Christopher Hitchens had a mind which is sorely missed. Whether you agreed with what he was saying, or were on the other side of the issue, one had toChristopher Hitchens had a mind which is sorely missed. Whether you agreed with what he was saying, or were on the other side of the issue, one had to respect and respond to what Hitchens had to say on the subject. “Arguably” is a collection of his essays (107 in all) put into six sections of the book, and which cover a wide variety of subjects. There are certainly a few here which are not going to be considered controversial, but the vast majority are Hitchens as he usually was, strongly opinionated on controversial subjects, and always with a significant stack of facts to back his positions; positions which he was not afraid to voice in the bluntest terms. In other words, this is Hitchens at his best (when you agree with him), and at his most difficult (when you don’t).
This collection was published originally in September of 2011, with Hitchens writing a brief introduction in late June as he was suffering from oesophageal cancer from which he would pass away six months later at the all too young age of 62. The essays had been published over the course of years in a variety of publications. The subjects dealt with cover a wide range, from religion and politics, to why women aren’t funny, and everything in between. The material ranges from columns, to book reviews, to book introductions.
Hitchens was one of the few members of the media who had actually visited the “axis of evil”, along with many other places, and this most certainly contributed to his insights on many subjects. Hitchens was not the least bit tentative to express his opinion, but unlike other talking-heads, Hitchens was able to do it and still be credible on a subject. Though certainly liberal on a majority of subjects, Hitchens had no problem blasting Kissinger, then turning around and backing President George W. Bush in the “War on Terror”, only to then proceed to ignore the administration’s position on water-boarding and calling it what he considered it, “torture”. The result is that the reader can trust that the opinion they are reading is sincere, and not simply a position taken to support an ideological ally.
I ended my first paragraph by saying that Hitchens was at his best when you agree with him, but the fact is that if you are open to views different than yours, then often Hitchens is at his best when you disagree with him. He certainly had the ability to infuriate and madden listeners and readers, but he also had the ability to make people understand a different point of view, even when he fails to convince them that he is correct. Christopher Hitchens is a voice which is missed. ...more
Originally published anonymously on January 10th of 1776, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” remains one of the important documents from the Founding FatheOriginally published anonymously on January 10th of 1776, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” remains one of the important documents from the Founding Fathers. “Common Sense” was an appeal to the masses, discussing the arguments in a straight-forward and clear style. This accessible style resulted in “Common Sense” being the best-selling American Book. Paine had given his work a title of “Plain Truth”, which oddly enough became the title of a work by James Chalmers of Maryland in response to Paine’s “Common Sense”.
“Common Sense” contains four sections: the first discusses the design of government, and contains Paine’s view of the English Constitution; the second covers monarchies and hereditary succession; the third are thoughts on the current state of American affairs; and the fourth on the present ability of America and other reflections. “Common Sense” did not contain new arguments or information, but it presented the arguments for independence in a way which engaged the populace.
Paine’s work did not get the support of all those who wanted independence. Most notably John Adams was concerned about Paine’s ideal being too “democratical”, and indicated that it would cause confusion and harm. However, Adams was definitely in the minority, and while one can argue about how big of a role “Common Sense” played in creating support for revolution, I don’t think anyone would deny that it had a significant impact.
This free Kindle publication of Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” was taken from “The Writings of Thomas Paine Collected and Edited By Moncure Daniel Conway, Volume I, 1774-1779. I would have preferred if they included the entire volume of Paine’s writings, but when getting something for free, it is difficult to be too disappointed and I believe the full volume is now available. Compared to other free Kindle publications this one is well formatted, certainly as good as any of the others which I have procured and read thus far. ...more
“A retrospect of the Boston tea-party, with a memoir of George R. T. Hewes, a survivor of the little band of patriots who drowned the tea in Boston ha“A retrospect of the Boston tea-party, with a memoir of George R. T. Hewes, a survivor of the little band of patriots who drowned the tea in Boston harbour in 1773” by James Hawkes is an interesting and singularly important account of the Boston Tea-Party. James Hawkes found George Hewes many years later, and published this memoir 60 years after the original Tea-Party. The publication of this book resulted in George Hewes becoming a celebrity. Hawkes comments on George R. T. Hewes amazing memory of events in this book, and it certainly is amazing considering that Hewes was over ninety at the time, and recalling events from so long before.
The book opens with the telling of the Tea-Party from the perspective of George R. T. Hewes, but that is all in the Preface. The author then goes into telling the life of George R. T. Hewes, who is certainly not a major figure in the American Revolution, but regardless he was on the scene when some key events took place. Not only was he involved in the Tea-Party, but also the events leading to John Malcolm being tar and feathered. Needless to say, at a time when stories of the American Revolution were being discussed again, Hewes became a living icon of the entire Revolution.
The book is rather short, and after the preface and biography, there are some remarks by the author, followed by sketches from History. There is also an appendix with the Constitution of the United States included, which results in a book padded out to around 200 pages. Overall, it is an interesting book, but unless you are very interested in the American Revolution it probably isn’t of that much interest. ...more
“Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail Or Survive” by Jared Diamond is the follow-up to his excellent “Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Soc“Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail Or Survive” by Jared Diamond is the follow-up to his excellent “Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies”. Published in 2005, after an eight year gap, Diamond discusses how this book is using the same comparative method to understanding the end of societies, that the previous work applied to the creation of societies.
While I didn’t find this book as absorbing as his previous work, there is still a lot to recommend “Collapse” to readers who are interested in history, sociology, or various other areas of humanities. Diamond puts forward the idea that the causes of societal collapse in the past have been attributed to one or more of eight factors: (“deforestation and habitat destruction, soil problems (erosion, salinization, and soil fertility losses), water management problems, overhunting, overfishing, effects of introduced species on native species, human population growth, and increased per-capita impact of people.” To these he adds four more as dangers to modern societies. These include: “human-caused climate change, buildup of toxic chemicals in the environment, energy shortages, and full human utilization of the Earth’s photosynthetic capacity.” While it is easy to agree with these, it doesn’t have to be human-caused for climate change to have a negative impact on a society.
The book is divided into four parts, the first being a relatively short discussion of the environment in Montana, chosen because of Diamond’s personal experience with the area, as discussed in this section. As he does throughout the rest of the book, he discusses which of the twelve factors he are potential problems for that area of the country.
Part two covers past societies which have “collapsed”. In this section Diamond looks at the Greenland Norse, Easter Island, Pitcairn Island, the Anasazi, and the Maya. Diamond also looks at three past societies which were successes, such as Tikopia, central New Guinea, and the forest management during the Tokugawa-era in Japan. There is a bit of controversy regarding Diamond’s discussion of Easter Island where critics point out that there were factors such as disease (brought from Europe), slave raiding, and animals introduced into the environment that contributed to the decline of the society and the loss of the native trees and plants and not simply the society that was there that deforested the island.
Part three looks at current societies which are in danger of causing their own collapse. These include Rwanda, where he looks at overpopulation; Haiti, especially when compared to the relative success of neighboring Dominican Republic; China as a developing nation; and Australia as an industrial developed nation, and in particular the effect of mining.
Part four is titled “Practical Lessons” and here Diamond looks at why societies make decisions that lead to disaster. He then looks at business, and how some businesses avoided their environmental responsibilities, and how some are now doing the right thing. He then concludes with a summary of the most serious problems we have, and what will happen if we don’t solve them, but he also gives us some reasons to hope.
“Collapse” is very readable, and though it doesn’t match his best, that is not a particularly severe criticism. Nor is it surprising when dealing with the subject of why societies collapse that there may be controversy in some of the proposed conclusions. What is important is that the author present their case in a reasonable and logical fashion, and Jared Diamond does that very well. ...more
Adam Smith’s “An Inquiry Into The Nature And Causes Of The Wealth Of Nations” (often called simply “The Wealth Of Nations”) is one of two great works Adam Smith’s “An Inquiry Into The Nature And Causes Of The Wealth Of Nations” (often called simply “The Wealth Of Nations”) is one of two great works from the Scottish economist and philosopher, the other being the lesser known “The Theory of Moral Sentiments”. “The Wealth Of Nations” was published on March 9th, of 1776, but there were additional editions in 1778, 1784, 1786, and 1789. I read the free Kindle version of “The Wealth Of Nations”, and while I do not recommend that version I do recommend the overall work.
The issues with the Kindle version are that it is poorly formatted, and it is painful to attempt to read the numbers in the tables at the of Book I. You are much better off getting a hard copy so that you can more easily flip to the section of interest, and to read the information in a better format. As for the rest, the content is all there, once you get past the poor formatting.
The work contains five books within. The first is “Of the Causes of Improvement in the productive Powers of Labour”. In this book he discusses the benefits of the division of labor, the origin and benefits of using money, a section on the “real” price of commodities (i.e. how much toil it takes to produce them), a discussion of the natural and market prices of commodities (the forces of supply and demand), the effect of controlling a commodity can have on the price, the wages of labor (again a case of supply and demand with the commodity of labor), the profits of stock, a discussion of the ill effects of groups who use their influence to manipulate the government (this would include banking conglomerations, trade unions, etc.), and closes with a section on rent.
The second book is “Of the Nature, Accumulation, and Employment of Stock” which deals with accumulating wealth which lasts a longer period of time. This book starts with how one divides their stock into what they need for personal use, and what they can dispose of in exchange for others available stock. He then moves into a discussion of money as a type of stock, and then how to use their excess money/stock to gain interest.
The third book is “Of the different Progress of Opulence in different Nations”, where he talks about the balance between the inhabitants of towns and those of the country areas and goes into how agriculture is discouraged over time, while cities and towns prosper.
The fourth book is “Of Systems of political Economy” in which Smith discusses the commercial system, along with importation which contains a detailed look at the effects of restraints on importation/exportation. Smith also discusses commerce treaties, and the role of colonies. This book also has a brief section on the agricultural system, but here he is referring to a specific system where the produce of land is the sole source of the revenue of a nation
The fifth book is “Of the Revenue of the Sovereign or Commonwealth” in which Smith deals with taxation. This is an important area to read and understand, as it is the one which many ignore when using Smith to try to support other areas. There are hints here of the progressive tax, as well as a discussion of the expenses of the nation, an important acknowledgement that the poor spend the greater part of their income on the fundamentals, such as food, and so he suggests luxury taxes as not unreasonable. Smith then closes the final book with a discussion of the costs of war, both for the actual fighting, and in terms of the loss of trade. ...more
David Ross’ “Australia – History Of A Nation” is a one volume overall history of the continent, though to be sure the vast majority of the book coversDavid Ross’ “Australia – History Of A Nation” is a one volume overall history of the continent, though to be sure the vast majority of the book covers the history since the Europeans arrived on its shores. Published in 2008, this book attempts to cover in around 300 pages the entirety of its history, and if that is too many pages, he also has a short (fewer than 50 page) section titled “A Chronology of Events in Australia”. It is enough to make a lover of detailed histories throw up their hands in disgust. But do not!!!
Of course this should not be the only history you read of Australia, but it is actually an effective place to start as you can get a quick and concise history of the continent and the nation in a very readable style. Ross starts with a quick section on Australia in the 21st century, which certainly would help a visitor get some quick information on the society, but then he proceeds to jump back to the beginning and moves forward again from there.
As someone who has only lived here a few years, and who has read mostly about the First Fleet and early years of settlement, I cannot say for sure that Ross has hit all the most important points, but from what I do know I did not notice any glaring errors. The format and the presentation of the information is well-organized and necessarily quite succinct. I also enjoy the shorter “Chronology of Events” section, as it provides some good thought starters for further study.
It would be easy to say that the book should be longer, i.e. “300 pages just isn’t enough…” etc., but the fact is 400 pages or 500 pages of history wouldn’t have been enough either, and with the chronology, index, etc., the book ends up close to 400 pages anyway. I think that 300 pages is probably a good enough length to attract readers who may have been put off by a weightier tome. For me the weakness is in the bibliography, which is an embarrassingly short single page with just 10 works, I am sure they could have done much better than that, and when you are giving an overview type history, it ought to be required. ...more
Jan Harold Brunvand’s “The Vanishing Hitchhiker” is the first of several books he has published which take a scholarly look at Urban Legends. Where diJan Harold Brunvand’s “The Vanishing Hitchhiker” is the first of several books he has published which take a scholarly look at Urban Legends. Where did these legends start, how have they evolved to fit a new time or situation. Urban Legends are interesting stories, as you will find people who are swear that they happened (usually not to them, but to a friend or a relation or a relation of a friend, etc.), and you can even find cases where they are reported as happening. They can be based on something which really happened, or something which never have happened, but regardless, their spread and retelling takes on a life and purpose of its own.
The first chapter of the book deals with all the foundational information. What are “Urban Legends”? How should they be interpreted? Brunvand uses “The Boyfriend’s Death” legend to help explain the phenomena and how they are studied. By far this is the most important chapter of the book, as this is then the material the reader will use on the majority of the rest of the book.
Chapters 2 through 7 are all about the legends, broken into groupings such as Automobile, Teenage Horrors, Contaminations, the dead, kind of a catchall he titles “Dalliance, Nudity, and Nightmares, and then finally two favorite media legends. Chapter 8 then looks at urban legends in the making, where he looks at legends which never take off into the population as a whole (or haven’t yet), or have gone into a period of inactivity, etc.
This is a good introduction into the study of Urban Legends. My negatives are all on the writing style of the book, and not the content. The presentation could have been much more accessible and interesting. While that may not matter as far as the quality of the information is concerned, it would have helped bring more people to a point where they can appreciate the topic and the significance of studying these stories. ...more
For those who are interested in a scholarly discussion of a question which most people (at least most have wondered at some point or another) “Who WroFor those who are interested in a scholarly discussion of a question which most people (at least most have wondered at some point or another) “Who Wrote The Bible?” by Richard Elliott Friedman is a book you should read. Friedman uses history as well as uses the contact to first build the case for multiple authors of the Books of Moses, and then put forward a plausible hypothesis for the authorship for the different sections. Of course, he is not attempting to name specific authors, but rather focused on where the authors were from, and what their position was in the society.
The core of the book is less than 250 pages, but the appendices, bibliography and notes bring it closer to 300 pages. That being said, while Friedman does an excellent job of presenting his subject in a concise matter, it is his references that make “Who Wrote The Bible?” such a great work by itself, as well as be a tremendous reference to do further reading on the subject.
Friedman opens with a discussion of the traditional authors of the Bible and why those were clearly not accurate, and then moves into an overview of the world which produced the first books of the Bible. He then goes into the two different authors of the events and how their accounts are different, and how they are the same. The authors are given the names J and E based on the words they use to refer to God. Friedman then goes into more detail on who these writers were, i.e. where they were from, when did they live, and what were their roles in society. Note that Friedman doesn’t rule out the possibility that J and E each have multiple writers, but rather than whether they do or not doesn’t have an impact on the overall viewpoint of the texts.
Of course, the authorship doesn’t end with J and E. Next up is D, the author of Deuteronomy and the next 6 books, and this is followed by a discussion of the author referred to as P. Friedman also discusses the importance of the redactor or editor who put all these works together and the obvious control this person had over the current work. While controversial in some respects, this book is certainly not a case of science and religion in conflict. The difficulties were not a scientific discovery, but rather this has been an area of religious debate and discussion. Certainly some of the evidence that Friedman presents is scientific, but this is not a book discussing the validity of the work, but rather the authorship, so unless one’s faith is dependent on the specific author of these works, it should not be one which fans the flames between religion and reason. ...more
John Allen Paulos has written a number of books on Mathematics, and “Mathematics and Humor” was his first, published originally in 1980. It is a shortJohn Allen Paulos has written a number of books on Mathematics, and “Mathematics and Humor” was his first, published originally in 1980. It is a short book, at just a little over 100 pages, and that is with plenty of drawings and graphs. I had high hopes going into it of an interesting read, but it just didn’t deliver. Paulos has some interesting thoughts and ideas, but the writing was a detriment to the communication of his points to the reader.
In the introduction, Paulos looks at various definitions of humor from history, which usually involves a formula (non-mathematical formulas or ingredients for what is considered humorous). He then moves to look at some examples of mathematical proofs which are clever, and involve ingenuity, before looking at what he considers to be “a bridge between humor and mathematics” which is “brain teasers”, trick problems, riddles, etc.
The next few chapters deal with looking at mathematical concepts and then looking at what types of humor fit into those categories. This includes applications of axioms and iteration, self-reference and paradox, grammar and philosophy. While some of those don’t specifically sound like mathematical concepts, Paulos does demonstrate how they do relate to mathematical areas.
Paulos then introduces talks about a “Catastrophe Theory Model of Jokes and Humor”, and this is the longest chapter in the book. Paulos discusses how humor, similar to the behavior of an animal, depends on how the situation is presented to the subject. Just as a animal might respond with fear or rage, depending on the circumstances surrounding an event, a person might find something humorous depending on the same.
Paulos finishes with a short wrap-up of the subject, and I think that this book is going to face its own Catastrophe Theory, in that how it is perceived by the reader is going to be based on the circumstances surrounding the event of reading it. I think it will depend largely on the background of the reader on whether they enjoy the book, or find it not very interesting. Paulos has failed to find a way to level-set the subject for the reader so that it delivers a consistent response to the book. I believe he has solved this problem, given the success of his later works. ...more
This first volume includes some information about Plutarch’s Lives, with information about their traditional order and chronological order. Also is anThis first volume includes some information about Plutarch’s Lives, with information about their traditional order and chronological order. Also is an Introduction which discusses Plutarch’s life and writings. Lastly, it includes three of Plutarch’s comparisions. The first is Theseus and Romulus, the next is Lycurgus and Numa, and the last is Solon and Publicola. Each of the comparisons consists of three parts: the first two parts are short biographies of two historical people, one Greek and one Roman, followed by a comparison of the two.
Not all that much is known about Plutarch or his life, but he has two sets of works which are well known. His “Morals” are, for the most part, his earlier works while his “Lives” (or “Parallel Lives”) were written later. His focus on morals and customs from his earlier work shows itself in his biographical writings. Being Greek himself, Plutarch seemed intent on showing how the great Greeks of history were at least as those of Rome. Plutarch’s “Lives” also include a large number of anecdotes, which again indicates that Plutarch was more interested in culture and morality, rather than historical fact.
The first pairing is Theseus and Romulus. Each of the biographical sections covers the legendary lives of the subject. These are interesting discussions and good for reviewing the legends and lives of the figures, but it is the comparison section where one gets a better feel for the thoughts of Plutarch. It is here where Plutarch makes the case that Theseus sought out greatness when there was no need, but that Romulus needed to escape “servitude and impending punishment” and became “courageous out of fear” – a double quote as Plutarch is quoting Plato. He also compares deeds, with Romulus slaying a single tyrant, and Theseus is credited with saving Greece from numerous tyrants. Plutarch does balance the case by discussing how Romulus rose from the smallest beginning, and indicates that he may well not have killed Remus. He also indicates that there is “no plausible excuse” for many of his acts. Thus it is not the case that he is totally biased in favor of the Greek.
With that, Plutarch has set his method for these biographies and comparisons. The second paring is Lycurgus and Numa. In the comparison he discusses how they had similar careers and traits such as wisdom, governing, and educating. The last pairing in this collection is that of Solon and Publicola. In this case Plutarch discusses how the “second imitated the first” and that “the first bore witness for the second”, though there are certainly differences between the two as well, which he discusses
Loeb puts the “Lives” in the traditional order, so this first collection includes the first three traditional parings. These also happen to be in the chronological sequence of the Greek lives. As always, the Loeb edition provides additional material which enhances the reading of these classic pieces. ...more
“Plutarch – His Life, His Parallel Lives, and His Morals” is a collection of five lectures given by Richard Chenevix Trench, the Archbishop of Dublin.“Plutarch – His Life, His Parallel Lives, and His Morals” is a collection of five lectures given by Richard Chenevix Trench, the Archbishop of Dublin. Originally published in 1873 as a collection of four lectures, this second edition improves on that with an additional lecture on Plutarch’s Lives added to the original four. The lectures include one on Plutarch himself, a pair on his “Lives”, and then another pair of lectures on his “Morals”.
There is certainly value in all these lectures, but they also suffer from the bias of the author. It is interesting to note that the Archbishop several times discusses Christianity and Plutarch, in particular in the discussion of “Morals” while Plutarch himself never mentioned Christianity at all. Archbishop Trench seems to feel the need to try to make Plutarch an honorary Christian in his presentation.
If one filters out the Christianity discussion, there is some good material here. The lectures and the book as a whole is a fairly quick read, and it provides some insight into Plutarch as well as Plutarch’s two very significant collections of works. I am not suggesting that one should not read this book due to the author’s bias, but read it with an understanding of the position of the author. The fact is that for most of the content of these lectures the religious bias of the author is not a factor, and even where it comes into play it doesn’t mean that the author’s information is invalid. ...more
Unlike many of those who discuss the subject today, Stephen Jay Gould had a very positive and non-defensive approach to discussing evolution. “Ever SiUnlike many of those who discuss the subject today, Stephen Jay Gould had a very positive and non-defensive approach to discussing evolution. “Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History” is Gould’s first book and is a collection of essays which Gould wrote between 1974 and 1977 for “Natural History Magazine”. These are organized into 8 sections which cover everything from the basics of Darwin’s theory through applications of that theory to the evolution of humans, through the history of life on Earth and the view and role of science in society. All in all there are 33 essays included on a diversity of sub-topics involving the theory of evolution, though certainly some points are repeated as one would expect when dealing with individual essays on a related subject.
Stephen Jay Gould’s writing is easy to read, and these essays are targeted to people interested in science, but you don’t have to be a scientist to understand them by any means. Gould also makes the reading more entertaining by including interesting bits of trivia, such as covering who was the naturalist aboard the Beagle, correcting many bits of misinformation regarding Darwin and his theory, and discussing why Darwin waited so long before publishing. Unlike many more recent books (this book was originally published in 1977), Gould avoids getting drawn into the name calling which goes on between creationists and Darwinists.
Gould’s enthusiasm for the subject comes through in his writing, and his passing in 2002 from cancer was a great loss to science, as well as to the public discussion of science to which he offered a thoughtful and insightful voice. That is not to say that Gould was never the focus of controversy, as he forced evolutionary biologists to rethink some of their ideas due to his ability to view things from a different angle. Some have claimed that his theories, such as punctuated equilibrium which he developed with Niles Eldredge, were never more than what was already contained in the theory of evolution, but I still see the echoes of his approach in many recent articles about evolution.
I have heard some people claim that Gould later decided that “Ever Since Darwin” was his worst book, though I have never been able to verify this claim. It wouldn’t surprise me if that were true, as many authors cringe when looking back on their earliest works. That being said, I think the essays in this book still offer a wonderful place for those who are interested in the subject to get a good understanding of the subject and the theory. Of course, given that it was published in 1977 there is so much more that has been discovered that this should not be the only resource that one uses, especially if you want to understand the current state of the theory. ...more
I rather enjoyed Joseph Cummins “Great Rivals in History: When Politics Gets Personal” as it takes a bit of a different approach to history. Cummins tI rather enjoyed Joseph Cummins “Great Rivals in History: When Politics Gets Personal” as it takes a bit of a different approach to history. Cummins takes on 24 pairs of individuals who were either at cross-purposes or competing for the same goal. Some of them were friends before becoming competitors, some were family, many were natural foes, but quite a few should have been allies but for their own personal ambitions.
Each chapter of this book takes on one pair of historical figures that in some way were rivals, whether for world domination, as is the case with Alexander the Great and King Darius III; political power, as is the case with Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone; or perhaps for History, such as George S. Patton and Bernard Law Montgomery. These rivals may be trying to achieve victory for their countries and themselves, such as Charles XII of Sweden and Peter the Great of Russia, or for power within the same country, such as John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.
The discussions of these 24 rivalries are arranged pretty much in chronological order, though certainly some of them overlap significantly, especially in those from the 20th century. These discussions are summaries of these contests contain both a brief history of the events for which they are known, but also partial biographies of the two competitors. By no means are these intended to be complete discussions of any of these topics or of the participants. Rather it serves as an introduction which whet’s the appetite for deeper study. One could use this as an overview for those who don’t have the time or interest to delve deeper into these events, but I wouldn’t recommend it as they are a bit sparse for that.
This book is very readable and enjoyable, and I do recommend it. I do wish it were a bit more comprehensive in many areas, and I was a bit disappointed in the bibliography which does not contain as many references as I would like, and in fact there are fewer references than there are rivals under discussion. This book rates near 3½ stars from me, but I am rounding down to 3 stars. ...more
“Darwin’s Dangerous Idea” by Daniel C. Dennett is one of the better books on Evolution available. Dennett is probably best known as one of The Four Ho“Darwin’s Dangerous Idea” by Daniel C. Dennett is one of the better books on Evolution available. Dennett is probably best known as one of The Four Horsemen (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens, and Harris), i.e. atheists who speak out against the problems that organized religion causes in our society. Of the four, though, Dennett tends to stay away from the blood-boiling criticism in which the others sometimes engage. Instead, Dennett spends his time discussing the state of the science. This book is a very good example of Dennett’s approach as he focuses on the science and the theories, though there are a few exceptions which I will discuss later in this review.
The book has three sections. The first section is titled “Starting in the Middle” in which Dennett discusses where the theory of evolution is today, where it started (including pre-Darwin theories of evolution), and how it has reached its current state. The second section is “Darwinian Thinking in Biology” talks about recent biological theories which claim to move beyond Darwinian Theory and Dennett attempts to bring them all back to either Darwin or the supernatural or “cranes or skyhooks” using Dennett’s terms. The last section is “Mind, Meaning, Mathematics, and Morality” and it looks at some of the more difficult questions, for which Dennett provides plausible scenarios.
The strengths of this book are many. To begin with Dennett creates a set of terms, like his “skyhooks” and “cranes” to facilitate the discussion and make it very easy for the reader to follow. In addition, Dennett builds examples from the start and in some cases takes those examples through a large part of the book and uses them very cleverly to aide in explaining the topic. The writing is clear, the discussion is thorough, and Dennett does not let the discussion to become too technical, though at the same time he provides a bibliography which provides a place to look for more information on any of the specific subtopics that one finds interesting.
There are a couple of things which I didn’t like about the book, the first one being rather small and insignificant. At the top of the second page of the book, and extending to the footnote, Dennett goes out of his way to pick a fight with creationism. Dennett calls “creation science,” ‘a pathetic hodgepodge of pious pseudo-science’ and then in the footnote states ‘I will not devote any space in this book to cataloguing the deep flaws in creationism, or supporting my peremptory condemnation of it. I take that job to have been admirably done by Kitcher 1982, Futuyma 1983, Gilkey 1985, and others.’ I think Dennett would have been well served with a statement that he was not going to talk about “creation science” and left it at that. Instead this comes across as petty name-calling and is beneath the author.
The other issue is that Dennett has the same reaction to any suggestion that there is a mechanism other than natural selection, and those who suggest there is he accuses of looking for “skyhooks” or in other words a supernatural entity. I think that this is a rather big mistake, and it results in Dennett being very critical of some others, including Stephen Jay Gould, but from my reading of Gould he was open to other natural mechanisms, and considered concepts like constraints to be mechanisms. Perhaps Dennett’s interactions with creationists have made him a bit too sensitive in this area, but whatever the cause I consider it a significant weakness in the book.
Overall the book is a very good discussion of the topic, and is suitable for readers who are already familiar with the subject and want to delve deeper, as well as those who know little about it and want to learn about it. While there are a couple of areas that I would rather Dennett had taken a different approach, those are far outweighed by the strengths of Dennett’s writing, and philosophical approach to the discussion of the topic. This book easily rates 4-stars. ...more
“The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims’ Progress” is Twain’s second book, though he undoubtedly would have preferred it be his first book, given h“The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims’ Progress” is Twain’s second book, though he undoubtedly would have preferred it be his first book, given his destruction of the plates for “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches”. Nevertheless, this is an early work, and yet it already shows Twain’s skill as a writer, and his development into one of the greatest writers of all time.
The Oxford Mark Twain series is a wonderful collection. Each book is a facsimile of the first editions of his works (with a few noted exceptions), and the works are supplemented with a “Foreword” by the editor of the series (Note the Foreword appears to be the same for each book in the series), an “Introduction” from a writer for whom the work had particular impact, and an “Afterword” from a scholar who examines the work in the context of the time and place in which it was written. The editor of the series is Shelley Fisher Fishkin, a professor of American Studies and English and an author of multiple books on Mark Twain. The “Introduction” in this volume is by Mordecai Richler, and the “Afterword” by David E. E. Sloane.
In the “Introduction”, Mordecai Richler (Canadian author, screenwriter, and essayist) discusses his view of travel, and contrasts that with Twain’s wonderful journey to Europe and the Holy Land. He also discusses the impact that Twain had on his life and continues to compare his experiences with Twain’s. It is a good introduction, and Richler has some interesting points to make about the role this book had on history, and literature.
The book itself is an incredible work. At around 650 pages, Twain delivers a very humorous book, pieces of which could fall into areas of history, travelogue, sociology, or even religion. Overall though, this is yet another splendid example of Twain’s ability to tell stories. There are a couple of parts early on in the book where the humor feels a bit forced, but those sections are few, and once you get past the first third of the book they are gone from his writing. Twain takes aim at everything in the course of this book, from his fellow passengers and crew of the ship, to the tour guides, the endless supply of religious artifacts and questionable claims, to the cultures of the areas that he visits. Nothing seems to escape his keen wit, and the reader benefits from this as much today as they did in 1869 when the book was first published.
David E. E. Sloane has written an outstanding “Afterword” for this volume. In which he discusses all the work that Twain put into turning his columns into the book. Twain cleaned up the language, and really sharpened his focus, which undoubtedly is why this was one of his bestselling books while he was alive, and continues to be one of his most read works. Mr. Sloane also discusses the history of the times surrounding this book, and in particular influences such as Artemus Ward and P. T. Barnum, as well as other works from the time. He also provides a section for further reading, which gives those who are interested some valuable resources to find out more about Twain and the writing of “The Innocents Abroad”. ...more
It isn’t all that often that one comes across a history book which can present a detailed look at a period of history or historical event, and really It isn’t all that often that one comes across a history book which can present a detailed look at a period of history or historical event, and really bring it alive. “Morning of Fire” by Scott Ridley is one of those books, and for me it had the added advantage of covering a piece of history with which I was not familiar. Though I have read a fair amount about early American history, I knew little about the voyage led by John Kendrick into the Pacific which departed when the United States was under the Articles of Confederation on October 1st of 1787 and didn’t return until Washington’s second administration and after Kendrick’s tragic death. This book focuses on the voyage under John Kendrick, and the enormous impact that they had, both at the time, and to the future of the United States.
Scott Ridley pieces together the history of this historic voyage from records kept by traders, as well as those from foreign sources, in particular the Spanish and British. Ridley pieces together the events of the voyage, including the international impact, as well as the personal interactions between Kendrick and those under his command. Ridley gives a fair treatment of the facts, though he does form an opinion of Kendrick and others which paints a less than flattering picture of some of the noteworthy people involved, in particular Captain Robert Gray who earned fame as the first American to circumnavigate the world. Nevertheless, this view is supported by numerous facts and recorded events which support Ridley’s interpretation.
One of the most interesting aspects is the way Kendrick built long term relationships with the natives in the region, as more than the others involved he seemed to understand not just the importance of the trade he was doing at the time, but the long term benefits of having these relationships in place for future trade as well as control of the land. Another important indicator of the type of man that Kendrick was, is the way he avoided conflict with the Spanish and the English. Of course, the Spanish and English were naturally more concerned with each other than the United States, which was a young nation and one which they both wanted to control, but Kendrick still skillfully played them against each other and forged alliances which caused grief to both the Spanish and the English.
I know that there are some history books which read like a novel, and perhaps one could make that claim for some sections of this one. However, I believe it is more correct to say that “Moring of Fire” reads like a history book where the author knows how to relate the key information in an interesting and informative manor. I read this book in a fairly short span of time because I found that I was drawn back to it with every free moment that I had. I would give this book the highest rating in whatever system one wishes to use. ...more
The writing of Henry Adams can take some getting used to. At times he seems pompous, and falsely modest (after all, how modest can you be when you havThe writing of Henry Adams can take some getting used to. At times he seems pompous, and falsely modest (after all, how modest can you be when you have decided to write an autobiography of your life), but I suspect the reality is that Adams is simply the product of another time. Clearly influenced by his illustrious family (great grandson of John Adams, grandson of John Quincy Adams, and son of Charles Francis Adams, a Congressman and Ambassador), one can clearly imagine that this is precisely how he was brought up to be, a product of the 18th and 19th centuries. The result is a biography, “The Education of Henry Adams” which is both personal, and yet touches on several important moments in history.
In this book, Adams thinks little of formal education and sees it as not preparing him for his life to come. The education he is talking about for most of the book, is the education he gets from the experiences of life. Those experiences come from his travel, the deep and long friendships he develops with Clarence King and John Milton Hay, and of course from reading.
From his early life, one story really stuck with me, and that is Adams relating his Grandfather, and at the time former President, escorting a stubborn and defiant young Henry Adams to school. Such a scene probably could never happen again, but imagine the impact on the other students to have a President of the United States bring a classmate to school.
One of the most interesting political stories from the book is a long one, detailing his father’s period as Ambassador to the United Kingdom during Lincoln’s administration. Adams discusses the attitude towards the representatives of the Union and how his father built up a tremendous amount of respect after initially being viewed as a lightweight. Henry Adams served as his father’s personal secretary for those eight years, and they had to deal with the attempts by the Confederacy to get recognized and receive aid. An interesting side-note to this period is that they had exchanges of letters with Karl Marx.
Other significant subjects that Adams covers include his personal views on several Presidents, including some very strong feelings about Grant, as well as some lack of interest many that came after, and concern over the youth of Roosevelt. Science also is a key subject, and Adams discusses Darwin, Radium, and other changes which he is overcome by, and predicts quite correctly that the advances in the 20th century will make those of the 19th appear small. Lastly, as mentioned before, the friendships that Adams forms with King and Hay have a tremendous impact on his entire autobiography.
What is missing from this book is 20 years, and an important 20 years it was for Adams, as it is the period of his marriage to Marian Hooper, whom was commonly called Clover. There is no doubt that this period of Adams life would have been filled with tremendous contrasts, both the joy they shared, and the immense sorrow he must have felt when she was depressed and eventually committed suicide. The reader has been denied the personal perspective of Adams, and it is our loss.
I very much enjoyed this autobiography, and it helped that I had read other works by Adams so that I was prepared for his style and manner. I preferred this book to Adams “Mont Saint Michel and Chartres”, and the subject matter is certainly broader and likely to appeal to a wider audience. This book was nominated and selected as “The Best Book of the 20th Century” by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and the winner of the 1919 Pulitzer Prize for Biography/Autobiography. Despite all that, I am giving it just four stars. I feel his style takes some getting used to, and the absence of those 20 years is felt. ...more
“Inventing George Washington” by Edward G. Lengel is an interesting look at the myths which have formed around the man who served as the first Preside“Inventing George Washington” by Edward G. Lengel is an interesting look at the myths which have formed around the man who served as the first President of the United States under the current constitution. It is interesting to read how the perception of George Washington has changed through the years, and as to how various groups have tried to attribute quotes and deeds to Washington to serve their own purpose, often without realizing that he never said those words, or performed those deeds.
“Inventing George Washington” is a history of a sort, but since it focuses on what is not true it is perhaps not as useful a reference as other histories about George Washington, or the founding of the United States, but it does have an extensive bibliography and notes section which one might find useful, though I would caution you to be sure to read Lengel’s thoughts on the books in the bibliography as in many cases they are included because they contain examples of myths.
This book is easy to read, and fairly light in tone. It is also fairly short at around 215 pages, and even then there is a bit of padding as some of the stories are somewhat peripheral to Washington, though that is not a big problem as they do fit in with the general subject matter. Some of the larger discussions include the fight between Christians and secularists over Washington’s beliefs (no winners there), the “Washington Slept Here” phenomena, and the attempts to elevate Washington above any other man, and the later attempts to lower him down to the basest level possible.
Overall, this was an enjoyable book and quick read, which will teach almost everybody that something they thought they knew about George Washington may well not be true. I hold back on giving it five stars mainly because it is a bit short and perhaps is not a subject which merits an entire book, and also due to the limits on what the reader can get out of this type of book. ...more
“A Narrative Of Four Voyages: The South Sea, North and South Pacific Ocean, Chinese Sea, Ethiopic and Southern Atlantic Ocean, Indian and Antarctic Oc“A Narrative Of Four Voyages: The South Sea, North and South Pacific Ocean, Chinese Sea, Ethiopic and Southern Atlantic Ocean, Indian and Antarctic Ocean from the Year 1822 to 1831” by Benjamin Morrell is an unusual work and difficult to rate. This is supposed to be a work of non-fiction, yet Morrell’s account of his voyages has been questioned by many. At the same time, while there is little doubt that Morrell’s account puts himself in a very good light, there are plausible explanations for the factual errors in his account which means that his account for the most part could be fairly honest, if a bit biased.
At times the narrative is a rather mundane account of latitudes and longitudes of his voyage and the knowledge he provides would be of interest to other men of the sea rather than a typical reader. At other times it is an amazing account including stories of the volcanic eruption in the Galapagos, the siege of Callao, an illness which nearly wipes out his crew, a skirmish with native Americans, and fights between the “savage” inhabitants of the islands in the Pacific (now known as Micronesia) and his crew.
It is the first voyage which creates the most controversy. Morrell’s account is clearly not accurate, because his reported positions would have resulted in running aground in Antarctica, but it is possible that Morrell simply didn’t include every change in direction and reading in his published account, it is also possible that there are one or more readings which are not accurate, or were recorded incorrectly, or were not clearly recorded and then mistakenly reported. The biggest flaw is in his reporting of a land which he calls New South Greenland, for which the explanations are rather weak.
With all the questionable claims of the first voyage, there is a lack of them with the other three voyages, which makes one believe that those in the first voyage may be due to human error and unusual circumstances. That being said, some of Morrell’s colorful accounts are likely embellished a bit, but that makes for more interesting reading and helps balance out the other sections which are a bit more tedious.
This book was likely ghostwritten by Samuel Wordsworth, a journalist, and that too may have led to some errors creeping into the account. It did not take long for people to start questioning the veracity of the story. However, some of Morrell’s accounts have been verified, and so it is far from true that he is simply lying throughout the account. Overall, this is a long book, and can feel rather drawn out in places. It is of some interest, as it was one of the influences on Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket”, which is Poe’s only complete novel. ...more
“The Essential Chomsky” is a collection of 25 pieces of writing from Noam Chomsky from the first piece, a critical review of “Verbal Behavior” by B. F“The Essential Chomsky” is a collection of 25 pieces of writing from Noam Chomsky from the first piece, a critical review of “Verbal Behavior” by B. F. Skinner published in 1959 in the journal “Language” to Chomsky’s afterword from “Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy” from 2006. Chomsky is best known in two areas, one being his career as a linguist, and the other for his outspoken liberal views in which he holds the United States and the West to the same standard which others hold the rest of the world, and there are examples of both contained in this collection edited by Anthony Arnove, who has also written on current affairs.
Arnove makes a good choice in starting with Chomsky’s review of “Verbal Behavior”; because Chomsky’s skillful dissecting of Skinner’s work clearly demonstrates the way Chomsky’s mind works as well as the thoroughness with which he examines every subject. It also is a good choice because one avoids any political bias when reading it. With his political pieces, of course such emotional attachments to one’s position exist, and so it would be much more difficult to set a baseline with one of those pieces.
When looking at the political pieces, Chomsky uses the same logic and thorough examination tactics that he used in his review, and that he also brings to the other writings on linguistics, with varying levels of effectiveness. For example, his brief look at the war crimes committed by the Allies in World War II fails to work for me in some of key areas: he seems to ignore the fact that there are issues with almost all tactics used in war, and the inherent immorality of war; he fails to deal with the reality that Germany and Japan were both trying to develop nuclear weapons and so there was a need to end the war before they were successful; he fails to deal with the reality that Japan was teaching their “civilians” to fight against the invaders, which then calls into question whether or not they would be considered “civilians” or “enemy combatants”.
That being said, I believe he is right to discuss these issues, because tactics like firebombing, and using nuclear weapons should never go unquestioned, and while one may be able to justify some events, other events may be questionable. Dresden in particular is one event which has caused great debate over the years, and undoubtedly still will for some time to come.
Chomsky’s more thorough look at Vietnam and events since then is far more devastating to the perception of the U.S. and the West than the discussion of World War II. Chomsky meticulously looks at the statements made by our leaders as to why we were involved in these conflicts, and systematically eliminates those which can be shown to be false, leaving behind a rather unappealing reality of what has motivated the U.S. government over the years. Of course, one has to read these sections carefully as well, but here Chomsky offers alternative behaviors which may have had a significant impact on the situation in the world today.
The linguistic sections are also quite good, but many of them are fairly advanced and in some cases require re-reading to fully comprehend the discussion. “Language and the Brain”, for example, is a wonderful look at what is perhaps the most amazing function of the brain, i.e. the capacity to take a grammar and to utilize it unlimited ways to communicate with others. Even if you don’t like Chomsky’s very liberal views on politics, it is articles like this that make reading this book worthwhile.
Whether you are interested in his works on Linguistics, or those of a political nature, Chomsky is fairly consistent in providing a dispassionate discussion of the subject. Of course, his political views might irritate or even infuriate the reader at times, but he never relies on personal attacks or other cheap tactics and instead he stays focused on the subject under discussion. I have always enjoyed reading Chomsky, because he often challenges my views, and forces me to rethink my positions to make sure they have a solid rational foundation and are not built on emotion or personal biases.
This is a very good book, but of course as it provides a little bit on a large variety of subjects, it doesn’t have the depth on any particular subject. Still, it does give the reader an indication of where to go for more with regards to the pieces provided, and then also includes a good bibliography of Chomsky’s works. ...more
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