History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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.

The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History

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Thank you McKenna!
An Interesting Collection of "Far Out" Ideas.
A New Trip Down an Old Rabbit Hole
Some people would like all copies of this book burnt
You were......and still are....Ahead by a Century

The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History
Terence Mckenna
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0062506137

Book Description

Cited by the L.A. Weekly as "the culture's foremost spokesman for the psychedelic experience," Terrence McKenna is an underground legend as a brilliant raconteur, adventurer, and expert on the experiential use of mind-altering plants.

In these essays, interviews, and narrative adventures, McKenna takes us on a mesmerizing journey deep into the Amazon as well as into the hidden recesses of the human psyche and the outer limits of our culture, giving us startling visions of the past and future.

Customer Reviews:

Thank you McKenna!.......2007-02-25

Oh, man. With music as our spirit's guide, we ate some mushrooms and journeyed inward throuhout the galaxy. The human body/mind is a spaceship designed for interstellar space travel. Thats the secret hidden power of human beings which others are trying so hard to conceal. Enlightenment is only a few grams of shrooms away, combined with the right music and setting, the surest way to transform into and experience God. To experience The Other within us, to go to a place so far beyond yet so close, to experience whats been felt by so many others throughout the Aeons, words cannot describe. Our physical bodies and Earthly affairs are obsolete. Many ancient civilizations understood this, thus they have no need to be here. They took death as something beautiful. Life here is only temporary. McKenna's book speaks mostly on these topics and much more. First class info from one of the worlds greatest thinkers!

An Interesting Collection of "Far Out" Ideas........2006-03-05

_The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History_ by ethnobotanist Terrence McKenna is a rather interesting collection of essays and interviews revealing McKenna's often rambling thoughts on the various subjects mentioned in the title. McKenna's basic theme seems to be that the hallucinogenic plants have beneficial effects and can result in mind expansion which ultimately will aid society and bring about a utopia. Oddly however, the book rather hypocritically begins with a warning in which the publisher and author note the harmful effects of these substances and their illegality. Whatever one's personal beliefs are about the justice behind so-called drug laws, the fact remains that the hallucinogenic substances and plant products mentioned by McKenna in this book are illegal and possibly dangerous and that ingestion of these substances can result in possible difficulties with the law as well as potentially harmful side effects.

These essays and interviews show McKenna at both his best and worst. On the one hand he argues for an "archaic revival" and a restoration of the principles of shamanism based on his inherent belief that the indigenous peoples of the earth have something to offer modern civilization. However, I disagree with him when he turns to feminist political correctness and rails against Western civilization and Christianity (monotheism). McKenna's central argument is that the hallucinogenic mushroom has co-evolved with man in a symbiotic relationship. Echoing the theories of maverick psychologist Julian Jaynes, McKenna argues that primitive man was not fully conscious (did not possess self-awareness) until he underwent an appropriate transformation. This transformation involved the ingestion of hallucinogenic mushrooms. McKenna then goes off on a tangent in which he suggests the rather bizarre idea that the spores of these mushrooms are in fact interstellar travelers. Here, he mentions the pan-spermia theory of Cyril Ponnamperuma and Francis Crick (co-discoverer of DNA) that life originated in outer space and traveled to earth that way in the form of prebiotic molecules. In much the same way, McKenna suggests that the mushrooms constitute "intelligent organisms" and that they too are interstellar travelers. McKenna's theories developed over time as he traveled the world beginning with India (where he grew discontented over disagreements with the caste system) and eventually turning to the primitive shamanism (Bon-Po) of Tibet. McKenna eventually made his way to the Amazon where he experienced the use of hallucinogenic substances among the shamans there. Indeed, he discusses both the role of ayahuasca and the hallucinogenic psilocybe mushrooms. McKenna also has some rather strange theories on UFOs, regarding them as a sign of the coming world crisis. His theories on UFOs may owe a debt to the famous Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung whose depth psychology serves as the foundation for much of McKenna's theories and who observed the UFO phenomenon as a coming indication of changing world conditions. McKenna attempts to link the UFO and the extraterrestrial to the hallucinogenic mushrooms and hallucinogenic substances in general. He argues that after smoking DMT he experienced a unique phenomenon which he believed involved making contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence. Indeed, the phenomenon of alien abduction and ultimately the allegation of sexual encounters with aliens offers a unique embellishment of the UFO myth and a reverberation in the collective unconscious. McKenna also discusses what he believes constitutes the "end of history" in 2012, the ending date of the Mayan calendar. McKenna believes that with the help of the psychedelics the history of the planet will undergo drastic changes possibly allowing for an aversion of the coming ecological catastrophe. Other essays focus on the Voynich manuscript, perhaps composed by Elizabethan magus John Dee and its links to Rosicrucianism, virtual reality and the role of the virtual in the coming transformation of man's consciousness, and the history of the hallucinogenic mushroom in literature before R. Gordon Wasson discovered it, including references to the works of Lewis Caroll, H. G. Wells, and John Uri Lloyd (writer of the bizarre novel _Etidorhpa_, Aphrodite backwards). McKenna argues for a coming archaic revival brought about by renewed interests in the psychedelics which he believes will usher in a utopia.

While McKenna's theories are certainly bizarre and interesting at the same time, they are also naïve in certain respects. For example, McKenna's ultimate faith in the transformative powers of the hallucinogenic plants must be questioned. Whether or not these substances provide access to altered mind states, I believe it is rather naïve to attribute to them the powers of a panacea which will eliminate all social ills. McKenna's theories on virtual reality are equally interesting given the promise of these new technologies; however, again I believe he is somewhat naïve in believing they will truly transform mankind. Nevertheless despite these criticisms, this book did provide much food for thought on the various topics mentioned in the title.

A New Trip Down an Old Rabbit Hole.......2005-10-31

I just recently finished this book, and i can say it has been one of the most profound pieces of literature i've ever had the pleasure of reading. The topics explored in the book (which are, i might add, VERY extensively explored) ask the reader to look outside of the narrow field of spiritual and philosophical vision that constitutes our cultural typic, and question things one might not have ever thought of questioning. McKenna seems very frank and straightforward through the whole book, not dancing around subjects or refraining from certain phrases that some would be self-concious to use (ie. get loaded).
Instead of seeming to be written exclusively for futuristic scientists with an affinity for psychedelic drugs, the book seems to be aimed at the much wider crowd of anyone with an open mind and a vocabulary. The ideas described vary in topic from UFO abductions to a 15th century manuscript, and everything in between. most of the chapters have some common thread connecting them, the only exception being "The Voynich Manuscript." im not really sure where he was going with this chapter in relation to the rest of the book, but its interesting nonetheless. anyway, the book is nothing but a collection of speeches, essays, interviews, etc conducted by him over the years, and is really meant to be an introduction to his philosophy. His other books: The I Ching, and Food of the Gods, though i havent' read them, have been reviewed to be much more technically worded, hard to read, and aimed at students of mathematics and anthropology/ethnobotany. The Archaic Revival is more or less easy to comprehend, but he does use some terms over and over again that the average person wouldn't know (ie. phenomenology, entelechy, gnosis), so have a dictionary close by if you want to get the most out of the material as possible.
Terrence McKenna has some very bizzarre ideas for sure, and not everyone will relate to all of the ideas expressed in his writings, but i think that most ppl can find something about it they find interesting, and for the psychedelic crowd, McKenna's ideas sound like solaces from beyond, as he so easily verbalizes concepts that otherwise seem impossible to explain. His ideas of social reform and reverting to imitating plants as the role models of human life and civilzation, rather than animals, are so insane that they make more sense than anything i've ever heard. As far as his idea of the end of human history and the transcendence of physical existence into cyber-spiritual entities, all happening by the year 2012, i think he was a little off with the exact figures of time, as im writing this on Oct. 30, 2005 and it doesn't look like the world is going through a historical apocalypse in the next 6 yrs., but oh well--when you're dealing with the entirety of history, you can give or take a couple thousand years w/out compromising the legitimacy of your idea. plus, who knows, maybe on Jan. 1, 2012, we'll all be sitting around watching our bodies dissapear and our souls externalize.
I would reccommend this book to just about everyone, although i imagine it would be very hard for a 13 yr old to read, but im sure there are some very intelligent 13 yr olds out there who could comprehend it. for the open-minded, the book should be fascinating and engaging in its freshness, and for the rigid western thinkers--it should at least crack the shell and expose the possibilities of what's really out there. if anything, i'd say this is a book of non-denominational hope, derived and reported back from the past, and in McKenna's case--the future.

Some people would like all copies of this book burnt.......2005-05-08

I enjoyed this book, as it is so much easier to read than McKenna's other works (some of which are as dry and technical as scientific journals) -- if you are interested in hearing what Mister McKenna has to say, definitely start with this one. The chapters mostly consist of essays which had been published in various new age magazines, as well as transcripts of several interviews with the author, so it all flows rather nicely. Terrence McKenna is widely acknowledged to be one of the world's foremost authorities on the shamanic use of botanical hallucinogens, and unlike Leary and Castenada, he is a true scholar, who apparently is speaking in earnest about a topic he feels is very important. Probably the most significant argument McKenna makes is that the Church and State have colluded in suppressing, penalizing, and attempting to actually eradicate anyone who proposes that the altered perception which occurs upon the ingestion of these alkaloids is, in fact, essential to understanding the true nature of the universe. He states that the Church does not want the average person to have direct access to "God", nor does the State want the average person to be shook out of their complacency and begin to ask difficult questions. These alkaloids are a catalyst which is clearly dangerous to the dominant power structure of our society -- thus they are prohibited. He makes a number of other amusing statements and observations as well. However, several times throughout this book, McKenna started to get rather bizarre (understandable), like when he was presenting computer generated graphs which purported to show exactly when the world would end (and we would all be "transformed into energy beings" or some such), and when he began singing the praises of DMT -- about the effects of which I've heard some rather horrible things (imagine being trapped in a H. R. Geiger painting). If you are serious about studying the multidimensional aspects of the world around you, check out this book, which states that the universe within one's mind is just as interesting, and perhaps even more accessible.

You were......and still are....Ahead by a Century.......2003-09-09

first I would like to quote Tim Leary from his skymaster speech "Terence Mckenna means a great deal to me, he's deffinently one of the 5, 6 most impotant people on the planet......I can't even think of any others....lol....(short term memory loss)...by the way the role Terence is playing right now takes not only vision but it also takes f***ing courage!"

Terence Mckenna is not just a scientist, philosopher, theorist, new age thinker, and shamman, he is someone who took it upon himself, at the cost of his own life, to teach humankind the truth, or something that came closer to truth than any other intellectual or prophet in human history. No one else of the 60's generation will likely go down in history as infamously as Terence will in the changing times we live in and will continue to change. Through the use of psychedelics, Mckenna has delved into the deepest levels of human consciousness and with the rigour and skepticism of a scientist. Deffinently a chalenge to those who think mind altering drugs dullen or stupify the intellect. Terence Mckennas intellect and thought processing speed capacity appear to have been accelerated by his use of DMT and psylocybin if you listen to him on interviews. Here is a person came into the world, underwhent formal schooling and academic training and managed to decondition himself evolving into genuine spiritual domains; surpassing the academic minds and spiritual models of his time and culture. Time-Wave Zero was his project, Novelty Theory his lifes work. Archaic Revival touches upon the ideas of novelty theory in relation to shammanism and extratterestrials, psychedelics and human cultural evolution into the surreal dimensions of hyperspace-spirituality. This is our future, our destiny as a species of absolute evolving consciousness.

Novelty theory is based on the immediate experience we have with reality in which all things in history and science seem to coincide in ways that not only defy explanation, but continuously addapt to their own conservatives. Terence believed novlety was a universal and necessary constant of not only all living beings consciousness but also a binding and cohesive principle of material/physical nature. Cosmological and evolutionary processes occur in accordance to novelties, physical laws and the behaviour of atoms, cells, populations and genetics behave and abide the way they do because it is the most novel thing to do. Simillar to Leibniz conception of this world as the best of all possible worlds, novelty states that this is not necessarily the best nor the only world but it is possible and exists because it is the most novel world. Another one of Terences discoveries was that self-reflective human consciousness evolved from language that the brain facilitated and expanded from the primate because of their consumption of psychedelic mushrooms. In this less popular model, conspiracies of alien intervention and genetic tampering of "reptilian" with "homonid" DNA to form human speciel consciousness is an intervention not by immediate technology from ET's but by evolving biological implantations of psychedelic chemicals into nature. Aliens do not fly arround in spacecraft as suggested by the modern myth, or as vampires, or as any other ancient view of shammanism, primitvism, religion, etc. rather these beings are products of collective collapse of human consciousness. The upright reptilians of millions of years ago, the dinosaurs, we now know only recently, were wipped out by a comet from outer space ("spacecraft"). An instantaneous annihilation through radiation (also a mutanogen) of a reptilian, upright species of intelligent small-brained but fully utillized neocortex had the effect to the disincarnate catastrophe of their energy. That dinosaur energy had to go somewhere, what better way than to evolve through millions of years, psychedelics, and homonids; and eventually upright sentient human bodies for their incarnation to us the proper phylogeny structure (upright soul-body complex). As outlandish as these novel theories sound they will no doubt become the cutting edge models to describe reality and of our evolution if the wars of today do not annilate us first (radiation). And yet another reflection of the Middle Eastern warfare we face today is no longer a search for language, craddles of man, or Messiahs, but that very fossil fuel (oil) that was their energy now embodied as a complexly knotted perturbation of human consciousness.

I recommend all members of the human species to read this book and also purchase Terences Alien Dream Time CD with electronica by Space-Time Continuum. To get the whole scope of these ideas I would also reccomend reading Terences friends; Rupert Sheldrake on morphogenesis, Michael Talbot in Holographic Universe and David Bohm on the Implicate Order.

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We Are Now Truly Without Excuse

An End to the Creation/Evolution Wars?

A little more sense in a noisy debate.

How NOT to define science!

Old-earth creationist teaches us what science is not

Creation As Science: A Testable Model Approach to End the Creation/evolution Wars
Hugh Ross
Manufacturer: Navpress Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1576835782

Book Description

In this third component to the Reasons To Believe foundational series, Hugh Ross draws from the depths of his studies in both science and Scripture to show how creation and evolution intertwine.

Customer Reviews:

We Are Now Truly Without Excuse.......2007-09-07

What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:4 (NIV)

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Psalm 19:1 (NIV)

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Roman 1:20 (NIV)

We may very well be alone in the universe.

Rather than regarding that as a disturbingly lonely thought, or as a hopeless throwback to pre-Copernican anthropocentrism, Hugh Ross, the author of Creation as Science, would regard this as properly ennobling man's position as the sole creature which Genesis 1:27 declares was made in "the image of God," a view increasingly supported, according to Ross, by various scientific discoveries from fields as diverse as cosmology and genetics.

Since 1986, Hugh Ross has been working through his Science-Faith Think Tank, Reasons to Believe, to show that science and Biblical faith are not enemies; that, indeed, recent scientific discoveries increasingly point to the Biblical creation account as the model that best fits the facts as science is uncovering them. While Ross is an astrophysicist by profession, he has assembled a team which look not only recent discoveries and developments in cosmology and astronomy, but also all the earth sciences, including biology and psychology.

Having followed the discussions cataloged at the Reasons to Believe Web site for a few years now, I could see that the bits and pieces of evidence Ross and his team were accumulating were leading up to something yet grander than just looking to the heavens to see the awesome scope and intricacy of the visible universe. No, Ross has been working to show that as vast and complex as the universe is increasingly revealed to be, the more exquisitely fine tuned we find the earth and its locale--with respect to the sun, our galaxy, and the rest of the universe--for the purpose of bringing forth life and, at just the right moment in the development of the cosmos, man. This fine tuning, from vast cosmological forces down to the minutiae of quantum mechanics, indicates that the chances of there being another world in all the universe which could harbor intelligent life (or even animal and plant life) are so infinitesimally small as to be practically nonexistant. Earth and the life on it can reasonably only be the products of a combination of the planning of a supremely intelligent being and real, honest-to-goodness, miracles.

The culmination (so far, at least) of Hugh Ross' efforts is the recent publication of the book, Creation as Science. With it, Hugh Ross has thrown down the gauntlet, as it were. As the dust jacket declares, the book sets forth "a testable scientific model approach to end the creation/evolution wars." The idea is that, as new discoveries are documented in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, the predictions of the RTB Biblical Creation Model can be tested against the predictions of the primary competing models: naturalism/evolution, the young-earth hypothesis, and theistic evolution. The book also acts as a fairly detailed summary of the scientific evidence RTB has gathered so far which points toward the Biblical creation account as the best model.

This book, in my view, is an important one, adding significantly to the potency of Christian apologetic arguments based on what Christians call general revelation--what man can learn about himself and the rest of creation by studying himself and the rest of the material world. At the same time, the book will be problematic for both Christians and naturalists.

For naturalists, it involves interpreting the data revealed by scientific studies in a manner that some scientists will define as unscientific. For example, Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, defines "science" as "an attempt to explain the natural world in terms of natural processes, not supernatural ones." (Emphasis in the original.) Interjecting the idea of a supernatural planning, controlling God as an explanation for observations is, under this view of science, "unscientific." To such scientists, I would suggest that they remember their history. The scientific method developed only because the Judeo-Christian world view saw God as a constant, unchanging creator, from which sprang the inference, now borne out by centuries of experiments, that physical laws reflect that unchanging character and that therefore experimental results are transportable through time and space. Such constancy of physical laws is not something one would expect if the creation, sustaining, and development of the universe and everything in it was purely the product of time and blind chance, as naturalists hold.

For Christians, the book causes problems because it declares a lack of scientific evidence for the "young earth" hypothesis believed my many Christians who take the "six days" of the Genesis creation story as six literal 24-hour days. Ross sides with naturalistic scientists in finding that the overwhelming evidence points to the universe being about 14 billion years old. While there has long been debate among Bible scholars about whether the Hebrew word for "day" used in the Genesis account can mean an indeterminably long period of time (as in the English usage "day of the dinosaurs"), most modern evangelical scholarship seems to side with a literal 24-hour day interpretation as the most reasonable textual and contextual interpretation. See, for example, John MacArthur's book, Battle for the Beginning.

I usually find MacArthur to be at the summit of reason among Biblical interpreters. I recognize that man's imperfection leaves room for observational error and misinterpretation of accurate observations. I also recognize that general revelation must yield to specific revelation, that is, observations and their interpretation, however, logical they seem, must yield to the revealed truth of the scripture.

However, here I must differ with MacArthur and other conservative Bible scholars and side with Ross and scientific investigation. As mentioned, the interpretation of the meaning of "day" in Genesis, is not without considerable historical controversy. A 24-hour day interpretation is not the only reasonable view. To interpret "day" as meaning 24-hours would be to succumb to the same error that evolutionists swallow. Leading evolutionists view the challenge of evolution/naturalism as showing how the appearance of order and design, which appear to imply a designer, is really only just that--an appearance without a basis in fact. Young earth Christians, on the other hand, attempt to show that the appearance of great age in the earth and the rest of the universe is just that--an appearance not based in fact. I keep coming back to the question: if the universe is actually quite young, why does the scientific method, which serves us well in all other realms of basic investigatory discovery and technological application, keep giving us the wrong answer here. Is God playing a game or attempting to deceive us? I think not.

Christians also have a tendency to believe that an old earth view somehow makes God less powerful, since it seems less of a miracle to create man and all we see given 14 billion years rather than six 24-hour days or only a few thousand years. To this I would first say, well, God could have created everything in the twinkling of an eye, that six 24-hour days was a relative snail's pace, and that the Evangelical interpretation of the Genesis creation account itself diminishes God's power.

Second, I would just refer Christians and non-Christians alike to the story of the fine tuning revealed in the pages of Creation as Science. Like me, you may come away breathless and awestruck at the amazing, almost inconceivable forethought that went into the orchestration of events to bring forth the earth and life on it all at just the right cosmic place and time. I come away thinking that, if one is looking for evidence of supremely powerful miracles as an evidence of God, here they are on display for all to see and appreciate. And then I realize that in the few years that Ross has been investigating and cataloging the evidence of this exquisite fine tuning, the nature and complexity of the required fine tuning revealed by hard science has dramatically escalated. As men have been turning away from faith to a naturalistic view, unbeknownst to them, the scientific evidence for the Biblical creation account and faith in the God of the Bible has been mounting--continuously and rapidly.

We are now truly without excuse.

An End to the Creation/Evolution Wars?.......2007-07-31

Few individuals are better qualified than Hugh Ross--minister with a Ph.D. in astronomy--to apply a balm of common sense to the increasingly heated debate over creation and evolution.

His newest book begins with a much-needed reminder that "God has revealed himself to humanity in two books, the written record [the Bible] and the record of nature." In other words, we should never be forced to reject science in order to embrace the Bible, or vice versa.

Ross is also adept at reclaiming the theological implications of accepted scientific theories, such as the Big Bang. In addition, he chides certain Christians who engage in evolution-bashing without offering "a definitive explanation or evidential defense of their own beliefs about life's origin and history."

So does this book fulfill its promise to "end the creation/evolution wars"? Not really.

Readers on both sides of the line will argue with Ross's creation model. And those looking for specific, scientific experiments to support his theory (as I was) will be disappointed.

Still, Creation as Science opens the door for meaningful dialogue between proponents of creationism, evolution, and Intelligent Design. And that is definitely a step in the right direction.

Reviewed by Sam O'Neal.

Originally appeared in Christianity Today

A little more sense in a noisy debate........2007-05-28

Another book by prolific author, astrophysicist and lay minister Hugh Ross. Here he lays out the testable model he has referred to in several of his previous works and that critics of "creationism" have demanded in order to be taken seriously.

Unfortunately, some of the previous reviewers have taken exception to such a rational treatment of a supposedly "religious" subject, evidently accepting the post-modern myth that religious faith is totally subjective and accepted only by "blind faith" (ie. belief without evidence) and can have nothing to do with an objective discipline like science. In fact, like Lew Wallace and C.S. Lewis, Ross came to faith in the attempt to disprove the validity of the Bible, converted not by an emotional appeal from some evangelist, but by the weight of scientific and historical evidence.

Those who still have trouble accepting the validity of an interplay between science and religion on the subject of origins would do well to read agnostic Robert Jastrow's "God and the Astonomers", then come back to Ross for this more advanced coursework.

How NOT to define science!.......2007-05-02

As soon as a scientist appeals to the action(s) of a deity as the solution to a scientific problem, he/she ceases to be a scientist. By definition, any attempt to formulate a testable scientific hypothesis involving the agency a supernatural being whose intentions are both unknown and unknowable is not only impossible but a complete abdication of scientific methodology. In essence, the solution to any presently unsolved scientific problem can be had simply by saying that "God must have done it", a methodology very few scientists and knowledgable lay people would ever find acceptable.

And to insist that knowledge of God's intentions can be found by reading scripture is a futile venture from the outset, fraugtht with all sorts of practical difficulties. Whose interpretation of scripture shall be used in the process? And what recourse do I have if my interpretation is at variance with that of the book's author? And if we are to base our "science" upon the scriptural texts of Jews, Christians and Islamics, what scientific reference is left to believers in the myriad of other extant religions? Or for that matter, atheists and agnostics? Doesn't classroom biology at this point become exclusive in the worst sense of that term?

Without a complete redefining of the word "science", Ross' book, like any and all previous creationist works, fails because incorporating religion as a foundation of science does not work and never will.

Old-earth creationist teaches us what science is not.......2007-04-19

Here we go again: yet another creationist who tries to make science out of the unscientific, and in doing so persuades no one except the very audience who ostensibly shouldn't need a scientific grounding for their faith, because faith is and must be beyond reason. Inherently untestable hypotheses cannot be called scientific, and no one who understands what constitutes a scientific "model" (a term the author seems to misunderstand) will be moved by Ross' arguments. Leaving aside the fact that Ross is an old-Earth creationist in that he believes Earth is millions of years old (there's room in the religion for such views, though many will disagree), his basic arguments are simply not incompatible with evolutionary theory. He merely takes things we already know and shoe-horns them into creationist arguments.

For example, to make Genesis fit with the fossil record, Ross believes that there wasn't just one creation, but that God created many things gradually over time (think evolutionary time) in a process he calls step-by-step creation. Certainly that's one way to insulate your argument. In another case, he raises the issue of molecular clock rates, pointing out that mutations can't account for the evolution of life. But evolutionary scientists hold that it's recombination of genes (though sex) that accounts for most biodiversity, not genetic mutation.

These sorts of half-baked ideas are of benefit only to people who question their own faith enough to feel it needs to be grounded in science (which requires a level of mental sharpness prerequisite for swallowing the ideas in the first place), and those who yearn that this book be foisted upon the nonbelievers in some silly hope that they'll be converted to the faith by some attempt at rational argument, which is a route that none of the faithful have ever taken to reach God.

Evolution's End: Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence

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Understanding ourselves and our world
interesting theories
A little hard to read, but packed with good information
Touches on some interesting topics but goes too far
Babbling in the shadows

Evolution's End: Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence
Joseph C. Pearce
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 006250732X

Book Description

It's time for the way we think about our families, our schools, and our lives to evolve.

This passionate and provocative critique of the way we raise our children and undermine our society's future delineates the ways in which we thart our creative progess, and reveals a new landscape of possibilities for the next step in human evolution.

Brilliantly synthesizing twenty years of research into human intelligence, Joseph Chilton Pearce -- author of the bestsellers The Crack in the Cosmic Egg and Magical Child -- show how:

• contemporary childbirth and daycare create a dangerous sense of alienation from the surrounding world
• TV impedes vital neurological development
• synthetic hormones in our foods foster premature sexual development, increasing the likelihood of pregnancy and rape
• premature schooling contributes to potentially explosive frustration and rebellion

These everyday aspects of modern life have a cumulative effect, contributing to violence, child suicide, and deteriorating family and social structures. Proposing crucial yet simple solutions, Pearce persuasively argues that we have the power to get out of our own way and unleash, instead, our "unlimited", awesome, and unknown" human potential as the culmination of three billion years of evolution.

Customer Reviews:

Understanding ourselves and our world.......2006-06-06

Based on this work and others of Joseph Chilton Pearce, I believe Pearce is the top interdisciplinary authority on human development on the planet.

The breathtaking panorama of perspectives of our human nature provides important insights on the many challenges faced by us as individuals and by civilization as a whole. Pearce provides important insights on the breakdown in human development and can lead us toward the development of ungently needed solutions.

Evolution's End, along with all of Pearce's books, is a must-read for those who want to understand.

Charles O. Bubar
President
The International Institute for Educational Excellence

interesting theories.......2005-02-04

Very interesting topics, but i feel all research in general is just theory. Unless someone has the deep pockets to prove these theories,it remains just that. Common sense will tell you that some of these opinions that the author suggests do make alot of sense and, yes some do seem far fetched. Yet do these theories make him any less credible? I don't believe so. If the book peaked your interest and got you thinking, then the author succeeded in his works.

A little hard to read, but packed with good information.......2005-01-21

You'll need two brains and a dictionary to get through the first section of this book, where Mr Pearce speaks about 3 brain levels, how they work, and what its all about. The language can get difficult and the concepts complex.

The second section is bang on. It goes into detail on how a child learns, how it grows, what stimulates the baby. He also speaks about how children are damaged by modern day childbirthing procedures. I was immpressed with what he had to say. And found it meshed nicely with what I know of Early Childhood. I will be reading up more on this subject.

Besides the obtuse language, the only other down side to this book, were the authors claims for telepathy, mind bending etc. I didn't buy it, and was forced to skip those chapters. If you steer clear of the telepathy babble, I would recommend this book.

Munawar

Touches on some interesting topics but goes too far.......2004-11-04

This book talks about the how the spirit of a child is damaged by the society we've created, both intellectually and physiologically. Unfortunately its takes on too much and ends up seeming like psuedoscience. But there are some very good points being made. Its well worth contemplating.

Take the idea of how hormones in our food affect children. Somehow we want to believe that children reaching puberty when they have barely put down their stuffed toys is due to good nutrition and not hormones in our food. There was a study done of precocious infant sexual development (extremely enlarged genitalia on babies) in Puerto Rico many years ago that linked the problem to hormones in Chicken. The reason there is so little interest in identifying and solving this problem here (and not even calling it a problem) is not because it doesn't exist but rather because there is no money to be made in proving it ( a very expensive and time consuming procedure). Yes, the victims could sue if they could prove links to cancer or early developmental issues...but the researches willing to take on the food industry would not be able to pay their bills. And it is easy for the food industry to pay for studies suited to their needs and spoon feed them to the press. This stops the questioning before it starts.

Read this book with a skeptics mind realizing that though you may find some of his ideas far-fetched, there are some valuable truths here...truths you need to know if you have children.

Babbling in the shadows.......2003-12-27

Joseph Pearce "lectures worldwide on human intelligence, creativity, and learning." If you don't believe it, just read the inside cover for this personal promo. These lectures, though, are probably not discussions of RNA, DNA, proteins and memory, random or leapfrog evolution or any of a number of worthy topics.

No, Mr. Pearce stays on the high ground and delivers such claptrap as "So the supra-implicated is all-power conceivable, the implicate is all-power manifesting, and the explicate is the contracted end-result so manifested." ("Mind and Matter") I, for one, do not have the slightest idea what he is talking about except that it sounds like mumbo-jumbo about physical vs mental vs conceptual, blah blah blah.

More hocus pocus on such subjects as sight, sound, day care,the hazards of television, raising kids for the future, learning, school, world peace. He manages to state a few good points between all the squawking - some children are not educable and this should be recognized, children should be raised by parents in their home, and we have the potential to affect evolution today through artificial means. But then we hear again about how we use only a small portion of our brain (absurd - we use it all only at different times). A discussion of the Bhagavad Gita about human potential and belonging brings these dreary essays to an appropriate ending. Awful as it sounds!

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DiaGnosis2012 review

excellent seller and product

The Ark of millions of years:2012 and the harvest of the end of times

A Good follow up to the first book

Highly Recommend

The Ark of Millions of Years Volume Two: 2012 and the Harvest of the End Times
E. J. Clark , and B. Alexander Agnew
Manufacturer: AuthorHouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Ark of Millions of Years: New Discoveries and Light on The Creation

The End of Days: Armageddon and Prophecies of the Return (The Earth Chronicles)

The Hidden Records: Ancient Pyramid Star Maps Decode the Secret of Human Origins

Hidden Truth: Forbidden Knowledge

Devils and Demons and the Return of the Nephilim

ASIN: 1425915930

Book Description

In the genre of paranormal science, there is so much being written. This work comes from a writing team made of a world-class archaeologist and a patented scientist. Bringing over 50 years of research to bear on a beautifully written book, they have accomplished two things. They have provided a scientific springboard from which the reader can launch into the eternities with confidence. And they have finally broken the dam holding back the waters of life. Here is the safest craft upon which you can fly through religions, governments, universes, and dimensions.

Lay your seat back. Lower your tray table. Rest this book on it, and get ready to launch. You might as well know that your potential is absolutely unlimited. So, let's get started.

Customer Reviews:

DiaGnosis2012 review.......2007-02-18

The recent publication of The Ark of Millions of Years Volume Two sounded interesting, since the subtitle is 2012 and the Harvest of the End Times. The 331-page book has very poor quality graphics, many of which are blurred and pixelated images downloaded from the net with no acknowledgement to their origin. There is an acknowledgement of the author's cat, however - the book is dedicated to it! The authors, E.J. Clark and B. Alexander Agnew, Ph.D seem to see themselves as archaeologist-explorers in the vein of Indiana Jones, but their book shows that they have simply read a few New Age authors such as Arguelles, Yaxkin-Joy and/or Hunbatz Men, (or more likely, got the information second hand, off the internet), have misunderstood them, not done any proper research or checking and have mixed in the Nephilim of Sitchin and a large dose of biblical material. They even attribute the Tzolkin to Abraham or Shem (p.142). In fact it seems that the whole book is an attempt to prove and justify the bible (p.147-148). Their list of errors is huge. Here are a few:

1. Talking of Dreamspell's "galactic tones" and other concepts as if they are genuine artefacts of the Maya calendars (p.117-131)

2. Announce that Arguelles is deceased (p.120)

3. Show 2 Dreamspell Tzolkin grids and say one is the original design, while the other is modern (just because the former includes Maya numerals) p.121`-122.

4. Wrongly state that the Maya used wheels to measure time, since many people use interlocking wheels to help explain Maya calendars. (p.129-131).

5. They call the 52-year Calendar Round and 104-year Venus Round the "short count". The Short Count is actually a 13-katun cycle of just under 260 solar years (260 tuns). (p.132)

6. They state that the Maya had a 28-day lunar cycle. (p.132). The cycle was in fact alternately 29 and 30 days, with extra interpolated 30-day months.

7. They state that "The Tzolk'in (pronounced Zol Keen) is the divine or religious long count calendar of the Maya used to measure the cycles of the Pleiades, a cycle being 26,000 years." (p.132 and also p.141). The Tzolkin is NOT the Long Count, and the rest is an over-simplification - the movement of the Pleiades was used to check the precessional movement towards the alignment in 2012, (by the Maya of Chichen Itza), which only happens every 26,000 years.

8. Another misunderstanding: "The Tzolk'in calendar ends on December 21, 2012, at precisely 11.11.am GMT". (p.143). No, it is the 13-baktun cycle of the Long Count calendar that ends on 21 December 2012, but not at 11.11. That is when the Winter Solstice occurs. It is debateable amongst Mayanists as to when the date rolls over - either dusk, dawn, or midnight.

8. They state that the Haab is the Calendar Round. (p.135)

9. Mixed start and end-dates: start date: Aug 13 3114 BC (p.136) end-date: 23 December 2012 (p.139), buit also talks of Galactic Alignment, (p.136), which is applicable only if the other correlation is used - start date 11 August 3114 BC; end-date 21 December 2012. On p.153, both dates are given, "December 21-23") showing the authors' confusion.

10. "The Aztecs used a sacred calendar called the Tonalpohualli, a long count calendar borrowed from the Mayan Tzolk'in system with some modifications added." The Tzolkin (and Tonalpohualli) ARE NOT the same as the Long Count!

11. The central panel of the Aztec Sunstone is presented as the entire Sunstone. The reason is that it was copied from the internet, and only the central panel of the colour rendition by Roberto Sieck Flandes can be found online. If you want to see the whole painting, see Beyond 2012 colour plates.

12. Galactic Alignment is stated to be "the winding down of precession". Galactic Alignment is a 36-year time window in the 26,000-year cycle of precession - not the end of it.

There are many more errors, but I'm sure you get the gist of this. This book is actually an insult to the intelligence!

excellent seller and product.......2007-02-13

Item as described and received in a timely manner... an excellent buying experience!

The Ark of millions of years:2012 and the harvest of the end of times.......2007-01-12

This work was a good extention to my quest for knowledge about 2012

A Good follow up to the first book.......2006-09-23

If you read the first book, this is a worthy sequal. I hope there are more books coming in the future.

Highly Recommend.......2006-09-05

I have to chime in. It is quite obvious to me that Mr. McNaughton has reviewed the wrong book. This book, The Ark of Millions of Years, Volume TWO, which I own, is all about the 2012 Mayan End Time date. Because the authors are the first to "crack" the 2012 Mayan calendar code meaning in a very unique way, I rate this book highly.

Now, I believe that Mr. McNaughton is referring to the Volume One of The Ark of Millions of Years. He mentions several books that are not even in the authors reference list. Regardless, the questions that he raises were indeed answered in that book, in fact every one of them.

The authors bring to the table a new version of the creation as told through many ancient reliable texts, including the Bible, that answers the questions about the flood of Noah, origin of the Jews, whether man was created or evolved, the true age of the earth, the role of the fallen angels, and much more in a new light from ancient Jewish texts recently translated.

The authors make the claim that it is the most comprehensive book on the creation; and they did it admirably, in a most remarkable way. They also claim the book restores a key piece of knowledge that was lost about 6,000 years ago pertaining to the understanding of the creation; this loss caused the chasm between creationists and evolutionists. Additionally, the book actually fulfills an ancient Jewish prophecy found in the Zohar and its publishing was heralded by a Grand Sextile (Star of David) alignment of heavenly bodies announcing the return of the lost "key." I love this book, have read it twice, and highly recommend it to others.

I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History

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Requiescat in Pace, Stephen
Rhetorical Gibberish
At the pinnacle of life
An almost perfect landing.
Read the Preface last!

I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History
Stephen Jay Gould
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400048044
Release Date: 2003-04-22

Book Description

Here is bestselling scientist Stephen Jay Gould’s tenth and final collection based on his remarkable series for Natural History magazine—exactly 300 consecutive essays, with never a month missed, published from 1974 to 2001. Both an intellectually thrilling journey into the nature of scientific discovery and the most personal book he has ever published, I Have Landed marks the end of a significant chapter in the career of one of the most acclaimed and widely read scientists of our time.

Gould writes about the themes that have defined his career, which his readers have come to expect and celebrate, casting new light upon them and conveying the ideas that science professionals exchange among themselves (minus the technical jargon). Here, of course, is Charles Darwin, from his centrality to any sound scientific education to little-known facts about his life. Gould touches on subjects as far-reaching and disparate as feathered dinosaurs, the scourge of syphilis and the frustration of the man who identified it, and Freud’s “evolutionary fantasy.” He writes brilliantly of Nabokov’s delicately crafted drawings of butterflies and the true meaning of biological diversity. And in the poignant title essay, he details his grandfather’s journey from Hungary to America, where he arrived on September 11, 1901. It is from his grandfather’s journal entry of that day, stating simply “I have landed,” that the book’s title was drawn. This landing occurred 100 years to the day before our greatest recent tragedy, also explored, but with optimism, in the concluding section of the book.

Presented in eight parts, I Have Landed begins with a remembrance of a moment of wonder from childhood. In Part II, Gould explains that humanistic disciplines are not antithetical to theoretical or applied sciences. Rather, they often share a commonality of method and motivation, with great potential to enhance the achievements of each other, an assertion perfectly supported by essays on such notables as Nabokov and Frederic Church.

Part III contains what no Gould collection would be complete without: his always compelling “mini intellectual biographies,” which render each subject and his work deserving of reevaluation and renewed significance. In this collection of figures compelling and strange, Gould exercises one of his greatest strengths, the ability to reveal a significant scientific concept through a finely crafted and sympathetic portrait of the person behind the science. Turning his pen to three key figures—Sigmund Freud, Isabelle Duncan, and E. Ray Lankester, the latter an unlikely attendee of the funeral of Karl Marx—he highlights the effect of the Darwinian revolution and its resonance on their lives and work.

Part IV encourages the reader—through what Gould calls “intellectual paleontology”—to consider scientific theories of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in a new light and to recognize the limitations our own place in history may impose on our understanding of those ideas. Part V explores the op-ed genre and includes two essays with differing linguistic formats, which address the continual tug-of-war between the study of evolution and creationism.

In subsequent essays, in true Gould fashion, we are treated to moments of good humor, especially when he leads us to topics that bring him obvious delight, such as Dorothy Sayers novels and his enduring love of baseball and all its dramas. There is an ardent admiration of the topsy-turvy world of Gilbert and Sullivan (wonderfully demonstrated in the jacket illustration), who are not above inclusion in all things evolutionary.

This is truly Gould’s most personal work to date. How fitting that this final collection should be his most revealing and, in content, the one that reflects most clearly the complexity, breadth of knowledge, and optimism that characterize Gould himself. I Have Landed succeeds in reinforcing Gould’s underlying and constant theme from the series’ commencement thirty years ago—the study of our own scientific, intellectual, and emotional evolution—bringing reader and author alike to what can only be described as a brilliantly written and very natural conclusion.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Requiescat in Pace, Stephen.......2007-02-16

This marks the final volume of writings from the Great One and I have read every one of these literary jewels. I can safely state that Gould as an essayist cannot be beat. He is (and most likely will remain) my favorite science writer as much for his personality as his unique and eccentric subjects. I love Gould BECAUSE of his contradictions and frailties: The arrogance, the ability to offer then reject theories, his pitched battles with detractors, his love of stamps, music, snails and baseball, his startling conclusions but most of all his committment to excellence in all things great or small. He was THE quintessential Renaissance Man, the scientist/scholar/writer with a zeal for life in all its ups and downs.

"I Have Landed" reveals an intellect that was curious to the end. He was capable of being surprised and delighted, something many would not admit. In an act of supreme serendipity, his ancestor's arrival on our shore was Sept 11, 1901. The tragedy of 911 evoked four, brief poetic pieces that celebrated the goodness of humanity even as the rubble swirled in the streets. As in his other works, articles range over a vast tableau of ideas, subjects, memories and controversies, always associating them with some point of natural selection. He was a rebel but not a revolutionary; he shied from such acts as the absurd replacement of the perfectly usable BC & AD with BCE & CE - both indicating the same values.

Gould was not afraid to bare his soul - his love for Gilbert & Suillivan, singing in Christian chorales (as a Jew), baseball, finding a rare book or - overwhelmingly tender - being driven to tears by a brief note from a woman to her son. The research was prodigious (reading original documents in their own language) and the writing humorous, enlightening and deeply moving. Favorites include Nabakov & Butterflies, "When Fossils Were Young", Frederic Church, "Atrocious!", the Narthex and my personal favorite, Hadyn's Creation (in which he sung).

Gould was criticized for his sympathetic views of Marx and religion. His Marxism was more from custom (academia/father) than practice. He was NOT not one of the new breed of anti-American Americans. He loved this country and constantly spoke of the freedom it gave to live our own lives. He often quoted Scripture. Since the Bible is the most influential book in Western culture this is not a startling practice for an essayist. The quotes were always apt and seemed perfect for tales about the human condition. He railed (like Darwin) against scientifically irrelevant anti-God crusades (read Haeckel, Huxley, Dawkins and Denning) as both misguided and ultimately damaging.

So Stephen, this is the Long Goodbye - return to the stars from whence you came.

AR

Rhetorical Gibberish.......2006-01-10

I really did try to get into the book and I read quite a few of the essays. Mr. Gould had some interesting facts and analogies to convey, but the overall theses of his many articles lack any cogent argument. He uses words well and obviously has a great deal of knowledge about natural history, but to extract exactly what he is trying to argue (and I mean exactly)is difficult at best. He basically hides his assertions through lengthy metaphors, mounds of factual tidbits (that are alas not clearly germaine to the argument) and syrupy rhetoric. In the end, a disappointing read, though I am glad I gave it a shot.

At the pinnacle of life.......2004-06-25

The late Stephen Jay Gould just managed to close this huge chapter in his life before leaving us with an incredible heap of reflections, just in his whole collection of assays (300 of them), not to say in all his other books. Such a fertile writer might give the impression of scarce profundity, nothing more different from the truth. Gould guides us through history, art and science with such an ease that makes you feel a Gaia voyager in a never ending trip. He was such a heuristic and resourceful guide, you end up completely spellbound with his eloquent digresions. Lovely, just lovely, as always.

An almost perfect landing........2004-03-22

Darwin disciple, Stephen Jay Gould, described himself as a "paleontologist by trade," and a "card-carrying liberal in politics" (p. 218). In this anthology of thirty-one essays (some of which are stronger than others), selected from his 300 contributions to "Natural History" magazine, Gould not only reveals his interests in a diversity of subjects including "the scourge of syphilis," Victorian evangelicalism, Karl Marx's funeral, Vladimir Nabokov's (LOLITA) credentials as a lepidopterist, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, but he also shines "the factual torch of modern science" (p. 260)on creationist attacks on evolution, evolutionary theory, and Biblical creation stories. "Let me suggest that, as patriotic Americans" he writes, for instance, in response to the Kansas Board of Education's 1999 decision to remove evolution and big-bang theory from the curriculum, "we should cringe in embarrassment that, at the dawn of a new, technological millennium, a jurisdiction in our heartland has opted to suppress one of the greatest triumphs of human discovery. Evolution cannot be dismissed as a peripheral subject, for Darwin's concept operates as the central organizing principle of all biological science. No one who has not read the Bible or the Bard can be considered educated in Western traditions; similarly, no one ignorant of evolution can understand science" (p. 215). At a time when we need voices like his the most, this intellectually stimulating anthology--Gould's tenth and final book--is a rather sad reminder of what a brilliant, scientific mind the world lost on May 20, 2002, when Gould died at age sixty.

G. Merritt

Read the Preface last!.......2003-11-04

Gould's passing is a loss to essay writing. No-one ever faulted Gould for the wide reach of his interests. As with most of his previous collections of the columns he wrote for Natural History magazine, the spectrum covered here is spacious in both time and topic. From syphilis to spandrels, he uses his writing talents to reveal, explain, bemuse and provoke the reader. As the final collection of these commentaries, the title is appropriate in many ways. Even here, Gould exhibits his adroit phrasing - some readers thought it was derived from the Apollo 1969 Lunar landing, not the record of an immigrant coming ashore at New York a century ago. Gould touches on this "landing" so often that his reputed bridling at being edited shows as a misplaced conceit.

Readers may wander through this collection at random without loss. With eight main divisions, selection should be easy. The topics listed however, are anything but intuitive. Instead, they represent his - part of his - clever language manipulation. Each reader must select preferences - each reviewer will disclose theirs here. Whatever subject is addressed, you are guaranteed to be confronted with new ideas while enhancing your vocabulary. Some of the new ideas may seem arcane, or obscure. Ironies abound in this collection. The essay on J.F Blumenbach, for example, one of the early classifiers of race, follows a twisted path. You are told the origins of "Causcasian" to describe Europeans. At the same time you are given a stern lecture on preconceived notions when reporting data. By the end of the essay you aren't certain whether to admire Blumenbach or revile him.

Gould becomes caught up in many ironies of his own making. While promoting his stance as a staunch defender of Darwin, here, as in other collections, he never fails to take a swipe at the naturalist. Darwin is castigated for his racist views, his demeaning of women and his elitist social position. Gould also, predictably, unleashes his well-worn lash to flail that equus mortus - "reductionism". Like the emperor's robe, a close look reveals its absence. These are old themes to the regular Gould reader and we mustn't chasten too harshly. There's comfort in the familiar.

The four concluding essays on the World Trade Centre assault reinforce the need for stronger editing. While we in Canada are gratified that Gould found welcome refuge in Halifax, four repetitive essays only dull the impact of the event. These, however, may prepare the reader for that you were advised to first skip - the Preface. Someone who has worked diligently for so many years ceaselessly producing articles of consummate interest with originality and skill deserves a bit of boast. Gould was anything but lazy. Given the vast research and his sharing of interests with us, he deserves our applause. Yet, the Preface to this book, even at the end of a notable career, is more than a little overbearing. That's why it should be saved to last. Readership of this book is split between the long-term Gould fans and newcomers just getting acquainted with this famous essayist. The fan will know what to expect, but the beginner should proceed with caution. Whether this book suits as a starting point for novice Gouldians is dubious at best. Read earlier books and work up to this one. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Average customer rating:

Editors where are you?

A great scientific review

It'd be better if it went straight to the point

A nice book about a bad ending.

Difficult, but Interesting Treatise on the Earth's Future.

Extinction: Evolution and the End of Man
Michael Boulter
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0231128371

Book Description

Sixty-five million years ago the dinosaurs were destroyed in a mass extinction that remains unexplained. Out of that devastation, new life developed and the world regained its equilibrium. Until now. Employing radically new perspectives on the science of life, scientists are beginning to uncover signs of a similar event on the horizon: the end of man.

In telling the story of the last sixty-five million years, Michael Boulter reveals extraordinary new insights that scientists are only now beginning to understand about the fossil record, the rise and fall of species, and the nature of life. According to Boulter, nature is a self-organizing system in which the whole is more important than its parts. The system is self-correcting, and one of its tools is extinction. If the system is disrupted, it will do what it must to restore balance.

This book is a thoroughly researched introduction to the new developments in the science of life and a chilling account of the effects that humans have had on the planet. The world will adapt and survive; humanity most probably will not.

Customer Reviews:

Editors where are you?.......2007-06-03

An excellent set of materials, which has really generated a lot of thought on my part. Some of the other reviewers summarize it excellently and I have little to add except a plea for a return to the art of effective editing. This book reads like a great draft from a subject matter expert BEFORE a good editor/sub-editor has done their job. So the narrative of ideas is far less coherent than it quite easily could be. Also, given the focus suggested by the title, there is too little on the subject of the last stage of the argument: human extinction. That was what grabbed me to buy the book and I felt somewhat let down by his failure to align the time scales of geological time and human historical time which is critical to understanding the practical implications of his argument. He seemed to have run out of steam, and again a good editor would have sent him scurrying back to flesh out the last chapter or two. So great work author; must try harder: editor.

A great scientific review.......2006-05-17

Contrarily to the publisher's description, this book is not an alarmist and chilling vision of the end of the human race (also, the p. has it wrong: the extinction event that took place 65 millions years ago is perfectly explained - the meteor; it's the one that dates back to 245 millions years ago whose cause is unclear.)

In this book, Boulter touches upon the increasing complexity of the world (a big object hitting the earth started it all, by crooking the planet's axe... and therefore giving us seasons). He also explain the patterns of evolution and extinction one can deduce from the study of fossils (and help our understanding by, among other things, explaining with lifelike descriptions how one would feel in such a warm world with lots of CO2 as the earth was back then). He then presents the different theories of evolution from Darwin to Gould's Punctuated equilibrium and to the theory he favors : power law in a self-organized system.

A self-organized system is like a pile of sand whose shifting grains within the structure causes lots of small avalanche and a few big ones. The earth is a self-organized systems like these piles of sand and throughout history, avalanches (most caused by internal changes and some by external changes) causes species to disappears or adjust. Even in the best of case, a specie cannot lasts forever; its pattern of rapid evolution and diversification and slow extinction follows the spindle curve of a power law, unless there is an external intervention. Humans are just such an external intervention, and not a recent one either. Since the beginning of human history, we could not help but change the dynamics of the worlds around us, from big-games hunts to Industrialization. As a result, the slow extinction curves of many species has taken a faster downward curve... as well as bringing the next ice age much closer.

Nothing in "Evolution" goes for sensationalism or wild theories. Everything is well-documented and lots of graphs illustrates Boulter's explication. Although this is no light reading, it is not a book for expert I think. Also, and I don't know if in feeling this I'm strange or not, this book gave me... well... hope. Because whatever happens, the earth will survive, and something else will happen or evolve on it... and I really wonder what.

It'd be better if it went straight to the point.......2005-11-28

With all my respect towards Mr. Boulter, who I can see has endeavoured to write an interesting book, I think it is not accomplished.

The main idea about the way the life-extinction cycle can be put in mathematical models etc. is very interesting and I think Mr. Boulten would have done better had he stuck to that. Instead he goes around hitting too much around the bush, going into pseudo-literary anecdotes and offering glimpses of ideas which are necessary to understand his message (for non experts, as I am) and that should be right, but you cannot do all these things in two hundreds pages without it becoming a mess (or you can, but perhaps it requires some sort of talent that Mr. boulter seems to lack).

I very much coincide with another reviewer that suggested the book be cut down to half its extension.

And the title is a bit misleading, though it is probably the editors to blame for that.

And a word to the sexist language complaining reviewer: respect towards women is something else than a reductionist approach to language. Extreme attitudes will only lead to preposterous and hypocondrical language like repeating 'men and women' instead of simply 'men' a thousand times in a book. It's not in here that this battle has to be fought.

A nice book about a bad ending........2005-04-15

First off, let me point out that the author, Michael Boulter, likes what he does and you can feel his enjoyment through the book as he explains, in great detail, about evolution and extinction, what it is, how it comes about and how scientists have tried to understand it. So when it comes to explaining just how long mankind may, or may not, live you can't help but believe him. You've followed his logic, his examples, his stories from the first chapter to the last. You trust him, even when you sometimes get lost a little, you end up following him thru the maze of data. So when he gets to the point where you realize that he is going to be laying bad news on you, you can't help but believe him. It's like St. Nick telling you that you're pet is going to be hit by a car. Jolly St. Nick wouldn't lie to you, so it must be true.
Whether the answers to mankind's fate in the final chapter is true or not, it is a interesting book, with lots of ideas to chew on. And websites to visit too!

Difficult, but Interesting Treatise on the Earth's Future........2004-02-28

Paleobiolgist Boulter utilizes several academic disciplines to discuss the history and causes of mass extinction events. He uses such events as the basis for his argument that the natural systems controlling the earth are in a constant state of balance and equalibrium. Humans, particularly since the dawn of industrial societies are effecting the natural system earth to such an extent that the planet must respond. The natural system will adjust itself to maintain this equalibrium.

The scope of Boulter's book is impressive. He combines numerous scientific fields and principles (paleobiology, geology, ecology, physics, biology and evolution, computer modeling, and chaos theory just to name a few) to created an integrated, mostly coherent scientific treatise. Using this integrated approach, Boulter describes in detail all previous mass extinction events. He explains that planet earth is a complex, self-stabilizing natural system, and mass-extinctions are one of the ways the system maintains equalibrium. Despite the scope of his suject, Boulter manages to make his argument concisely (about 220 pages).

After explaining how the system functions for the first 2/3 of "Extinction", Boulter takes the natural step of discussing how the system will respond to human activities. He focuses on the last century since significant human disruption began with the industrial revolution in the early 1900s. He explains how human activities related to pollution and climate change are becoming progressively more disruptive, and explains how he thinks earth will respond. Ultimately, the system will maintain it's equalibrium, regardless of how the individual components are effected (or destroyed).

While Boulter's argument seems generally well reasoned, I agree with the previous reviewer that it's sometime difficult for the reader (me at least) to connect all the diffuse elements of his scientific argument. Readers with a strong background in natural science will likely find the book fascinating, but many (myself included) will find some aspects of "Extinction" somewhat technical. There were many instances where I had to re-read previous sections in order to understand his complex, multi-faceted explanations. Additionally, Boulter doesn't really seem to consider if humans have altered how the system operates. Has human technology and food production made it possible for the system to be disrupted or become more flexible than previously? He doesn't really discuss this issue, but perhaps this argument is petty and irrelevant to the larger issues raised.

Despite it's potential difficulties for readers with limited knowledge of natural science, the scope and importance of "Extinction" make it fascinating for anyone intereted in the future of humanity and life on this planet. It's difficult to dispute his conclusion that the system (earth) will maintain itself at the expense of one of it's components: the planet will survive, but ultimately humans will not.

Average customer rating:

Pollution Kills More than Car Accidents.

A bit too Informative

END OF EVOLUTION MASS EXTINICT & BIODIVERSITY

END OF EVOLUTION MASS EXTINICT & BIODIVERSITY

END OF EVOLUTION MASS EXTINICT & BIODIVE by WARD,PETER

End of Evolution, The
Peter Ward
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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On Methuselah's Trail: Living Fossils and the Great Extinctions

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Release Date: 1994-02-01

Customer Reviews:

Pollution Kills More than Car Accidents........2005-09-20

Ten years ago, Mr. Ward was predicting some of the weather-related occurrences we have seen in the past few months. He blames it on certain atmospheric disturbances which multiply and may cause another extinction of life on earth.

Ozone is a form of oxygen which blocks the sun's damaging ultraviolet radiation. This thinning of the world's ozone level was first detected in 1985, twenty years ago, and is being destroyed by man-made compounds leaking into the atmosphere. CFCs were polluting and destroying ozone molecules. If the ozone continues to be depleted due to the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, increased amounts of ultraviolet radiation will bombard the earth continuously, and cause a higher rate of cancer in humans.

It's because of the changeds of levels of critical gases such as CO2 (carbon dioxide) and water vapor. Our planet stays warmer in large part known as the greenhouse effect called global warming. It will increase the spread of deserts and cause droughts and reduce water supplies.

In 1995, Mr. Ward predicted that this global warming is sure to lead to massive environmental changes over much of the earth. Even if detailed understanding of global warming still defies prediction, generalities emerge. It will cause the seas to rise to dangerous depths. The ice caps will melt and increase sea levels. The rate and extent will decide mankind's fate.

The faster the oceans rise and erode land, the greater incidence for loss of life. We've seen this already in New Orleans, where most of the occupants were forced to leave this historic town for a time, and Thailand where land lose and deaths were terrifically tragic.

Twice in distant past, catastrophic extinction caused the end of evolution. Our first mammalian ancestors survived, some 250 million years agao. The second great mass extinction occurred 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs perished. It was thought to have been caused by earth's collision with an asteroid.

He declares tht the signs for a third mass extinction have alrady started on our planet. We need to find some way to save the rich diversity of life and birds now endangered by changes and climate. We must strive to preserve life as we know it before our own extermination by poisoning from the air we pollute.

Peter D. Ward is a paleontologist in Seattle (where the 'think tank' for intelligent thinking exists) and is associated with the University of Washington. In 1991, he wrote ON METHUSELAH'S TRAIL: LIVING FOSSILS AND THE GREAT EXTINCTION. He follows this END OF EVOLUTION with FUTURE EVOLUTION in 2001). In 2004, his mastrepiece was GORGONS: PALEONTOLOGY, OBSESSION, AND THE GREATEST CASTROPHE IN EARTH'S HISTORY. They are all parts of this book, which is a bit over my head.

A bit too Informative.......2003-03-12

This would definitely be the book for someone to read if they have the time and want to know just about everything from the Paleozoic to the Mesozoic, along with issues of extinctions facing humans today. Mr. Ward goes quite in-depth with all his information to give a very full picture of how our predecessors lived when they graced the Earth, along with the cause of their demise and eventually ours if we don't slow the destruction being done to the environment. The language is easy to read and understand, with the exception of the occasional not so well explained term (KT boundary, etc.). Interesting overall if you have an interest in the life from the start of the Paleozoic to current times and have time to spare.

END OF EVOLUTION MASS EXTINICT & BIODIVERSITY.......2003-03-11

END OF EVOLUTION MASS EXTINICT & BIODIVERSITY by WARD,PETER is a brilliant look into the history of planet Earth and the life that once inhibited this planet. Throughout the history mass extinctions have occured resulting in the destruction of old world also resulting in the evolution of a new world. Throughout the book Dr. Ward describes these mass extinctions and warns of another mass extinction that may take place if Human Beings are not careful. I strongly advice anyone who is remotely interested in Geology or in any sciences to read this book!

END OF EVOLUTION MASS EXTINICT & BIODIVERSITY.......2003-03-11

END OF EVOLUTION MASS EXTINICT & BIODIVE by WARD,PETER.......2003-03-11

END OF EVOLUTION MASS EXTINICT & BIODIVE by WARD,PETER is a brilliant look into the history of planet Earth and the life that once inhibited this planet. Throughout the history mass extinctions have occured resulting in the destruction of old world also resulting in the evolution of a new world. Throughout the book Dr. Ward describes these mass extinctions and warns of another mass extinction that may take place if Human Beings are not careful. I strongly advice anyone who is remotely interested in Geology or in any sciences to read this book!

The Shattered Self: The End of Natural Evolution

Average customer rating:

Yawn
interesting ideas from the imagination of a mathematician
Way too speculative; Interesting topics but poorly executed.
The end of natural evolution is here. . .
A proud man that needs to be "shattered" himself

The Shattered Self: The End of Natural Evolution
Pierre Baldi
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Scientific and technological advances now allow us to manipulate genomes directly at the level of single genes and their constituents, with a speed and precision that far exceed what natural evolution has been able to achieve over the past 3.5 billion years. We already have in vitro fertilization and animal cloning; in the future human cloning and the exploitation of embryonic stem cells, among other capabilities, may be routine. At the same time, we are developing machines that will surpass the human brain in raw computing power and building an interconnected world of information-processing devices.

In this book Pierre Baldi explores what it is about these phenomena that makes us so uneasy--the shattering of the human self as we know it. Eventually we must come to terms with the fact that genomes, computations, and mind are fluid, continuous entities, in both space and time. The boundary between the self and the world has begun to dissolve and ultimately may evaporate entirely. Baldi offers not predictions but an informed exploration of our current state of knowledge and the possibilities that lie ahead.

Customer Reviews:

Yawn.......2004-06-30

Most of what this books says is reasonable, but not much seemed surprising, and it is cautious enough that I'm fairly certain that the changes it discusses will seem fairly minor 20 or 30 years from now.
For instance, he wonders whether the effects of growing up with 20, 50, or 1000 clones will be qualitatively different from the effects of twins growing up together. But when discussing the effects of direct interfaces between neurons and silicon, he stops short of wondering whether that will produce people with dramatically enhanced intelligence. Nor does he seem to think that machine intelligence will have dramatic effects, at least in this century.
He claims to believe that technological growth tends to follow exponential curves, but the magnitude of the changes he foresees suggests he tends to expect technological progress to be closer to linear.

interesting ideas from the imagination of a mathematician.......2004-04-07

Baldi's ideas are challenging, but this book is far too much science-fiction, far too little science.

Applying math and cs to some gene research (Baldi's research at UCI) does not qualify him to make some of his ridiculous claims on the progress and future of natural science.

Way too speculative; Interesting topics but poorly executed........2003-01-21

This book is essentially an exercise in unchecked speculation - and don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with looking ahead and attempting to see where we, as a species and as a society, are heading, it's just that this book is a very poorly executed attempt to do so. The author repeatedly makes statements to the effect of "while we can't do that yet, we should be able to in the next fifty years." For some of these statements, he explains why; for many, however, he does not - leaving these statements without any basis in fact whatsoever. The issues he considers - cloning, brain-machine interfaces, etc. - are extremely timley and important to humanity, it's just that he doesn't do a good job exploring them thoroughly or expressing himself clearly (and it's not just that I'm a layman and it's too technical - to the contrary, the book is too simplistic in many areas). The author also seems to get too caught up in the "nature vs. nurture" debate, and posits bizarre hypotheticals such as attempting to recreate the environment of a cloned child's life exactly by also cloning their parents, siblings, and friends, building an exact replica of the child's childhood home, etc., in an attempt to make sure that the "nurture" side of the equation is balanced with the "nature" side. There are better books out there if you are interested in these topics. Check out "The Age of Spiritual Machines" by Ray Kurzweil, or "Our Posthuman Future" by Francis Fukuyama.

The end of natural evolution is here. . ........2002-07-13

This wonderful book is a great companion to The Age of Spiritual Machines and in many respects, updates some of the science of that volume. But of interest to me is the discussion of all the competing moral values that we will have to face as we move forward with genetic manipulation of our genetic material and that of other animals and plants.

Baldi has achieved his goal of making the book very readable for the lay person while compiling additional details in the appendices for those a bit more interested delving into the details. His thoughts are clear and articulate as he lays out the pros and cons of several competing moral values we face now and those we might face in the future.

Baldi does not shy away from the long controversial or taboo subjects. His comments on sex are cogent and up to date. For example, he states; "Sexual and reproductive issues have long affected our societies in ways that created tensions between 5the sexes and were not always favorable to women. After all, even today in many countries men earn higher salaries than women for the same jobs. This is hard to justify from first principles in democratic societies, which are supposed to be founded on equality among humans." He then goes on to explain how cloning technology will further strain the relationship as the sexual act itself becomes unnecessary for evolution or preservation of genetic material.

We are also warned that, "In this new reality [biotechnologies and the internet] of more or less continuous genotypes and phenotypes, all kinds of new creatures are beginning to pop up at a rapid pace, forcing us to revise our concepts, our laws, and our sense of whatever makes us human." This book should be on the must read list for any person interested in the establishment of ethical processes and models that allow us to choose between competing moral values.

A proud man that needs to be "shattered" himself.......2002-02-27

(1) Baldi does not know the history of science too well.
(2) Baldi used derogatory terms against the Bible and religions, which would have been most offensive to great Chrisitian scientists such as James Clark Maxwell, Issace Newton, Michael Faraday, Lord Kelvin, Hertz, etc. (the list goes on and on...)
(3) Baldi, as a trained mathematician, does not know the subject of physics or chemistry too well either. He claims that almost all scientists in these traditional disciples know everything about the laws of nature already. Baldi stated that only computer science and biology are the areas that we human beings do not yet know well, which is another biased statement as we physicists could not even understand the origin of the gravitational force or the Big Bang yet.

Amazon.com

While the concept of "oneness" with nature is foreign to most western cultures, groups such as the Hindus and the Hopi Indians have long comprehended their role in an ever-cycling universe and the inevitable coming of the end of the world. As the earth reaches 8.64 billion years--the length of the Hindu's "creation-and-destruction" cycle--Professor John Leslie of the University of Guelph in Canada thinks that the end, at least for this course of humanity, is near. Impending threats to our survival include nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare; ozone depletion; the greenhouse effect; disease; natural disasters; and even the potential for accidental production of a new Big Bang. And while trying to forestall an apocalypse would be futile, Leslie promises it will all end quickly.

Book Description

Are we in imminent danger of extinction? Yes, we probably are, argues John Leslie in his chilling account of the dangers facing the human race as we approach the second millennium. The End of the World is a sobering assessment of the many disasters that scientists have predicted and speculated on as leading to apocalypse. In the first comprehensive survey, potential catastrophe --ranging from deadly diseases to a high-energy physics experiment sucking away the atmosphere --are explored to help us understand the risks.

Customer Reviews:

Hint: the end is surely scarier with books like this..........2004-02-28

To begin with, if you tend on the masochistic side this book will definately serve ya well. No, not because of the subject matter, absolutely not. The fact that the probabilities we're heading into extinction are increasing daily is undeniable unless you've turned your brain off and that I'd be willing to believe after having lived 37 years and watched my fellow humans go on about their affairs they way they do.

No, that would not be why this book is actually a torture. After you're done with the first half of the book you might feel a little tired if not somewhat numb. You'll just be done with going over various disasters that are threatening us, most of which are self-caused: comets about to blast us to kingdome-come, nuclear wars intending to fry us ruthlessly into oblivion, diseases which either "jumped" out of labs or out of nature's arsenal, overpopulation and pollution and the combination of thse two, shortage of food, nanotechnology and the machines taking over (where's Arnie when ya need him) and so on and on.

Now this is all a reality most of us are too irresponsible to face up to, indeed, as a species we are what i call "perversely intelligent", that is, we have intellectual horsepower which is incredibly difficult to groom in a a truly meaningful way and we are thus subjects to dangers caused by that very intelligence.

Writting a book about this, should be, again perversely, highly entertaining. It would by default be humorous because how can you actually discuss so much shortshightedness, idiocy, and the impending doom as the direct product without seeing the humour in it? The author of this book can. He takes us through these fist chapters with a language so dry and lifeless you'd think the end is already behind us and books are now written by left-over survivor computers which were not programmed for humour.
Ah, but wait. You thought this is heavy, and if you havent quit by then (being possibly not the lion-hearted type) you're in for a major treatment that will suck out all your life force and leave you connected to another machine checking for a pulse:

the latter part of the book (its second half practically) is basically a ridiculous attempt to tie all this together with philosophy. Now philosophy, for the uninitiated, isnt supposed to be a life-threatening experience. Not really. Professor Leslie though, puts in a courageous effort to convince us of the opposite, and I'd be lying if i said he doesnt coming damn close.

Taking up highly insignificant theories few ever heard of, and elevating them to the holy grail of philosophy, the author transforms his book to a readscape as fertile as the Sahara. Hundreds of pages of pretentious pomp about not much really isnt what i associate with philosophy. Especially when it's coupled with aggresive arrogance : not too few times, the author basically praises himself after he argues on his own with his imaginary opponents in the philosophy field, beats them and then triumphantly announces his victory. That's downright pathetic and even if the philosophical quest in this book was enjoyable (far, very far from) this would still spoil it beyond recovery.

Look elsewhere. You dont need the suffering really. The author does convince us that the end is near (which isnt hard actually) but then, since it is, why make it all the more agonisingly painful by going through unbearable books such as this? Save the precious little time you have left.

A book to help overcome complacency.......2001-07-29

Some of the reviews below miss the point of John Leslie's book. Professor Leslie is a utilitarian philosopher at the University of Guelph in Ontario, and as such he's written this book with the express objective of providing a warning to civilization of the dangers that lie ahead. In spite of what the book's title may initially suggest, the book is not the work of some gloomy apocalyptic doomsayer; rather, it is a sensible consideration of the perils that an advanced civilization like our own must overcome over the next crucial period to advance. It's easy to simply take civilization for granted, but Leslie's point is that its survival is not guaranteed, but depends on the choices that we make in the near future. Prof. Leslie asserts that if humanity can make it past the next few centuries then civilization will be in fairly good shape; it's the period soon to be upon us that will be so rocky, with dangers in everything from the spread of nuclear weapons to the practice of biological warfare, from impacting asteroids to poorly thought-out particle physics experiments gone awry, from chemical weapons to the biggest threat of all-- the destruction of earth's fragile ecosystem upon which we all rely, but so often do not recognize. What Leslie is calling for is wisdom, and for the practice of restraint and discipline on a societal scale, to avoid the petty squabbles and foolish waste of resources that we can no longer afford. Admittedly some of the methodology used in the book is flawed and has been shown to be problematic, but this does not belittle its value. The book suggests that it's time to "shape up" and to put into practice, those qualities associated with "higher functioning" and a truly advanced society, and to recognize the dangers ahead of time-- thus applying foresight and planning far ahead for crises, and averting them in the first place. The book is therefore an excellent "wake-up call" to move us out of complacency, and for this reason alone it is quite valuable.

A good and wholly entertaining book...........2000-08-31

The reviewer below misses the thrust of Leslie's argument. Initially, in the first two chapters of the book, he sets out to list ALL of the ways through which society could become extinct (a notion that has not been held in high esteem for policymaking relevance, anyway, in modern society). As such, he does borrow a lot from other authors. And, adding in, his lifting of the mathematical equation suggesting that we are near the end of 'our' time on the Earth makes mathematical sense, even if being totally anthropomorphic.... And the case is made, if you let it be, that we should probably start thinking about how we are going to 'go', and plan thereof....

Aside from that, this book is a riot. The first two chapters, though morbid, are a laugh. The book (setting aside the good philosophy) should be read just for the initial paranoia. It's all in good fun....

tedious rehashing of other's thoughts, bordering on irrel........1999-03-09

Leslie may claim to be a philosopher, but he is an apocolist. He tediously rehashes almost every major thinkers thoughts and ideas concerning the mass destruction of the human race, brushing over many vital subjects, and subjecting the reader to in-depth analysis and over analysis of higholy improbable and highly theoretical situations whihc may or may not ever occurr. Not to mention that he takes as absolute a highly unregarded theory of ones place in time as being critical to how close one is to being in that population which is to be extincted. The title is highly misleading. Borrow it from the library and skim heavily, not too many salient points. For true enlightenment search the bibliography and pull up the origianl works and just cross reference them. This is nothing more than a compilation of other people's thoughts, with rarely one of Leslie's own.

reader must accept idea of one's random place in time.......1998-05-02

This is a fleshing out of the basic idea sketched by richard gott in the magazine "Nature" in 1993. If one accepts the idea that one's placement in time is random, as is one's place in space, the implication is that no one can legitimately claim that an extremely "long future" scenario for the human race (a la Star Trek) seems likely. The reason, simply put, is that that scenario would make one's present placement in time extremely special; in the first 0.000001 % of humans who will ever live. The copernican priniciple of non-specialness holds for both space and time, given their equivalence, united as spacetime.

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