Book Description
In this groundbreaking book, the renowned theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that physics—the basis for all other science—has lost its way. The problem is string theory, an ambitious attempt to formulate "a theory of everything" that explains all the forces and particles of nature and how the universe came to be. With its exotic new particles and parallel universes, string theory has captured the public"s imagination and seduced many physicists. But as Smolin reveals, there"s a deep flaw in the theory: no part of it has been proven, and no one knows how to prove it. As a scientific theory, it has been a colossal failure. And because it has soaked up the lion's share of funding, attracted some of the best minds, and penalized young physicists for pursuing other avenues, it is dragging the rest of physics down with it. With clarity, passion, and authority, Smolin charts the rise and fall of string theory and takes a fascinating look at what will replace it. A group of young theorists has begun to develop exciting new ideas that are, unlike string theory, testable. Smolin tells us who and what to watch for in the coming years and how we can find the next Einstein. This is a wake-up call, and Lee Smolin—a former string theorist himself— is the perfect person to deliver it.
Customer Reviews:
Cuts through the hype.......2007-10-13
This is an excellently written book, very easy to read,and with only one typo that I noticed. It starts with an excellent overview of physics from a technical point of view, without getting too technical,but a good basic understanding of physics is really needed to grasp what he is writing about, and shows the authors grasp of the technical issues, and then gets into a philosophical view of the state of physics and science generally. As an interested observer of science I have certainly noticed the lack of really big discoveries in the last twenty years or so, and this book confirms my view. Also being more of a creative thinker,rather than a conformist, a 'seer' as the author describes it,I can totally relate to the problems faced by people seeking a career in science, and the need to conform to currently popular programs and research where economic imperitives take precedence over original thinking,or even fundamental work, and where universities operate to build an image to attract students based on hype over substance. Its what put me off a career in science, and a university education, as I'm not interested in doing what others want in return for money,career,etc. The authors comment about some of the best scientists of the past being wealthy enough to support themselves in doing as they pleased is a very important point in showing that creative people are wasted if forced to do the work others want done in order to survive. Which basically leaves only those who want to conform and have an easy life and easy career path, who want to be technical experts rather than big thinkers or explorers of new concepts. It excludes most risk takers and entrepreneurs from a career in science,as you would end up bitter and unsatisfied. This book really just confirmed alot of what I thought, what should be common sense. And it makes an important point that only a few people think creatively,so it would not cost alot to employ these people and take a risk on them, in the hope that long term they will produce big things, while delivering very little of measurable worth in the short term. The book also goes into the sociology of science and scientists. Something I realised along time ago to my suprise was that scientists suffer from all the normal human flaws of bias and blindness, tribalism,etc that average people do,and often end up in religious type devoutness to their beliefs or tribe. I would have thought science would not attract such people, but it does,as the authors experience shows in confirming what I beleived just from watching science shows on TV,etc. Science would be an excellent career if not for the fact it suffers from the same B.S. that afflicts most human organisations and puts people like myself right off getting involved at all. The author is smart enough to realise that science must attract talent and compete with others for it,and his criticisms are done out of love for science and physics,not hate. It is interesting to see how carefully he treads in crisicising others, which just goes to show how religion-like science had become, and how risky it is to be a heretic, which so goes against what science should stand for,like open debate, constant questioning of all beleifs,etc, when ego's start getting in the way you might as well do something else, as its no better than any other politics or belief system. If you care about science this book raises many important points ,although I suspect it will find an audience with those that sympathise with its views and have no effect on those that need to learn from it most,as they will have closed minds and take all criticism as an attack to be defended against.A very enjoyable read.
A superb overview of the state of theoretical physics........2007-10-12
What a superb book. Lee Smolin starts by sketching our progress towards a unified theory, and then critically examines the claims of string theory to be the best contender for that throne. Having demolished our fuzzy belief that string theory has been somehow "proven," he then weighs in on the other candidates for a unified theory, namely quantum gravity and its cousins. These turn out to be little better supported by experimental evidence. The technical concepts are clearly presented, sans equations, as developments in a story peopled with fascinating characters: the great theoretical physicists of the last 50 years. As a non-math person, I found this narrative a positive pleasure to read. In comparison to other authors of books on physics for the lay public, Smolin really knows how to tell a story, without skimping the science.
The real depth of "The Trouble With Physics" becomes apparent when Smolin pulls back to focus on physics itself. Facing the fact that the academy is a human enterprise like any other, he subjects it to the same bold criticism that he applies to scientific concepts. Here are eyeopening revelations about the culture of conferences, recommendations, networks, and above all, the economic pressures that subtly favor "craftspeople" at the expense of "seers." It's a sorry indictment of our universities, the triumph of self-interest over vision, and Smolin explicitly includes himself in the great mass of insincere careerists who choose a safe research program over a risky one, to the detriment of scientific progress. One gets the sense that this book is, for the author, an atonement for having shortchanged his own creativity as a younger man.
But we the readers are the beneficiaries of Smolin's decision to lay all bare. I have read literally dozens of books on physics and cosmology, and this is the first one that has presented the human side of the story as a CONTEXT, rather than in a series of postage-stamp portraits. Smolin shows that tribalism and rent-seeking do as much to shape science as any ideas. It is a lesson that will lend an extra savor, and a much-needed depth of perspective, to every science book I read in the future.
Scientific progress is never cut and dried.......2007-10-08
Lee Smolin presents a harsh critique of the last 30 years in theoretical physics, written by one of its practitioners. He makes the excellent point that science is a human activity like anything else. Progress is always hard to predict; scientists can and do get caught up in dead ends. Smolin thinks string theory is one such dead end, and makes a good case for it.
I think that, if anything, Smolin is a little too gentle on the field. The development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs left a tremendous impression that big money put into physics would bring big results. In recent years that hasn't happened. There are so many unanswered questions out there in science, so many important fields where solutions are desperately needed. When I consider the construction and operation of particle accelerators and other high-tech equipment, I can't help but think of the huge cost. The same amount of cash invested elsewhere might have brought much more in the way of useful results.
I am the mother of a 10-year-old boy attending public school. His instruction sometimes seems to me like a mishmash of well-meaning educational reforms that have been implemented with little or no testing to see if they worked or not. I am frankly disgusted by the quality of most research in the area of education--sample sizes too small, no proper controls, subjects followed for too short a time, etc. The cost of operating a single particle accelerator for six weeks probably exceeds all the funding for educational research around the world for the entire year. Yet which has the most potential for making major progress? Maybe it's time to back off on funding big physics projects for a while.
I would also like to point out that the building and use of instrumentation for high-energy physics is highly dependent on cheap fossil fuels. The future supply of such fuels is by no means guaranteed. The peak oil problem appears to be largely ignored by high-energy physicists today, but has the potential to significantly affect their ability to conduct experiments.
I really enjoyed Smolin's chapters on looking for seers rather than technicians in science. I especially liked his description of how unconventional scientists have built a career without a university job. Smolin points out that a typical professor spends a majority of his week on teaching, grant proposals, administrative tasks, and the like, leaving a surprisingly small amount of time available for actual research. Having a day job outside the field is not as big a hurdle as it might seem.
I tend to agree with Smolin that the big advances of the future are likely to come from completely unexpected directions. I can't wait to see what they are.
physics from many angles.......2007-10-05
This book provided several discussions pf physics and quantum theory. its good because the author speaks of the history the the originators of physics theory and the current champions of thought.
A mixed bag.......2007-10-04
At the moment, string theory appears to have many (possibly an infinite number) of "metastable vacua", each of which would allow for a universe with its own laws of physics. (For a brief, comic, yet essentially correct summary of the history of this idea, see Peter Shor's review here. For those who don't know, Shor is a celebrated quantum-information theorist.) According to the (far from established) inflationary model of cosmology, there is a vast collection of universes (the "multiverse") with diverse laws of physics. Which universe we find ourselves in is a matter of random selection, but of course we must be in a "biofriendly" universe, one whose laws of physics allow for the appearance of intelligent life.
The core argument of this book is presented on page 164-165 (US hardcover edition), where Smolin writes, "when it comes to the biofriendliness of our universe, we have at least three possibilities:
"1. Ours is one of a vast collection of universes with random laws.
"2. There was an intelligent designer.
"3. There is a so-far-unknown mechanism that will both explain the biofriendliness of our universe and make testable predictions by which it can be confirmed or falsified.
"Given that the first two possibilities are untestable in principle, it is most rational to hold out for the third possibility. Indeed, that is the only possibility we should consider as scientists, because accepting either of the first two would mean the end of our field."
I find this to be an astonishing argument. First of all, I don't know what "most rational" is supposed to mean. More importantly, to reject a scientific hypothesis for purely personal reasons (it "would mean the end of our field") is at best novel, and at worst absurd.
Very few string theorists are happy that #1 seems, at this point, to be the most likely outcome of string theory, and many hope that #3 will somehow eventually emerge. But to throw out the whole framework, simply because we don't like the result, cannot be said to be a scientific attitude.
One thing you won't learn in this book (unless you read it very carefully, and between the lines) is that the other approaches to quantum gravity advocated by Smolin have not come any closer to predicting specific experimental results than string theory has. Smolin talks about possible violations of special relativity, but these are not (as he admits on page 237) a definite prediction of loop quantum gravity. He has said (on Peter Woit's blog) that any quantum field theory in any number of dimensions is compatible with loop quantum gravity. If true, this would make loop quantum gravity even less capable than string theory of picking out our particular laws of physics.
Smolin also discusses issues of sociology in physics. On page 335-336, he asserts that the all the truly negative characterizations of job candidates that he has ever heard have had a component of racism and/or sexism. I am on the faculty of the physics department of a research university, and I can only say that my experience has been entirely different. I have simply never heard a racist or sexist denigration of one scientist by another, nor have I ever felt that anyone was being evaluated by criteria other than merit. I think that there are definitely issues of culture and how we can construct scientific communities that have broader appeal, and that there are physicists who are not as sensitive to these issues as they might be, but I cannot accept Smolin's claim that the relatively small percentage of women and blacks in physics is due to "blatant prejudice".
Finally, Smolin discusses the issues of "seers" vs "craftspeople" in science, and argues that we should be supporting more "seers". Among the existing seers, he lists some (such as Roger Penrose and Gerard 't Hooft) who made their reputations primarily as craftspeople ('t Hooft received the Nobel Prize for his work on the renormalization of gauge theories, and Penrose did celebrated work on the singularity theorems of general relativity). Their record as seers has been less successful; none of their recent ideas on modifications of quantum mechanics have panned out as yet. Smolin laments the fact that more attention is not paid to these forays into alternatives to quantum mechanics. But 't Hooft and Penrose do not agree on what modifications are needed. Other seers identified by Smolin propose violations of special relativity, rather than (or in addition to) violations of quantum mechanics. Perhaps this is all deep thought, but there is little to decide, at this point, which if any of these avenues should be pursued. Most physicists have therefore sensibly adopted a "wait and see" attitude.
Even if we accept Smolin's argument that we need new seers, how are we to find them? Smolin writes (page 353) that in order to discover "the visionaries who ignore the mainstream and follow their own ambitious programs", we should "find at least one accomplished person in the candidate's field who is deeply excited about what the candidate is trying to do". So, the candidate's program had better not be *too* far off the mainstream; there has to be at least one "accomplished person" who is "deeply excited" about it. But if one deeply excited professional is good, wouldn't more be better? Wouldn't that up the odds that the program was, indeed, worthwhile? Oh wait, that would be just what we have now ... a system where there is constant debate, emergent consensus on the most promising approaches, and distribution of research funds primarily (but by no means exclusively!) to those approaches that appear, in the consensus view, to be most promising. To paraphrase Winston Churchill on democracy, this system for distributing funds for science may be the worst ever devised, except for all the others.
So, should you buy the book? I feel that it gives a distorted picture, by emphasizing the weak points of string theory while ignoring the (many more, in my view) weak points of the alternatives. It seems to me that the essence of the book's argument against string theory is captured by the excerpts above, and by Shor's review. Then there is a lot of discussion of groupthink in scientific culture. For me, it doesn't add up to an appealing package, but your mileage may vary.
Amazon.com
From the author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents comes this tale of courage and sisterhood set in the Dominican Republic during the rise of the Trujillo dictatorship. A skillful blend of fact and fiction, In the Time of the Butterflies is inspired by the true story of the three Mirabal sisters who, in 1960, were murdered for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government. Alvarez breathes life into these historical figures--known as "las mariposas," or "the butterflies," in the underground--as she imagines their teenage years, their gradual involvement with the revolution, and their terror as their dissentience is uncovered.
Alvarez's controlled writing perfectly captures the mounting tension as "the butterflies" near their horrific end. The novel begins with the recollections of Dede, the fourth and surviving sister, who fears abandoning her routines and her husband to join the movement. Alvarez also offers the perspectives of the other sisters: brave and outspoken Minerva, the family's political ringleader; pious Patria, who forsakes her faith to join her sisters after witnessing the atrocities of the tyranny; and the baby sister, sensitive Maria Teresa, who, in a series of diaries, chronicles her allegiance to Minerva and the physical and spiritual anguish of prison life.
In the Time of the Butterflies is an American Library Association Notable Book and a 1995 National Book Critics Circle Award nominee.
Customer Reviews:
Very Moving.......2007-10-09
A well written fictionalized account of the revolutionary struggles against Trujillo by three of four sisters in the Dominican Replublic. Memorable. The trouble with fictionalized history for me is that after awhile the lines between fact and fiction blur and I don't remember fact from fiction. I tend to stay away from books like this because of my eventual confusion. But, this book is worth it.
After the book and the film.......2007-04-05
The story of the Mirabal sisters is alive and well today in the Dominican Republic. Still the generation that survived the Dicatorship of General Trujillo seats on elite ground in the Island of the Hispaniola.
Comparing the book , the film and the history we can see gaps, hits and misses. The true story of the island is still covered under a veil of mystery, still to this date most of the characters of the book; maybe even their killers walk freely and with no remorse.
The island in itself is a beautiful set, the human casualties of the Trujillo era has been uncovered ever so gently . Until just recently the horrors of the era were exposed and freely written by authors like Balaguer, in "La isla al revez", by Mario Vargas Llosa" La muerte del Chivo", and Julia Alvarez is brilliant in her descriptions.
She teaches in Middlebury College,VT; I personally love her writing style and descriptive style of colors,enviornments and characters.
Fantastic!.......2007-03-28
This books is absolutely fantastic. I personally really enjoy books that cover the same story from several points-of-view so I didn't find it confusing at all. The story is so moving, especially because it is based on real events. Even though I knew what was coming, by the end I broke down into sobs. Beautiful.
confusing.......2007-03-11
I found this book to be very confusing because of all the spanish names and words. It is really hard to keep track of all the characters also. Each chapter is a different sister. All the sisters are married or going out w/someone and then there are their children and on top of that are all the government officials. I was just lost throughout the whole book.
Las Mariposas.......2006-07-08
This book is really good because it is realistic and it shows the struggle of four young girls growing up in the Dominican Republic during the rise of the Trujillo dictatorship. The way it is written is a little bit odd since it shifts narrators between the four girls and they each talk about a different time period, but it is still very informative and hard to put down. And not only do I recommend this book, but the movie is also terrific and possibly a little easier to follow since it runs straight through without switching points of view.
Customer Reviews:
Delicious food from a fascinating culture.......2007-10-06
This book is an enthralling combination of recipes, culture and history. It is more than merely a cookbook. It offers a glimpse into the vibrant culture of this fascinating part of the world. The recipes are diverse and well-categorized. Though not every dish is photographed, the pictures are gorgeous, with traditional displays. Delightful!
A must have.......2007-08-04
As a Persian who loves to cook (and eat), I enjoyed this book so much. I have been a fan of cooking and consuming Persian delicacies my whole life, whether in the US or Iran. Batmanglij provides authentic recipes that are not too complex for the novice in a Persian kitchen. Her descriptions of Persian customs and their deep and intricate meanings are very helpful and insightful for those wishing to broaden their knowledge of a fascinating culture. I especially enjoyed her wedding description, because it is still done that way! The pictures are really a work of art; anyone who has ate Persian food knows presentation is everything and the layout Batmanglij displays is simply breathtaking. What I loved most about this book is that it is a great conversation starter! I discovered dishes I have never heard of and wound up asking my relatives in Iran about them. I have used this book not only for cooking, but referenced it for research papers, and given it to many people as gifts. If you buy this book, it will be the only book you need in your kitchen to create a true Persian feast. Noosh e Joon!
Brilliant book on how to make the best food in the world !.......2007-03-10
This book is well written, recipes are well documented, and easy to cater for and follow. This cuisine is indeed timeconsuming but ever so rewarding, results are always VERY impressive ! Lots and lots of compliments to the chef, which, of course translate to compliments to the authors of this amzingly useful, practical, informative and also beautiful book.
Having tasted it a few times at a friends' place, I decided that this must be the best and most beautiful cuisine in the world. Since I have no Iranian roots or relationships the cultural references and poetry are a nice addition. And now, I can also add that there is intense pleasure in taking lots of time for the preparation of these gorgeous dishes.
A visual treat.......2007-02-06
This book is visually stunning....and the recipes produce delicious dishes. Any serious cook must have a copy.
This is my favorite of all Cookbooks.......2007-01-11
I love this book. After using it for two years I bought one for each of my sisters, and for a few friends. Everyone loves it. The food is always healthy, the flavors are distinct and the recipes are very easy to follow. Nush-e-jan! -liese
Amazon.com
The Condition of Postmodernity is David Harvey's seminal history of our most equivocal of eras. What does postmodernism mean? Where did it come from? Harvey, a professor of geography and a key mover behind extending the scope and influence of the discipline of geography itself, does a thorough job here delineating the passage through to postmodernity and the economic, social, and political changes that underscored and accompanied it. As he clearly states, the rise in postmodernist cultural forms is related to a new intensity in what Harvey terms "time-space compression," but this new intensity is a qualitative rather than quantitative change in social organization, and it does not point to an era beyond capitalism as "the basic rules of capitalistic accumulation" remain unchanged. Unlike Fredric Jameson (whose equally rewarding Postmodernism stands as the twin pillar to Harvey's critique), who explicitly relies on Ernest Mandel's periodization of late capitalism, Harvey eschews a narrowly economic focus, the limits and contradictions of production that have led to the rise in the service sector, and takes a more multidisciplinary approach to his history. As comfortable discussing Manet as he is labor markets, Harvey is an excellent writer, and The Condition of Postmodernity is an exceptionally informative and enjoyable read. --Mark Thwaite, Amazon.co.uk
Book Description
A great deal has been written on what has variously been described as the post-modern condition and on post-modern culture, architecture, art and society. In this new book, David Harvey seeks to determine what is meant by the term in its different contexts and to identify how accurate and useful it is as a description of contemporary experience. But the book is much more than this: in the course of his investigation the author provides a social and semantic history - from the Enlightenment to the present - of modernism and its expression in political and social ideas and movements, as well as in art, literature and architecture. He considers in particular how the meaning and perception of time and space themselves vary over time and space, and shows that this variance affects individual values and social processes of the most fundamental kind. This book will be widely welcomed, not only for its clear and critical account of the arguments surrounding the propositions of modernity and post-modernity, but as an incisive contribution to the history of ideas and their relation to social and political change.
Customer Reviews:
Good lord.......2005-09-16
Wow, this book is about as dense as the crust of the earth. It takes at least a few reads over to understand what the arguments are. While the arguments in this book are very well articulated, I found myself wanting to shoot myself in the face sometimes while reading this book. It can be really boring, but brings up some very interesting ideas of 80's culture and society.
Po-Mo Schmomo?.......2003-03-04
Ask ten academics about what to call our present fin-de-siecle epoch and you'll get ten different labels, but "postmodernism" seems always the default term. Although it's twelve years old, Harvey's book is the best I've read about the pluralistic fabric we daily inhabit. It's edifyingly reader-friendly (especially compared to some of the Franco-drunk rhetoricians out there trying to get a handle on our current world). In precise prose Harvey outlines the shift to our information-as-capital paradigm since the mid-sixties, and the causes of the growth of the temp sector and "just-in-time" production capabilities. Harvey traces the arrival of "flexible accumulation" to the collapse of Fordist production practices in the 1966-73 waves of recession, but covers far more than just economic factors--architecture, art, literature, cinema--without any self-conscious Neo-Marxist whistling-in-the-dark. In his project to articulate a new (meta?)narrative, Harvey's book will probably give post-structuralists a new constellation of ideas to obfuscate with hip terminology and dense prose...
Manuel Castell's "The Rise of the Network Society" is another good book along these lines.
Best overview of modern/postmodern condition I have found.......2002-08-22
This is a great overview of concepts that are, by definition, very fractured. Harvey clarifies and pulls together a number of seemingly disparate elements in a masterful manner. Though this book could work as a good introduction to these concepts, I think readers with some background in the major writers of modernism and postmodernism will get more out of it. Dogmatic postmodernists may be put off that Harvey has the "temerity" to suggest that postmodernism might be an extension of modernism or that he finds some good in modernism and some excesses in postmodern approaches but, they should get over themselves and realize that their insistence that "all meta-narratives are bad" is their own meta-narrative. Overall, Harvey manages to convincingly express his ideas while maintaining a remarkably evenhanded approach. I especially enjoy the fact that he avoids the postmodernist tendency to ignore the complexities of modernism and, thus create a postmodern meta-narrative about the modernist project.
Excellent overview of modernity and post-modernity.......2001-11-27
David Harvey's "Condition of Post-Modernity" provides excellent representational cases to show the differences between modernity and post-modernity. Although sometimes difficult to follow (I had problems with the chapter pertaining to architecture), Harvey uses enough examples (i.e., economics, art, cinema, etc.) to make sure one understands the differences between post-modernism and modernism. The economic chapter, "Fordism and Flexible Accumulation" is particulary good and shows the gradual transformation from a modernist to a post-modernist economy and society. I was disappointed, however, that Harvey didn't have a complete section focused towards the differences between modernist and post-modernist lit.
Excellent overview of modernity and post-modernity.......2001-11-27
David Harvey's "Condition of Post-Modernity" provides excellent representational cases to show the differences between modernity and post-modernity. Although sometimes difficult to follow (I had problems with the chapter pertaining to architecture), Harvey uses enough examples (i.e., economics, art, cinema, etc.) to make sure one understands the differences between post-modernism and modernism. The economic chapter, "Fordism and Flexible Accumulation" is particulary good and shows the gradual transformation from a moderninst to a post-modernist economy and society. I was disappointed, however, that Harvey didn't have a complete section focused towards the differences between modernist and post-modernist lit.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Average customer rating:
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- Into the Dreaming
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Into the Dreaming
Karen Marie Moning
Manufacturer: Jove
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Customer Reviews:
Quick.......2007-10-12
A very quick and pleasant read. Once again, Ms. Moning delivers a memorable story without overloading it with a bunch of fluff. A truly enjoyable book for an unexpected free evening.
Into the Dreaming.......2007-09-10
This is short story. So just keep that in mind when you buy it. I was disappointed when I recieved it becasue I thought it was a full novel. I haven't had a chance to read it yet as it is in line waiting but I've never read anything from Karen Marie Moaning that I didn't like.
GOOD READ.......2007-09-07
As always Ms. Moning delievers excellent writing. The only substraction from this book is that its very short. Its a good book to travel with though and a good addition to toss into your order for a quick good read on the fly. If you are a moning fan its definately worth the search to get this booklet!
Teeeeeny Little Book.......2007-08-31
Although I am a big Moning fan I must admit I am dissapointed. This is more of a pamphlet than a book and I'm not even excited to crack the cover. I'm sure it will be great as I just love the Highlander Series but sheesh- 102 pages for 3 bucks!
Absolutely enthralling!!!!!!!!!!!!1.......2007-08-15
This was a great book: short, sweet and straight to the point. I am in the process of reading all of Karen Moning's Highland series and I would recommend this as a starting point for anyone interested. It was a wonderful story with just enough of everything to keep you glued to your chair for the entire reading
Average customer rating:
- Intriguing analysis of the forces shaping the future
- Thought-provoking, irresponsible, and sometimes comically incorrect. But fun.
- Good Cliff note summary of current events
- Interesting read
- Past, Present, Future, Global, Local
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Powerful Times: Rising to the Challenge of Our Uncertain World
Eamonn Kelly
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Customer Reviews:
Intriguing analysis of the forces shaping the future.......2006-12-18
Eamonn Kelly's predictions aren't as simple as those offered by some futurists, but that's because he's trying to be realistic about the complexity of "powerful times." And while Kelly's ideas aren't simple, they are clear. You can take any one of his predictions, such as the growing importance of water or the rise of consciousness about the sacred, and work through the implications for business and home life. In fact, Kelly explicitly asks readers to do so. His afterword poses a series of questions about how individuals and organizations are experiencing the changes he enumerates and invites readers to share their ideas within their organizations and on his Web site. Kelly emphasizes that humanity has just begun to feel the effects of many of the high-profile changes of recent decades, and that they haven't yet worked their way through the global economy. If the book has a weakness, it is that it's so focused on the United States. Kelly's treatment of Western ideals in general, and of U.S. military and political aims, seems to take America's self-image for granted. We recommend Kelly's book to policy wonks, executives involved in change management and, in general, anybody seriously planning for the future.
Thought-provoking, irresponsible, and sometimes comically incorrect. But fun. .......2006-10-13
Powerful Times has promise as you plow through the first handful of chapters. I've done quite a bit of future `ideating' mostly for product innovation to have concepts like `clarity vs craziness' - something we called, `synthesized sense-making' at work - and `technology acceleration vs pushback' - resonate with me. His arguments make sense and they feel like they're pointing to a powerful conclusion.
And then, something happens that makes you distrust everything you haven't researched yourself. For me, it was when that old bogie-man, "global warming", came out under the heading, `people and planet'.
I don't know if you have a poster of Al Gore in your dorm room or not, but when confronted with often-quoted-but-usually-disproved data points like polar ice melting (except where it's thickening), sea levels rising (plate tectonics, anyone?), and "NASA" saying the ten warmest years on record have all happened in the past twenty years (except for the entire decade of the 30's), I start to doubt everything else I've just read. (Take the time to read Sen. James Inhofe's speech on Capitol Hill from 9/25/06. He's the Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at the epw dot senate dot gov website - you'll have to hunt for it from there, as Amazon doesn't like reviewers to embed URL's. Most all of the current hype on global warming gets pretty clearly debunked here. And if that wasn't enough fun, pick up Michael Critchton's `State of Fear'. There's just too much hysteria against a backdrop of conflicting data and more conflicting politics to buy this hook, line and sinker).
After you fully defoliate the chapter on global warming, you are then faced with vignettes on how China is poised to offer the world advances in environmental conservation. Is it just me, or do you also recall hearing that a few hundred cities in China had air so bad you needed a catalytic converter just to breathe normally? Given China's record, it's hard to see anything done on an environmentally sustainable basis for its own sake.
So if I can't buy the stories on global warming or Chinese environmental stewardship, what am I to do with vignettes on the "African Renaissance" in scientific research? Frankly, I don't know whether there's any merit to this one or not, but his track record is getting a bit suspect at this point. (It's funny, I'm also reading Robert Young Pelton's `World's Most Dangerous Places', so the difference in perspective leads one to pause. I don't know about you, but my money at this point is on Pelton).
In "Prosperity and Decline", we're told that Brazil's "experiment in free trade" of violating patent laws on pharmaceuticals to provide AIDS drugs for free is a `vindicated' strategy because of lives saved and thus represents a bold new twist on free trade. Huh? I'm all for saving lives, but maybe the Brazilian government would pick up the tab next time? I take it that Hwa Wei's pirating Cisco software is excused because the domestic Chinese market now enjoys US-style router technology without all those pesky big invoices.
This is the second great red flag of the book - a huge disconnect in critical judgment. However, let's continue to suspend disbelief and plunge ahead with our story.
After two chapters that feel a bit out of place - governance and innovation - we get into three potential world scenarios, all of which are plausible in the author's view: "The New American Century", "Patchwork Powers", and "Emergence".
"The New American Century" assumes a greater American role in world affairs, with the ascendance of "American Values" on the global stage as the center piece. Free trade, democracy, the pursuit of happiness, individual freedom, etc., all presented against the sinister backdrop of American military might. You almost had us there.
"Patchwork Powers" operates under the assumption that the world always knew George W. Bush was up to no good, that the war on terror was illegal, and now "America has been put in its place". In other words, the Democratic National Committee platform. This scenario unfolds with regional powers - India, China, and China - taking a greater role, and Europe pretty much sinking beneath the waves. The superpower is dead. Long live the Junior Varsity.
"Emergence" illustrates the rise of the individual, flash-mobbing their way to political primacy, with nations crashing under their own bureaucratic hubris. Innovation sky-rockets for some reason, open source replaces intellectual property rights and terrorism runs amok. This is pretty close to hell, unless your vision of the future looks like "Blade Runner".
The number of not-very-subtle digs at the US and its president become a bit tedious. Sure, I'm biased -- I pay property taxes, travel internationally, and have a family, which makes me like things like stable currencies, the rule of law, economic growth. The irony, given the author's clear anti-American biases, is that "The New American Century" is the only optimistic scenario he presents. The reasonable idea that a "New American Century" with China beginning to take baby steps towards a leadership role, India being "open for business", and Middle East and Latin America (hopefully) finding their way towards real representative government and stable economic policy is not just possible, but hopefully our collective goal. The other scenarios all sound like a global retreat from where we are today - economically, politically, and socially.
The first half of the book gets four stars. The middle needed an editor. The last few get a two. I'll round up to a three.
Good Cliff note summary of current events .......2006-09-20
Airplane read. Book is current ... data based. Diverse news roundup with links to future implications. Can't recall any high concept take aways.
Buy it soon ... not much shelf life
Interesting read.......2006-09-06
Powerful Times is an examination of what the author presents as seven powerful dynamic tensions that will fundamentally reshape human life. What are these seven tensions? Some we are already seeing regularly in the news as the conflicts between the secular and the sacred. Others are also obvious like the tension between clarity and craziness. Still others become fascinating in the way the author develops them; like power and vulnerability, technology acceleration and pushback, intangible and physical economics, prosperity and decline, and people and planet. This is an in-depth exploration of the challenges and changes of governance and innovation. One of the more interesting ideas presented here are what the author sees as the three different scenarios for potential world orders that might evolve as a result of these tensions. This is a bold look at the forces molding our world as we know it and how they will change that world in the near future. Powerful Times is an interesting read and recommended to business and civic leaders at all levels.
Past, Present, Future, Global, Local.......2006-08-02
Author Eamon Kelly covers a lot of contemporary issues in "Power Times: Rising to the Challenges of our Uncertain World." Many current issues and circumstances are discussed: terrorism, technology governance, history, globalization, global warming, AIDS, oil dependence, and much more. Lots of stats and charts on a variety of topics that are different, but related to one another - and us.
At first this book takes us back in time. To the sixteenth century to Pandolfo Pretrucci, who had dialogues with Machiavelli. Soon after we travel to the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which ushered in a new national order that contains the basic model of what we have today: the nation-state. Author Kelly writes, "The importance of the nation-state has underpinned all subsequent centuries of European and world history. Certainly the nations-states are committed to achieving peace (not always successfully) and prosperity for their citizens....we have to think of the nation-state as the natural level and form of governance."
This is a worthy statement, as the entire concept of the recent nation-state has shaped our world so much. With this model comes the quest, organized greed and usurpation, and infinite conflict over territory and natural resources, the world over. A good move by Kelly to note the nation-state. No one else does anymore, save a history class on 17th Century Europe. This historical introduction is finished off with a massively profound quote from Pretucci: "The times are more powerful than our brains." (Huh?)
Chapters:
1. History Unleashed
2. Clarity and Craziness
3. Secular and Sacred
4. Power and Vulnerability
5. Technology Acceleration and Push Back
6. Intangible and Physical Economies
7. Prosperity and Decline
8. People and Planet
Section 2 - What if?: Changing for the Challenges Ahead.
Chapter 9. Governance
Chapter 10 Innovation
Section 3 - What's next? Scenarios of the Future
Chapter 11 Three Snapshots of the Future
Section 4 - So What?: Acting in an Era of Transformation
Chapter 12 Creating our New Future
Afterword: Using This Book in Your Life and Work.
My favorite sub-chapter: "Goggledygook and the Gorilla."
Many pithy quotes from famous folks are noted. One of my many favorites is, "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its coat on." --Winston Churchill.
One concept of many in this book is a sub-chapter called "Reinventing Capitalism." Kelly notes Peruvian Economist Hernando De Soto's point in his book "The Mystery of Capital." De Soto states that the West has evolved to have an invisible yet essential society of laws, expectations, entitlements, and relationships that support the ownership of property. These conditions make the current structure of capitalism possible." And, De Soto sates that even most Westerners who live in these societies don't even understand how this system works, nor know much about it. Therefore, when the IMF, World Bank, and other agencies attempt to place these Western systems on foreign societies that don't have the underlying bases for these systems to begin with, the result if often not successful nor the most optimum way. De Soto's work has gotten attention and even Bill Clinton has noted his work in contemporary economics.
Many things I found interesting are: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the number of nanotechnology patents which have increased exponentially in the last 5 years, Moore's Law: the number of transistors per square inch on an integrated circuit doubles every 18 months. And what is the most costly computer crime, of all computer crimes? Theft of Proprietary Info.
A wide variety of information here, and in the back of this book there is an open questionnaire, where you can answer some of the major questions on the topics presented and apply them to your own life, views, and work. Tons of things in this book that you can dabble into, and you can get further reading material from the citations.
Interesting was the "dilemmas for the world's only superpower." The dilemma in large part, has been caused by the world's only superpower. A check and balance is needed.
Great book.
Amazon.com
"Jewish history is often told not as a narrative of real people with human problems and interests but as an idealized national myth," writes Raymond Scheinlin, in the introduction to his excellent A Short History of the Jewish People. Scheinlin is an observant Jew, but his book is not a history of the Jewish religion. It is a history of Jewish tribes around the world and the ways "they have interacted with the nations and cultures among whom they have lived, adapting to their environment while retaining a variety of continuities." The book's brevity precludes exhaustiveness, but its focus on particular Jewish communities and its disciplined analysis of their political successes and foibles give readers a firm grasp on the movements in Jewish history that have shaped the Middle East, Europe, and America. Amply illustrated with maps and photographs, the fluid prose of Scheinlin's History make this book a useful starting point for anyone seeking a secular history of Judaism that is neither skeptical nor hostile to religion. --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
Where did the Jews come from? How did they retain their strong sense of community through centuries of dispersion? How have the Jews of the present, with their proud ethnic identity and thriving national home, emerged out of the downtrodden Jews of the past? Such questions arise naturally in the minds of anyone contemplating the long history of Jewish people. In one concise, authoritative volume, A Short History of the Jewish People provides insights and answers. This sweeping and highly informative work presents the major geographical, cultural, and political forces that have determined the course of Jewish history, introducing the many individuals, both religious and secular, who have shaped the character, mindset, and prospects of the Jewish people. Organized chronologically, the narrative follows the Jewish experience from legendary times to the peace agreements currently being negotiated in the Middle East. And, to give this overview an international and timely perspective, Raymond P. Scheindlin focuses his study on the pivotal events and dominant communities within each historical period. Written by a respected Hebrew scholar, cultural historian, noted author, and rabbi, A Short History of the Jewish People carefully describes the story of a people as varied as the many cultures in which they have lived. Including detailed maps and stirring photos, as well as timelines and sidebars, this pioneering work is a valuable resource for anyone broadly curious about the Jewish people.
Customer Reviews:
Highly informative.......2007-08-24
This book is packed with information that is offered in a very readable manner. The author did an exceptionally fine job. I did not expect to learn so much or be so fascinated.
Useful book for lower division instruction.......2006-12-23
Scheindlin has managed to write nearly the perfect book for a lower division course on Jewish history. He successfully spans the entire scope of Jewish history from legendary times to the modern State of Israel in a mere 263 pages of very readable prose. His writing is neither dry nor laden with jargon. He writes like Leon Uris or Herman Wouk.
Two issues of debate in the book should be supplemented with additional readings. The first is that the portrayal of the Jewish-Christian schism is only presented in the context of medieval Antisemitism, and a more balanced and informative view of the formative period of Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity is found in From Text To Tradition by Lawrence Schiffman. The second is the lachrymos portrayal of Jewish life in the Middle Ages. That should be balanced with Salo Baron's groundbreaking article "Ghetto and Emancipation," reprinted in The Menorah Treasury, ed. Leo W. Schwarz (Philadelphia, 1964).
With those two caveats, I would recommend this book for any introductory Jewish history or Jewish studies survey class.
Good choice for lay people or undergraduates.......2005-12-09
I teach a survey of Jewish history course at the freshman/sophomore level, and this is a great text for a course of this sort. It is easily understandable, concise and has all the important information. The index is helpful. I would also recommend it for the non-student looking for a quick introduction to the basics of Jewish history. Scheindlin is particularly good with material from Jews in the Middle East. For my course I supplement it with primary texts.
Concise, Readable, Essential.......2005-01-13
In taking a "Survey of Jewish History" course this fall, which is a broad subject, a broad and sweeping primary textbook was needed. In the short space of 263 pages, Scheindlin covers equitably the history of world Jewry, balancing coverage of religious and sociopolitical elements.
Although accurately described as a secular book, Scheindlin is a practicing Jew and the book is certainly not irreligious. In most cases (esp. premodern situations,) Scheindlin approaches an event or a conflict as a neutral observer, a historian documenting causes and effects. Importantly, he explains the way Jewish societies around the world conceived of and reacted to their circumstances, without actually adopting their views in his writing. This allows both Jew and non-Jew to feel comfortable with the book.
Anyone who faults the book for its lack of detail misunderstands the point of the text and the feasability of what they are asking for. What Scheindlin does with stunning success is give an interesting, accurate depiction, albeit with broad brushstrokes, of the forces that have shaped Jewry throughout the ages.
(I especially recommend the chapter on the Holocaust as riveting and awe-inspiring. Scheindlin, in his understated tone, evokes the horror of "Shoah" (destruction) in a way that impresses even veteran readers with its vividness.)
Superb, Stylish summary of Jewish History.......2005-01-06
Although one can quibble over specific statements and interpretations (e.g. he writes that Yiddish is a dialect of modern German, when actually it derives from Middle German and is as much a dialect as English is, which also evolved from Middle German) or his inclusion or exclusion of certain figures, facts, etc.-- overall Scheindlin has created a superb work. It is concise, well written, and nicely complemented with clear historical timelines, maps, and small topical essays.
The book is well organized with sensitivity to the difficulty of understanding the tremendous amount of material being covered. The chapters break down as follows:
1) Israelite Origins and Kingdom [Biblical] (c1220 BCE - 587 BCE)
2) Judea and the Origins of the Diaspora [2nd Temple Period] (587 BCE - 70 CE)
3) Roman Palestine and Sassanid Babylonia [Classical Rabbinic Period] (70 CE - 632 CE)
4) Jews in the Islamic World: From the Rise of Islam to the End of the Middle Ages (632 CE - 1500 CE)
5) Jews of Medieval Christian Europe (9th century to 1500)
6) Jews in the Ottoman Empire and Middle East (1453 - 1948)
7) Jews of Western Europe (1500 - 1900)
8) Jews of Eastern Europe and the United States (1770 - 1940)
9) The Holocaust (appx. 1925 - 1946)
10) Zionism and the Origins of the State of Israel (appx. 1862 - 1948)
11) The Jewish People after 1948
This is an excellent historical primer and contains a good bibliography for further study.
Book Description
In The Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present, Andrew Gordon paints a richly nuanced and strikingly original portrait of the last two centuries of Japanese history. He takes students from the days of the shogunate--the feudal overlordship of the Tokugawa family--through the modernizing revolution launched by midlevel samurai in the late nineteenth century; the adoption of Western hairstyles, clothing, and military organization; and the nation's first experiments with mass democracy after World War I. Gordon offers the finest synthesis to date of Japan's passage through militarism, World War II, the American occupation, and the subsequent economic rollercoaster. But the true ingenuity and value of Gordon's approach lies in his close attention to the non-elite layers of society. Here students will see the influence of outside ideas, products, and culture on home life, labor unions, political parties, gender relations, and popular entertainment. The book examines Japan's struggles to define the meaning of its modernization, from villages and urban neighborhoods, to factory floors and middle managers' offices, to the imperial court. Most importantly, it illuminates the interconnectedness of Japanese developments with world history, demonstrating how Japan's historical passage represents a variation of a process experienced by many nations and showing how the Japanese narrative forms one part of the interwoven fabric of modern history. With a sustained focus on setting modern Japan in a comparative and global context, The Modern History of Japan is ideal for undergraduate courses in modern Japanese history, Japanese politics, Japanese society, or Japanese culture.
Customer Reviews:
Untangling and Navigating 200 Years of History.......2005-01-27
In A Modern History of Japan, Andrew Gordon sets to do the ambitious - to give a bottom up approach to writing a historical narrative - without ignoring the big picture. Gordon intertwines several interrelated events in Japan's continuing history pertaining to social markers - from the Tokugawa era to the present. By doing this he brings to presence a myriad of themes.
Gordon's book is a traditional chronological examination of the history of Japan. However, Gordon takes history to a different level by adding complexity. Gordon takes the time to examines, in some detail the issue of women in Japan's fast changing society, the ever changing identity markers of the Japanese youth with reference to their role in society, from the Tokugawa to the post-war era. Lets face it, modernization and democratization in Japan has been turbulent to say the least, and as examined in this sweeping book by Gordon, the causes and effects are many and as discussed previously - complicated. Gordon has a wonderful handle on the complexity despite his position as an outsider to the culture.
Deftly opening with the fall of the shogunate, Gordon deftly untangles and presents the interior and exterior pressures that form the impetus for the civil strife and the eventual Meiji "restoration." The "restorers" according to Gordon were alarmed by and reacted to European colonization. Gordon explains that the rejoinder to change, by all classes is intertwined with nationalism. Gordon navigates us through the postwar Japan were the national polity was more worried with reconstruction than with "history," setting the stage for the so-called Japanese economic miracle up to 1990 - which is really a result of Realpolitik and historical luck.
The book is nothing less than a comprehensive look into two centuries of Japanese history. The eclectic but solid mix of topics/themes includes landlord-tenant dealings since the Tokugawa era to the present, and lastly, the dangers Japan has to navigate through in this challenging yet promising post war era. Gordon ends the book hurriedly with a quick examination of the ever-changing party politics horizon in the present era.
Miguel Llora
Excellent history book.......2003-10-04
This book was easy to read and understand. I enjoyed it so much that I did not even sell it at the end of the class. I reccomend this book to anyone even remotely interested in Japanese history.
Great Overview of Japanese Histor.......2003-04-26
Andrew Gordon covers the important aspects of Japanese history through time. He starts off by dealing with the Tokugawa and ends with the current political situation at the turn of the century. The appendixes provide a good account of Japanese government by listing the prime ministers and the country's election results since the end of WWII. Contemporary History of Japan focuses on important aspects of the Tokugawa regime such as its political, social and economic set up of Tokugaw Japan and focuses on its eventual downfall. The book continues with the Samurai revolution and the Meiji revolution that set the path for Japan to become a world power. Gordon then continues Japan in the early 20th centiru and how the countr began to change internallly as a result and how Japan dealt the Depressoin Crises in the 1930s, its wars with China and Russia and its eventual role in WWII and the American influence in the post WWII years. After the end of WWII, Japan becomes a dominant figure on the world stage with rapid economic growth unparalled else where in the world resulting in massive changes in society. Gordon does deal with Japanese economic troubles in the post WWII era such as the oil crises in the 1970s and the how Japanese bubble burst as well as other issues Japan is facing such as low-birth rates and changing gender roles.
Great background to Japan overall.
Outstanding.......2003-03-01
This is an outstanding book on the modern history of Japan since the early 19th century. Mr. Gordon writes exceptionally well; unlike most academics, his sentences are mercifully short. You won`t get lost in any run-on sentences that take up half a page. Having said that, however, this is not a book just for children. People who have lived in Japan for years or who have studied Japan extensively as graduate students will find something to learn in this book. The book has many appealing aspects. It devotes considerable time to discussing the lives of ordinary Japanese, and it makes for fascinating reading. The book is relatively short and can be finished in one week. Finally, the author`s emphasis on the similarities between Japan and other nations in the tumultuous modern era is most welcome. The Japanese are not a unique, bizarre people; like all people everywhere, modernity is something they have adjusted to and dealt with, with varying degrees of success and failure. Mr. Gordon`s book is well worth reading.
Good and detailed.......2002-09-28
I received this book today and flipped through it while doing laundry. I'm impressed. It's been a long time since I read a history book and this isn't like the dry, boring texts I remember from school.
I won't waste time mentioning that he covers all the obvious stuff, all the wars and major political events that you would expect a history book to cover.
What struck me is his ability to smoothly give you the big picture while sticking in little bits that give you some idea of what the people at the time thought and experienced.
In addition to telling you about the hardships of farming, he gives a picture of a 21-year-old girl's hands; that's all you need to see. In addition to telling you about the influence of the west, he shows you pictures of Japanese women in wanna-be outfits that just say it all. The cartoons, political posters, songs, propaganda posters -- they give a feel for Japan I wasn't expecting from a book.
This book is mostly text; I don't want to imply it has a ton of extras but it has enough to really drive home some of his points.
All that and I haven't even read the book yet!
It was interesting to learn that (obviously) Japan wasn't always like it is now. The description of the employment situation in the 1920s sounds quite a lot like America in the 1990s boom -- no loyal employees with lifelong employment then! Knowing that less than a hundred years ago the reserved, peaceful Japanese engaged in widespread political riots where they beat each other and the police shook up my stereotypes.
Good book, highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
- The Devil's Arithmetic
- Not Enough Depth
- Great book...made me cry
- The Devil's Arithmetic
- Sucked Into the Past a review by James, Taylor, Jonahthan, Sebastianne, Rebecca, and Danilo
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The Devil's Arithmetic (Puffin Modern Classics)
Jane Yolen
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ASIN: 0142401099 |
Book Description
Hannah thinks tonightÂ's Passover Seder will be the same as always. Little does she know that this year she will be mysteriously transported into the past where only she knows the horrors that await.
Customer Reviews:
The Devil's Arithmetic.......2007-09-02
Hannah is a young woman, thirteen years old and a fairly normal sounding teenager. She has no true understanding of her family's culture, or of the memories that are in her blood, ones shares and must not forget. Hannah is reborn into Chaya, as she is taken from a normal, rural life in 1942, into one of the Nazi death camps. We watch as the daily struggles for life transform this teenagers understanding of her world, what it has become and what it was. The glimpses of her true time period, the 1980's, are seen as madness in the camps, but she speaks truth. And she remembers the most important gift of all. Chaya gives up her life for Hannah's ancestor, Rivka, so she may escape to live her life. I enjoyed the family future and past connections; it made the book at that more personal since the readers become so close to her extended family, all in both versions of time. The deep emotions this book brings to the surface would take a careful working, well versed teacher. But this book is told in a way that is an accurate, as well as age appropriate way of explaining, in first person, some of the atrocities that humans can do to one another. On page 163, where Hannah is back in her own time and explains to Aunt Eva what the numbers on her arm mean, I almost started crying. What a powerful way to end the book. "J18202. J is for Jew. And 1 because you were alone, alone of the 8 who had been in your family, though 2 was the actual number of them alive..."
Not Enough Depth.......2007-08-26
This was a good book, but it wasn't as informative as I had hoped it would be.
Great book...made me cry.......2007-03-21
I read this in 7th grade some years ago and I couldn't help but cry in class and hope in the future this doesn't happen again. At that time, I knew about the holocaust pretty well and seeing a movie called Paperclips the previous year I say I knew enough, but this book showed it in a simpler way. It was in a view of a girl around my age then or so and it was so very emotional and powerful. This is a great book to read or lend to a friend to show them a part of a history. You learn that Jews are people aswell like any others and they can be a spanish jew, english jew, american jew and so on. It isn't an ethnic/race, it's a religion. Killing Jews then is like killing Catholics right now or any other religion. Jews did nothing wrong, but even today I know some people that hate them, but for no reason, only because they were taught to or what their family believed. After I lended this book to some friends, they understood more.
Overall, this is a great book, which can not only be enjoyed by teenagers, preteens and such, but for adults aswell. You understand it more than by just reading history books, this gives you a story to go along with it and it stays in your mind and doesn't go away like when you study for a one time exam and it is no use to you after you ace the test. This is a really must read.
The Devil's Arithmetic.......2007-03-13
The more that are added the more that are subtracted...
"The devil's arithmetic," that was what Gitl called it. Everyday, more and more Zungangi arrive at the camps. Everyday more Jews are chosen. The more in the camps the less in the world. Adding and subtracting. The children think the work is hard, but the Jews hated it because they subtracted lives and added Jews to the horror.
It all started when Hannah, a young Jewish girl, resented going to her family's traditions. She symbolically opened the door to the prophet Elijah after she drank too much wine at her family's Passover Seder. She is transported back in time to 1942, just before the Holocaust. The Nazis came and took the Jews away. Hannah tried to warn people about the concentration camps but nobody believed her. Hannah learned why all of her relatives were so upset about the numbers on their left arms.
The Devil's Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen, was very descriptive and touching, especially when Chaya makes a sacrifice -a big one- for family, friends, and religion. This was a fabulous insight on what really happened in the Holocaust. This book made you feel like you were really in the concentration camps and you could almost hear the harsh voices and smell the horrible smells of blood and sweat.
We highly recommend this book for readers of all ages. It gives you a whole other opinion on the Holocaust and lets you really know how horrible it was and how many people died long, slow, painful deaths. It makes you cry, laugh, smile, and opens up a whole new point of view.
Sucked Into the Past a review by James, Taylor, Jonahthan, Sebastianne, Rebecca, and Danilo.......2007-03-13
Picture this, you are a thirteen year old girl who hates going to her family Seder. You're forced to go anyway, and you open the door for the prophet Elijah. In the award winning (National Jewish Book Award) novel the Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, weird things start to happen. Jane Yolen captivates the heart and soul in each and every reader, ensuring that readers will be delighted to the fullest.
The Devil's Arithmetic is about a girl named Hannah at her Passover Seder she opens the door to the prophet Elijah and ends up in a small village in 1942. It's during the second World War, before this Hannah lives in New Rochelle with her father, mother, and little brother. But after that fateful night, when she was hurled into the past she became different. People keep confusing her with someone else, a girl named Chaya. They talk about her parents, dead from Cholera and a place called Lublin. But her parents are fine aren't they? At a wedding,Hannah, the bride, groom, and everyone else are captured by the Nazi's and taken to concentration camps. Once there, Hannah doesn't know past from present. In this book Hannah goes from being selfish to fighting for the Jews, being strong although people have lost all hope, and being brave even though she knows only fate lie ahead. Jane Yolen brings the past into the present with this dynamic book that draws you into the setting. It makes you want to cry, and in the end sigh with relief. This book tells you to never give up and to be grateful for what you have. It is a lesson on how cruel people can really be.
Everyone will enjoy this captivating book about survival. I would recommend this book to kids age 11 and up. People who enjoy history and survival books will appreciate this astounding story about the Holocaust by the wonderful author Jane Yolen.
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