spreads out, every hundred years, until we approach the modern era where each block is just a decade. Then it is organized by country or region, with each entry relating key historical events such as who the king or queen were, key battles, natural disasters, and who the most influential people were in terms of artists, writers, musicians, scientists and innovators. Let’s say I need a perspective on what happened in the decade leading up to the First World War: since the timeline is given at the top of each page it takes me about four seconds to thumb to that section. But let’s say you are a student writing a report on a country. Could be anything: New Zealand, Ethiopia, Sweden, Japan, or the Kingdom of Hawaii. Just cruise through each of the time headers and look for your subject header in easy-to-find bold lettering.

I find this organization much more user-friendly than the primary competitor, Peter Stearn’s Encyclopedia of World History. Plus the entries in the encyclopedia are very dry and mostly just list facts and dates, whereas Asimov provides and engaging narrative throughout.

The first twenty-five pages should be mandatory reading for every high school student, for it explains briefly and in plain language why countries developed as an acceptable loss of freedoms over a hunter gatherer mode of existence, how the idea of personal property arose, how the idea of a specialized workforce arose to the benefit of all, and how law and order allow civilizations to thrive while accepting that certain personal liberties will be curtailed (i.e. we don’t just drive through a red light because we do whatever we feel like doing). Especially important, given the conflict of Russia and Ukraine, and the Middle East: “one of the miseries of history� is that “every nation remembers how things were at the time of its maximum extent [of territory] and power, which is what it considers just and natural. Naturally, there are overlappings in every direction and the territorial quarrels never end.�

Asimov conveys the most salient information without getting bogged down in detailed minutia. For example, the timeline section of 1775-1800 contains four-and-a-half pages on the American Revolution and its founding as a new country. It explains that the celebrated Fourth of July was not really the birth of a new nation; that was simply a declaration that the thirteen colonies no longer wanted to be part of the British Empire. But, as Asimov explains, they remained a bitterly divided groups of colonies that didn’t as yet see themselves as united. Asimov leaves out specialist information like the proposed three confederations (New England, Middle Atlantic, and Southern colonies), and doesn’t mention the monarchist movement headed by Ben Franklin’s son, then governor of New Jersey. Sentiments were still too raw for those who fought in the war to go back to being British, but it was suggested that perhaps George Washington could become the new king of America. What Asimov does include is that it took a lot of effort to decide how the colonies would unite as a federation and have a centralized banking system to facilitate commerce, and that a workable constitution wasn’t proposed until May 25, 1787, and even then not fully ratified until June 21, 1788. That is the real birthdate of the United Sates, a full twelve years after the Declaration of Independence in 1776. So you see, Asimov conveys essential information without being sidelined by specialist details.

While Victorian England was enjoying its “Blessed Isolation� Otto von Bismarck was busy wielding “remarkable diplomacy� and keeping continental Europe from any major wars for two decades. Asimov dedicates five pages to Bismarck and some of this, while engaging, seems to verge on specialist information. Asimov also spends a lot of time describing the events leading up to WWII, and here I do feel like he spends too much time enumerating each sequential action by Hitler while the French and British attempted appeasement. I think it more important that Asimov should have included a segment on the communist-led independent city state of Freistadt Munchen with its diplomatic ties to the Soviet Union, and the demographic that in block (68%) voted for communism. This explains where a lot of the tension arose, especially elsewhere in Germany which was staunchly anti-communist, which Hitler was able to tap into.

Overall, the only thing that might have made this better would be the inclusion of maps at the beginning of each of the periods under review, simply to remind the reader of the ever-shifting borders of empires as they come and go. And such maps need only apply to areas of the world where significant change was happening. So maybe that lacking drops the book down to a 4.9/5 rating, but still nearly perfect. I’m very impressed by the wealth of knowledge and wisdom this man possessed.
]]> Kingdoms of Death 75305631
Hadrian Marlowe is trapped.

For nearly a century, he has been a guest of the Emperor, forced into the role of advisor, a prisoner of his own legend. But the war is changing. Mankind is losing.

The Cielcin are spilling into human space from the fringes, picking their targets with cunning precision. The Great Prince Syriani Dorayaica is uniting their clans, forging them into an army and threat the likes of which mankind has never seen.

And the Empire stands alone.

Now the Emperor has no choice but to give Hadrian Marlowe—once his favorite knight—one more impossible journey across the galaxy to the Lothrian Commonwealth and convince them to join the war. But not all is as it seems, and Hadrian’s journey will take him far beyond the Empire, beyond the Commonwealth, impossibly deep behind enemy lines.]]> 544 Christopher Ruocchio 075641878X Science and 4 science-fantasy, torture Kingdoms of Death represents a low point for me thus far in the series. It is saved from a lower rating only because of the powerful and touching ending. In reading other reviews I find that my own reactions resonate most with the talking points and conclusions of those giving three stars. So, while evidently a minority opinion, I’m certainly not alone in having many of the same responses.

My specific criticisms I’ve hidden to avoid spoilers, but I will say that another justification for giving four stars instead of three is that even during lowest points there are always nuggets of insight to be gained about Hadrian and other characters, and of course, the quality of prose always conveys a vivid imagery in the reader’s mind.

One of the most common complaints among readers giving lower ratings is the excessive violence and torture, all given a bright spotlight with Ruocchio’s detailed imagery. But for me, this simply folds right into my larger criticism: Ruocchio’s lack of self-discipline in focusing on the essential narrative path. Each tableau is excessively drawn out. This narrative largesse is what made the first part of the book, up to page 177, a tiresome three-star read for me.

[spoilers removed]

Ruocchio also revealed in this interview how he approaches writing, and I can see now why each of these scenes is stretched to the breaking point. From the start he knew how the series story arc would begin and how it would end, but all the in-between points come according to his moment-to-moment inspiration. Each exchange of dialog leads to a new direction and a new situation. Even though he says that some 40,000 words were edited out of the million word series, that’s still not nearly enough.

As far as I can tell, without knowing the overall arc of the story across seven volumes, I’d say that most of book four was an unnecessary detour and maybe just its best parts, say about one third, could have served as an introduction to whatever is coming in book five. The two were separated for publication, but should have been tightened to just one book in any case. But I’ve also come to the realization that readers who favor fantasy (and give out five-star raves) seem to savor the journey more, hang on every precious word, whereas I’m more of a get to the destination and don’t waste my time guy. The only thing that gives me some excitement to continue is that now after Hadrian’s nine years of extended R&R he seems to be motivated and focused to get back on task. I’m hoping Ruocchio follows his own character’s lead.]]> 4.61 2022 Kingdoms of Death
author: Christopher Ruocchio
name: Science and
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: science-fantasy, torture
review:
Overall, I’d say that Kingdoms of Death represents a low point for me thus far in the series. It is saved from a lower rating only because of the powerful and touching ending. In reading other reviews I find that my own reactions resonate most with the talking points and conclusions of those giving three stars. So, while evidently a minority opinion, I’m certainly not alone in having many of the same responses.

My specific criticisms I’ve hidden to avoid spoilers, but I will say that another justification for giving four stars instead of three is that even during lowest points there are always nuggets of insight to be gained about Hadrian and other characters, and of course, the quality of prose always conveys a vivid imagery in the reader’s mind.

One of the most common complaints among readers giving lower ratings is the excessive violence and torture, all given a bright spotlight with Ruocchio’s detailed imagery. But for me, this simply folds right into my larger criticism: Ruocchio’s lack of self-discipline in focusing on the essential narrative path. Each tableau is excessively drawn out. This narrative largesse is what made the first part of the book, up to page 177, a tiresome three-star read for me.

[spoilers removed]

Ruocchio also revealed in this interview how he approaches writing, and I can see now why each of these scenes is stretched to the breaking point. From the start he knew how the series story arc would begin and how it would end, but all the in-between points come according to his moment-to-moment inspiration. Each exchange of dialog leads to a new direction and a new situation. Even though he says that some 40,000 words were edited out of the million word series, that’s still not nearly enough.

As far as I can tell, without knowing the overall arc of the story across seven volumes, I’d say that most of book four was an unnecessary detour and maybe just its best parts, say about one third, could have served as an introduction to whatever is coming in book five. The two were separated for publication, but should have been tightened to just one book in any case. But I’ve also come to the realization that readers who favor fantasy (and give out five-star raves) seem to savor the journey more, hang on every precious word, whereas I’m more of a get to the destination and don’t waste my time guy. The only thing that gives me some excitement to continue is that now after Hadrian’s nine years of extended R&R he seems to be motivated and focused to get back on task. I’m hoping Ruocchio follows his own character’s lead.
]]> <![CDATA[Demon in White (The Sun Eater, #3)]]> 179957171
To make matters worse, a cult of personality has formed around Hadrian, spurred on by legends of his having defied death itself. Men call him Halfmortal. Hadrian’s rise to prominence proves dangerous to himself and his team, as pressures within the Imperial government distrust or resent his new influence.

Caught in the middle, Hadrian must contend with enemies before him—and behind.

And above it all, there is the mystery of the Quiet. Hadrian did defy death. He did return. But the keys to the only place in the universe where Hadrian might find the answers he seeks lie in the hands of the Emperor himself....]]> 784 Christopher Ruocchio 075641928X Science and 4 science-fiction-fantasy Demon in White was one of those dips in overall enjoyment. For most readers reviews of the first book will be the most critical, trying to decide if they might be interested in trying The Sun Eater series. After that you’ll know if you want to continue the journey or not, so subsequent reviews I think are mostly for the fan base, backslapping each other with likes and comments.

I can’t really say much without spoilers that will make any difference to anybody, so the following (hidden) observations are mostly for my own use, to remind me why I want to someday re-read the first two books, but do not plan to ever re-read this beast, nearly two hundred pages longer than Empire of Silence. I had the feeling that now that Ruocchio knows he has a captive audience he can just meander here and there with the story and the fan base will lap it all up. I was also taken aback by many of the most-liked reviews exclaiming that this the best sci-fi book ever written. Yes, it is good, on par with many I’ve rated at four stars, but there have been many others I've liked better. Here is my unexpurgated commentary:

[spoilers removed]

Overall, I'd say that for me Demon in White put some chinks in the luster of Hadrian’s armor. I see that book six is also over 700 pages, but the others are of a more reasonable length, so that is somewhat encouraging, at least.]]> 4.75 2020 Demon in White (The Sun Eater, #3)
author: Christopher Ruocchio
name: Science and
average rating: 4.75
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/10
shelves: science-fiction-fantasy
review:
When I finished the first two books of this series I thought they came to a logical point of resolution, thus making for a satisfying duology. I gave them both five stars. I plan to continue with the series to the end, and I’m sure there will be ups and downs along the way, but Demon in White was one of those dips in overall enjoyment. For most readers reviews of the first book will be the most critical, trying to decide if they might be interested in trying The Sun Eater series. After that you’ll know if you want to continue the journey or not, so subsequent reviews I think are mostly for the fan base, backslapping each other with likes and comments.

I can’t really say much without spoilers that will make any difference to anybody, so the following (hidden) observations are mostly for my own use, to remind me why I want to someday re-read the first two books, but do not plan to ever re-read this beast, nearly two hundred pages longer than Empire of Silence. I had the feeling that now that Ruocchio knows he has a captive audience he can just meander here and there with the story and the fan base will lap it all up. I was also taken aback by many of the most-liked reviews exclaiming that this the best sci-fi book ever written. Yes, it is good, on par with many I’ve rated at four stars, but there have been many others I've liked better. Here is my unexpurgated commentary:

[spoilers removed]

Overall, I'd say that for me Demon in White put some chinks in the luster of Hadrian’s armor. I see that book six is also over 700 pages, but the others are of a more reasonable length, so that is somewhat encouraging, at least.
]]> <![CDATA[Quantum Entangled (Quantum, #4)]]> 56761801 222 Douglas Phillips Science and 3 science-fiction
Best I can describe it would be: the casual conversational tone of Blake Crouch without the deep and dark subject matter. Simple in concept, light and breezy without being silly. Lots of gee-whiz scenery like a modernized Buck Rogers. Another writer who uses a lot of real world references is Kishore Tipirneni, if that is something Phillips’s fans enjoy about his writing. Personally, I’m looking for the opposite: richly layered writing with a complex tapestry of interwoven themes, exploration of thought-provoking ideas, and hard-science that goes a little deeper than Bill Nye the Science Guy. And really, are we to consider “spatial compression� hard science? If you are looking for the opposite of that, then definitely give Phillips a try, not many authors writing like this these days.
]]> 4.37 2021 Quantum Entangled (Quantum, #4)
author: Douglas Phillips
name: Science and
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/10
date added: 2025/03/10
shelves: science-fiction
review:
This came up on my recommended feed on ŷ, and the description of it being hard sci-fi with an interplanetary federation idea sounded like it would be something I would enjoy. So I ordered the book. Unfortunately the recommendation algorithm apparently does not consider writing style, and this type of writing just does not appeal to me. However, for the right reader, and probably all those giving five stars, this fits a neat stylistic niche, with not a lot of books being written like this. So I’m excited those readers found an author that they can enjoy, and Phillips should keep pumping them out to fill that niche.

Best I can describe it would be: the casual conversational tone of Blake Crouch without the deep and dark subject matter. Simple in concept, light and breezy without being silly. Lots of gee-whiz scenery like a modernized Buck Rogers. Another writer who uses a lot of real world references is Kishore Tipirneni, if that is something Phillips’s fans enjoy about his writing. Personally, I’m looking for the opposite: richly layered writing with a complex tapestry of interwoven themes, exploration of thought-provoking ideas, and hard-science that goes a little deeper than Bill Nye the Science Guy. And really, are we to consider “spatial compression� hard science? If you are looking for the opposite of that, then definitely give Phillips a try, not many authors writing like this these days.

]]> The Wrong End of Time 872222 185 John Brunner 9997405137 Science and 2 science-fiction 3.18 1971 The Wrong End of Time
author: John Brunner
name: Science and
average rating: 3.18
book published: 1971
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/03/10
shelves: science-fiction
review:
Nope. Not one of Brunner’s best. I have a feeling that Brunner had just been binge reading PKD and absorbed some of that incoherence. The entire premise of the story is strange: what if (during the cold war) Russia was the good guy and America was a paranoid walled-off society like North Korea? Then throw in a little paranormal pre-cognition, add some cringe-worthy inner-city black slang, and keep the reader guessing as to what is going on. Yep, that sums it up. Maybe I’m just cynical, but it seems like Brunner needed a quick paycheck and churned this out as fast as possible.
]]> <![CDATA[Conquests and Cultures: An International History]]> 209102 516 Thomas Sowell 0465014003 Science and 5
This book completes a trilogy of books, the first published in 1994, the second in 1996, and this in 1998. The original thesis was developed in the 1980's. All three are worth reading but this can also stand by itself. The book follows the various cultures of the world and describes how geography, governance, leadership, and cultural identity (including language and religion) determine how and why some societies have flourished while others have faltered (or never even fully developed). Sound familiar? It seems that Jared Diamond’s hugely acclaimed book Guns, Germs, and Steel, derives much of his central thesis from Sowell’s trilogy, and never gives any credit.

One difference is that Diamond paints broadly in terms of differentiation from the time of mankind’s emergence from Africa, whereas Sowell is focused in more detail on what happened after the fall of the Roman Empire, when much of humanity was plunged backward a thousand years, and how we crawled out of that period of barbarism. Sowell’s approach means we can rely on more accurate historical documents rather than speculate on anthropological findings. But the same ideas of trade routes, disease, transfer of ideas, and religion are straight out of Sowell and yet Diamond does not reference Sowell at all in his extensive bibliography.

One example: why do so many people across the world (and throughout history) begrudge the Jews their success? The simple answer (distilled from Sowell masterful explanation) is that people hate a middle man. You see it now in direct-to-market advertising: "Skip the middle man, buy direct!� Yet, before Amazon and global worldwide shipping, middle men were absolutely essential to keeping the wheels of trade turning. And why is trade important? Because it is easier than conquest and subjugation of foreign cultures. Simply put, the Jews made a name for themselves providing this middleman function. Bonus feature: see how this all plays in in modern Ukraine with its tension between Slavic and Germanic historical influences.

With either Diamond or Sowell I like that history is not reduced to wars, treaties, inter-marriages of the royal courts and such, but is more profoundly influenced by the realities of everyday issues such as food supply, skilled labor, or public versus private innovation and development. The advantage of reading just the last of the three books is that it also includes a fifty page concluding summary that ties all three books together. It really puts history and economic theory in a whole new light. This and Emmanuel Todd’s The Explanation of Ideology are probably the two most important books I’ve read that show how the world really works (as opposed to the artificial constructs of political or economic theory).]]> 4.39 1998 Conquests and Cultures: An International History
author: Thomas Sowell
name: Science and
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves: history, economics, social-issues
review:
This is a very important book for understanding historical socio-economics. I plan on re-reading it again someday, but the one and only negative I can point out is that my copy has oversaturated typeset that is not crisp, almost like it was all written in bold, and that limits how much my eyes can take in a sitting. I might have to seek out a better copy in hardback; the book is worth it.

This book completes a trilogy of books, the first published in 1994, the second in 1996, and this in 1998. The original thesis was developed in the 1980's. All three are worth reading but this can also stand by itself. The book follows the various cultures of the world and describes how geography, governance, leadership, and cultural identity (including language and religion) determine how and why some societies have flourished while others have faltered (or never even fully developed). Sound familiar? It seems that Jared Diamond’s hugely acclaimed book Guns, Germs, and Steel, derives much of his central thesis from Sowell’s trilogy, and never gives any credit.

One difference is that Diamond paints broadly in terms of differentiation from the time of mankind’s emergence from Africa, whereas Sowell is focused in more detail on what happened after the fall of the Roman Empire, when much of humanity was plunged backward a thousand years, and how we crawled out of that period of barbarism. Sowell’s approach means we can rely on more accurate historical documents rather than speculate on anthropological findings. But the same ideas of trade routes, disease, transfer of ideas, and religion are straight out of Sowell and yet Diamond does not reference Sowell at all in his extensive bibliography.

One example: why do so many people across the world (and throughout history) begrudge the Jews their success? The simple answer (distilled from Sowell masterful explanation) is that people hate a middle man. You see it now in direct-to-market advertising: "Skip the middle man, buy direct!� Yet, before Amazon and global worldwide shipping, middle men were absolutely essential to keeping the wheels of trade turning. And why is trade important? Because it is easier than conquest and subjugation of foreign cultures. Simply put, the Jews made a name for themselves providing this middleman function. Bonus feature: see how this all plays in in modern Ukraine with its tension between Slavic and Germanic historical influences.

With either Diamond or Sowell I like that history is not reduced to wars, treaties, inter-marriages of the royal courts and such, but is more profoundly influenced by the realities of everyday issues such as food supply, skilled labor, or public versus private innovation and development. The advantage of reading just the last of the three books is that it also includes a fifty page concluding summary that ties all three books together. It really puts history and economic theory in a whole new light. This and Emmanuel Todd’s The Explanation of Ideology are probably the two most important books I’ve read that show how the world really works (as opposed to the artificial constructs of political or economic theory).
]]> <![CDATA[A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles]]> 3047 304 Thomas Sowell 0465081428 Science and 4 history, political-theory
So, despite the importance of the topic, I’m giving only four stars because the book is rather sloppily written. I’ve found the later books to be better written, argued with more clarity, and avoiding all the circling back to clarify previous statements. I especially enjoyed Conquests and Cultures, for which I gave five stars. By the way, although Milton Friedman was a mentor to Sowell, I find that Sowell has a more pragmatic approach, less extreme, and draws upon a greater background of interdisciplinary knowledge. So, despite Sowell being swayed by Uncle Milt’s free-market economic ideology (I prefer a more Hamiltonian approach), the book looks at far more than just economics to understand why people have differing worldviews.

In sum, I really believe the essence of this book could be distilled to far less bulk and roundabout posturing, so for those short on patience I would recommend reading just the last nine pages where Sowell summarizes his talking points and puts his arguments most succinctly. Do make a point of reading the later books; they were real eye-openers for me.]]> 4.31 1986 A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles
author: Thomas Sowell
name: Science and
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1986
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: history, political-theory
review:
For being written so long ago (1986) I still think this is an important book that people on either side of the political divide should read. Sowell doesn’t just recycle Locke and Burke and Rousseau and put them in a modern context, he develops his own theory which I’d say goes further in explaining the reasoning behind the differing world views than anybody else I’ve read. I don’t think his terminology of “constrained� and “unconstrained� is ideal, and it took me some 88 pages before I was comfortable knowing what each represents. At first I thought “constrained� meant a conservative outlook which looks to reduce and constrain the impetus behind progressive ideas, and that “unconstrained� meant a liberal outlook that favors trying new ideas often at the expense of preserving what is already good and working. The main problem with the book, as it is unassisted by graphs or charts, is that neither the “constrained� nor “unconstrained� visions fit neatly into anything that we know from actual practice, certain not the bi-polar politics of Democrat vs Republican. Sowell’s own viewpoint seems a rather high-minded brand of Libertarianism and the firm belief that the free-market system auto-corrects the most pernicious impediments to societal function. But it depends on where you draw the line on “most pernicious.�

So, despite the importance of the topic, I’m giving only four stars because the book is rather sloppily written. I’ve found the later books to be better written, argued with more clarity, and avoiding all the circling back to clarify previous statements. I especially enjoyed Conquests and Cultures, for which I gave five stars. By the way, although Milton Friedman was a mentor to Sowell, I find that Sowell has a more pragmatic approach, less extreme, and draws upon a greater background of interdisciplinary knowledge. So, despite Sowell being swayed by Uncle Milt’s free-market economic ideology (I prefer a more Hamiltonian approach), the book looks at far more than just economics to understand why people have differing worldviews.

In sum, I really believe the essence of this book could be distilled to far less bulk and roundabout posturing, so for those short on patience I would recommend reading just the last nine pages where Sowell summarizes his talking points and puts his arguments most succinctly. Do make a point of reading the later books; they were real eye-openers for me.
]]> Race And Culture 265091 348 Thomas Sowell 0465067972 Science and 4 history, social-issues 4.32 1995 Race And Culture
author: Thomas Sowell
name: Science and
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: history, social-issues
review:

]]> Wealth, Poverty and Politics 29101503 Wealth, Poverty, and Politics, Thomas Sowell, one of the foremost conservative public intellectuals in this country, argues that political and ideological struggles have led to dangerous confusion about income inequality in America. Pundits and politically motivated economists trumpet ambiguous statistics and sensational theories while ignoring the true determinant of income inequality: the production of wealth. We cannot properly understand inequality if we focus exclusively on the distribution of wealth and ignore wealth production factors such as geography, demography, and culture.

Sowell contends that liberals have a particular interest in misreading the data and chastises them for using income inequality as an argument for the welfare state. Refuting Thomas Piketty, Paul Krugman, and others on the left, Sowell draws on accurate empirical data to show that the inequality is not nearly as extreme or sensational as we have been led to believe.

Transcending partisanship through a careful examination of data, Wealth, Poverty, and Politics reveals the truth about the most explosive political issue of our time.
]]> 576 Thomas Sowell 046509676X Science and 0 economics, political-theory 4.58 2015 Wealth, Poverty and Politics
author: Thomas Sowell
name: Science and
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: economics, political-theory
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy]]> 3044
In The Vision of the Anointed , ThomasSowell presents a devastating critique of the mind-set behind the failed social policies of the past thirty years. Sowell sees what has happened during that time not as a series of isolated mistakes but as a logical consequence of a tainted vision whose defects have led to crises in education, crime, and family dynamics, and to other social pathologies. In this book, he describes how elites—the anointed—have replaced facts and rational thinking with rhetorical assertions, thereby altering the course of our social policy.]]> 320 Thomas Sowell 046508995X Science and 4 4.38 1995 The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy
author: Thomas Sowell
name: Science and
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: political-theory, social-issues
review:

]]> Centuries 1358100 437 A.A. Attanasio 0340666005 Science and 5 favorites, science-fiction
No review can adequately prepare the reader for this journey, especially without explaining some of the concepts, and that might spoil the fun for the first-time reader. I’ll just make a few objective observations�

The book is written in three parts: each is compelling in its own right, without any lulls, and finishing on a satisfying, if wistful, note. But each of the three parts engaged me at different levels. Attanasio swings for the fences at every turn, and a few foul balls, such as the relationship between Nandi and Rafe which made me quite uncomfortable, do not detract from the numerous hits that go out of the park. The first section of the book is entirely Earth-centric, with a focus on climate amelioration, botanical modification, organic wetware computation, and transmolecular bio-regeneration. It amazes me that this was written in 1997 because the science is still razor sharp cutting edge even for 2023 as I write.

The basic idea is that a group of genetically enhanced children are trained to excel in certain areas of scientific research and they contribute much to ease the world’s woes and turnaround decades of planetary neglect. (Sort of a smarter Ender's Game.) But there are snags along the way as when puberty hits and emotions and innate urges complicate things. And there are some unexpected turn of events and dramas which keep the reader thoroughly invested in the story. In fact, there is one tangential story line that spirals up to heights of poetic inspiration and emotional engagement only to be dashed. I put the book down, smiling, laughing, and fists clenched in exasperation: yes, Attanasio delivers a huge sucker punch!

The other two parts explore further away from Earth as the solar system develops, the timeline spanning over centuries (hence the title) and now the science gets even wilder and more speculative. While never venturing into fantasy (no magic or mythical creatures) Attanasio pushes scientific concepts to really wild places. We get designer morphs, creatures intended for specific work too difficult for humans. We may recoil at the idea but for millennia horses have been used as beasts of burden, or even dogs to pull sleds, so this just takes things to the next level. Indeed, there are no aliens in this story, as all the varying lifeforms we encounter are derived from human manipulation.

By the third part things get even wilder, and while I can’t say they are scientifically impossible, they really do push credulity. Those who have read the book will know what I mean about “eminences� or “reflector spheres.� But all in all there is so much that impressed me with this book that I now place it among my Top Ten.

What a shame that Attanasio got lost in the shuffle during a merger of two publishing houses. Let’s hope he has another great one to give us, possible self-published if need be. Meanwhile, this one is due for a reprint so that a new generation can discover this wind-boggling work of genius!]]> 4.06 1997 Centuries
author: A.A. Attanasio
name: Science and
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/09
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: favorites, science-fiction
review:
This far-reaching story is a real journey in terms of scientific concepts, philosophy and sociology. It is smart and entertaining, and the characters and story-line engage the reader from start to finish, enough to propel the narrative for those who would rather glide over the science. But the deeper concepts are there for those who may wish to ponder them.

No review can adequately prepare the reader for this journey, especially without explaining some of the concepts, and that might spoil the fun for the first-time reader. I’ll just make a few objective observations�

The book is written in three parts: each is compelling in its own right, without any lulls, and finishing on a satisfying, if wistful, note. But each of the three parts engaged me at different levels. Attanasio swings for the fences at every turn, and a few foul balls, such as the relationship between Nandi and Rafe which made me quite uncomfortable, do not detract from the numerous hits that go out of the park. The first section of the book is entirely Earth-centric, with a focus on climate amelioration, botanical modification, organic wetware computation, and transmolecular bio-regeneration. It amazes me that this was written in 1997 because the science is still razor sharp cutting edge even for 2023 as I write.

The basic idea is that a group of genetically enhanced children are trained to excel in certain areas of scientific research and they contribute much to ease the world’s woes and turnaround decades of planetary neglect. (Sort of a smarter Ender's Game.) But there are snags along the way as when puberty hits and emotions and innate urges complicate things. And there are some unexpected turn of events and dramas which keep the reader thoroughly invested in the story. In fact, there is one tangential story line that spirals up to heights of poetic inspiration and emotional engagement only to be dashed. I put the book down, smiling, laughing, and fists clenched in exasperation: yes, Attanasio delivers a huge sucker punch!

The other two parts explore further away from Earth as the solar system develops, the timeline spanning over centuries (hence the title) and now the science gets even wilder and more speculative. While never venturing into fantasy (no magic or mythical creatures) Attanasio pushes scientific concepts to really wild places. We get designer morphs, creatures intended for specific work too difficult for humans. We may recoil at the idea but for millennia horses have been used as beasts of burden, or even dogs to pull sleds, so this just takes things to the next level. Indeed, there are no aliens in this story, as all the varying lifeforms we encounter are derived from human manipulation.

By the third part things get even wilder, and while I can’t say they are scientifically impossible, they really do push credulity. Those who have read the book will know what I mean about “eminences� or “reflector spheres.� But all in all there is so much that impressed me with this book that I now place it among my Top Ten.

What a shame that Attanasio got lost in the shuffle during a merger of two publishing houses. Let’s hope he has another great one to give us, possible self-published if need be. Meanwhile, this one is due for a reprint so that a new generation can discover this wind-boggling work of genius!
]]> A Fighting Chance 18779662 A Fighting Chance

As a child in small-town Oklahoma, Elizabeth Warren yearned to go to college and then become an elementary school teacher—an ambitious goal, given her family's modest means. Early marriage and motherhood seemed to put even that dream out of reach, but fifteen years later she was a distinguished law professor with a deep understanding of why people go bankrupt. Then came the phone call that changed her life: could she come to Washington DC to help advise Congress on rewriting the bankruptcy laws?

Thus began an impolite education into the bare-knuckled, often dysfunctional ways of Washington. She fought for better bankruptcy laws for ten years and lost. She tried to hold the federal government accountable during the financial crisis but became a target of the big banks. She came up with the idea for a new agency designed to protect consumers from predatory bankers and was denied the opportunity to run it. Finally, at age 62, she decided to run for elective office and won the most competitive—and watched—Senate race in the country.
In this passionate, funny, rabble-rousing book, Warren shows why she has chosen to fight tooth and nail for the middle class—and why she has become a hero to all those who believe that America's government can and must do better for working families.]]> 365 Elizabeth Warren 1627790527 Science and 0 4.12 2014 A Fighting Chance
author: Elizabeth Warren
name: Science and
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the Third Millennium]]> 66332 Flow (more than 125,000 copies sold) offers an intelligent, inspiring guide to life in the future.

In this wise, humane inquiry, Csikszentmihalyi (Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience) argues that genetically programmed behaviors that once helped humans adapt and multiply now threaten our survival. These traits include obsessions with food and sex, addiction to pleasure, excessive rationality and a tendency to focus on the negative. A University of Chicago psychology professor, the author also believes we must free our minds of cultural illusions such as ethnocentric superiority or identification with one's possessions. He urges readers to find ways to reduce the oppression, exploitation and inequality that are woven into the fabric of society. Further, he wants us to control the direction of human evolution by pursuing challenging activities that lead to greater complexity while opposting chaos and conformity. Each chapter concludes with self-help questions and mental exercises designed to help readers apply the insights of this literate manifesto to their daily lives.]]> 384 Mihály Csíkszentmihályi 0060921927 Science and 0 psychology 4.03 1993 The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the Third Millennium
author: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
name: Science and
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: psychology
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome]]> 225947
Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history.

Dozens of maps provide a clear geography of great events, while timelines give the reader an ongoing sense of the passage of years and cultural interconnection. This narrative history employs the methods of “history from beneath”—literature, epic traditions, private letters and accounts—to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them.]]> 896 Susan Wise Bauer 039305974X Science and 5 history
The last time I read a comprehensive history series was in the 1990s with the beautiful MJF editions of Will & Ariel Durant’s groundbreaking 11-volume set. I still keep that on hand for spot reading. This time around I wanted something that took advantage of all the most recent research and archaeological evidence. Before investing my time and energy with one author I compared six different authors from the start of ancient history until the close of the Athenian democracy. I wanted to see who wrote with the most clarity (without being academically dry) and presented events in the most logical sequence, and who selected the most pertinent talking points by which to convey the most comprehension in the greater scheme of things. Compared were: Western Civilizations by Coffin & Stacey (my son’s high school history textbook), Ancient History (from the first civilizations to the renaissance) by J.M. Roberts, A History of The Ancient World by Chester Starr, and The Encyclopedia of World History edited by Peter Stearns.

I can’t emphasize enough that Bauer’s work is in a class by itself. For me these books were literally page turners that kept me up way past my bedtime! Coverage and clarity on all the salient events put cultural dynamics into perspective, and there is even some humor now and then!

To understand the folly of man we must know from the decisions and courses of events that led us to the present. In my opinion, Bauer is in a class by herself in guiding us along this journey of understanding the complexities of our past.]]> 4.11 2007 The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
author: Susan Wise Bauer
name: Science and
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: history
review:
This is far and away the best book on history that I’ve read. All three books in this trilogy (Ancient World, Medieval, and Renaissance era) are to the same high standard. Hopefully we can one day see a book on the modern era in this series, which would supplant her earlier book.

The last time I read a comprehensive history series was in the 1990s with the beautiful MJF editions of Will & Ariel Durant’s groundbreaking 11-volume set. I still keep that on hand for spot reading. This time around I wanted something that took advantage of all the most recent research and archaeological evidence. Before investing my time and energy with one author I compared six different authors from the start of ancient history until the close of the Athenian democracy. I wanted to see who wrote with the most clarity (without being academically dry) and presented events in the most logical sequence, and who selected the most pertinent talking points by which to convey the most comprehension in the greater scheme of things. Compared were: Western Civilizations by Coffin & Stacey (my son’s high school history textbook), Ancient History (from the first civilizations to the renaissance) by J.M. Roberts, A History of The Ancient World by Chester Starr, and The Encyclopedia of World History edited by Peter Stearns.

I can’t emphasize enough that Bauer’s work is in a class by itself. For me these books were literally page turners that kept me up way past my bedtime! Coverage and clarity on all the salient events put cultural dynamics into perspective, and there is even some humor now and then!

To understand the folly of man we must know from the decisions and courses of events that led us to the present. In my opinion, Bauer is in a class by herself in guiding us along this journey of understanding the complexities of our past.
]]> <![CDATA[The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade]]> 6484128 A masterful narrative of the Middle Ages, when religion became a weapon for kings all over the world.

From the schism between Rome and Constantinople to the rise of the T’ang Dynasty, from the birth of Muhammad to the crowning of Charlemagne, this erudite book tells the fascinating, often violent story of kings, generals, and the peoples they ruled.

In her earlier work, The History of the Ancient World, Susan Wise Bauer wrote of the rise of kingship based on might. But in the years between the fourth and the twelfth centuries, rulers had to find new justification for their power, and they turned to divine truth or grace to justify political and military action. Right thus replaces might as the engine of empire.

Not just Christianity and Islam but the religions of the Persians and the Germans, and even Buddhism, are pressed into the service of the state. This phenomenon—stretching from the Americas all the way to Japan—changes religion, but it also changes the state. 4 illustrations; 46 maps.]]> 746 Susan Wise Bauer 0393059758 Science and 5 history
Sure, for the specialist, you are going to get a lot more detail in something like the Durant’s epic 11-volume set of history, but I find no serious omissions in Bauer’s more streamlined version, and she has the huge advantage of somehow making all the historical figures (like Justinian) come to life as real people.

I especially liked the section on the origins of Islam and the consequent schism between Shia and Sunni and the tension that this intractable divide has created. A hundred years ago this may have been an arcane distinction for Westerners, but in today’s world it is critical matter to understanding the political dynamics of the Middle East. I don’t think any other author I’ve read has made more sense of all of this. One might ask if it wouldn’t be better to learn about this from the perspective of a native practitioner of Islam, but this is not likely to happen given censorship and fear of death for those who speak out too frankly on such matters. Bauer gives us a clear and unsentimental view of the various religions that have shaped our world, and I know of no better guide for the journey of understanding the events that have shaped our past and formed our present than Bauer.
]]> 4.11 2010 The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade
author: Susan Wise Bauer
name: Science and
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: history
review:
The first volume about the Ancient world was by far the best book on history that I’ve read. This second volume on the Medieval world continues the excellent narrative. I’ve read quite a few history books (my GoodReads shelf says I’ve read 43 so far) and Bauer is the only one to get five stars from me. The reason is simply that she writes in such a captivating manner that for me these books are literally page turners! The only one to even come close is Asimov’s Chronology of the World (review forthcoming).

Sure, for the specialist, you are going to get a lot more detail in something like the Durant’s epic 11-volume set of history, but I find no serious omissions in Bauer’s more streamlined version, and she has the huge advantage of somehow making all the historical figures (like Justinian) come to life as real people.

I especially liked the section on the origins of Islam and the consequent schism between Shia and Sunni and the tension that this intractable divide has created. A hundred years ago this may have been an arcane distinction for Westerners, but in today’s world it is critical matter to understanding the political dynamics of the Middle East. I don’t think any other author I’ve read has made more sense of all of this. One might ask if it wouldn’t be better to learn about this from the perspective of a native practitioner of Islam, but this is not likely to happen given censorship and fear of death for those who speak out too frankly on such matters. Bauer gives us a clear and unsentimental view of the various religions that have shaped our world, and I know of no better guide for the journey of understanding the events that have shaped our past and formed our present than Bauer.

]]> <![CDATA[Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress]]> 35696171
Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing.

Far from being a naïve hope, the Enlightenment, we now know, has worked. But more than ever, it needs a vigorous defense. The Enlightenment project swims against currents of human nature–tribalism, authoritarianism, demonization, magical thinking–which demagogues are all too willing to exploit. Many commentators, committed to political, religious, or romantic ideologies, fight a rearguard action against it. The result is a corrosive fatalism and a willingness to wreck the precious institutions of liberal democracy and global cooperation.

With intellectual depth and literary flair, Enlightenment Now makes the case for reason, science, and humanism: the ideals we need to confront our problems and continue our progress.]]> 576 Steven Pinker 0525427570 Science and 2 science, social-issues
When Pinker was finally done with all the statistics, the last third of the book was more interesting and less like reading a ‘white paper� though even then I could only take ten or so pages before getting tired of it. The chapter on happiness was probably the most interesting. Pinker attacks both the liberal left and the populist right movement, arguing for a steady and stabilizing middle path. He also argued against global warming crisis, and seemingly provides a lot of information for climate deniers.

Verdict: Not a keeper for my library (put it in the donation box), not generally recommended except to insomniacs, and I certainly do not agree with Bill Gates who said “This is the best book I’ve read. Ever.�
]]> 4.18 2018 Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
author: Steven Pinker
name: Science and
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: science, social-issues
review:
It took me long time to get through this (three weeks) because it is as dry as a Wikipedia article and it felt like I was being forced to eat some tasteless health food. The first two parts were interminable, with endless quotes of statistics and charts and graphs, and a feeling that any dissatisfaction with life is due to “First World Problems� which aren’t that bad compared to how we used to live just a hundred years ago. But I believe we need constructive criticism in order to strive to improve life, not just acquiesce to the status quo. The underlying mantra here is “Don’t worry, be happy.�

When Pinker was finally done with all the statistics, the last third of the book was more interesting and less like reading a ‘white paper� though even then I could only take ten or so pages before getting tired of it. The chapter on happiness was probably the most interesting. Pinker attacks both the liberal left and the populist right movement, arguing for a steady and stabilizing middle path. He also argued against global warming crisis, and seemingly provides a lot of information for climate deniers.

Verdict: Not a keeper for my library (put it in the donation box), not generally recommended except to insomniacs, and I certainly do not agree with Bill Gates who said “This is the best book I’ve read. Ever.�

]]> Anarchy, State, and Utopia 479572 It won the 1975 U.S. National Book Award in category Philosophy and Religion, has been translated into 11 languages, and was named one of the "100 most influential books since the war" (1945�1995) by the U.K. Times Literary Supplement.]]> 367 Robert Nozick 0465097200 Science and 2
Bottom line: Nozick posits that the best Utopia we could ever hope for would be a minimalist state with a very hands-off approach to individual rights and free commerce. In other words, the ultimate Libertarian state with little or no imposed social safety net.
]]> 3.75 1974 Anarchy, State, and Utopia
author: Robert Nozick
name: Science and
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1974
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: philosophy, political-theory, social-issues
review:
This sat on my shelf for a long time, so when I finally pulled it down to read I was sorely disappointed. Nozick was a professor of philosophy at Harvard, and this book won the National Book Award, but it’s a hell of a slog through some very convoluted arguments, footnotes that are hundreds of words long, twenty some pages just defining a word, torturous roundabouts of logic, and lots of absurd hypotheticals. He argues that since people are vastly different in temperament, abilities and aspirations, there can be no single perfect Utopian solution. Therefore, he doesn’t spend much effort looking at what might be a workable compromise.

Bottom line: Nozick posits that the best Utopia we could ever hope for would be a minimalist state with a very hands-off approach to individual rights and free commerce. In other words, the ultimate Libertarian state with little or no imposed social safety net.

]]> <![CDATA[The Theory of Education in the United States]]> 2902256 170 Albert Jay Nock Science and 4 Free Speech and Plain Language, and The Disadvantages of Being Educated.

First off, the difference between training and education: training to do something proficiently, perhaps even expertly (like mastering a skill like carpentry) is different from the process of educating oneself to look at the interaction and interconnectedness of everything in order to gain a wisdom about what is true progress and what is simply improvised expedience toward gratifying the trending impulses of the masses. Most all secondary education is now geared toward proficiency training to be an accepted part of the American paradigm of making money and enjoying the leisured life; thinking and deep questions are not held in high regard. Jefferson’s ideal for America was the careful balance between reflective thinking and practical and pragmatic solutions, not the grab-what-you can culture of economic affluence with its concomitant disregard for whatever behaviors that don’t bring instant or near-term gratification.

Secondly, educated persons will have to accept that the people they admire and count as influential may not hold much value or recognition from the masses. Elitism has become a dirty word, but since the time of Socrates and the Athenian schools, it has always been a select few who value and pursue knowledge for its own edification. There are fortunately a few people who successfully cross this barrier and have success on both fronts. A favorite of mine, Carl Sagan, is certainly the exception of being recognized by his peers and also loved by the public.

An interesting tidbit about Thomas Jefferson: when he campaigned for his second term, he refused to go out before the public in a “display of tawdry exhibitionism� and instead relied on educated voters to read his views in published essays and decide if they agreed or disagreed. He carried all but two states. Nowadays actual political discourse is unheard of; instead, millions of dollars are spent on campaigns that amount to a circus show of shouted slogans.

Some of the sobering realizations put me in a depressive funk, and unlike some upwardly mobile countries (especially in Asia) it seems America simply doesn’t have the kind of cultural foundation that values intellectual achievement. This also corresponds to an insightful book I recently read - Kurt Andersen’s Fantasyland � which documents the entire history of America’s anti-intellectual bias from the Salem Witch Trials to the present day.

If you’ve found this relatively obscure book by Nock and enjoyed it we’re singing in the same choir!]]> 4.21 1931 The Theory of Education in the United States
author: Albert Jay Nock
name: Science and
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1931
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: education, history, political-theory
review:
Wow, for being written in 1931 this still offers interesting insights and certainly resonates with much of my thinking of about the push and pull of education versus culture. For those short on time I especially recommend two chapters: Free Speech and Plain Language, and The Disadvantages of Being Educated.

First off, the difference between training and education: training to do something proficiently, perhaps even expertly (like mastering a skill like carpentry) is different from the process of educating oneself to look at the interaction and interconnectedness of everything in order to gain a wisdom about what is true progress and what is simply improvised expedience toward gratifying the trending impulses of the masses. Most all secondary education is now geared toward proficiency training to be an accepted part of the American paradigm of making money and enjoying the leisured life; thinking and deep questions are not held in high regard. Jefferson’s ideal for America was the careful balance between reflective thinking and practical and pragmatic solutions, not the grab-what-you can culture of economic affluence with its concomitant disregard for whatever behaviors that don’t bring instant or near-term gratification.

Secondly, educated persons will have to accept that the people they admire and count as influential may not hold much value or recognition from the masses. Elitism has become a dirty word, but since the time of Socrates and the Athenian schools, it has always been a select few who value and pursue knowledge for its own edification. There are fortunately a few people who successfully cross this barrier and have success on both fronts. A favorite of mine, Carl Sagan, is certainly the exception of being recognized by his peers and also loved by the public.

An interesting tidbit about Thomas Jefferson: when he campaigned for his second term, he refused to go out before the public in a “display of tawdry exhibitionism� and instead relied on educated voters to read his views in published essays and decide if they agreed or disagreed. He carried all but two states. Nowadays actual political discourse is unheard of; instead, millions of dollars are spent on campaigns that amount to a circus show of shouted slogans.

Some of the sobering realizations put me in a depressive funk, and unlike some upwardly mobile countries (especially in Asia) it seems America simply doesn’t have the kind of cultural foundation that values intellectual achievement. This also corresponds to an insightful book I recently read - Kurt Andersen’s Fantasyland � which documents the entire history of America’s anti-intellectual bias from the Salem Witch Trials to the present day.

If you’ve found this relatively obscure book by Nock and enjoyed it we’re singing in the same choir!
]]> <![CDATA[The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam]]> 33584231
The Strange Death of Europe is the internationally bestselling account of a continent and culture caught in the act of suicide. Douglas Murray takes a step back and explores the deeper issues behind the continent's possible demise, from an atmosphere of mass terror attacks and a global refugee crisis to the steady erosion of our freedoms. He addresses the disappointing failure of multiculturalism, Angela Merkel's U-turn on migration, and the Western fixation on guilt. Murray travels to Berlin, Paris, Scandinavia, and Greece to uncover the malaise at the very heart of the European culture, and to hear the stories of those who have arrived in Europe from far away.

Declining birth rates, mass immigration, and cultivated self-distrust and self-hatred have come together to make Europeans unable to argue for themselves and incapable of resisting their own comprehensive alteration as a society and an eventual end. This sharp and incisive book ends up with two visions for a new Europe--one hopeful, one pessimistic--which paint a picture of Europe in crisis and offer a choice as to what, if anything, we can do next. But perhaps Spengler was "civilizations like humans are born, briefly flourish, decay, and die."]]> 352 Douglas Murray 1472942248 Science and 4
It’s too bad Murray has become associated with right-wing politics because this is the kind of sensible liberal democratic thinking that wouldn’t have even been questioned in John F. Kennedy’s time. It’s also alarming that some of the negative reviews on ŷ decry Murray as a xenophobe. It is critical to understand the difference between lawful immigration, as when Germany brought in millions of Turks to help with the post-war shortage of labor, versus unregulated immigration without the proper infrastructure in place to help with societal integration. Not to mention that many are opportunists who have no intention of integrating. The one is to be welcomed as a benefit, the other is asking for trouble. And yet to even talk rationally like this people get their backs up over certain trigger words.

I think back to how this all started, with sensitivity and compassion for minorities, like gays, who were victims of hate crime. On an individual basis that is a worthy cause, but, as Murray points out, at a societal level progressive liberals are propagating the idea that any dominant majority in society is inherently corrupt and to be viewed with suspicion. We have somewhere along the way lost the belief that it is proper to stand up for what is right and instead turn the cheek and beg opportunists to slap us senseless.
]]> 4.11 2017 The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam
author: Douglas Murray
name: Science and
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: political-theory, social-issues
review:
The sensationalist title nearly put me off, but this proved to be a real page turner, with eye-opening material that really changed my naïve belief that liberal values would someday carry us forward to enlightened perfection. It seems that EU bureaucracy has taken political correctness to an extreme, with some policies that make Western Civilization itself vulnerable to risky experimentation on a massive scale. Some of these ideas got my blood pressure up. In Australia they now have National Apologies Day, and now some in Europe want forgiveness for past sins, like reparations for Viking Raids. Since this book was written Britain has succumbed to a two-tier system of justice. All because people are afraid to say the Emperor has no clothes.

It’s too bad Murray has become associated with right-wing politics because this is the kind of sensible liberal democratic thinking that wouldn’t have even been questioned in John F. Kennedy’s time. It’s also alarming that some of the negative reviews on ŷ decry Murray as a xenophobe. It is critical to understand the difference between lawful immigration, as when Germany brought in millions of Turks to help with the post-war shortage of labor, versus unregulated immigration without the proper infrastructure in place to help with societal integration. Not to mention that many are opportunists who have no intention of integrating. The one is to be welcomed as a benefit, the other is asking for trouble. And yet to even talk rationally like this people get their backs up over certain trigger words.

I think back to how this all started, with sensitivity and compassion for minorities, like gays, who were victims of hate crime. On an individual basis that is a worthy cause, but, as Murray points out, at a societal level progressive liberals are propagating the idea that any dominant majority in society is inherently corrupt and to be viewed with suspicion. We have somewhere along the way lost the belief that it is proper to stand up for what is right and instead turn the cheek and beg opportunists to slap us senseless.

]]> <![CDATA[The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity]]> 44667183
We are living through a postmodern era in which the grand narratives of religion and political ideology have collapsed. In their place have emerged a crusading desire to right perceived wrongs and a weaponization of identity, both accelerated by the new forms of social and news media. Narrow sets of interests now dominate the agenda as society becomes more and more tribal--and, as Murray shows, the casualties are mounting.]]> 293 Douglas Murray 1635579988 Science and 4
The chapter on activism on American colleges made my blood boil, how anybody with social media can manipulate crowds and force professors (like Bret Weinstein) out of their jobs, holding a college president hostage, hounding and threatening teachers and their families, disrupting the learning environment, and getting away with it all. If I were a student at one of these institutions I would sue for a refund of my tuition. If any harm came my way we wouldn’t be talking about a reprimand or threat of expulsion, I’d be pressing for criminal charges. Tolerance is one thing but allowing for this kind of behavior is no atmosphere for learning.

I remember asking my dad what the 1968 student riots in Paris were all about, why the young people were bent on violence and destruction, and later on I saw firsthand the student activism during my years in college, where students actually went to communist meetings and hosted special guest lecturers advocating communist ideals. The fact is that students younger than 25 just don’t have enough life experience or interdisciplinary studies to make an informed decision on anything. Even when I was a teen and prone to blowing off a little steam myself, I recognized that there was so much I didn’t yet know, so in college I kept to my studies and didn’t get involved in any of the stupidity.

Nowadays we have classic liberals who have submitted to political correctness and virtue signaling who nod along when agitators propose that law and order and even The Enlightenment are tools that white privilege uses to oppress others. In short, this is not a book that I can read passively without feeling that America may be beyond redemption. I say that because even if we dispel with woke nonsense, when the pendulum swings in the other direction things may end up just as bad, with chaos and the Madness of Crowds tempting societal collapse along the way.
]]> 4.18 2019 The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity
author: Douglas Murray
name: Science and
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: political-theory, social-issues
review:
A lot of time spent here exhaustively exploring every angle of LGBTQ and Gender issues, which is not of particular interest to me. There are fifty pages alone on Gay issues, and another forty-five on Trans. But I was glad to see Murray acknowledge that racial issues often don’t have anything to do with skin color, but more likely stem from cultural and political group identity.

The chapter on activism on American colleges made my blood boil, how anybody with social media can manipulate crowds and force professors (like Bret Weinstein) out of their jobs, holding a college president hostage, hounding and threatening teachers and their families, disrupting the learning environment, and getting away with it all. If I were a student at one of these institutions I would sue for a refund of my tuition. If any harm came my way we wouldn’t be talking about a reprimand or threat of expulsion, I’d be pressing for criminal charges. Tolerance is one thing but allowing for this kind of behavior is no atmosphere for learning.

I remember asking my dad what the 1968 student riots in Paris were all about, why the young people were bent on violence and destruction, and later on I saw firsthand the student activism during my years in college, where students actually went to communist meetings and hosted special guest lecturers advocating communist ideals. The fact is that students younger than 25 just don’t have enough life experience or interdisciplinary studies to make an informed decision on anything. Even when I was a teen and prone to blowing off a little steam myself, I recognized that there was so much I didn’t yet know, so in college I kept to my studies and didn’t get involved in any of the stupidity.

Nowadays we have classic liberals who have submitted to political correctness and virtue signaling who nod along when agitators propose that law and order and even The Enlightenment are tools that white privilege uses to oppress others. In short, this is not a book that I can read passively without feeling that America may be beyond redemption. I say that because even if we dispel with woke nonsense, when the pendulum swings in the other direction things may end up just as bad, with chaos and the Madness of Crowds tempting societal collapse along the way.

]]> <![CDATA[The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History (Internet-Linked)]]> 154299 416 Jane Bingham 0746041683 Science and 4 history 4.21 2000 The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History (Internet-Linked)
author: Jane Bingham
name: Science and
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: history
review:
I bought this for my son when he was ten and we went through it together. This is really basic information written for teenagers or younger. Sort of like a lavishly illustrated Wikipedia article. As a history buff I can see the oversimplifications everywhere, but for what it sets out to do I’d say it is a quality product. If you have youngsters at home and want an approachable overview of history that almost makes it all seem fun, well, here you go.
]]> <![CDATA[The History and Conquests of Ancient Rome]]> 701840 An Illustrated Military and Political History of the World's Mightiest Power from the Rise of the Republic and the Growth of the Empire to the Fall of the West.

The story of ancient Rome is one of the great tales of human history. This richly illustrated book offers a fascinating insight into the rise of Rome, which rules almost the whole known world, from Britain in the west to North Africa and the Middle East. Over 1500 years after Rome's final decline and fall, this examination of the people, places and events of Rome's military and political empire will absorb any reader. Magnificent photographs, specially commissioned illustrations, family trees, maps, battle plans and timecharts build up a panoramic picture of the political strength of the Roman Empire and its policy of ruthless conquest.]]> 256 Nigel Rodgers 1844773310 Science and 0 history 3.41 2007 The History and Conquests of Ancient Rome
author: Nigel Rodgers
name: Science and
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Complete History and Wars of Ancient Greece]]> 9678299 The military and political story of the ancient Greeks including the Persian wars, the battle of Marathon and the campaigns of Alexander the Great and his conquest of Asia.

A fascinating, authoritative and stunningly illustrated account of ancient Greece and its classical heritage. Chronicles military and political development in Athens, Sparta and other ancient Greek city states, all revealed in magnificent detail.
Ancient History.]]> 256 nigel-rodgers 1846811643 Science and 0 history 4.00 The Complete History and Wars of Ancient Greece
author: nigel-rodgers
name: Science and
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Western Civilizations, 16th edition Vol. 2]]> 6084314 704 Judith G. Coffin 039393098X Science and 0 history 3.20 2005 Western Civilizations, 16th edition Vol. 2
author: Judith G. Coffin
name: Science and
average rating: 3.20
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture, Vol. 1: Pre-History to the Present]]> 5688486 1134 Judith G. Coffin 0393930998 Science and 0 history 3.33 2008 Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture, Vol. 1: Pre-History to the Present
author: Judith G. Coffin
name: Science and
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Kings and Queens of Britain]]> 31577815 Charles Phillips 184681281X Science and 5 history
Given the ease of use as a reference and the quality of presentation I see no reason to withhold five stars.
]]> 4.33 2006 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Kings and Queens of Britain
author: Charles Phillips
name: Science and
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: history
review:
I’m not a specialist in history, just an enthusiast, so for my purposes I found the way the book is organized very easy to use whenever I want a quick refresher about who did what and what happened when. Even though this is more of a highlights approach and doesn’t give a deep dive on any particular issue, it is just enough to get the overall big picture. Important events such as The Magna Carta or War of the Roses are engaging because they don’t devolve into arcane details that the average reader might not be interested in. And the lavish illustrations and sidebars make it all a more immersive experience. Since my DNA report and living relatives chart shows my heritage is from Denmark and the Danelaw area of Britain I was particularly interested in the earlier development of the nation under Alfred the Great.

Given the ease of use as a reference and the quality of presentation I see no reason to withhold five stars.

]]> <![CDATA[Culture and Values, Volume II: A Survey of the Humanities]]> 124600 576 Lawrence S. Cunningham 053458229X Science and 0 art, history, music 4.06 1984 Culture and Values, Volume II: A Survey of the Humanities
author: Lawrence S. Cunningham
name: Science and
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1984
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: art, history, music
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities, Volume I (with Resource Center Printed Access Card)]]> 6796037 360 Lawrence S. Cunningham 0495570656 Science and 0 art, history, religion 3.00 2005 Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities, Volume I (with Resource Center Printed Access Card)
author: Lawrence S. Cunningham
name: Science and
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: art, history, religion
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Medieval Lives: Eight Charismatic Men and Women of the Middle Ages]]> 351754 197 Norman F. Cantor 0060925795 Science and 3 historical-fiction, history 3.47 1994 Medieval Lives: Eight Charismatic Men and Women of the Middle Ages
author: Norman F. Cantor
name: Science and
average rating: 3.47
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: historical-fiction, history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself]]> 714380 745 Daniel J. Boorstin 0394726251 Science and 4 history, science 4.11 1983 The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself
author: Daniel J. Boorstin
name: Science and
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: history, science
review:

]]> History of Britain & Ireland 11344663 History of Britain and Ireland traces the key events that shaped the societies living in the British Isles from the earliest times to the present day. It is the definitive visual guide to 5,000 years of British history. It includes a comprehensive timeline chronicling key events in the history of Britain and Ireland, in addition to "decisive moment" spreads that vividly describe turning points in British history. It also profiles the people who have had a significant impact on British culture and society through their inventions, discoveries, and ideas.]]> 400 R.G. Grant 0756675553 Science and 4 history 4.29 2011 History of Britain & Ireland
author: R.G. Grant
name: Science and
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ancient History: From the First Civilizations to the Renaissance]]> 3678676 Arranged in chronological order, beginning with prehistoric times over 2,000,000 years ago, this book catalogues major time periods, discoveries, and events (e.g. Homo erectus, The Fertile Crescent, metallurgy, Sumer, Ancient Egypt, Ancient China, Aegean civilization, the Mediterranean world, Greek life, the Roman world, Islam, Byzantium, the Far East, Medieval Christendom, the Renaissance, European colonialism, church reformation, and much more.
Following on the heels of the international success of Robert's History of the World, Ancient History will serve as an indispensable reference that will inform, enlighten, and entertain readers for years to come.]]> 912 J.M. Roberts 0195221486 Science and 4 anthropology, history 3.75 2004 Ancient History: From the First Civilizations to the Renaissance
author: J.M. Roberts
name: Science and
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: anthropology, history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Creators: A History of Heroes of the Imagination]]> 1503078 831 Daniel J. Boorstin 0394543955 Science and 3 art, history, music
In sum: I love the idea behind this book, but the writing leaves me disengaged.]]> 4.19 1992 The Creators: A History of Heroes of the Imagination
author: Daniel J. Boorstin
name: Science and
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: art, history, music
review:
I first read this back in the 90's when it came out, and I've kept it on my shelf all these years waiting for time in retirement to read it again. It's a handsome book, and I got excited when I looked at the table of contents, but reading four selected chapters I just didn't find the writing style engaging. I just can't give an enthusiastic rating like I might have before, and that's because in the meantime I've found other writers to convey more excitement about topics which should be exciting for people who have an interest in them. Susan Wise Bauer, or Kenneth Clark come to mind.

In sum: I love the idea behind this book, but the writing leaves me disengaged.
]]> Civilisation: A Personal View 330457 359 Kenneth M. Clark 0060907878 Science and 4 art, history, philosophy 4.06 1969 Civilisation: A Personal View
author: Kenneth M. Clark
name: Science and
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1969
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: art, history, philosophy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A History of the Ancient World]]> 325068 800 Chester G. Starr 0195066294 Science and 3 history 3.73 1965 A History of the Ancient World
author: Chester G. Starr
name: Science and
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1965
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Greece and Rome: Builders of our World (Story of Man, #2)]]> 13627238 Classic Archeology; Roman Archeology. A beautiful volume in the Story of Man having 541 Illustrations, 440 in full color and 16 Maps.]]> 448 Paul MacKendrick Science and 0 history 4.00 1968 Greece and Rome: Builders of our World (Story of Man, #2)
author: Paul MacKendrick
name: Science and
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1968
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Renaissance Maker of Modern Man (The Story of Man, #4)]]> 13627254 National Geographic Society Science and 0 history 4.10 1977 The Renaissance Maker of Modern Man (The Story of Man, #4)
author: National Geographic Society
name: Science and
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> A History of Civilizations 168445 The Christian Science Monitor. Written from a consciously anti-enthnocentric approach, this fascinating work is a survey of the civilizations of the modern world in terms of the broad sweep and continuities of history, rather than the "event-based" technique of most other texts.

Contents

List of maps
Translator´s introduction
By way of preface
Introduction: History and the present day

I. A HISTORY OF CIVILIZATIONS
1. Changing vocabulary
2. The study of civilization involves all social sciences
3. The continuity of civilizations

II. CIVILIZATIONS OUTSIDE EUROPE
Part I. Islam and the Muslim World
4. History
5. Geography
6. The greatness and decline of Islam
7. The revival of Islam today

Part II: Africa
8. The past
9. Black Africa: Today and tomorrow

Part III: The Far East
10. An introduction to the Far East
11. The China of the past
12. China yesterday and today
13. India yesterday and today
14. The maritime Far East
15. Japan

III. EUROPEAN CIVILIZATIONS
Part I: Europe
16. Geography and freedom
17. Christianity, humanism and scientific thought
18. The industrialization of Europe
19. Unity in Europe

Part II: America
20. Latin America, the other New World
21. America par excellence: the United States
22. Failures and difficulties: From yesterday to the present
23. An English-speaking Universe

Part III: The other Europe: Muscovy, Russia, the USSR and the CIS
24. From the beginning to the October Revolution of 1917
25. The USSR after 1917

Index]]> 640 Fernand Braudel 0140124896 Science and 4 history 3.82 1963 A History of Civilizations
author: Fernand Braudel
name: Science and
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1963
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Civilization and Capitalism 15th-18th Century, Vol. 1: The Structures of Everyday Life]]> 103431
Braudel's technique, it has been said, is that of a pointilliste. Myriads of separate details, sharp glimpses of reality experienced by real people, are seen miraculously to orchestrate themselves into broad rhythms that underlie and transcend the excitements and struggles of particular periods. Braudel sees the past as we see the present � only in a longer perspective and over a wider field.The perspective is that of the possible, of the actual material limitations to human life in any given time or place. It is the every¬day, the habitual � the obvious that is so obvious it has hitherto been neglected by historians � that Braudel claims for a new and vast and enriching province of history. Food and drink, dress and housing, demography and family structure, energy and technology, money and credit, and, above all, the growth of towns, that powerful agent of social and economic development, are described in all the richness and complexity of real life.

The intensely visual quality of Braudel's understanding of history is brought into sharper focus by the remarkable series of illustrations that of themselves would make this book incomparable

FERNAND BRAUDEL was born in 1902, received a degree in history in 1923, and subsequently taught in Algeria, Paris and Sao Paulo. He spent five years as a prisoner of war in Germany, during which time he wrote his grand thesis, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, which was published in 1949. In 1946 he became a member of the editorial board of Annates, the famous journal founded by Marc Bloch and Lucian Febvre, whom he succeeded at the College de France in 1949. He has been a member of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes and since 1962 has been chief administrator of the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme. Professor Braudel holds honorary doctor¬ates from universities all over the world.

Jacket painting: Detail from Breughel the Elder's The Fall of Icarus, from the Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. (Giraudon)

"Braudel deserves a Nobel Prize. . . . [This is] the most remarkable picture of human life in the centuries before the human condition was radically changed by the growth of industry that has yet been presented. A book of great originality, a masterpiece."
—J. H. Plumb, The Washington Post

"Braudel's books enthrall. ... He is brilliant in demonstrating how most history is written on the backs of most people."
—John Leonard, The New York Times

"Even a preliminary glance at The Structures of Everyday Life shows a book that has no obvious compeer either in scope of reference or level of accessibility to the general reader. ... Its broad authority remains deeply impressive."
—Richard Holmes, Harper's

"Here is vast erudition, beautifully arranged, presented with grace of style, with humility before life's complexity and warm humanist feeling. Braudel's subject is nothing less than every¬day life all over the world before the industrial revolution.... He succeeds triumphantly in his first purpose: 'if not to see everything, at least to locate everything, and on the requisite world scale.'"
—Angus Calder, The Standard

"On neither side of the Atlantic does there live a man or woman with so much knowledge of the past as Braudel, or with a greater sense of its aptness to the intellectual occasion in hand....You can't pick up this big fat book without having your attention transfixed by something or other, if only the great gallery of pictures. They are a masterpiece in themselves."
—Peter Laslett, The Guardian

"This new book is unarguably a brilliant survey of demog¬raphy, urbanisation, transport, technology, food, clothing, housing, money and business, social classes, state power and international trade in the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries."
—Theodore Zeldin, The Listener

-----

By examining in detail the material life of preindustrial peoples around the world, Fernand Braudel significantly changed the way historians view their subject. Volume I describes food and drink, dress and housing, demography and family structure, energy and technology, money and credit, and the growth of towns.]]> 623 Fernand Braudel 0520081145 Science and 4 economics, history 4.35 1979 Civilization and Capitalism 15th-18th Century, Vol. 1: The Structures of Everyday Life
author: Fernand Braudel
name: Science and
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: economics, history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Explanation of Ideology: Family Structure and Social Systems (Family, Sexuality and Social Relations in Past Times)]]> 1058107 Emmanuel Todd 0631154914 Science and 5 4.00 1985 The Explanation of Ideology: Family Structure and Social Systems (Family, Sexuality and Social Relations in Past Times)
author: Emmanuel Todd
name: Science and
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1985
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: anthropology, history, social-issues
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Age of Reason Begins (The Story of Civilization, #7)]]> 868267 "Mr & Mrs Durant are admirably lucid...This is a book that can be commended very warmly."--The New York Times]]> 729 Will Durant 0671013203 Science and 4 history 4.37 1961 The Age of Reason Begins (The Story of Civilization, #7)
author: Will Durant
name: Science and
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1961
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> The Life of Greece 2183304 768 Will Durant 0671418009 Science and 4 history 4.32 1939 The Life of Greece
author: Will Durant
name: Science and
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1939
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rousseau and Revolution (The Story of Civilization, #10)]]> 78165 From: ]]> 1092 Will Durant 1567310214 Science and 4 history 4.27 Rousseau and Revolution (The Story of Civilization, #10)
author: Will Durant
name: Science and
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Age of Voltaire (The Story of Civilization, #9)]]> 78164 898 Will Durant 0671013254 Science and 4 history 4.42 1965 The Age of Voltaire (The Story of Civilization, #9)
author: Will Durant
name: Science and
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1965
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Making of the European Age]]> 803256 192 J.M. Roberts 0195215249 Science and 3 history 3.00 2002 The Making of the European Age
author: J.M. Roberts
name: Science and
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2002
rating: 3
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date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> Rome & the Classical West 703486 The Illustrated History of the World is a lavishly illustrated edition of J.M. Roberts's bestselling History of the World. Now completely revised and updated, each volume of this comprehensive reference work traces the tumultuous story of humankind from prehistory to the end of the 20th century. The rise and fall of civilizations; the impact of powerful individuals on world events; the interplay of state and religion; the social and economic factors that influence societies—these are some of the themes of this masterful, sweeping narrative. Over 2,000 photographs in color and black-and-white present a unique visual panoply of the march of history. In addition, more than 200 maps and artworks in full color underscore important events. Fully integrated sidebars and feature boxes narrow in on key themes, providing an additional layer of interest. Each volume also contains a double-page, illustrated chronology of major events, plus a bibliography and detailed index. Authoritative, brilliantly written, and superbly illustrated, this outstanding and popular work of scholarship makes the whole sweep of history vivid and accessible as never before.]]> 192 J.M. Roberts 0195215214 Science and 0 history 3.36 1998 Rome & the Classical West
author: J.M. Roberts
name: Science and
average rating: 3.36
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> The History of the World 15856821 In this new edition, Bancroft Prize-winning historian Odd Arne Westad has completely revised this landmark work to bring the narrative up to the twenty-first century, including the 9/11 attacks and the wars in the Middle East. Westad utilizes the remarkable gains in scholarship in recent decades to enhance the book's coverage of early human life and vastly improve the treatment of India and China, Central Eurasia, early Islam, and the late Byzantine Empire, as well as the history of science, technology, and economics. The result is a truly remarkable work of compression and synthesis, sweeping through thousands of years of history, weaving the stories of empires, art, religion, economics, and science into a lucid and engaging narrative. Ranging from the early hominids and the emergence of Mesopotamian civilizations and ancient Egypt, the book illuminates such topics as the Roman Empire, the explosive arrival of Islam, the rise and fall of samurai rule in Japan, the medieval kingdoms of sub-Saharan Africa, the Mongol conquests, and the early modern expansion of Europe across the globe; also covered are the struggle for American independence, the French Revolution, the colonial empires, Japan's startling modernization, and the World Wars.
With over 90 informative maps, The History of the World remains the finest, most readable survey in print.]]> 1280 J.M. Roberts 0199936765 Science and 3 history 4.33 The History of the World
author: J.M. Roberts
name: Science and
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ancient Civilizations: Great Empires at Their Heights]]> 608264 Book by Roberts, Timothy R. 176 Timothy R. Roberts 0765193280 Science and 0 history 3.29 1997 Ancient Civilizations: Great Empires at Their Heights
author: Timothy R. Roberts
name: Science and
average rating: 3.29
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: history
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Solitude: A Return to the Self]]> 996523 216 Anthony Storr 0345358473 Science and 0 psychology 3.88 1988 Solitude: A Return to the Self
author: Anthony Storr
name: Science and
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: psychology
review:

]]> The Assault on Reason 104287 273 Al Gore 1594201226 Science and 0 3.78 The Assault on Reason
author: Al Gore
name: Science and
average rating: 3.78
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It]]> 8714 An Inconvenient Truth—Gore's groundbreaking, battle cry of a follow-up to the bestselling Earth in the Balance—is being published to tie in with a documentary film of the same name. Both the book and film were inspired by a series of multimedia presentations on global warming that Gore created and delivers to groups around the world. With this book, Gore, who is one of our environmental heroes—and a leading expert—brings together leading-edge research from top scientists around the world; photographs, charts, and other illustrations; and personal anecdotes and observations to document the fast pace and wide scope of global warming. He presents, with alarming clarity and conclusiveness—and with humor, too—that the fact of global warming is not in question and that its consequences for the world we live in will be disastrous if left unchecked. This riveting new book—written in an accessible, entertaining style—will open the eyes of even the most skeptical.]]> 320 Al Gore 1594865671 Science and 0 3.79 2006 An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It
author: Al Gore
name: Science and
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Analytic Theism, Hartshorne, and the Concept of God (Philosophy)]]> 765184 247 Daniel A. Dombrowski 0791431002 Science and 0 philosophy, religion 5.00 1996 Analytic Theism, Hartshorne, and the Concept of God (Philosophy)
author: Daniel A. Dombrowski
name: Science and
average rating: 5.00
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: philosophy, religion
review:

]]> Problems of Art 7256897 Art history 184 Susanne K. Langer 0023675101 Science and 3 art, music, philosophy Philosophy in a New Key, which lays out in more detail her concepts and methodology. For the rest of, more interested in understanding the visual and aural arts than wrestling with abstract philosophical quandaries, Langer’s Problems of Art, is slightly more approachable and certainly less tedious. The short chapters, based on lectures, are easy enough to digest in a single sitting. Here is a quote to give you an idea of what to expect from Langer:

An artist expresses feeling, but not in the way a politician blows off steam or a baby laughs and cries. He formulates that elusive aspect of reality that is commonly taken to be amorphous and chaotic; that is, he objectifies the subjective realm. What he expresses is, therefore, not his own actual feelings, but what he knows about human feeling. So a work of art expresses a conception of life, emotion, inward reality. But it is neither a confessional nor a frozen tantrum; it is a developed metaphor.

After developing her three primary arguments (expression, form, creation) Langer summarizes that all art, whether rendered successfully or not (and not just according to the artist’s intent), triggers the same responses in humans whether it be primitive cave paintings, African drums, Venus of Milo, Joyce’s Ulysses, or Mozart.

This is all well and good, and I find myself nodding along, saying to myself, “okay, that’s one way of putting it,� but it’s all very wordy and for me philosophically hazy. I’ve read my fair share of philosophy, and at a certain point, as with Heidegger’s Being and Time, the word salad just doesn’t click with me. I think we have to factor in different preferences for processing information. For me, modern neurology explains most of this in a very straight-forward manner: different visual and aural stimuli trigger different responses in the brain (based on a long history of evolution) and yes, the end-result is that African drums, James Joyce, or Wagner all consistently tickle the same neurological responses and therefore formulate an internal narrative that we can reconcile.

I’d say the visual arts fall more readily into Langer’s argument for symbolic metaphor, simply because we are a visually-oriented species and have a vast vocabulary that documents images and body language with their corresponding emotions. This is far trickier with music, and this is where science can take us further down the road of understanding. Consider the study of psychoacoustics which analyzes psychology, neurology, and the physiology of sound with its acoustic interface to determine how the brain interprets sound. A study in Austria asked concert listeners what makes music spiritual, and not surprisingly didn’t get any definitive answers. When volunteers in a controlled group listened to the same music (Bruckner Sym. 7) recorded in a dry studio environment versus one recorded in a spacious cathedral the respondents choice of descriptions changed from “magnanimous� to “elation� or from “restful� to “transcendent� with a fairly statistical commonality among listeners. This is because the long-arced melody remains outside of the relatable scale of human singing, combined with the hushed tremolos giving an overlay of “heavenly� luminosity, or in some listeners a sense of weightless floating. With Langer’s approach you’d never arrive at such specific understanding of how music actually works.

I’m not saying that philosophers from Kant onward (who like to play with mysticism) have lived wasted lives, but the fact is scientific probity does yield more straight-forward results. Readers who prefer roundabout philosophical pondering over neurological science may enjoy Langer’s approach more than I did.
]]> 3.50 1957 Problems of Art
author: Susanne K. Langer
name: Science and
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1957
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: art, music, philosophy
review:
The determined student of philosophy will want to read Langer’s Philosophy in a New Key, which lays out in more detail her concepts and methodology. For the rest of, more interested in understanding the visual and aural arts than wrestling with abstract philosophical quandaries, Langer’s Problems of Art, is slightly more approachable and certainly less tedious. The short chapters, based on lectures, are easy enough to digest in a single sitting. Here is a quote to give you an idea of what to expect from Langer:

An artist expresses feeling, but not in the way a politician blows off steam or a baby laughs and cries. He formulates that elusive aspect of reality that is commonly taken to be amorphous and chaotic; that is, he objectifies the subjective realm. What he expresses is, therefore, not his own actual feelings, but what he knows about human feeling. So a work of art expresses a conception of life, emotion, inward reality. But it is neither a confessional nor a frozen tantrum; it is a developed metaphor.

After developing her three primary arguments (expression, form, creation) Langer summarizes that all art, whether rendered successfully or not (and not just according to the artist’s intent), triggers the same responses in humans whether it be primitive cave paintings, African drums, Venus of Milo, Joyce’s Ulysses, or Mozart.

This is all well and good, and I find myself nodding along, saying to myself, “okay, that’s one way of putting it,� but it’s all very wordy and for me philosophically hazy. I’ve read my fair share of philosophy, and at a certain point, as with Heidegger’s Being and Time, the word salad just doesn’t click with me. I think we have to factor in different preferences for processing information. For me, modern neurology explains most of this in a very straight-forward manner: different visual and aural stimuli trigger different responses in the brain (based on a long history of evolution) and yes, the end-result is that African drums, James Joyce, or Wagner all consistently tickle the same neurological responses and therefore formulate an internal narrative that we can reconcile.

I’d say the visual arts fall more readily into Langer’s argument for symbolic metaphor, simply because we are a visually-oriented species and have a vast vocabulary that documents images and body language with their corresponding emotions. This is far trickier with music, and this is where science can take us further down the road of understanding. Consider the study of psychoacoustics which analyzes psychology, neurology, and the physiology of sound with its acoustic interface to determine how the brain interprets sound. A study in Austria asked concert listeners what makes music spiritual, and not surprisingly didn’t get any definitive answers. When volunteers in a controlled group listened to the same music (Bruckner Sym. 7) recorded in a dry studio environment versus one recorded in a spacious cathedral the respondents choice of descriptions changed from “magnanimous� to “elation� or from “restful� to “transcendent� with a fairly statistical commonality among listeners. This is because the long-arced melody remains outside of the relatable scale of human singing, combined with the hushed tremolos giving an overlay of “heavenly� luminosity, or in some listeners a sense of weightless floating. With Langer’s approach you’d never arrive at such specific understanding of how music actually works.

I’m not saying that philosophers from Kant onward (who like to play with mysticism) have lived wasted lives, but the fact is scientific probity does yield more straight-forward results. Readers who prefer roundabout philosophical pondering over neurological science may enjoy Langer’s approach more than I did.

]]> <![CDATA[Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art]]> 421727 Modern theories of meaning usually culminate in a critique of science. This book presents a study of human intelligence beginning with a semantic theory and leading into a critique of music.

By implication it sets up a theory of all the arts; the transference of its basic concepts to other arts than music is not developed, but it is sketched, mainly in the chapter on artistic import. Thoughtful readers of the original edition discovered these far-reaching ideas quickly enough as the career of the book shows: it is as applicable to literature, art and music as to the field of philosophy itself.

The topics it deals with are many: language, sacrament, myth, music, abstraction, fact, knowledge--to name only the main ones. But through them all goes the principal theme, symbolic transformation as the essential activity of human minds. This central idea, emphasizing as it does the notion of symbolism, brings Mrs. Langer's book into line with the prevailing interest in semantics. All profound issues of our age seem to center around the basic concepts of symbolism and meaning. The formative, creative, articulating power of symbols is the tonic chord which thinkers of all schools and many diverse fields are unmistakably striking; the surprising, far-reaching implications of this new fundamental conception constitute what Mrs. Langer has called "philosophy in a new key."

Mrs. Langer's book brings the discussion of symbolism into a wider general use than criticism of word meaning. Her volume is vigorous, effective, and well written and will appeal to everyone interested in the contemporary problems of philosophy.

]]> 313 Susanne K. Langer Science and 2 art, music, philosophy The Necessity of Art by Ernst Fischer instead. If your interest is primarily for music there is always Leonard Bernstein’s Harvard Talks, which takes into account intervallic hermeneutics and contextual narrative. Langer focuses on very abstract concepts of non-linguistic communication that won’t even register for most people who enjoy the visual arts or music.

Langer’s writing style is like a cross between the recursive crypticism of Sartre and the tossed word salad of Jordan Peterson’s logorrhea eruditus. With this kind of insular left-brain psychopathy it hard to imagine she ever experienced joy or wonder in life. This mindset fit right in with the emotively reactionary response of post-war fashionable cynicism which dominated the NYC intellectual scene and gave rise to many visual artists and composers who had their fifteen minutes of fame and are now forgotten.

The takeaway of all this is that the very origins of art were communal rituals such as dance and drums that reaffirmed sense of belonging to the community. It was only many thousands of years later that individual expressions of a contemplative nature began to emerge during the long lonely winter sojourns in caves. It took thousands of years more before artistic representational took on wistful and fanciful notions, much later still mysticism and tragedy. But the underlying thesis will not help you sit through Wagner’s Ring if that’s what you were hoping for.
]]> 4.05 1942 Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art
author: Susanne K. Langer
name: Science and
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1942
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: art, music, philosophy
review:
If you are interested in a philosophical take on the meaning of art (literature, visual and aural arts) I suggest reading The Necessity of Art by Ernst Fischer instead. If your interest is primarily for music there is always Leonard Bernstein’s Harvard Talks, which takes into account intervallic hermeneutics and contextual narrative. Langer focuses on very abstract concepts of non-linguistic communication that won’t even register for most people who enjoy the visual arts or music.

Langer’s writing style is like a cross between the recursive crypticism of Sartre and the tossed word salad of Jordan Peterson’s logorrhea eruditus. With this kind of insular left-brain psychopathy it hard to imagine she ever experienced joy or wonder in life. This mindset fit right in with the emotively reactionary response of post-war fashionable cynicism which dominated the NYC intellectual scene and gave rise to many visual artists and composers who had their fifteen minutes of fame and are now forgotten.

The takeaway of all this is that the very origins of art were communal rituals such as dance and drums that reaffirmed sense of belonging to the community. It was only many thousands of years later that individual expressions of a contemplative nature began to emerge during the long lonely winter sojourns in caves. It took thousands of years more before artistic representational took on wistful and fanciful notions, much later still mysticism and tragedy. But the underlying thesis will not help you sit through Wagner’s Ring if that’s what you were hoping for.

]]> <![CDATA[The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History]]> 17910054
In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, The New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.]]> 336 Elizabeth Kolbert 0805092994 Science and 4 science 4.13 2014 The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
author: Elizabeth Kolbert
name: Science and
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/01
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: science
review:
I thought this might be about the effects of global warming, but no, it is about how human intervention has affected bio-diversity. We introduce interesting specimens of plants or pet birds or fish, or use a certain type of fungicide here, some cross-breeding there � and all sorts of unintended consequences result. We all know about the plight of the honey bees, but in just three years six million bats in New England were wiped out. The book doesn’t really address whether or not we will be the cause of our own undoing, but it is clear that the planet of our birth will be forever changed by our presence.
]]> <![CDATA[Culture Wars: The Struggle To Define America]]> 271789 416 James Davison Hunter 0465015344 Science and 1 religion, social-issues
I didn’t realize Hunter is a professor of religion at Virginia University and has written many books on Evangelical topics. So that’s a big red flag for me. But I dove in, hoping for the best. I’m actually a little miffed at how this was marketed, with the subtitle “Making sense of the battles over the family, art, education, law and politics� when in fact this could very well be considered a history of religion in America, with a few concluding chapters discussing how current issues in law, education, and politics impact religious belief and Judeo-Christian traditions.

Even the one single page on music discusses how bad rap music is only because a single album by 2 Live Crew had over 200 expletives and Evangelicals were enraged that some radio stations were broadcasting this. No discussion of the depravity of drugs and sexual violence or the glorification of the inner-city gangster lifestyle that this music conveys. Only that Christians don’t want impressionable young children hearing all these bad words.

Tangentially, as a social conservative, I may agree with some of the issues that the author points out as being troubling, but as an Agnostic (meaning, in a practical day-to-day sense, Atheist), my reasons are worlds apart from theirs. If you are a believer who thinks that a united ecumenical front will be the best way to combat self-destructive tendencies latent in Pop Culture, then you may very well enjoy this book. I prefer to view the problems with an Enlightenment attitude and rationality � itself no doubt a lost cause. But we each follow our own drummer.]]> 3.76 1991 Culture Wars: The Struggle To Define America
author: James Davison Hunter
name: Science and
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1991
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: religion, social-issues
review:
I picked this up based on the table of contents and the reviews on the back cover and thought this was going to be focused more on the divide between education and hedonistic pop culture. When I got home I saw that ŷ sums up the books as follows: “A riveting account of how evangelical Christians, orthodox Jews and conservative Catholics have joined forces against their progressive counterpoints for control of American secular culture.� Oh, boy, what have I gotten myself into?

I didn’t realize Hunter is a professor of religion at Virginia University and has written many books on Evangelical topics. So that’s a big red flag for me. But I dove in, hoping for the best. I’m actually a little miffed at how this was marketed, with the subtitle “Making sense of the battles over the family, art, education, law and politics� when in fact this could very well be considered a history of religion in America, with a few concluding chapters discussing how current issues in law, education, and politics impact religious belief and Judeo-Christian traditions.

Even the one single page on music discusses how bad rap music is only because a single album by 2 Live Crew had over 200 expletives and Evangelicals were enraged that some radio stations were broadcasting this. No discussion of the depravity of drugs and sexual violence or the glorification of the inner-city gangster lifestyle that this music conveys. Only that Christians don’t want impressionable young children hearing all these bad words.

Tangentially, as a social conservative, I may agree with some of the issues that the author points out as being troubling, but as an Agnostic (meaning, in a practical day-to-day sense, Atheist), my reasons are worlds apart from theirs. If you are a believer who thinks that a united ecumenical front will be the best way to combat self-destructive tendencies latent in Pop Culture, then you may very well enjoy this book. I prefer to view the problems with an Enlightenment attitude and rationality � itself no doubt a lost cause. But we each follow our own drummer.
]]> <![CDATA[The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad]]> 2447 295 Fareed Zakaria 0393324877 Science and 4 history, political-theory
Zakaria vividly describes, and gives numerous examples of, the difference between direct democracy and representational democracy. Direct democracy follows in the ancient Athenian model of each land-owning citizen having a vote, and how now some countries or municipalities count every vote on every matter apart from any considerations for alignment with political parties. Jefferson already saw the pitfalls of political parties but reluctantly gave into their power behind the scenes when it looked like monarchist sympathizers would move the newly formed republic back to a monarchy (Benjamin Franklin’s son, then governor of New Jersey, was a big advocate for returning to a monarchy).

The other form of democratic rule is representational republic, as we have in the U.S. with its balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches, checks and balances between them, and crucially, the Electoral College, rather than popular vote, which determines the winners in races. The popular vote is in essence just a way to get a feeling for the mood of the country. The thought was that the electors would be educated persons able to see the long-term effects of policies rather than being swayed by passing rends or charismatic leaders. But in 38 of the 50 states there is no accountability or explanation required if an elector casts a vote differently than what the constituents want. Who is to say if some special interest had an influence on that vote?

I take issue with Zakaria’s assertion that transparency in government has been a net-negative, that congressional watchers who record every vote make senators less likely to vote how they really feel and more likely to look over their shoulder and worry if they have offended some special interest with a lot of lobbying money to cause trouble. And there is the issue of lifelong politicians who bend this way or that because it is their job on the line. To combat this tendency Zakaria advocates for what he calls “Delegated Democracy� where more decision making capability should be given to unelected officials who remain outside of the public eye, and interference from well-funded political action groups. This seems to me a sure way to grow the bureaucratic class and increase inefficiency at all levels. But short of abolishing political parties, and thus the sway that special interest lobbyist have, our elected career professional representatives will continue to walk the knife’s edge between public opinion and the corrupting power of money.

Zakaria also takes a couple of chapters to explore how a transition to a more democratic Middle East might happen. He says the rapid change to modernization in the post-industrial world caught the Islamic world at an awkward moment. He says that the Islamic world of the Middle East is both fascinated and repulsed by the West, recognizing the creative energy of the West, but also seeing a loss of moral guidance. Zakaria tries his best to paint a positive outcome but I remain dubious given the continuing sway of theocracy on the social dynamic, not to mention that passages in the Koran specifically forbid complete integration with non-believing nations. This is one of the biggest problems facing the United Nations and the dream of a single global world order.

Verdict: very good assessment of the problems inherent in our representational republic, but some of the suggested remedies are less persuasively argued. However, overall, I do recommend reading it.
]]> 4.02 2003 The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad
author: Fareed Zakaria
name: Science and
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: history, political-theory
review:
This is an interesting and thought-provoking book which I think does a fairly good job at describing differing systems of governance, and offers a candid assessment of ideas and implementations that have or have not worked in practice. Zakaria explores the historical emergence of democracy from the Greeks and Romans, and explains the differences between liberty, democracy, and liberal democracy in their practical sense. The only hesitancy I have in a giving a five-star recommendation is that some of Zakaria’s proscribed remedies seem to need a lot more clarity and the kind of sober pro-and-con analysis that he applies to the historical examples he cites. But first, what is the book about?

Zakaria vividly describes, and gives numerous examples of, the difference between direct democracy and representational democracy. Direct democracy follows in the ancient Athenian model of each land-owning citizen having a vote, and how now some countries or municipalities count every vote on every matter apart from any considerations for alignment with political parties. Jefferson already saw the pitfalls of political parties but reluctantly gave into their power behind the scenes when it looked like monarchist sympathizers would move the newly formed republic back to a monarchy (Benjamin Franklin’s son, then governor of New Jersey, was a big advocate for returning to a monarchy).

The other form of democratic rule is representational republic, as we have in the U.S. with its balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches, checks and balances between them, and crucially, the Electoral College, rather than popular vote, which determines the winners in races. The popular vote is in essence just a way to get a feeling for the mood of the country. The thought was that the electors would be educated persons able to see the long-term effects of policies rather than being swayed by passing rends or charismatic leaders. But in 38 of the 50 states there is no accountability or explanation required if an elector casts a vote differently than what the constituents want. Who is to say if some special interest had an influence on that vote?

I take issue with Zakaria’s assertion that transparency in government has been a net-negative, that congressional watchers who record every vote make senators less likely to vote how they really feel and more likely to look over their shoulder and worry if they have offended some special interest with a lot of lobbying money to cause trouble. And there is the issue of lifelong politicians who bend this way or that because it is their job on the line. To combat this tendency Zakaria advocates for what he calls “Delegated Democracy� where more decision making capability should be given to unelected officials who remain outside of the public eye, and interference from well-funded political action groups. This seems to me a sure way to grow the bureaucratic class and increase inefficiency at all levels. But short of abolishing political parties, and thus the sway that special interest lobbyist have, our elected career professional representatives will continue to walk the knife’s edge between public opinion and the corrupting power of money.

Zakaria also takes a couple of chapters to explore how a transition to a more democratic Middle East might happen. He says the rapid change to modernization in the post-industrial world caught the Islamic world at an awkward moment. He says that the Islamic world of the Middle East is both fascinated and repulsed by the West, recognizing the creative energy of the West, but also seeing a loss of moral guidance. Zakaria tries his best to paint a positive outcome but I remain dubious given the continuing sway of theocracy on the social dynamic, not to mention that passages in the Koran specifically forbid complete integration with non-believing nations. This is one of the biggest problems facing the United Nations and the dream of a single global world order.

Verdict: very good assessment of the problems inherent in our representational republic, but some of the suggested remedies are less persuasively argued. However, overall, I do recommend reading it.

]]> <![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives)]]> 6471267 188 Christopher Hitchens 0060837063 Science and 3 history, political-theory
Hitchens is also smart, but unfortunately, I find his writing style here very analytical and dispassionate. It’s a style of writing that seems halting in its delivery, where each clause is its own pithy kernel of thought, taking short steps in angular motion, stepping carefully on each stone in the stream instead of flowing freely. Hitchens appreciates the foresight of Jefferson and the enlightened approach from which he derived his source inspirations, but I also suspect Hitchens admired Jefferson because he was a non-doctrinaire Deist in a time when most of the world’s leaders still bowed to the power of religious institutions.

Apart from the analysis of his statecraft, we do learn that Jefferson was an avowed Francophile who loved everything French and absolutely loathed anything to do with England and its monarchy. Adams was the opposite, wanting to retain a healthy relationship with England and suspect of anything French as “decadent� and going against “our culture.� Hitchens also points out correctly that until Lincoln came on the scene nobody else in politics or any kind of leadership did more to speak out against slavery or indentured servitude than Jefferson. But the southern states being primarily an agrarian economy meant that for an individual to take a posture of moral righteousness would have meant certain economic ruin: the abolishment of cheap labor would have meant that all parties agree to transition at the same time so that the prices of goods sold could be higher to reflect higher labor costs. And the majority vote always came up short. This is the frustrating reality that Jefferson lived with.

Jefferson didn’t want to simply free the slaves, he wanted to deport them all back to Africa (at taxpayer’s expense). He worried that the wound of servitude of one people to another would never heal, that there would always be latent resentment. Forty years ago, in the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s shining light, I might have thought that Jefferson’s idea was misguided, but now, after BLM and the demand among black leaders (even black professors at Harvard) to pull away from “white society� and embrace their own culture it seems that Jefferson was very prescient on this matter. In this regard the black leaders of today would probably agree with Jefferson who believed that peoples of different cultural backgrounds who didn’t wish to assimilate into a shared society should remain separate from one another.

Jefferson desired an enlightened society with a certain level of cultural homogeneity to minimize potential conflict, and that each group should feel free to enjoy life as they see fit among their own. Sort of like the Amish do now. This was also partially an argument for greater autonomy of states over the federal system, and in its distorted form played into the idea of creating reservations for the Native Peoples. Jefferson found the native peoples a noble people and offered full citizenship to any who learned the language and wanted to be part of American way of life (much different than the Spanish or Canadian method which forced acceptance of religious doctrine). He often had dinner or long discussions with Indian chiefs. His whole idea for the Lewis & Clarke expedition was basically a crusade for enlightenment, gathering knowledge and disseminating knowledge.

So, while emigrants from Africa clamor to get into the U.S. and become part of the American Dream, American-born blacks are seeking to have separate graduation ceremonies and even a return to segregation. It is clear that racism and skin color is not really at the heart of contention, rather the matter of culture and whether or not to assimilate into the dominant demographic. Just like Jefferson said.

Verdict: If you simply want an overview on Jefferson’s contribution to the forging of a new nation, this is a fairly short book to serve that purpose. If you are seeking more understanding about Jefferson the person this would not be the book, because what information Hitchens does provide only seems to raise more questions.
]]> 3.97 2005 Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives)
author: Christopher Hitchens
name: Science and
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: history, political-theory
review:
I’ve always found Jefferson a fascinating character, one of the smartest presidents the U.S. has known, but also one of seemingly perplexing contradictions. In this short book Hitchens chooses to focus mostly on Jefferson’s specific contributions to the final architecture of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. He doesn’t give a lot of background information on how Jefferson developed his beliefs; for that you will need a proper biography.

Hitchens is also smart, but unfortunately, I find his writing style here very analytical and dispassionate. It’s a style of writing that seems halting in its delivery, where each clause is its own pithy kernel of thought, taking short steps in angular motion, stepping carefully on each stone in the stream instead of flowing freely. Hitchens appreciates the foresight of Jefferson and the enlightened approach from which he derived his source inspirations, but I also suspect Hitchens admired Jefferson because he was a non-doctrinaire Deist in a time when most of the world’s leaders still bowed to the power of religious institutions.

Apart from the analysis of his statecraft, we do learn that Jefferson was an avowed Francophile who loved everything French and absolutely loathed anything to do with England and its monarchy. Adams was the opposite, wanting to retain a healthy relationship with England and suspect of anything French as “decadent� and going against “our culture.� Hitchens also points out correctly that until Lincoln came on the scene nobody else in politics or any kind of leadership did more to speak out against slavery or indentured servitude than Jefferson. But the southern states being primarily an agrarian economy meant that for an individual to take a posture of moral righteousness would have meant certain economic ruin: the abolishment of cheap labor would have meant that all parties agree to transition at the same time so that the prices of goods sold could be higher to reflect higher labor costs. And the majority vote always came up short. This is the frustrating reality that Jefferson lived with.

Jefferson didn’t want to simply free the slaves, he wanted to deport them all back to Africa (at taxpayer’s expense). He worried that the wound of servitude of one people to another would never heal, that there would always be latent resentment. Forty years ago, in the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s shining light, I might have thought that Jefferson’s idea was misguided, but now, after BLM and the demand among black leaders (even black professors at Harvard) to pull away from “white society� and embrace their own culture it seems that Jefferson was very prescient on this matter. In this regard the black leaders of today would probably agree with Jefferson who believed that peoples of different cultural backgrounds who didn’t wish to assimilate into a shared society should remain separate from one another.

Jefferson desired an enlightened society with a certain level of cultural homogeneity to minimize potential conflict, and that each group should feel free to enjoy life as they see fit among their own. Sort of like the Amish do now. This was also partially an argument for greater autonomy of states over the federal system, and in its distorted form played into the idea of creating reservations for the Native Peoples. Jefferson found the native peoples a noble people and offered full citizenship to any who learned the language and wanted to be part of American way of life (much different than the Spanish or Canadian method which forced acceptance of religious doctrine). He often had dinner or long discussions with Indian chiefs. His whole idea for the Lewis & Clarke expedition was basically a crusade for enlightenment, gathering knowledge and disseminating knowledge.

So, while emigrants from Africa clamor to get into the U.S. and become part of the American Dream, American-born blacks are seeking to have separate graduation ceremonies and even a return to segregation. It is clear that racism and skin color is not really at the heart of contention, rather the matter of culture and whether or not to assimilate into the dominant demographic. Just like Jefferson said.

Verdict: If you simply want an overview on Jefferson’s contribution to the forging of a new nation, this is a fairly short book to serve that purpose. If you are seeking more understanding about Jefferson the person this would not be the book, because what information Hitchens does provide only seems to raise more questions.

]]> <![CDATA[Reforming Education: The Opening of the American Mind]]> 1663724 320 Mortimer J. Adler 0025005510 Science and 2 education, social-issues
The subtitle of this book, The Opening of the American Mind, and the contents within, reveal this to be a scathing rebuttal to Alan Bloom’s best-selling The Closing of the American Mind. (I read the two books back-to-back; see my separate review of the Allan Bloom book). By page twenty-eight page I was already weary of its resentful, ranting tone. I’m surprised there wasn’t a libel suit over this because on every page Adler does his best to discredit Bloom as an educator, saying “this is wrong,� “that is wrong,� “that’s not the way to teach,� etc. It is obvious that Adler is bitterly resentful of Bloom’s success, and says so more than once to the effect (paraphrasing): I was born 21 years before Bloom and was reading the classics before he was even born, and I’ve published numerous books on this topic and not once did Bloom quote any of my work. Alright already, what’s the big beef?

At the heart of this book is a vigorous and vitriolic disagreement on pedagogical methodology. Bloom states that some children, born into certain circumstances, are just going to find it more difficult to identify with the ideals of the great Western thinkers, but for those who do aspire to understand the classics, you need a master teacher who can inspire an enthusiasm in the students for the underlying worth of the classics in terms of literature, and political and philosophical theory. Basically, an elitist approach. Adler believes in an egalitarian dialectic approach, that is to say, the teacher, who needn’t be an expert at all, need only distill the basic ideas of the book, and then let the students work out what it means to them. He claims that the best education is the one that finds a commonality (inclusiveness) among students at all levels and from all backgrounds.

Adler also rails against Bloom’s historical appraisal of education in America; Bloom saying the downfall began with the counter-cultural movement in the mid-1960's, Adler saying that a sense of relativism began in the late 1930's as a response to the Great Depression’s sense of hopelessness. Having read Kurt Anderson’s jaw-dropping book, Fantasyland, I can say that Bloom is much more accurate. Rousseau noted the sense of detachment from reality and the gee-whiz gullibility of Americans right from the early days of the republic, so ‘subjectivism� began way before the Great Depression (and only in America, not Europe). But the total disregard for absolute truths or standards of excellence did begin around 1967 with the crazy Timothy Leary cult in California (“Let’s hold hands and levitate the Pentagon to the heavens!!�). So Adler wastes a lot of pages trying prove Bloom wrong when the facts tend to align with Bloom’s more sober analysis. Adler seems to have had a serious disconnect with reality, and actually believed that book clubs might someday replace spectator sporting events!

Even though Adler and I both share a common appreciation for Aristotle, on the matter education - and specifically the manner of teaching - I have to mostly agree with Bloom. A few years back I began look at how the fellow students of my class from elementary school through high school have gotten on in life. I began to puzzle at why so few really succeeded in life, why some ended up with drug problems or criminal records, or died early from poor life choices. We all sat in the same class and had the same educational opportunity (and we were all but one coming from a white middle-class background, so no racial or economic disparity). But the very ones who sneered at the concept of learning have not ended up too well. So when people argue that we need better education I believe that the manner of education or the amount of monetary resources thrown at it don’t matter nearly as much as the type of home culture the children are raised in. This is why neither Bloom nor Adler really answer the pressing issue of failed education. They both live in their separate Ivory Towers. The answer I sought came when reading the truly revelatory findings of Emmanuel Todd in his book The Explanation of Ideology: Family Structures and Social Systems, further corroborated by Historian Ferand Braudel in his book The Structures of Everyday Life.

These two books, more than either Bloom or Adler, explain why students sitting in the same class have differing levels of receptivity based on what they see valued in the own home life. Enlightenment can’t be dictated with a top-down mandate; each student must be intrinsically motivated to understand the world around them beyond immediate self-gratification. And many come from homes that do not place a value on abstract thinking. Fortunately I wasn’t held back too often by recalcitrant students, and often gave presentations to the class myself on various topics, such as my school talk on Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock, which seemed to engage most, but not all, of the student’s attention. Even then I could see exactly the students who were interested and others who shut out the idea altogether. If I had been in a class that catered to the lowest common denominator I would have been extremely frustrated.

This drive toward inclusiveness at all cost became obvious to me when my son was in sixth grade and the school decided to have “Dress like your favorite pop star day.� I was thinking this is not the answer, trying to make school cool and bring Pop Culture into the learning environment. Why would anyone want to emulate Britney Spears or Snoop Dogg? That’s just not going to move humanity forward. But I had my answer more recently when I overheard a contractor talking about a title bout between two women boxers. I recoiled at the thought and asked “Why would two women go into a ring and beat each other senseless?� His answer: “Duh� money.� Then I checked my own gender bias and amended my initial incredulity: “Why would anyone intentionally go into a ring to get their faces battered?" His answer: “They make enough money in a single fight to buy a new face.� This is apparently what the American Dream has become: to make enough money to be lazy and live a life of luxury. But this is not the attitude that put men on the moon!

Since I see no references to sociological factors in any of the five-star ravings, I suggest that all with Inquiring Minds go read these books by Braudel and Todd and then come back and lower your rating for Adler. Educating to the lowest common denominator is not the answer. Working toward a society that values intelligence over Celebrity Worship and Pop Culture is probably a good place to start. By the way, I’m looking at three more books by Adler sitting on my TBR shelf, so I’m hoping to have something more positive to say about the others!]]> 3.98 1989 Reforming Education: The Opening of the American Mind
author: Mortimer J. Adler
name: Science and
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1989
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: education, social-issues
review:
This book is so riddled with problems on every level that, among informational, non-fiction books, I consider it among the three worst I’ve read this last decade. Even so I’m giving two stars instead of one because identifying and cataloging all its faults has led to some critical thinking, which can be said to be a good thing.

The subtitle of this book, The Opening of the American Mind, and the contents within, reveal this to be a scathing rebuttal to Alan Bloom’s best-selling The Closing of the American Mind. (I read the two books back-to-back; see my separate review of the Allan Bloom book). By page twenty-eight page I was already weary of its resentful, ranting tone. I’m surprised there wasn’t a libel suit over this because on every page Adler does his best to discredit Bloom as an educator, saying “this is wrong,� “that is wrong,� “that’s not the way to teach,� etc. It is obvious that Adler is bitterly resentful of Bloom’s success, and says so more than once to the effect (paraphrasing): I was born 21 years before Bloom and was reading the classics before he was even born, and I’ve published numerous books on this topic and not once did Bloom quote any of my work. Alright already, what’s the big beef?

At the heart of this book is a vigorous and vitriolic disagreement on pedagogical methodology. Bloom states that some children, born into certain circumstances, are just going to find it more difficult to identify with the ideals of the great Western thinkers, but for those who do aspire to understand the classics, you need a master teacher who can inspire an enthusiasm in the students for the underlying worth of the classics in terms of literature, and political and philosophical theory. Basically, an elitist approach. Adler believes in an egalitarian dialectic approach, that is to say, the teacher, who needn’t be an expert at all, need only distill the basic ideas of the book, and then let the students work out what it means to them. He claims that the best education is the one that finds a commonality (inclusiveness) among students at all levels and from all backgrounds.

Adler also rails against Bloom’s historical appraisal of education in America; Bloom saying the downfall began with the counter-cultural movement in the mid-1960's, Adler saying that a sense of relativism began in the late 1930's as a response to the Great Depression’s sense of hopelessness. Having read Kurt Anderson’s jaw-dropping book, Fantasyland, I can say that Bloom is much more accurate. Rousseau noted the sense of detachment from reality and the gee-whiz gullibility of Americans right from the early days of the republic, so ‘subjectivism� began way before the Great Depression (and only in America, not Europe). But the total disregard for absolute truths or standards of excellence did begin around 1967 with the crazy Timothy Leary cult in California (“Let’s hold hands and levitate the Pentagon to the heavens!!�). So Adler wastes a lot of pages trying prove Bloom wrong when the facts tend to align with Bloom’s more sober analysis. Adler seems to have had a serious disconnect with reality, and actually believed that book clubs might someday replace spectator sporting events!

Even though Adler and I both share a common appreciation for Aristotle, on the matter education - and specifically the manner of teaching - I have to mostly agree with Bloom. A few years back I began look at how the fellow students of my class from elementary school through high school have gotten on in life. I began to puzzle at why so few really succeeded in life, why some ended up with drug problems or criminal records, or died early from poor life choices. We all sat in the same class and had the same educational opportunity (and we were all but one coming from a white middle-class background, so no racial or economic disparity). But the very ones who sneered at the concept of learning have not ended up too well. So when people argue that we need better education I believe that the manner of education or the amount of monetary resources thrown at it don’t matter nearly as much as the type of home culture the children are raised in. This is why neither Bloom nor Adler really answer the pressing issue of failed education. They both live in their separate Ivory Towers. The answer I sought came when reading the truly revelatory findings of Emmanuel Todd in his book The Explanation of Ideology: Family Structures and Social Systems, further corroborated by Historian Ferand Braudel in his book The Structures of Everyday Life.

These two books, more than either Bloom or Adler, explain why students sitting in the same class have differing levels of receptivity based on what they see valued in the own home life. Enlightenment can’t be dictated with a top-down mandate; each student must be intrinsically motivated to understand the world around them beyond immediate self-gratification. And many come from homes that do not place a value on abstract thinking. Fortunately I wasn’t held back too often by recalcitrant students, and often gave presentations to the class myself on various topics, such as my school talk on Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock, which seemed to engage most, but not all, of the student’s attention. Even then I could see exactly the students who were interested and others who shut out the idea altogether. If I had been in a class that catered to the lowest common denominator I would have been extremely frustrated.

This drive toward inclusiveness at all cost became obvious to me when my son was in sixth grade and the school decided to have “Dress like your favorite pop star day.� I was thinking this is not the answer, trying to make school cool and bring Pop Culture into the learning environment. Why would anyone want to emulate Britney Spears or Snoop Dogg? That’s just not going to move humanity forward. But I had my answer more recently when I overheard a contractor talking about a title bout between two women boxers. I recoiled at the thought and asked “Why would two women go into a ring and beat each other senseless?� His answer: “Duh� money.� Then I checked my own gender bias and amended my initial incredulity: “Why would anyone intentionally go into a ring to get their faces battered?" His answer: “They make enough money in a single fight to buy a new face.� This is apparently what the American Dream has become: to make enough money to be lazy and live a life of luxury. But this is not the attitude that put men on the moon!

Since I see no references to sociological factors in any of the five-star ravings, I suggest that all with Inquiring Minds go read these books by Braudel and Todd and then come back and lower your rating for Adler. Educating to the lowest common denominator is not the answer. Working toward a society that values intelligence over Celebrity Worship and Pop Culture is probably a good place to start. By the way, I’m looking at three more books by Adler sitting on my TBR shelf, so I’m hoping to have something more positive to say about the others!
]]> <![CDATA[The Closing of the American Mind]]> 75812 The Closing of the American Mind, a publishing phenomenon in hardcover, is now a paperback literary event. In this acclaimed number one national best-seller, one of our country's most distinguished political philosophers argues that the social/political crisis of 20th-century America is really an intellectual crisis. Allan Bloom's sweeping analysis is essential to understanding America today. It has fired the imagination of a public ripe for change.]]> 392 Allan Bloom 0671657151 Science and 4 education, social-issues
Obviously, since I’m rounding up from 3.5 to 4 stars, I think there is some net-benefit to be gained in spite of the exasperating writing. Here are some of the talking points that caught my interest:

American students arrive at university as blank slates, with the merest background in cultural and intellectual thought, whereas European students arrive at university fully immersed in a living and practical cultural environment, not needing to be brought up to speed, and ready to specialize. The advantage of the American system is that students then get a quick overview of the world’s cultural, political, and religious systems, without innate bias toward any one in particular. The European method is both an advantage and disadvantage as students arrive at university already completely fluent in the thoughts and accomplishments of the great intellects of their culture whether English, French, German, or other, which on the flip side has built-in bias toward the accomplishments of other cultures. In other words: ignorant but open-minded versus well-informed but biased.

Bloom gives us an interesting take on the contrast between Locke and Rousseau, with the ultimate extension of Locke being a dog-eat-dog hyper-capitalist society, and with Rousseau the brooding inward reflection that led to Freud and the self-actualization movement. America followed Locke’s ideas closely, whereas Europe tended more toward Rousseau. Locke believed that industriousness coupled with strong law and order would keep society in check and also fulfill individual aspirations as they reap the rewards of their hard labor. This was easier to do in a new country with wide-open territory to exploit of resources, whereas in Britain, also swayed by Locke, the landed aristocracy were already sitting on 90% of the country's resources, so eventually social countermeasures had to come into play. Europeans always sought a less selfish paradigm, recognizing that each individual’s immediate concerns must be weighed against societal cohesion and sense of well-being within a proscribed cultural “family.�

With Locke you have the American farmer “who never looked at trees, fields and streams with a romantic eye. Trees were to be felled for making houses and streams were to be cleared to enable more efficient commerce.� John Muir and The Sierra Club came rather late to the game. The contrast of cultures and their intellectual advocates can be traced back to the divide between Locke and Rousseau. “The positive, efficient, no-nonsense economist is the Lockean; the deep, brooding, somber psychoanalyst is the Rousseauan.� Bloom offers a halfway funny joke: “In America economists tell us how to make money, psychiatrists give us a place to spend it.�

The final chapter is the most potent, in part because it is the most fluently written, with fewer tangential and parenthetical asides. However, I do take issue with how Bloom articulates how universities are divided into three great disciplines: the natural sciences (chemistry, biology, physics, etc.), the social sciences (psychology, sociology, political theory, economics), and the humanities (art, music, literature, philosophy, religion). I would classify them as the hard sciences, the soft sciences (which actually don’t often follow the scientific method of repeatable and verifiable evidence), and the humanities. But I agree with his observation that the great thinkers of the past, from Plato and his Republic (a book Bloom considered to be the quintessential manifesto on the human condition), to Newton and Galileo, all embraced each of these disciples in a time before they became separated and specialized. Bloom believes firmly that mankind may live more fully by reading Plato and Shakespeare and participating in their essential being. “The fact that this kind of humanity exists or existed, and that we can somehow still touch it with our outstretched fingertips, makes our imperfect humanity, which we can no longer bear, tolerable.�

Bloom bemoans the fact that really in-depth contemplation goes against the fast-track goal of modern universities to spew out students ready for successful money-earning careers. The idea of the well-read and inquiring mind (like Jefferson) is now antithetical to the goal of the university. Bloom begins the chapter by saying this of the American teenager heading off to college:

He has four years to discover himself � a space between the intellectual wasteland he has left behind and the inevitable dreary professional training that awaits him after the baccalaureate. In this short time he must learn that there is a great world beyond the little one he knows, experience the exhilaration of it and digest enough of it to sustain himself in the intellectual deserts he is destined to traverse. The importance of these years cannot be overestimated. They are civilizations only chance to get to him.

Bloom goes on to say that with the anarchy and relativism that infests modern universities the impressionable youth is left “open to all the vulgarities of the world outside the university.� This is a problem unique to the American educational system, where by the time college years come it is too late in the child’s development to hope to inspire radical redirection of personal attitudes. In fact, many American students base their choice of college on whether or not it is a good party school!

How have Bloom’s prognostications played out in the intervening years? American has seen the further bi-polar influence of both Locke and Rousseau, each now armed with internet and social media to galvanize support among the uncritical masses. On the Right we see that Lockean accumulation of wealth has led to Wall Street greed and the 2008 market collapse. On the Left we see that virtue-signaling sensitivity and compassion toward others with different feelings has completely unmoored rational discourse, where 2+2=4 is considered in some circles as an example of systemic racism. Both sides have always been at odds, but now they are more weaponized and speak mostly within their own artificial echo chambers. Contrast the typical interview or group discussion that we see now on any Right or Left mainstream media source with what was common in the late Sixties and early Seventies when a debate between William F. Buckley and Noam Chomsky was broadcast on prime time television!

Verdict: this book is somewhat of a long-winded rant that will require a good deal of patience to get through. It is also short on solutions, but don’t expect to find them in Mortimer Adler’s vitriolic rebuttal Reforming Education, which is even more of a rant, and further off-base in terms of objective reality. Rating: 3.5/5
]]> 3.74 1987 The Closing of the American Mind
author: Allan Bloom
name: Science and
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: education, social-issues
review:
There are some important points worth considering in this book, but because it is not especially well written I have to withhold a more enthusiastic recommendation. Bloom often comes off as a rambling and easily distracted professor (he was professor at the University of Chicago of a department rather pretentiously titled Inquiry into the Theory of Social Thought and Practice of Democracy!). Three times in the book there were huge asides ranging from ten to thirty pages that could have each been summarized in half a page, and even then possibly relegated to a footnote. One example was the huge detour to discuss why Socrates was politically neutral and did not use his intellectual insights to try and affect governmental policy. Even when he is on point he will indulge in long sentences three or four lines long, with numerous asides and qualifiers before getting to the point. You get three or four of these per page as you meander through long-arched paragraphs, the actual content fluffed up with way too much long-winded filler. So, patience will be a much needed virtue if you are seriously motivated to get through this book.

Obviously, since I’m rounding up from 3.5 to 4 stars, I think there is some net-benefit to be gained in spite of the exasperating writing. Here are some of the talking points that caught my interest:

American students arrive at university as blank slates, with the merest background in cultural and intellectual thought, whereas European students arrive at university fully immersed in a living and practical cultural environment, not needing to be brought up to speed, and ready to specialize. The advantage of the American system is that students then get a quick overview of the world’s cultural, political, and religious systems, without innate bias toward any one in particular. The European method is both an advantage and disadvantage as students arrive at university already completely fluent in the thoughts and accomplishments of the great intellects of their culture whether English, French, German, or other, which on the flip side has built-in bias toward the accomplishments of other cultures. In other words: ignorant but open-minded versus well-informed but biased.

Bloom gives us an interesting take on the contrast between Locke and Rousseau, with the ultimate extension of Locke being a dog-eat-dog hyper-capitalist society, and with Rousseau the brooding inward reflection that led to Freud and the self-actualization movement. America followed Locke’s ideas closely, whereas Europe tended more toward Rousseau. Locke believed that industriousness coupled with strong law and order would keep society in check and also fulfill individual aspirations as they reap the rewards of their hard labor. This was easier to do in a new country with wide-open territory to exploit of resources, whereas in Britain, also swayed by Locke, the landed aristocracy were already sitting on 90% of the country's resources, so eventually social countermeasures had to come into play. Europeans always sought a less selfish paradigm, recognizing that each individual’s immediate concerns must be weighed against societal cohesion and sense of well-being within a proscribed cultural “family.�

With Locke you have the American farmer “who never looked at trees, fields and streams with a romantic eye. Trees were to be felled for making houses and streams were to be cleared to enable more efficient commerce.� John Muir and The Sierra Club came rather late to the game. The contrast of cultures and their intellectual advocates can be traced back to the divide between Locke and Rousseau. “The positive, efficient, no-nonsense economist is the Lockean; the deep, brooding, somber psychoanalyst is the Rousseauan.� Bloom offers a halfway funny joke: “In America economists tell us how to make money, psychiatrists give us a place to spend it.�

The final chapter is the most potent, in part because it is the most fluently written, with fewer tangential and parenthetical asides. However, I do take issue with how Bloom articulates how universities are divided into three great disciplines: the natural sciences (chemistry, biology, physics, etc.), the social sciences (psychology, sociology, political theory, economics), and the humanities (art, music, literature, philosophy, religion). I would classify them as the hard sciences, the soft sciences (which actually don’t often follow the scientific method of repeatable and verifiable evidence), and the humanities. But I agree with his observation that the great thinkers of the past, from Plato and his Republic (a book Bloom considered to be the quintessential manifesto on the human condition), to Newton and Galileo, all embraced each of these disciples in a time before they became separated and specialized. Bloom believes firmly that mankind may live more fully by reading Plato and Shakespeare and participating in their essential being. “The fact that this kind of humanity exists or existed, and that we can somehow still touch it with our outstretched fingertips, makes our imperfect humanity, which we can no longer bear, tolerable.�

Bloom bemoans the fact that really in-depth contemplation goes against the fast-track goal of modern universities to spew out students ready for successful money-earning careers. The idea of the well-read and inquiring mind (like Jefferson) is now antithetical to the goal of the university. Bloom begins the chapter by saying this of the American teenager heading off to college:

He has four years to discover himself � a space between the intellectual wasteland he has left behind and the inevitable dreary professional training that awaits him after the baccalaureate. In this short time he must learn that there is a great world beyond the little one he knows, experience the exhilaration of it and digest enough of it to sustain himself in the intellectual deserts he is destined to traverse. The importance of these years cannot be overestimated. They are civilizations only chance to get to him.

Bloom goes on to say that with the anarchy and relativism that infests modern universities the impressionable youth is left “open to all the vulgarities of the world outside the university.� This is a problem unique to the American educational system, where by the time college years come it is too late in the child’s development to hope to inspire radical redirection of personal attitudes. In fact, many American students base their choice of college on whether or not it is a good party school!

How have Bloom’s prognostications played out in the intervening years? American has seen the further bi-polar influence of both Locke and Rousseau, each now armed with internet and social media to galvanize support among the uncritical masses. On the Right we see that Lockean accumulation of wealth has led to Wall Street greed and the 2008 market collapse. On the Left we see that virtue-signaling sensitivity and compassion toward others with different feelings has completely unmoored rational discourse, where 2+2=4 is considered in some circles as an example of systemic racism. Both sides have always been at odds, but now they are more weaponized and speak mostly within their own artificial echo chambers. Contrast the typical interview or group discussion that we see now on any Right or Left mainstream media source with what was common in the late Sixties and early Seventies when a debate between William F. Buckley and Noam Chomsky was broadcast on prime time television!

Verdict: this book is somewhat of a long-winded rant that will require a good deal of patience to get through. It is also short on solutions, but don’t expect to find them in Mortimer Adler’s vitriolic rebuttal Reforming Education, which is even more of a rant, and further off-base in terms of objective reality. Rating: 3.5/5

]]> In Defense of Elitism 354105
Americans have always stubbornly clung to the myth of egalitarianism, of the supremacy of the individual average man. But here, at long last, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic William A. Henry III takes on, and debunks, some basic, fundamentally ingrained ideas: that everyone is pretty much alike (and should be); that self-fulfillment is more important than objective achievement; that everyone has something significant to contribute; that all cultures offer something equally worthwhile; that a truly just society would automatically produce equal success results across lines of race, class, and gender; and that the common man is almost always right. Henry makes clear, in a book full of vivid examples and unflinching opinions, that while these notions are seductively democratic they are also hopelessly wrong.]]> 224 William A. Henry III 0385479433 Science and 3 education, social-issues
Too bad that Henry died at age 44 of a heart attack while promoting this book in London; I’m sure he would have been a voice a reason in these times now when academia has gone hopelessly woke, and students who threaten teachers or other students are treated with tender sympathy as though they must have been somehow victimized in order to lash out in such a manner.

William Henry was an excellent writer who conveyed classic conservative liberal concepts without the condescending tone that one often found in somebody like William F. Buckley. Still, there are a couple times where he makes his point rather shrilly and without the kind of softening sympathy that would win somebody over who is not already on his side. Case in point was his railing against historical revisionism, particularly blacks and feminists who felt (and still do) that their accomplishments have been downplayed by mostly white male historians, such that they reach for ever more outlandish claims until what we are left with is a far cry from objective reality. Henry says something to the effect that in reality all accomplishments in the last millennium worth talking about have been by men, of mostly European descent, and that women were mostly cooking and cleaning during this period. Well, that may be true, but to state it so baldly comes off as sounding misogynistic. He could have addressed the reason for this by simply stating that societal norms for much of the past made the division of labors between the sexes so much a functional foundation of society that only a few rare individuals were able to break the mold (i.e. Hildegard von Bingen, Clara Schumann, Madame Curie, Amelia Earhart . . .)

In conclusion: A few of the talking points that were current at the time of publication are by now quite dated, but otherwise there are some sound observations about trends in society. Unfortunately, no keen new ideas are proffered to help stave off the continual erosion toward chaos and anarchy, and thirty years later, for all the technology and availability of information literally right in the palm of our hands, stupidity continues unabated.
]]> 3.76 1994 In Defense of Elitism
author: William A. Henry III
name: Science and
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: education, social-issues
review:
I first read this in 1995 and decided it was time for a re-read now that we live in an age when 2+2=4 is decried as an example of systemic racism. I was won over from the first page when the author sums up his views on the politically correct trend that was on the rise when this was first published: there is an “egalitarian scorn for all the very kinds of intellectual decision-making that I hold most dear: respect toward leadership and position; esteem for accomplishment, especially when achieved through long labor and rigorous education; reverence for heritage, particularly in history, philosophy, art and music; commitment to rationalism and scientific investigation and upholding of objective standards.� Preaching to the choir here! One reviewer complained that Henry never defines exactly what elitism is, but I’d say the opening page that I just quoted sums it up nicely, though perhaps bullet points would have made more impact for those less attentive readers.

Too bad that Henry died at age 44 of a heart attack while promoting this book in London; I’m sure he would have been a voice a reason in these times now when academia has gone hopelessly woke, and students who threaten teachers or other students are treated with tender sympathy as though they must have been somehow victimized in order to lash out in such a manner.

William Henry was an excellent writer who conveyed classic conservative liberal concepts without the condescending tone that one often found in somebody like William F. Buckley. Still, there are a couple times where he makes his point rather shrilly and without the kind of softening sympathy that would win somebody over who is not already on his side. Case in point was his railing against historical revisionism, particularly blacks and feminists who felt (and still do) that their accomplishments have been downplayed by mostly white male historians, such that they reach for ever more outlandish claims until what we are left with is a far cry from objective reality. Henry says something to the effect that in reality all accomplishments in the last millennium worth talking about have been by men, of mostly European descent, and that women were mostly cooking and cleaning during this period. Well, that may be true, but to state it so baldly comes off as sounding misogynistic. He could have addressed the reason for this by simply stating that societal norms for much of the past made the division of labors between the sexes so much a functional foundation of society that only a few rare individuals were able to break the mold (i.e. Hildegard von Bingen, Clara Schumann, Madame Curie, Amelia Earhart . . .)

In conclusion: A few of the talking points that were current at the time of publication are by now quite dated, but otherwise there are some sound observations about trends in society. Unfortunately, no keen new ideas are proffered to help stave off the continual erosion toward chaos and anarchy, and thirty years later, for all the technology and availability of information literally right in the palm of our hands, stupidity continues unabated.

]]> Perfect Plant, Perfect Place 1094790 448 Roy Lancaster 0789483858 Science and 5 gardening The Complete Gardener, which I received as a birthday gift. But I decided to pick just one book that has helped me the most over the years, a book which I come back to time and again, loaded with post-its sticking out all over the place, and that’s Roy Lancaster’s Perfect Plant Perfect Place.

The book is super easy to use. It is divided into sections by flowers, shrubs, trees, etc. There is a section on specific garden conditions such as recommendations for rocky soil, or the best bulbs for moist soil, or perennials for arid sun-scorched areas. If you have a problem area in your garden chances are Roy has an appealing solution for you.

If you are a beginning or intermediate gardening enthusiast you should definitely get a copy. Then my advice would be to ‘specialize� in one or two plants that you seem to have a synergistic bond with � plants that you not only admire but which also love you back! � and this deeper dive will then provide more depth to your knowledge as a gardener and give you a more vested interest in keeping your garden maintained beyond just a surface level that gets the oohs and aahs from guests. In my case it is springtime bulbs of which I have now have about a thousand planted, and roses of all types, of which I currently have 55 varieties.

I have many specialty books for those plants that I’m ‘irrationally� enthusiastic about, but for everything else Roy’s PPPP is my Bible!
]]> 4.16 2002 Perfect Plant, Perfect Place
author: Roy Lancaster
name: Science and
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: gardening
review:
I was looking over my bookcase of gardening books today and counted 64 that I’ve read over the years. There’s no way I’m going to rate and review all those, I’m not even going to search through ŷ to mark them as “Read.� Many of the books are inspiring to look at with their profiles of famous gardens, some feature the inspirational words of a famous gardener, such as Monty Don’s The Complete Gardener, which I received as a birthday gift. But I decided to pick just one book that has helped me the most over the years, a book which I come back to time and again, loaded with post-its sticking out all over the place, and that’s Roy Lancaster’s Perfect Plant Perfect Place.

The book is super easy to use. It is divided into sections by flowers, shrubs, trees, etc. There is a section on specific garden conditions such as recommendations for rocky soil, or the best bulbs for moist soil, or perennials for arid sun-scorched areas. If you have a problem area in your garden chances are Roy has an appealing solution for you.

If you are a beginning or intermediate gardening enthusiast you should definitely get a copy. Then my advice would be to ‘specialize� in one or two plants that you seem to have a synergistic bond with � plants that you not only admire but which also love you back! � and this deeper dive will then provide more depth to your knowledge as a gardener and give you a more vested interest in keeping your garden maintained beyond just a surface level that gets the oohs and aahs from guests. In my case it is springtime bulbs of which I have now have about a thousand planted, and roses of all types, of which I currently have 55 varieties.

I have many specialty books for those plants that I’m ‘irrationally� enthusiastic about, but for everything else Roy’s PPPP is my Bible!

]]> <![CDATA[The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How to Restore Its Greatness (The Thom Hartmann Hidden History Series)]]> 59891629
With four decades of neoliberal rule coming to an end, America is at a crossroads. In this powerful and accessible book, Thom Hartmann demystifies neoliberalism and explains how we can use this pivotal point in time to create a more positive future.

This book traces the history of neoliberalism—a set of capitalistic philosophies favoring free trade, low taxes on the rich, financial austerity, and deregulation of big business—up to the present day. Hartmann explains how neoliberalism was sold as a cure for wars and the Great Depression. He outlines the destructive impact that it has had on America, looking at how it has increased poverty, damaged the middle class, and corrupted our nation’s politics.

America is standing on the edge of a new progressive era. We can continue down the road to a neoliberal oligarchy, as supported by many of the nation’s billionaires and giant corporations. Or we can choose to return to Keynesian economics and Alexander Hamilton’s “American Plan� by raising taxes on the rich, reversing free trade, and building a society that works for all.]]> 192 Thom Hartmann 1523002328 Science and 4 economics, political-theory
Hartmann begins his argument against free-market capitalism in December of 1938 when a group of economists and philosophers from Britain, France, and America met in Paris to discuss the looming dangers of both Fascism and Communism. After a weeklong debate they decided that free market capitalism was more agile and representative in responding to the will of the people than any governmental dictate, law, or regulation. But the book should have really gone a little further back, to the Wild West capitalism before anti-trust measures were taken and the Food and Drug Administration formulated to stop hucksters from selling poison. I keep having flashbacks to Ken Burns� documentary mini-series on America’s National Parks, with the episode on Niagara Falls and the photos of thousands of peddlers who build unsafe viewing planks for visitors to walk out onto for a better view. Hundreds died. These vintage photos show a scene of ramshackle huts and non-existent human waste management, and that’s exactly what unregulated free-market capitalism gets you. I firmly believe that even adults need supervision, or some sort of educated moral compunction, or the worst of human nature will rear its ugly head.

Hartmann details just how destructive the ideologies of the Chicago Boys (led by Milton Friedman) have been on the worldwide stage. They were advisors to the ruthless dictator Pinochet in Chile (who would drop dissenters out of helicopters) and even more ruinously, under the auspices of the U.S. government, they guided the first decade of economic reform in the fledgling post-Soviet Russia. Gorbachov wanted a socialist democracy modeled after Sweden, but rather than guide them with sensible Hamiltonian policies which worked well to get America started, we forced them to go with Uncle Milt’s brand of free-market capitalism if they were to see any assistance from the U.S. The result was Putin and Billionaire oligarchs. When given absolute free reign this ideology has always proven catastrophic.

One thing that does annoy me with Hartmann is that he is clearly partisan, and clearly in the Bernie Sanders camp and will say things like “The Republican’s Great Depression of the 30's� or "Bush’s Housing Crash of 2008� assigning blame on Republicans for everything. Even Leftist Kurt Andersen praised Eisenhower for sensible leadership in an America before all the counter-cultural crap hit in the mid-60's, or its backlash when the Republicans got in bed with the religious right in the 80's. Remember, Clinton - always wanting to please everybody - easily acquiesced to the neoliberals in congress, and turned a blind eye toward what we were forcing Russia to do, which was essentially to go from Communism to hardcore hyper-capitalism cold turkey, without any social safety nets. Our own Marshall Plan model for Germany would have been much more sensible.

Hartmann is also more pro-Union than I am. My thought is that the unions got too big for their britches, with uneducated line workers making $35-40 an hour back in the early 80s, and foremen making 60-80/hour for essentially non-skilled labor. Yes, learning to properly weld a joint is a skill, but my son learned how to do that in a weekend, and now makes metal sculptures as a hobby in his spare time. I say if you want to allow generous compensation for muscular work, then pay the farmers more. There is a lot of risk, and you can’t just up and move to take another job. But Hartmann points out in detail how once the unions lost their bargaining power then corporations that were focused on the bottom-line systematically deindustrialized America by sending work offshore. The dream was that everybody would be up-trained to do computer work or other non-muscular work. Instead we ended up with the middle class sinking downward into a service-based economy.

The other big reveal for me was just effective the Keynesian model is compared to the unregulated free-market approach of the neoliberals. John Maynard Keynes was English born and educated at Cambridge, famous for both his mathematical modelling and economic theory. He became advisor to FDR on how to pull the U.S. out of the great depression. His theory is for the most part based on Hamilton’s economic theory (which Jefferson eventually came around to seeing as a wise course of action). The free-market approach advocated by Reagan (who took the U.S. off the gold standard and devalued the dollar in the false hope of increasing export) proved utterly disastrous for Chile and Russia (post 1991), but what I didn’t realize was that the huge success of post-war Germany, post-war Japan, South Korea since 1979, and China when in 1988 they decidedly turned away from Maoist ideals � all of them based their rapid regrowth and stability by adopting the Hamilton-Keynes approach to economic wealth. So it’s not just theory. The method of no oversight always leads to greed and corruption, the other system (Hamiltonian) always succeeds.

The Hamilton-Keynesian model advocates that governments help support and subsidize fledgling industry (better that than a failed welfare state) put into place protective import tariffs, and nurture the middle class where money made at home is likely to be recirculated at home. Hartmann praises the Keynes-FDR approach of putting people to work building infrastructure that would serve the country for decades to come. Both Eisenhower and JFK continued in this vein. But with Reagan there was an abrupt end, deregulations have proven disastrous, with all money going to the one-percent, who are likely to have tax havens and estates out of country and spend their wealth in ways that doesn’t recirculate back into the originating economy. This is therefore the big problem with globalism, which Clinton, Tony Blair, and Obama all bought into. Most political candidates continue to buy into the dream of a global economy where the top earners can make money in New York and go and spend it in the Bahamas.

Verdict: Not a perfect or complete book, but it is a good start for those just beginning to dip their toes into the turbulent waters of political economics.
]]> 4.13 2022 The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How to Restore Its Greatness (The Thom Hartmann Hidden History Series)
author: Thom Hartmann
name: Science and
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: economics, political-theory
review:
This is a small book with large print, only 159 pages (+ references), so I read it in two comfortable sittings. I really wish the publisher would bundle together some of Hartmann’s “mini books� into something more substantial, but there is no question that what he has to say is worth reading. The writing itself flows with clarity and is loaded with many jaw-dropping facts. Because of its concision certain nuances of understanding are sacrificed in order to make the big picture clear. For example, whenever Hartmann talks about Ludwig Mises (the Austrian School of Economics) it is all in a negative context, whereas when it was first developed it explained a lot of why economic realities changed during the industrial revolution.

Hartmann begins his argument against free-market capitalism in December of 1938 when a group of economists and philosophers from Britain, France, and America met in Paris to discuss the looming dangers of both Fascism and Communism. After a weeklong debate they decided that free market capitalism was more agile and representative in responding to the will of the people than any governmental dictate, law, or regulation. But the book should have really gone a little further back, to the Wild West capitalism before anti-trust measures were taken and the Food and Drug Administration formulated to stop hucksters from selling poison. I keep having flashbacks to Ken Burns� documentary mini-series on America’s National Parks, with the episode on Niagara Falls and the photos of thousands of peddlers who build unsafe viewing planks for visitors to walk out onto for a better view. Hundreds died. These vintage photos show a scene of ramshackle huts and non-existent human waste management, and that’s exactly what unregulated free-market capitalism gets you. I firmly believe that even adults need supervision, or some sort of educated moral compunction, or the worst of human nature will rear its ugly head.

Hartmann details just how destructive the ideologies of the Chicago Boys (led by Milton Friedman) have been on the worldwide stage. They were advisors to the ruthless dictator Pinochet in Chile (who would drop dissenters out of helicopters) and even more ruinously, under the auspices of the U.S. government, they guided the first decade of economic reform in the fledgling post-Soviet Russia. Gorbachov wanted a socialist democracy modeled after Sweden, but rather than guide them with sensible Hamiltonian policies which worked well to get America started, we forced them to go with Uncle Milt’s brand of free-market capitalism if they were to see any assistance from the U.S. The result was Putin and Billionaire oligarchs. When given absolute free reign this ideology has always proven catastrophic.

One thing that does annoy me with Hartmann is that he is clearly partisan, and clearly in the Bernie Sanders camp and will say things like “The Republican’s Great Depression of the 30's� or "Bush’s Housing Crash of 2008� assigning blame on Republicans for everything. Even Leftist Kurt Andersen praised Eisenhower for sensible leadership in an America before all the counter-cultural crap hit in the mid-60's, or its backlash when the Republicans got in bed with the religious right in the 80's. Remember, Clinton - always wanting to please everybody - easily acquiesced to the neoliberals in congress, and turned a blind eye toward what we were forcing Russia to do, which was essentially to go from Communism to hardcore hyper-capitalism cold turkey, without any social safety nets. Our own Marshall Plan model for Germany would have been much more sensible.

Hartmann is also more pro-Union than I am. My thought is that the unions got too big for their britches, with uneducated line workers making $35-40 an hour back in the early 80s, and foremen making 60-80/hour for essentially non-skilled labor. Yes, learning to properly weld a joint is a skill, but my son learned how to do that in a weekend, and now makes metal sculptures as a hobby in his spare time. I say if you want to allow generous compensation for muscular work, then pay the farmers more. There is a lot of risk, and you can’t just up and move to take another job. But Hartmann points out in detail how once the unions lost their bargaining power then corporations that were focused on the bottom-line systematically deindustrialized America by sending work offshore. The dream was that everybody would be up-trained to do computer work or other non-muscular work. Instead we ended up with the middle class sinking downward into a service-based economy.

The other big reveal for me was just effective the Keynesian model is compared to the unregulated free-market approach of the neoliberals. John Maynard Keynes was English born and educated at Cambridge, famous for both his mathematical modelling and economic theory. He became advisor to FDR on how to pull the U.S. out of the great depression. His theory is for the most part based on Hamilton’s economic theory (which Jefferson eventually came around to seeing as a wise course of action). The free-market approach advocated by Reagan (who took the U.S. off the gold standard and devalued the dollar in the false hope of increasing export) proved utterly disastrous for Chile and Russia (post 1991), but what I didn’t realize was that the huge success of post-war Germany, post-war Japan, South Korea since 1979, and China when in 1988 they decidedly turned away from Maoist ideals � all of them based their rapid regrowth and stability by adopting the Hamilton-Keynes approach to economic wealth. So it’s not just theory. The method of no oversight always leads to greed and corruption, the other system (Hamiltonian) always succeeds.

The Hamilton-Keynesian model advocates that governments help support and subsidize fledgling industry (better that than a failed welfare state) put into place protective import tariffs, and nurture the middle class where money made at home is likely to be recirculated at home. Hartmann praises the Keynes-FDR approach of putting people to work building infrastructure that would serve the country for decades to come. Both Eisenhower and JFK continued in this vein. But with Reagan there was an abrupt end, deregulations have proven disastrous, with all money going to the one-percent, who are likely to have tax havens and estates out of country and spend their wealth in ways that doesn’t recirculate back into the originating economy. This is therefore the big problem with globalism, which Clinton, Tony Blair, and Obama all bought into. Most political candidates continue to buy into the dream of a global economy where the top earners can make money in New York and go and spend it in the Bahamas.

Verdict: Not a perfect or complete book, but it is a good start for those just beginning to dip their toes into the turbulent waters of political economics.

]]> <![CDATA[The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America]]> 57007668 The New York Times bestselling author of The Case for Trump explains the decline and fall of the once cherished idea of American citizenship.

Human history is full of the stories of peasants, subjects, and tribes. Yet the concept of the “citizen� is historically rare—and was among America’s most valued ideals for over two centuries. But without shock treatment, warns historian Victor Davis Hanson, American citizenship as we have known it may soon vanish.

In The Dying Citizen, Hanson outlines the historical forces that led to this crisis. The evisceration of the middle class over the last fifty years has made many Americans dependent on the federal government. Open borders have undermined the idea of allegiance to a particular place. Identity politics have eradicated our collective civic sense of self. And a top-heavy administrative state has endangered personal liberty, along with formal efforts to weaken the Constitution.

As in the revolutionary years of 1848, 1917, and 1968, 2020 ripped away our complacency about the future. But in the aftermath, we as Americans can rebuild and recover what we have lost. The choice is ours.]]> 448 Victor Davis Hanson 1549184474 Science and 4
Hanson first discusses America’s democratic heritage back to ancient Athens, and how the Founding Fathers wrestled with the problems of so-called “direct democracy� versus representational democracy (as we have). The American constitution was never set up to bolster the idea of egalitarianism, in the way that the French Revolution’s call for Libertie e Fraternatie was, but the principle problem of meritocracy is that it can easily devolve into a proscribed caste system (primarily economic) which perpetuates the haves over the have-nots, without true merit. This can be blamed on William the Conqueror, who while bringing culture and refinement to the British Isles, also destroyed the true representative governance of Anglo-Saxon England which favored elected Chieftains over rule by hereditary birthright.

I agree with Hanson that law and order must apply to all, not be a pawn that moves around on the chessboard tit-for-tat following the whims of political expediency. I did have some resistance to Hanson favoring populism over elitism in deciding the course of democracy. But it’s a treacherous beast to tame: populism is easily swayed by the often-irrational currents of social trends, yet the mitigating counterpoint of elitist specialists and the Electoral College can easily be swayed through the pernicious influence of lobbyists toward favoritism.

Hanson offers scathing criticism of Alexander the Great, and other megalomaniacs of history like Napoleon and Hitler who sought to conquer the world and create a single empire. He also gives insight into the contrast of worldview between the moneyed globalists and simple folk who have roots and vested interests in their local community. He makes a strong case for the difficulties or impossibility of ever achieving a true one-government Earth, but that doesn’t mean (pulling from my admiration for Gene Roddenberry) that we could never have a system like a Star Trek Federation, which is actually a group of diverse cultures, proud of their own individual heritages, who rally behind a unifying cause.

I did have reservations about his jingoistic tone in the concluding pages, stating that there is not now, nor ever been, a better system of governance than what the Founding Fathers created. I have heard this ever since my civics class in high school and then again in the semester of political theory I took in college. Most British scholars would even agree that the Americans have the advantage over their own parliamentary system because of the written U.S. Constitution. And this is all fine for a foundation upon which to build. The trouble is we are in need of modernizing the infrastructure built upon that foundation. Our system, heavily favoring two near-equal major parties, is forever at a loggerhead, putting at a stalemate any significant progress. We have Jefferson to blame for this, who in what he felt was a dire situation of reversion to monarchy (something favored by Franklin’s son, then governor of New Jersey, and also anglophile John Adams), unleashed the power of persuasion of political parties (something Justinian knew all about), knowing full well this would be something to come back and bite the fledgling nation later on. It is for this reason that I favor a system closer to the multiparty parliament of Germany, which advisors from the West help set up in the aftermath of WWII, wherein differing parties can form coalitions to achieve a plurality vote in order to enact legislation. This will probably never happen in the U.S. but it would be easy enough if both the Democrats and Republicans bifurcated into two parties each: leftist-socialist Democrats, centrist Democrats, Conservative Centrist Republicans, and Reactionary-Right Republicans (plus the usual smattering of insignificant independent parties). So, yeah, whenever somebody talks about the constitution being perfect I bristle, because it needs a lot of tweaking to reflect modern life and ideas that were not even considered at the time of the writing of the Constitution. Furthermore it was never intended to be a permanent document like the Ten Commandments written in stone. But frustrations aside, this doesn’t mean that strong-willed and egocentric political leaders like mayors or governors can willy-nilly disregard federal law. If you don’t like the laws then argue to change them, convince people to your way of thinking, but in the meantime America only works if it is ruled by law and order and majority consent.
]]> 4.21 2021 The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America
author: Victor Davis Hanson
name: Science and
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: history, political-theory, social-issues
review:
Cogently argued and well-written, Hanson lays fault at both extremes of the Left and Right for many of the woes America now faces. I have a feeling that I agree with nearly everything Hanson says simply because he so assiduously avoids any discussion of religion or economic theory. Since Reagan first aligned with the religious right (the vociferous, intolerant, Pentecostal-proselytizing branch of the West’s Judeo-Christian foundation) voting Republican has been a hard NO for me. But sticking to the topics discussed he was pretty much preaching to the choir here.

Hanson first discusses America’s democratic heritage back to ancient Athens, and how the Founding Fathers wrestled with the problems of so-called “direct democracy� versus representational democracy (as we have). The American constitution was never set up to bolster the idea of egalitarianism, in the way that the French Revolution’s call for Libertie e Fraternatie was, but the principle problem of meritocracy is that it can easily devolve into a proscribed caste system (primarily economic) which perpetuates the haves over the have-nots, without true merit. This can be blamed on William the Conqueror, who while bringing culture and refinement to the British Isles, also destroyed the true representative governance of Anglo-Saxon England which favored elected Chieftains over rule by hereditary birthright.

I agree with Hanson that law and order must apply to all, not be a pawn that moves around on the chessboard tit-for-tat following the whims of political expediency. I did have some resistance to Hanson favoring populism over elitism in deciding the course of democracy. But it’s a treacherous beast to tame: populism is easily swayed by the often-irrational currents of social trends, yet the mitigating counterpoint of elitist specialists and the Electoral College can easily be swayed through the pernicious influence of lobbyists toward favoritism.

Hanson offers scathing criticism of Alexander the Great, and other megalomaniacs of history like Napoleon and Hitler who sought to conquer the world and create a single empire. He also gives insight into the contrast of worldview between the moneyed globalists and simple folk who have roots and vested interests in their local community. He makes a strong case for the difficulties or impossibility of ever achieving a true one-government Earth, but that doesn’t mean (pulling from my admiration for Gene Roddenberry) that we could never have a system like a Star Trek Federation, which is actually a group of diverse cultures, proud of their own individual heritages, who rally behind a unifying cause.

I did have reservations about his jingoistic tone in the concluding pages, stating that there is not now, nor ever been, a better system of governance than what the Founding Fathers created. I have heard this ever since my civics class in high school and then again in the semester of political theory I took in college. Most British scholars would even agree that the Americans have the advantage over their own parliamentary system because of the written U.S. Constitution. And this is all fine for a foundation upon which to build. The trouble is we are in need of modernizing the infrastructure built upon that foundation. Our system, heavily favoring two near-equal major parties, is forever at a loggerhead, putting at a stalemate any significant progress. We have Jefferson to blame for this, who in what he felt was a dire situation of reversion to monarchy (something favored by Franklin’s son, then governor of New Jersey, and also anglophile John Adams), unleashed the power of persuasion of political parties (something Justinian knew all about), knowing full well this would be something to come back and bite the fledgling nation later on. It is for this reason that I favor a system closer to the multiparty parliament of Germany, which advisors from the West help set up in the aftermath of WWII, wherein differing parties can form coalitions to achieve a plurality vote in order to enact legislation. This will probably never happen in the U.S. but it would be easy enough if both the Democrats and Republicans bifurcated into two parties each: leftist-socialist Democrats, centrist Democrats, Conservative Centrist Republicans, and Reactionary-Right Republicans (plus the usual smattering of insignificant independent parties). So, yeah, whenever somebody talks about the constitution being perfect I bristle, because it needs a lot of tweaking to reflect modern life and ideas that were not even considered at the time of the writing of the Constitution. Furthermore it was never intended to be a permanent document like the Ten Commandments written in stone. But frustrations aside, this doesn’t mean that strong-willed and egocentric political leaders like mayors or governors can willy-nilly disregard federal law. If you don’t like the laws then argue to change them, convince people to your way of thinking, but in the meantime America only works if it is ruled by law and order and majority consent.

]]> <![CDATA[Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America]]> 53562067 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER � When did America give up on fairness? The author of Fantasyland tells the epic history of how America decided that big business gets whatever it wants, only the rich get richer, and nothing should ever change—and charts a way back to the future.

“Essential, absorbing . . . a graceful, authoritative guide . . . a radicalized moderate’s moderate case for radical change.”�The New York Times Book Review

During the twentieth century, America managed to make its economic and social systems both more and more fair and more and more prosperous. A huge, secure, and contented middle class emerged. All boats rose together. But then the New Deal gave way to the Raw Deal. Beginning in the early 1970s, by means of a long war conceived of and executed by a confederacy of big business CEOs, the superrich, and right-wing zealots, the rules and norms that made the American middle class possible were undermined and dismantled. The clock was turned back on a century of economic progress, making greed good, workers powerless, and the market all-powerful while weaponizing nostalgia, lifting up an oligarchy that served only its own interests, and leaving the huge majority of Americans with dwindling economic prospects and hope.

Why and how did America take such a wrong turn? In this deeply researched and brilliantly woven cultural, economic, and political chronicle, Kurt Andersen offers a fresh, provocative, and eye-opening history of America’s undoing, naming names, showing receipts, and unsparingly assigning blame—to the radical right in economics and the law, the high priests of high finance, a complacent and complicit Establishment, and liberal “useful idiots,� among whom he includes himself.

Only a writer with Andersen’s crackling energy, deep insight, and ability to connect disparate dots and see complex systems with clarity could make such a book both intellectually formidable and vastly entertaining. And only a writer of Andersen’s vision could reckon with our current high-stakes inflection point, and show the way out of this man-made disaster.]]> 430 Kurt Andersen 1984801368 Science and 4 Fantasyland, I thought I’d try this, which is considered a continuation of the earlier book. Even more so than the first book, this is a breezy, entertaining read, which often hides the fact that Andersen has researched his topics thoroughly, and has an important message to convey. I just wish his manner was less sarcastic and low brow. For a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard he sure enjoys using vulgar slang and including lots of Pop Culture references. I sort of see him as the Left’s hyperbolic and hyperventilating equivalent of Tucker Carlson!

This book was a real eye-opener for me in finally explaining why so many people with liberal arts degrees never become true intellectuals. This was probably not Andersen’s intent, as much of the drugs, sex, and rock n� roll lifestyle he admires, and dropping acid that he brags about, I find abhorrent. Like how is dropping acid going to help us figure out how to deflect a devastating meteor strike? Humanity needs sober people with brains to deal with real-world problems!

But this all goes along with what Allan Bloom described in The Closing of the American Mind, where even prestigious universities have implemented “fast track� programs to turn out a quick degree with minimal distractions from the student’s declared specialty. This would seem to be more problematic in the case of students who earn degrees in science, engineering, or medical studies, who, with fast track enrollment, may skip the required courses in philosophy or literature that the liberal arts students must attend. But the students seeking degrees in the sciences have the advantage of being part of a culture which values the scientific method of repeatable and verifiable evidence, whereas liberal arts students these days, against all demonstrable logic, are subjected to a steady diet of political correctness and virtue signaling for every downtrodden demographic.

In the first chapter Andersen explains how (Pastoralists like Jefferson aside) America has always been a concept based on unlimited resources and new innovations to propel economic growth. Tocqueville remarked on how casual in dress, manners, and education Americans were, with their sole interests and enthusiasm being indissolubly connected to novelty and whatever is new. This explains why, since the advent of Rock n� Roll, America has been one of the leaders in Pop Culture and the passing parade of inanities, trends and fads which come and go, tossed out with the day’s garbage. Andersen revels in this never looking back attitude, the mantra of “living now� and the positive energy that comes from the zeitgeist of each passing decade. And here I am re-reading Aristotle. "C'mon dude - that’s just sooo yesterday!"

Andersen documents the fallout from Reaganomics, policy decisions and deregulations which allowed big corporations, big pharma, and Wall Street to rule the roost. Thus the ascension of the One-Percenters and the incredible income gaps between average and highest earners. In 1970 the typical CEO of Ford, GE or other large blue-chip company, had personal incomes about 25 times that of the average assembly line worker. Compare that to now, when the typical CEO of a Fortune 500 company makes between 700-1000 times what the average employee makes. Andersen rightly points out that racial inequity is something of a red herring; the real problem is class warfare and the near complete erosion of the middle class.

Given Andersen’s avowed Leftist ideology, he comes down very hard against Davos and the globalist world order - the new paramour of the Democratic party elites - revealing some truly scary information: In a summit survey the 300 top business executives who attend the Davos summit, plus their invited cutting-edge entrepreneurs, were unanimous in their goal to eliminate 20% of the workforce by the end of the decade. The reason is increased efficiency with AI and robots, and they soft-pedal the moral question by saying that they are sparing humanity from the most menial jobs. That may be a noble cause someday in the future when we’ve become a post-scarcity society, but it is utterly callous to contemplate such measures at this point.

If my own attitudes seem to not align much with Andersen’s, why the high rating? Simply because Anderson pulls back the curtain to reveal the wizard of deception and superficiality of social trends, showing me how I’ve mistaken the term progressive for meaning forward progress (as in advancements in medicine or renewable energy), when in fact much of the base that identifies as progressive are also screaming that 2+2=4 is somehow systemically racists. Of course, there are problems at the other end of the political spectrum, among other things the fetid association with the religious right ("God, Guns, and Murka"), something that bristles against my Agnostic sensibilities � but that’s all discussion for another book and a different review.

There is now a consortium of concerned scientist whom I follow who normally lean Left who think that woke policies are the biggest threat science has faced since the Galileo trial during the Inquisition. Anderson has given us a thoroughly researched book to document all the insanity. Read it and weep as did the reporter of the Hindenburg disaster: "Oh, the Humanity!"]]> 4.22 2020 Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America
author: Kurt Andersen
name: Science and
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: history, economics, social-issues
review:
Since I was well entertained by his book Fantasyland, I thought I’d try this, which is considered a continuation of the earlier book. Even more so than the first book, this is a breezy, entertaining read, which often hides the fact that Andersen has researched his topics thoroughly, and has an important message to convey. I just wish his manner was less sarcastic and low brow. For a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard he sure enjoys using vulgar slang and including lots of Pop Culture references. I sort of see him as the Left’s hyperbolic and hyperventilating equivalent of Tucker Carlson!

This book was a real eye-opener for me in finally explaining why so many people with liberal arts degrees never become true intellectuals. This was probably not Andersen’s intent, as much of the drugs, sex, and rock n� roll lifestyle he admires, and dropping acid that he brags about, I find abhorrent. Like how is dropping acid going to help us figure out how to deflect a devastating meteor strike? Humanity needs sober people with brains to deal with real-world problems!

But this all goes along with what Allan Bloom described in The Closing of the American Mind, where even prestigious universities have implemented “fast track� programs to turn out a quick degree with minimal distractions from the student’s declared specialty. This would seem to be more problematic in the case of students who earn degrees in science, engineering, or medical studies, who, with fast track enrollment, may skip the required courses in philosophy or literature that the liberal arts students must attend. But the students seeking degrees in the sciences have the advantage of being part of a culture which values the scientific method of repeatable and verifiable evidence, whereas liberal arts students these days, against all demonstrable logic, are subjected to a steady diet of political correctness and virtue signaling for every downtrodden demographic.

In the first chapter Andersen explains how (Pastoralists like Jefferson aside) America has always been a concept based on unlimited resources and new innovations to propel economic growth. Tocqueville remarked on how casual in dress, manners, and education Americans were, with their sole interests and enthusiasm being indissolubly connected to novelty and whatever is new. This explains why, since the advent of Rock n� Roll, America has been one of the leaders in Pop Culture and the passing parade of inanities, trends and fads which come and go, tossed out with the day’s garbage. Andersen revels in this never looking back attitude, the mantra of “living now� and the positive energy that comes from the zeitgeist of each passing decade. And here I am re-reading Aristotle. "C'mon dude - that’s just sooo yesterday!"

Andersen documents the fallout from Reaganomics, policy decisions and deregulations which allowed big corporations, big pharma, and Wall Street to rule the roost. Thus the ascension of the One-Percenters and the incredible income gaps between average and highest earners. In 1970 the typical CEO of Ford, GE or other large blue-chip company, had personal incomes about 25 times that of the average assembly line worker. Compare that to now, when the typical CEO of a Fortune 500 company makes between 700-1000 times what the average employee makes. Andersen rightly points out that racial inequity is something of a red herring; the real problem is class warfare and the near complete erosion of the middle class.

Given Andersen’s avowed Leftist ideology, he comes down very hard against Davos and the globalist world order - the new paramour of the Democratic party elites - revealing some truly scary information: In a summit survey the 300 top business executives who attend the Davos summit, plus their invited cutting-edge entrepreneurs, were unanimous in their goal to eliminate 20% of the workforce by the end of the decade. The reason is increased efficiency with AI and robots, and they soft-pedal the moral question by saying that they are sparing humanity from the most menial jobs. That may be a noble cause someday in the future when we’ve become a post-scarcity society, but it is utterly callous to contemplate such measures at this point.

If my own attitudes seem to not align much with Andersen’s, why the high rating? Simply because Anderson pulls back the curtain to reveal the wizard of deception and superficiality of social trends, showing me how I’ve mistaken the term progressive for meaning forward progress (as in advancements in medicine or renewable energy), when in fact much of the base that identifies as progressive are also screaming that 2+2=4 is somehow systemically racists. Of course, there are problems at the other end of the political spectrum, among other things the fetid association with the religious right ("God, Guns, and Murka"), something that bristles against my Agnostic sensibilities � but that’s all discussion for another book and a different review.

There is now a consortium of concerned scientist whom I follow who normally lean Left who think that woke policies are the biggest threat science has faced since the Galileo trial during the Inquisition. Anderson has given us a thoroughly researched book to document all the insanity. Read it and weep as did the reporter of the Hindenburg disaster: "Oh, the Humanity!"
]]> <![CDATA[Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History]]> 35171984
Over the course of five centuries--from the Salem witch trials to Scientology to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, from P. T. Barnum to Hollywood and the anything-goes, wild-and-crazy sixties, from conspiracy theories to our fetish for guns and obsession with extraterrestrials--our love of the fantastic has made America exceptional in a way that we've never fully acknowledged. From the start, our ultra-individualism was attached to epic dreams and epic fantasies--every citizen was free to believe absolutely anything, or to pretend to be absolutely anybody. With the gleeful erudition and tell-it-like-it-is ferocity of a Christopher Hitchens, Andersen explores whether the great American experiment in liberty has gone off the rails.]]> 429 Kurt Andersen Science and 5
From conspiracy whacks, crack religious cults, quack healers, and worship of pop culture, we’ve come about as far away from Jefferson’s Enlightenment ideals as possible. Andersen goes back 500 years, to the very beginning of the Puritans and the Salem witch trials, to see when, how, and why this all started. Although I found myself both incredulous and chuckling over the kind of rampant stupidity found only in America, I can see that this book would surely piss off a lot of Americans, primarily for its ridicule of religious belief. Anderson castigates nonsense on both the Left and Right of the political spectrum, so he’s definitely not going to make many friends that way.

Much as I was nodding along and chuckling at his jibes at irrationality from both the Right and Left, I did find chapter 22 most uncomfortable with his recalling the many times he had hallucinating trips on Mescaline, Acid and LSD, starting his wayward explorations at the young age of sixteen. I suddenly realized the difference between my kind of open-mindedness and that of counter-cultural relativism: mine is based on scientific inquiry, trying new ideas to progress science and technology and ‘evolve� humanity forward, theirs to scorn the establishment and revert to a mystic past full of magic and wonder, to live in an “Eternal Now.�

The whole New Age movement began in 1967 at an institute called Esalen, in Big Sur California, with figures such as Timothy Leary and others espousing ideas such as be your own person, drop out of the rat race, to each his own, all with the resultant rampant relativism that is still with us. This finally put into focus many puzzling behaviors I’ve witnessed with the people I work with or interact with socially: many of them are closet counter-cultural types. They get along making a living within the establishment framework, but they do so reluctantly, and with an almost tangible weight on the souls. Whenever I thought we shared a concordance of opinion about the hidebound ways of Judeo-Christian culture, the underlying reasons turn out to be diametrically opposed! I remember a co-worker who took his wife up to Woodstock for the weekend, and stopped to take in a concert by some aging rocker, and I thought to myself: why? Haven’t you outgrown such youthful rebelliousness? My willingness to embrace the new and to toss out the inefficiencies of the past has nothing to do with rebelliousness, or dissatisfaction with the basic framework of civilization, and all to do with scientific probity and “Boldly going were no man has gone before.� This also explains why I enjoy science fiction but rarely enjoy fantasy; my open-mindedness considers actual reality-based possibilities.

The last third of the book was kind of depressing, mostly to learn of all the nonsense going on in the 80's while my wife and I lived in Europe. I’m embarrassed at what Europeans must think when they consider the insanity that goes on in America. A book sells over a million copies which tells of a young girl brought up in a Satanic cult outside of Seattle (supposedly raped by goats and gorillas and having to sacrifice kittens on an alter) and Harvard-educated professionals appear on Oprah Winfrey to give this all very serious discussion. The book later turned out to be a hoax. Debunking of hoaxes appears to make no difference: 60% of Americans consider abductions and evil cults a real problem in America. It goes on and on until I can hardly stomach it any longer.

Yes, I looked at various other sources to verify some of the crazy stuff that just seemed too incredible to me, foremost being the October 1967 Pentagon protest where 44,000 held hands to form a surrounding presence of positive energy with the earnest belief that they were going to levitate the Pentagon and bring enlightenment upon the military-industrial wickedness. A researcher in Norway in 1998 who did a comparison of cultures between north and south Europe, Britain and America, was as dumbfounded as I am at what was going on in America, and he received a lot of resistance and disbelief from Europeans who couldn’t believe that this level of insanity was possible even for America.

Verdict: started out fun and entertaining, but the cumulative negativity put me in an unpleasant mood. I won’t be re-reading this one, but that’s because I’ll probably never forget all the craziness it put in my head!
]]> 4.09 2017 Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History
author: Kurt Andersen
name: Science and
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: history, political-theory, social-issues
review:
Finally, somebody has written a book which systematically documents what I’ve long held to be true: America’s innate anti-intellectual bias!

From conspiracy whacks, crack religious cults, quack healers, and worship of pop culture, we’ve come about as far away from Jefferson’s Enlightenment ideals as possible. Andersen goes back 500 years, to the very beginning of the Puritans and the Salem witch trials, to see when, how, and why this all started. Although I found myself both incredulous and chuckling over the kind of rampant stupidity found only in America, I can see that this book would surely piss off a lot of Americans, primarily for its ridicule of religious belief. Anderson castigates nonsense on both the Left and Right of the political spectrum, so he’s definitely not going to make many friends that way.

Much as I was nodding along and chuckling at his jibes at irrationality from both the Right and Left, I did find chapter 22 most uncomfortable with his recalling the many times he had hallucinating trips on Mescaline, Acid and LSD, starting his wayward explorations at the young age of sixteen. I suddenly realized the difference between my kind of open-mindedness and that of counter-cultural relativism: mine is based on scientific inquiry, trying new ideas to progress science and technology and ‘evolve� humanity forward, theirs to scorn the establishment and revert to a mystic past full of magic and wonder, to live in an “Eternal Now.�

The whole New Age movement began in 1967 at an institute called Esalen, in Big Sur California, with figures such as Timothy Leary and others espousing ideas such as be your own person, drop out of the rat race, to each his own, all with the resultant rampant relativism that is still with us. This finally put into focus many puzzling behaviors I’ve witnessed with the people I work with or interact with socially: many of them are closet counter-cultural types. They get along making a living within the establishment framework, but they do so reluctantly, and with an almost tangible weight on the souls. Whenever I thought we shared a concordance of opinion about the hidebound ways of Judeo-Christian culture, the underlying reasons turn out to be diametrically opposed! I remember a co-worker who took his wife up to Woodstock for the weekend, and stopped to take in a concert by some aging rocker, and I thought to myself: why? Haven’t you outgrown such youthful rebelliousness? My willingness to embrace the new and to toss out the inefficiencies of the past has nothing to do with rebelliousness, or dissatisfaction with the basic framework of civilization, and all to do with scientific probity and “Boldly going were no man has gone before.� This also explains why I enjoy science fiction but rarely enjoy fantasy; my open-mindedness considers actual reality-based possibilities.

The last third of the book was kind of depressing, mostly to learn of all the nonsense going on in the 80's while my wife and I lived in Europe. I’m embarrassed at what Europeans must think when they consider the insanity that goes on in America. A book sells over a million copies which tells of a young girl brought up in a Satanic cult outside of Seattle (supposedly raped by goats and gorillas and having to sacrifice kittens on an alter) and Harvard-educated professionals appear on Oprah Winfrey to give this all very serious discussion. The book later turned out to be a hoax. Debunking of hoaxes appears to make no difference: 60% of Americans consider abductions and evil cults a real problem in America. It goes on and on until I can hardly stomach it any longer.

Yes, I looked at various other sources to verify some of the crazy stuff that just seemed too incredible to me, foremost being the October 1967 Pentagon protest where 44,000 held hands to form a surrounding presence of positive energy with the earnest belief that they were going to levitate the Pentagon and bring enlightenment upon the military-industrial wickedness. A researcher in Norway in 1998 who did a comparison of cultures between north and south Europe, Britain and America, was as dumbfounded as I am at what was going on in America, and he received a lot of resistance and disbelief from Europeans who couldn’t believe that this level of insanity was possible even for America.

Verdict: started out fun and entertaining, but the cumulative negativity put me in an unpleasant mood. I won’t be re-reading this one, but that’s because I’ll probably never forget all the craziness it put in my head!

]]> <![CDATA[Shadows Upon Time (The Sun Eater, #7)]]> 222685709




]]> Christopher Ruocchio Science and 0 to-read 4.94 2025 Shadows Upon Time (The Sun Eater, #7)
author: Christopher Ruocchio
name: Science and
average rating: 4.94
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Evolution's End: Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence 1st edition by Pearce, Joseph Chilton (1992) Hardcover]]> 129228784 0 Joseph Chilton Pearce Science and 0 psychology 0.0 1992 Evolution's End: Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence 1st edition by Pearce, Joseph Chilton (1992) Hardcover
author: Joseph Chilton Pearce
name: Science and
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: psychology
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Evolution of Progress: The End of Economic Growth and the Beginning of Human Transformation]]> 4495695 382 Owen Paepke 0679415823 Science and 0 economics, science-futurism 3.75 1992 The Evolution of Progress: The End of Economic Growth and the Beginning of Human Transformation
author: Owen Paepke
name: Science and
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: economics, science-futurism
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion]]> 11324722 An alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780307377906 can be found here.

Why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens? In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding.

His starting point is moral intuition—the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures. But rather than arguing that we are innately altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim—that we are fundamentally groupish. It is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians to flourish as a nation.]]> 419 Jonathan Haidt Science and 3 Conflict of Visions, but this is more abstract and goes off into some rather arcane points of psychology. In that sense I found it less vital in the immediate sense, but playing around with Haidt’s five points in my own mind proved to be an impetus toward self-reflection and clarity on my own worldview. It might work in a similar fashion for other readers.

Haidt posits that there are five key ingredients (or flavors) of moral psychology which different cultures or groups have mixed to make different cuisines. These are: Care/Harm, Fairness/Cheating, Loyalty/Betrayal, Authority/Subversion, and Sanctity/Degradation. He explains how the relative manner in which people rank these in terms of importance manifests itself into different political and religious viewpoints. Because of this jumble of intrinsic motivators there can be no neat division into a right or left worldview, as Sowell presents; this seems to me more akin to the Enneagram circle.

Haidt writes well, the text flows easily and never gets bogged down in specialist jargon, and he makes his argument clearly and with the use of graphic aids, and he repeats the theme often enough to keep it at the forefront of the reader’s mind. But you will probably have to have more innate interest in the topic of moral psychology than I do. As I said, I was looking for something more tangible like political theory or even philosophy. In my view Thomas Sowell’s explanation in A Conflict of Visions offers a theory that will be easier for most people to grasp and apply to their lives.

Haidt proposes a Durkheimian paradigm which not only explains the historical and cultural need for group-identity sanctity, but also avers that religion is a net-positive to society (despite the Crusades, Inquisition, 9/11, et al.). Some prominent thinkers such as Douglas Murray and Jordan Peterson are sympathetic to this idea for the obvious reason that the vast majority of the world’s population remains ignorant of the deeper political and philosophic issues by which intellectuals ponder the moral balancing of society. So, without fear of an eschatological judgment, there may be a tendency among the masses to move toward anarchy (think the Seattle no-police-zone writ large).

Even though I don’t like the idea, I have to agree that we have no practical way (as yet) by which to bring the population up to such a level (the education system in Singapore probably is the best example of how it might be done, but that also has its down side). My hope is that humanity will somehow evolve to a higher level, and one of the major steps in that process is the letting go of religious myth and religious identities that create an ‘us versus them� dynamic. Haidt, like Douglas Murray, has no problem with people wanting to belong to a religious community while not being believers themselves. That seems a shallow expedience to me. I believe in a true classic liberal education where one learns how to how to decide issues for themselves without any kind of authoritarian imposition, with a strong foundation in true scientific inquiry (repeatable and verifiable evidence). This would, in my opinion, make a huge difference in allowing us to move forward as a species. The question, as always, is how can this be done?

Another idea that Haidt presents is the concept of externalities, which proves to be a strong indictment against free-reign unfettered hypercapitalism (the Friedman mantra of profit above all else). Haidt uses the analogy of the farmer who increases profits by using strong fertilizers which then become runoff into the waterways where someone else downstream then has to pay to clean up the poisoned waterways. This is where I agree with the economic model of Thomas Sowell, and not the more extreme brand promoted by his mentor Milton Friedman. I’d say that if America had offered the Hamiltonian model of commerce during the reconstruction period of post-Soviet Russia, rather than the hyper-capitalist model of Uncle Milt, then we wouldn’t have the problem of the oligarchical billionaires club in Russia right now.

Verdict: In the end I did learn a few worthwhile things despite most of the book being devoted to arcane principles of psychology.
]]> 4.18 2012 The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Science and
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: economics, psychology, religion
review:
Well, I was expecting something more along the lines of Thomas Sowell’s Conflict of Visions, but this is more abstract and goes off into some rather arcane points of psychology. In that sense I found it less vital in the immediate sense, but playing around with Haidt’s five points in my own mind proved to be an impetus toward self-reflection and clarity on my own worldview. It might work in a similar fashion for other readers.

Haidt posits that there are five key ingredients (or flavors) of moral psychology which different cultures or groups have mixed to make different cuisines. These are: Care/Harm, Fairness/Cheating, Loyalty/Betrayal, Authority/Subversion, and Sanctity/Degradation. He explains how the relative manner in which people rank these in terms of importance manifests itself into different political and religious viewpoints. Because of this jumble of intrinsic motivators there can be no neat division into a right or left worldview, as Sowell presents; this seems to me more akin to the Enneagram circle.

Haidt writes well, the text flows easily and never gets bogged down in specialist jargon, and he makes his argument clearly and with the use of graphic aids, and he repeats the theme often enough to keep it at the forefront of the reader’s mind. But you will probably have to have more innate interest in the topic of moral psychology than I do. As I said, I was looking for something more tangible like political theory or even philosophy. In my view Thomas Sowell’s explanation in A Conflict of Visions offers a theory that will be easier for most people to grasp and apply to their lives.

Haidt proposes a Durkheimian paradigm which not only explains the historical and cultural need for group-identity sanctity, but also avers that religion is a net-positive to society (despite the Crusades, Inquisition, 9/11, et al.). Some prominent thinkers such as Douglas Murray and Jordan Peterson are sympathetic to this idea for the obvious reason that the vast majority of the world’s population remains ignorant of the deeper political and philosophic issues by which intellectuals ponder the moral balancing of society. So, without fear of an eschatological judgment, there may be a tendency among the masses to move toward anarchy (think the Seattle no-police-zone writ large).

Even though I don’t like the idea, I have to agree that we have no practical way (as yet) by which to bring the population up to such a level (the education system in Singapore probably is the best example of how it might be done, but that also has its down side). My hope is that humanity will somehow evolve to a higher level, and one of the major steps in that process is the letting go of religious myth and religious identities that create an ‘us versus them� dynamic. Haidt, like Douglas Murray, has no problem with people wanting to belong to a religious community while not being believers themselves. That seems a shallow expedience to me. I believe in a true classic liberal education where one learns how to how to decide issues for themselves without any kind of authoritarian imposition, with a strong foundation in true scientific inquiry (repeatable and verifiable evidence). This would, in my opinion, make a huge difference in allowing us to move forward as a species. The question, as always, is how can this be done?

Another idea that Haidt presents is the concept of externalities, which proves to be a strong indictment against free-reign unfettered hypercapitalism (the Friedman mantra of profit above all else). Haidt uses the analogy of the farmer who increases profits by using strong fertilizers which then become runoff into the waterways where someone else downstream then has to pay to clean up the poisoned waterways. This is where I agree with the economic model of Thomas Sowell, and not the more extreme brand promoted by his mentor Milton Friedman. I’d say that if America had offered the Hamiltonian model of commerce during the reconstruction period of post-Soviet Russia, rather than the hyper-capitalist model of Uncle Milt, then we wouldn’t have the problem of the oligarchical billionaires club in Russia right now.

Verdict: In the end I did learn a few worthwhile things despite most of the book being devoted to arcane principles of psychology.

]]> <![CDATA[The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy]]> 26530303 320 Anthony Gottlieb 0871404435 Science and 3 philosophy
I found the chapter on John Locke of more interest as his practical ideas on governance were really more about political theory than philosophy, and this in turn made his ideas a point of discussion among the Founding Fathers. Of the eight he is probably the one I’d enjoy most spending an afternoon with in discussion. Again, as with Thomas Sowell’s Conflict of Visions, we see the contrast between Locke and Rousseau on the idea of private property: Gottlieb says “Rousseau regarded the invention of private property as on the whole a regrettable development that is to blame for many of the ills of life, whereas Locke thought it was a wonderful thing, which God invented so that the fruits of the earth could be made useful to mankind.�

Probably the kookiest of the major philosophers was Leibniz, who at the time was considered the greatest intellectual polymath who ever lived. He was somewhat of a dilettante, supported by aristocrats who liked showing him off at parties. He only finished one work, everything else across dozens of subjects that interested him as his fancy struck were left unfinished. I agree with later critics such as Kant, Hegel and Bertrand Russell that Leibniz lived in sort of fairy world of ideas, completely devoid of observable reality.

The last chapter focused too much on the petty but vicious rivalry between Voltaire and Rousseau. I don’t need to know those sordid details, just give me a summary of what they thought and how this influenced following generations. Probably the biggest takeaway of the book for me was how contradictory and irrational Rousseau was. I knew from Conflict of Vision how he set himself up as an opposite of John Locke, but in that book the focus was on political views. Here we get his full-on rants about the perniciousness of the arts and sciences. Rousseau was evidently a pastoralist who believed in the simple life (devoid of complicated ideas) in order to be happy. Rousseau considered the arts “idle twaddle nourished by luxury.� On physics: “dangerous in the effects they produce and pointless in trying to explain the inexplicable mysteries of the electricity.� More head- scratchers: “The sciences do not make us better governed, more happy, or less perverse. Instead they weaken religion and patriotism, and lead to the collapse of society. Reasoning and philosophic spirit quietly saps the foundations of every society.� He also noted that intellectual work is unhealthy, that long country walks and agricultural labour are better pastimes. Sheesh. This guy was considered an Enlightenment figure only because his contrarian ideas challenged the complacency of the religious and aristocratic class.

Verdict: mixed bag, and not generally recommended.]]> 4.01 2016 The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy
author: Anthony Gottlieb
name: Science and
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: philosophy
review:
The premise of this book is to highlight the eight philosophers whose thinking most influenced the Founding Fathers. Each philosopher is given a mini-biography starting with Descartes, then onto Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Leibniz, Hume, Voltaire and Rousseau. Gottlieb writes clearly and with sufficient flow to maintain the reader’s interest provided you have an innate interest in knowing about these thinkers. I just wish there had been more tie-in with how these ideas actually impacted political theory. I would have also wished for more correlation to historical events, rather than simply taking these ideas as abstractions.

I found the chapter on John Locke of more interest as his practical ideas on governance were really more about political theory than philosophy, and this in turn made his ideas a point of discussion among the Founding Fathers. Of the eight he is probably the one I’d enjoy most spending an afternoon with in discussion. Again, as with Thomas Sowell’s Conflict of Visions, we see the contrast between Locke and Rousseau on the idea of private property: Gottlieb says “Rousseau regarded the invention of private property as on the whole a regrettable development that is to blame for many of the ills of life, whereas Locke thought it was a wonderful thing, which God invented so that the fruits of the earth could be made useful to mankind.�

Probably the kookiest of the major philosophers was Leibniz, who at the time was considered the greatest intellectual polymath who ever lived. He was somewhat of a dilettante, supported by aristocrats who liked showing him off at parties. He only finished one work, everything else across dozens of subjects that interested him as his fancy struck were left unfinished. I agree with later critics such as Kant, Hegel and Bertrand Russell that Leibniz lived in sort of fairy world of ideas, completely devoid of observable reality.

The last chapter focused too much on the petty but vicious rivalry between Voltaire and Rousseau. I don’t need to know those sordid details, just give me a summary of what they thought and how this influenced following generations. Probably the biggest takeaway of the book for me was how contradictory and irrational Rousseau was. I knew from Conflict of Vision how he set himself up as an opposite of John Locke, but in that book the focus was on political views. Here we get his full-on rants about the perniciousness of the arts and sciences. Rousseau was evidently a pastoralist who believed in the simple life (devoid of complicated ideas) in order to be happy. Rousseau considered the arts “idle twaddle nourished by luxury.� On physics: “dangerous in the effects they produce and pointless in trying to explain the inexplicable mysteries of the electricity.� More head- scratchers: “The sciences do not make us better governed, more happy, or less perverse. Instead they weaken religion and patriotism, and lead to the collapse of society. Reasoning and philosophic spirit quietly saps the foundations of every society.� He also noted that intellectual work is unhealthy, that long country walks and agricultural labour are better pastimes. Sheesh. This guy was considered an Enlightenment figure only because his contrarian ideas challenged the complacency of the religious and aristocratic class.

Verdict: mixed bag, and not generally recommended.
]]> <![CDATA[A History of Western Philosophy]]> 243685 A History of Western Philosophy has been universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject—unparalleled in its comprehensiveness, its clarity, its erudition, its grace and wit. In seventy-six chapters he traces philosophy from the rise of Greek civilization to the emergence of logical analysis in the twentieth century. Among the philosophers considered are: Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, the Atomists, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Cynics, the Sceptics, the Epicureans, the Stoics, Plotinus, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Benedict, Gregory the Great, John the Scot, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Occam, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Bacon, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, the Utilitarians, Marx, Bergson, James, Dewey, and lastly the philosophers with whom Lord Russell himself is most closely associated -- Cantor, Frege, and Whitehead, co-author with Russell of the monumental Principia Mathematica.]]> 906 Bertrand Russell 0671201581 Science and 4 philosophy 4.12 1945 A History of Western Philosophy
author: Bertrand Russell
name: Science and
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1945
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: philosophy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Omnipotence and other Theological Mistakes]]> 784520
Throughout the centuries some of the world's most brilliant philosophers and theologians have held and perpetuated six beliefs that give the word God a meaning untrue to its import in sacred writings or in active religious

God is absolutely perfect and therefore unchangeable,
2.omnipotence,
3.omniscience,
4.God's unsympathetic goodness,
5.immortality as a career after death, and
6.revelation as infalliable.

Charles Hartshorne deals with these six theological mistakes from the standpoint of his process theology.

Hartshorne says, "The book is unacademic in so far as I am capable of being that." Only a master like Hartshorne could present such sophisticated ideas so simply. This book offers an option for religious belief not heretofore available to lay people.]]> 158 Charles Hartshorne 0873957717 Science and 0 religion 3.96 1983 Omnipotence and other Theological Mistakes
author: Charles Hartshorne
name: Science and
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: religion
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A History of Christian Thought: From its Judaic and Hellenistic Origins to Existentialism]]> 175144 550 Paul Tillich 0671214268 Science and 0 religion 4.17 1968 A History of Christian Thought: From its Judaic and Hellenistic Origins to Existentialism
author: Paul Tillich
name: Science and
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1968
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: religion
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Oxford Companion to the Mind (1987-09-16) [Hardcover]]]> 133593584 0 Richard L. Gregory Science and 4 psychology, philosophy 4.00 1987 The Oxford Companion to the Mind (1987-09-16) [Hardcover]
author: Richard L. Gregory
name: Science and
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: psychology, philosophy
review:

]]> The Memory Cathedral 1259610 485 Jack Dann 0553096370 Science and 3 historical-fiction 3.67 1995 The Memory Cathedral
author: Jack Dann
name: Science and
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: historical-fiction
review:

]]> The Art of Clear Thinking 1588550 212 Rudolf Flesch 0064633691 Science and 0 psychology 3.90 1951 The Art of Clear Thinking
author: Rudolf Flesch
name: Science and
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1951
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: psychology
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values]]> 386363 436 Robert M. Pirsig 0688171664 Science and 0 philosophy 3.78 1974 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
author: Robert M. Pirsig
name: Science and
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1974
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: philosophy
review:

]]>