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 Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time

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The Beak of the Finch
Wonderful science and a great narrative
One of the Best Books on Nature
Excellent quality -- arrived in good time
Beyond Darwin

The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time
Jonathan Weiner
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 067973337X
Release Date: 1995-05-30

Amazon.com

Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend twenty years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are four hundred at the time of the author's visit, or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about twenty generations of finches -- continuously.
Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.

Book Description

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

On a desert island in the heart of the Galapagos archipelago, where Darwin received his first inklings of the theory of evolution, two scientists, Peter and Rosemary Grant, have spent twenty years proving that Darwin did not know the strength of his own theory. For among the finches of Daphne Major, natural selection is neither rare nor slow: it is taking place by the hour, and we can watch.

In this dramatic story of groundbreaking scientific research, Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself. The Beak of the Finch is an elegantly written and compelling masterpiece of theory and explication in the tradition of Stephen Jay Gould.

Customer Reviews:

The Beak of the Finch.......2007-07-16

Brilliant writing and organization shows that evolution can occur in as short a time frame as two years. Never boring. The non-scientist will find this book of our changing world a good read.

Wonderful science and a great narrative.......2007-04-14

"Beak" is perhaps the best popular book on evolution between Darwin and Dawkins.

Thoughtful, educated persons must know certain facts about the physical world. One of those facts is evolution. Evolution happens, it is not "just a theory."

As the author explains through the story of the work of Peter and Rosemary Grant, we can see natural selection operate in real time, season by season, in fish, birds, bacteria, and throughout the natural world. The explanation of evolution may be somewhat more open to debate but you can't participate meaningfully in the debate without being armed with some facts.

Don't bring a knife to an intellectual gunfight. Arm yourselves.

One of the Best Books on Nature.......2007-02-22

I have read much on evolution, and the evolution controversy in (primarily) the United States. This book does a wonderful job of demonstrating how scientists, right now, are recording and observing natural selection in action. Before I read this book I was not aware of how much information we really have about evolution and natural selection occurring in "the wild" on an everday basis. This book provides thorough mathematical evidence and predictive models of how natural selection changes the morphology of Darwin's Finches on the Galapogos Islands. It interleaves that story with a decent primer on evolution and snippets of other, similar research, going on right now too.

For example, it describes some fasicinating experiments conducted showing how quickly natural selection will change the color of Amazonian guppies based solely on the color of the rocks in the pools in which the guppies live, and the frequency of predation. It is amazing. As I read more about evolution, I see that rates of evolution vary widely. Evolution operating slowly (over 1000's or millions of years) is pretty obvious. This book provides a window into the amazing world of "rapid" evolution.

The best part about it is that it is as much a journalistic endeavor as a well-written book. This is NOT a polemic about why evolution is better than other ideas. This book simply reports the facts. If you don't understand evolution or believe it can be true after reading this book, then you aren't really trying to understand.

Finally, this book deserves the awards and accolades. It is well-written, well-researched, and well-organized. I don't give many books five stars, but this one is worth it. I would recommend it for anyone: scientists, kids, and just people interested in learning and fascinated by the world around us.

Excellent quality -- arrived in good time.......2007-02-10

The book is in excellent shape, and it arrived in a timely fashion.

Beyond Darwin.......2007-01-19

If you're only slightly interested in the ways the evolution works, then this is it. But beware to have some knowledge about the basics of evolution before moving on to this book. There's a bit of a steep learning curve when you're not all to familiair with Darwin's brilliant theory. It also gives a nice insight in the way scientists work.

Catching Up with Jesus: A Gospel Story for Our Time

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The real message
Catching Up with Jesus: A Gospel Story for Our Time
O'Murchu Continues His Vision
Catching Up with O'Murchu

Catching Up with Jesus: A Gospel Story for Our Time
Diarmuid O'Murch
Manufacturer: Crossroad
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0824522982

Book Description

O'Murchu shows us Jesus in a Wholly new and creative way.

Customer Reviews:

The real message.......2007-01-09

This book lays the challenge at your feet - the real message of Jesus is how to live fully a human life while focusing on the divine within you and every human being. Father O'Murchu's point is looking at God's incarnation from the beginning of man's existance and seeing Jesus' role as the fulfillment of this. I found that the challenge is the same reiterated by G.K. Chesterton - Christianity should not be condemned, it's never been tried. And the book's central theme - Jesus came to show us a radically new way of living our human life in the Spirit of God.

Catching Up with Jesus: A Gospel Story for Our Time.......2006-03-25

An eyeopener as to how we need to have Loving Kindness fill our lives.

O'Murchu Continues His Vision.......2005-09-27

Billed as a sequel to "Quantum Theology," this book is as refreshing as O'Murchu's other work. His argument for updating our understanding of the message of Jesus - catching up with Jesus - is necessary in our 21st century world. The message O'Murchu conveys is one which is in tune with other contemporary thought - living on a shrinking planet with diminishing resources.
The second half of the book, written as monologue/dialogue is a little tedious and sanctimonious but can be forgiven knowing what O'Murchu is trying to convey.

Catching Up with O'Murchu.......2005-06-13

In liberating the Jesus story for our times, O'Murchu follows a model used by the feminist theologian, Anne Clifford -namely
intelligently critique the conventional story, try to recover the elements of the original story and reconstruct as best as possible a timeless story. O'Murchu does a fairly good job at the critiquing; the recovery section of the book focuses on important, if selected and a somewhat limited view of Jesus' identities. The reconstruction represents an exhausting attempt to practically rewrite the gospels. Because of the size of the task, O'Murchu jumps to some conclusions that seem more fictional with little scholarship to back them up. O'Murchu also tends to repeat some good insights/themes over and over again. At the same time,in love with evolution, he practically skips over trying to explain suffering, the imperfections of this cosmos and other deep mysteries. Many of his challenging insights were left a bit open-ended for me to the point that I wished I lived around the corner from him to be able to ask things like what kind of afterlife does he believe in? He also seems to vacillate as to whether we should move beyond the institutional churches or whether we should re-work them into being prime movers of the Kingom and centers for ritual/liturgies that help stir us in that direction. All in all there's a lot of mind-stretching new ideas about Jesus that do resonate in a new world order that understands how quantum science frees us from a mechanistic world
and leads us to a world of unlimited possibilites as could really pursuing the Kingdom

The V12 Engine: The Untold Story of Technology, Evolution, Performance and Impact of All

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A little night music
Covers every major manufacturer's V12 lineup!
the v12 engine
The perfect book for those of us who should get out more.
By engish, for english

The V12 Engine: The Untold Story of Technology, Evolution, Performance and Impact of All
Karl Ludvigsen
Manufacturer: Haynes Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1844250040

Book Description

With its highly readable text and stunning illustrations, this masterpiece of a book tells the story of the creation, evolution and exploitation of the V12 engine. From the big American V12s of the early 1900s to today's Aston Martin Vanquish V12, these glorious engines have been revered as more than just feats of engineering; in many cases they are respected as works of art. Here is an insightful, analytical and technical history of the V12 engines that have powered some of the most exciting and dramatic cars ever built for road or track.

Customer Reviews:

A little night music.......2007-04-04

Ludvigen's book on the V-12 is a well researched but compulsively readable account of the extraordinary and powerful engines with the lavish specification of having twelve cylinders. While giving details of design and development, the author also evokes the mixture of power, refinement and mechanical sophistication offered by these exotic engines from Ferrari, Aston-Martin, Mercedes and BMW while not neglecting the glorious history of the American Packard and Cadillac applications of of the V 12. It is like reading a book describing food where every bite is of gourmet quality, a city where all the streets are clean and beautiful or a dinner where all the guests are witty and candlelight glows off the bare shoulders of lovely, sophisticated women.

Covers every major manufacturer's V12 lineup!.......2006-12-16

I have been slowly reading and researching the automobiles this book mentions for the past month. The book is filled with references to never before publicized engine programs.

For example, did you know that Ford made a V12 out of their now legendary 4.6L V8? The car is used in an Austin Martin, Ford is the parent company.
Little details like this will keep popping up as you read this book. You'll never believe which V6 Ford engine was used to make the other V12 detailed in this book.

The book was printed on high quality paper, giving the images of these rare engines an almost artistic quality on the pages inside. The photo of a BMW V12 engine pulling on a dyno with it's turbos giving off a red glow is spectacular!

the v12 engine.......2006-03-29

Finally, a book that lives up to it's advertising. Every page is interesting in this voluminous 600 page masterwork. No long boring company histories and endless pictures of people here. Ludvigsen stays on subject with clear modern pictures and expert analysis from makers and users of such engines. There is not one weak point in the whole thing, I feel I got much more than I paid for with this great book.

The perfect book for those of us who should get out more........2006-02-21

A truly excellent work for those enchanted by the fine detail of technology. A myriad of fine drawings and half tones backed up by colour plates of the V12's birth and development through the century. Karl's fluid and emminently readable style maintains interest with pithy anecdotes like Henry Ford's reason for sticking with 4 cylinders rather than 6: "A car should have no more cylinders than a cow has teats". From 1.5 litres to 27 litres the V12 story is always absorbing.

By engish, for english.......2006-02-19

The author is British plain and simple, and it show with whimsical sayings like 'monkey motion' and the like. Outstanding historical documentation, but the author overwhelms with minutiae like bore and stroke for every engine, and which cylinder bank is staggered forward.
Also the author completely disregards the 180 degree V-12s (not boxing, boxing has 180 Vee angle with a 180 degree split crank journal) and spends too much time on VV12s (three banks of four cylinders).
There are some errors in the coverage of modern engines, notably VW VR6 and W12 information. and the author fails to explain the inherrent balance of an inline six, and how any vee angle V12 is balanced, but not necessarily even firing.
A good value, and the color photos are icing on the cake.

Average customer rating:

Absolutly fasinating
Beautiful
What a long, strange trip it's been
Excellent book for "Reality-Based" Education
Evolution simplified

Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story
Lisa Westberg Peters
Manufacturer: Harcourt Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0152017720

Book Description

All of us are part of an old, old family. The roots of our family tree reach back millions of years to the beginning of life on earth. Open this family album and embark on an amazing journey. You'll meet some of our oldest relatives--from both the land and the sea--and discover what we inherited from each of them along the many steps of our wondrous past.
Complete with an illustrated timeline and glossary, here is the story of human evolution as it's never been told before.

Customer Reviews:

Absolutly fasinating .......2007-06-28

I just adore this book. The content does not read like a science introduction at all, but as a family story. Kind of a big-nose-from-Aunt-Tilly story, but way broadened to include our ancestors. My 5 year old was almost as transfixed as I was by where we picked up parts of ourselves. What a wonderful discovery book which enforces oneness with all life. The illustrations are outrageous.

Beautiful .......2007-06-15

My daughter loves this book. She is 4 years old and is able to relate to the story and even points out parts that she has in common with the organisms in the book. The book is good at inspiring more questions about the evolutionary theory. Where the book leaves off I can fill in with what I have studied. Telling the story of evolution to very young children is not easy. It can be tricky to walk the line between being creative enough to captivate a child and still being scientifically accurate. The most easily understood part of this book is that it shows all life on this planet came from the same place, and for a 4 year old that is a good start. I would have purchased this book or one like when my 7 year old was a baby if I knew that someone was thoughtful and smart enough to write a children's book on evolution. The author, illustrator, and publisher of this book deserve an award for their wonderful efforts in helping very young children learn about evolution.

What a long, strange trip it's been.......2006-04-16

This beautifully illustrated picture book attempts to explain the evolutionary journey from single-celled entities to the remarkably diverse human race. With short sentences and no more than two brief paragraphs per page -- and sometimes only one or two sentences -- the book traces evolution from the single-cells to multi-celled beings to scaly, finny being to salamander-like creatures ... and so on through to hominids (my word, not theirs) and humans. Each step of the journey is described in the first person plural ("we still had scales" or "on the outside, we looked like hairy lizards"), which brings me to my primary complaint with the book. The language is beautiful and the illustrations are exquisite, but the concept of evolution just doesn't reduce so well. Even though the author emphasizes that these changes took place over millenia, kids just aren't able to grasp that kind of time frame (heck, adults have a hard time with it, too!). It may seem simply too fantastical for a child to accept or understand that humans evolved (i.e., were once) from "squishy...soft..worms." When presented in this reductionist fashion, the scientific concept of evolution appears more magical or made up than any fairy tale and certainly less believable than any creation story. Or maybe that's the point...that evolution is another creation story?

Excellent book for "Reality-Based" Education.......2005-10-26

A great introductory book for young kids on the topic of evolution.

Evolution simplified.......2005-09-23

Evolution is often a curricular hot potato. For those whose schools are reluctant to bring up the subject, this is the book for you. The text is simple and straightforward, accompanied by colorful, oversized illustrations. Our Family Tree is an ideal way to round out your child's understanding of scientific views on the origin of our 'family tree'.

Evolutionary Faith: Rediscovering God in Our Great Story

Average customer rating:

Non-Teilhardian and pantheistic (from Maltese Falcon)
Non-Teilhardian and pantheistic
The best blend of science and theology I've ever read
More daring perhaps than is prudent

Evolutionary Faith: Rediscovering God in Our Great Story
Diarmuid O Murchu
Manufacturer: Orbis Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1570754519

Customer Reviews:

Non-Teilhardian and pantheistic (from Maltese Falcon).......2006-01-01

This is just a note to acknowledge that the review entitled "Non-Teilhardian and pantheistic" was submitted by me before I became Amazon's Maltese Falcon.

Non-Teilhardian and pantheistic.......2004-02-10

This is a very informative book, since the author spreads his net far and wide as is obvious from the biliography. His views are novel and interesting, but definitely part company with Teilhard de Chardin and traditional theism. Pere Teilhard's vision is convergent; O'Murchu's is divergent. He presents us with a universe having no beginning and no end. Also, God exists within this universe, but not outside it. These two concepts are consistent with pantheism. A more traditional and more awe-inspiring view is that the universe exists within God.

Pere Teilhard's system focuses on the Omega point as the point of convergence for all evolution and all space-time. This is really missing from O'Murchu, since his universe never really gets to Omega.

The best blend of science and theology I've ever read.......2003-11-21

I had long ago left the Christian faith because of its incongruity with science, the environment and the cosmos. O'Murchu has clarified in writing what I have instinctively, intuitively felt for decades but could not express as eloquently as he. Quantum Theology has resurrected what I thought was my spiritually dead self.

It is difficult reading, but well worth the effort. I find myself looking at the universe and life from a new and refreshing perspective.

Randy Herring's review must have been written by an intellectual show-off. One of the major premises of the book is not how one deals with the world, but rather, how the world deals with us. Our control is imaginary and our understanding ridiculously lacking, and that was one of O'Murchu's major points.

More daring perhaps than is prudent.......2003-10-20

This book reads more like Thus Spoke O'Murchu with a flavor of a romantic Hegelian collective Spirit of optimism. O'Murchu is his own sage with a message addressed to the mystics of a "new cosmology" who are sufferers in this crisis of nihilism that "globalization" has created. O'Murchu's greatest trouble is his "relational matrix" and his greatest weight his "powerful archetypes." The ideas of "relational matrix" and "powerful archetypes" complicate the "great story" turning it upside down by not being able to reconcile this contradiction he advances as "evolutionary faith."

O'Murchu fails to define what he means by 'matrix.' Thus, arises O'Murchu's three gravest flaws: 1) failing to define 'matrix,' 2) failing by assuming one knows what the conventional definition of 'matrix' entails, and 3) failing to clarify his meaning of intentionality, except within his symbolism of "Divine relationality." O'Murchu stupidly leaves the definition of 'matrix' open-ended, which allows the reader to pursue for further investigation. A 'matrix,' to this reviewer, is a system and a closure that "out of the womb within" encircles the relationality of the development of a "stereotype!" Words develop with a purpose: for use and relationality. It is out of the womb that one sees things from within one's own perimeters, i.e., a system, a closure of how one "deals" with the world.

O'Murchu's "relational matrix" adds to the "great deal of baggage" that he admonishes we ought "to shed!" If evolutionary faith is faith directed by the drive of evolutionary process of 'becoming' then a matrix makes evolutionary faith incapable of possessing that drive of intoxicating energy for becoming. Without a matrix, one's consciousness is strong because it is free from any kind of relational comparison, and thus, extols one's capacity and need for communication relating with others! The weakness of consciousness vis-à-vis a matrix only increases the greatest weight of nihilistic "globalization" that O'Murchu opposes. Thus, the "archetype" (below) of a "new cosmology" to thwart the furtherance of "globalization" is of no consequence.

O'Murchu carries more baggage (his greatest trouble) than he can handle (his greatest weight). Contrary to his own intentions O'Murchu posits his antithesis: another form of "globalization" masked by "evolutionary faith." The "relational matrix" is "globalization" because both are systems of oppression of adding to the baggage O'Murchu admits he does not want. O'Murchu's relational matrix does not come full circle of embracing the mysticism of a "new cosmology" and thus, does not toss "globalization" to the wayside.

O'Murchu crushes under his own weight trying to convince us he seeks to eradicate the dualistic religion and science futuristic tendencies of "gloom and doom." It is in fact the same tendencies he embraces by introducing his "new cosmology" of light as an "archetype" that opposes the "globalization" of darkness, that is, the recurrence of the same dualistic notion of good versus evil! O'Murchu is more religious and Christian he gives himself credit for. Thus Spoke O'Murchu!

O'Murchu digs his own crevasse, falls into it and becomes wedged in his story of evolutionary faith. O'Murchu brings man down with his own god and goes under himself! This 'O'Murchu event' triggers a cataclysmic recurrence of the same yet to be reconciled under its own crushing weight (the "great story"). O'Murchu leaves us confronted with a yet undiscovered country whose boundaries nobody has surveyed. It is an undiscovered country beyond all the lands and nooks of Thus Spoke O'Murchu. It is a world so overrich in what is beautiful, strange, questionable, terrible, and divine.

Book Description

This remarkable evolution series, narrated by the Universe itself, concludes with Book 3, the amazing story of mammals. It picks up with the extinction of dinosaurs, and tells how tiny mammals survived and morphed into lots of new Earthlings . . . horses, whales and a kind of mammal with a powerful imagination - you! It's a story of chaos, creativity and heroes-the greatest adventure on Earth! And it's a personal story . . . about our bodies, our minds, our spirits. It's our story.

Customer Reviews:

A Universe Story Trilogy Thrills Children and Adults.......2007-03-20

As a resident of Princeton, New Jersey, a town filled with eminent scientists (including my Noble Laureate physicist uncle) I have lived for years believing that science was beyond my ken, beyond my capacity for even the faintest glimmering of understanding.

In the last few years I have been thrilled to discover Jennifer Morgan, a Princeton author who has written three science books designed for children, entitled A Universe Story Trilogy. The first book, Born With a Bang, covers the history of the universe from its beginning 13.7 billion years ago to the beginning of Earth. The second book, From Lava to Life, tells the story of life beginning as bacteria . . . to the reign of the dinosaurs. Mammals Who Morph, the third book, takes the story from the extinction of the dinosaurs to the rise of Homo sapiens.

The three books are charming and work as wonderful bedtime story reading. But despite the charm and the beautiful illustrations, Ms. Morgan is writing hard science. In a recent seminar which she led, I learned that she spent a number of years talking with cosmologists, evolutionary biologists, and anthropologists, doing her best to be sure that these children's stories were rigorously in accord with current scientific thinking.

To be sure, scientific thinking changes, as Ms. Morgan is the first to acknowledge, and indeed theories which are current today are subject to revision tomorrow. But the extraordinary gift which Jennifer Morgan has given, is a sense that science is full of wonder, excitement and reverence. I, for example, finally got a glimmering of my uncle's work having to do with something called CP Violation and the mindbending concept that if the symmetry between particles and antiparticles had not been broken in the first second after the Big Bang, the rest of the Universe Story would not have happened.

Ms. Morgan's books will turn kids on to science. . . to say nothing of the grownups who literally walked away from Ms. Morgan's presentation with stars in their eyes.

Linda Fitch

Carried me away..........2006-12-02

I'm no longer a kid, but I've learned a great deal from Mammals Who Morph. I'd read Morgan's two earlier volumes in this trilogy, and this was very helpful, though not absolutely necessary to appreciate the third.

What I value most in all three volumes is the appreciation and satisfaction I derive on several levels. The science is clear, and if the other reviewers here are to be believed, rock solid. But so is the story-telling. I've just been carried away in the tale. Morgan's contention, I think, is that this is MY tale as well as the universe's. It's all of ours. I feel a strong sense of recognition. Something's touched, and the sensation is unmistakably familiar.

She's also included a glossary and resources and avenues for further learning. How often do you see that in a book for children that is also this entertaining?

And then, of course, there's the art work. The full-page color illustrations accompanying every page of written work are not merely beautiful, they're worth savoring.

Quite a package. Quite a trilogy. Quite a remarkable accomplishment.

The greatest story ever told.......2006-11-11

This is the concluding volume of a bizarrely brilliant trilogy on the history of the universe and of life. Every school and public library - no, every family! - in America should own all three volumes in the trilogy. (The earlier volumes are "Born With a Bang" and "From Lava to Life.")

There is a rising tide of anti-science ideology in the United States, accompanied (and caused) by a vast scientific illiteracy. This is frightening not only because modern economies are so heavily dependent upon scientific knowledge but also because it is science which dissipated the ancient fear-ridden world of witches and ghosts and demons. Take away science and the old terrors can return to haunt humankind. And those terrors long served, and can still serve, to justify man's inhumanity to man.

The reasons for the anti-science tide are complex: America, for example, has an anti-intellectual tradition going back to the Romantic era of the early nineteenth century (see, e.g., E. D. Hirsch's discussion in "The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them"). Because knowledge in general, and especially in science, is necessarily "elitist," science also runs against the populism and egalitarianism long endemic in the United States.

Most disturbing is the use of anti-science propaganda by various political and cultural forces to cynically advance their own political agenda (and make some money on the side). For example, Ann Coulter, in her recent book "Godless," launched a lengthy and virtually unhinged attack on the fact of evolution.

At a higher intellectual level, the noted Jewish "neoconservative" intellectual Irving Kristol has declared, "All I want to do is break the bonds of Darwinian materialism which at the moment restrict our imagination." Robert Bork, more briefly, has announced, "Darwinism cannot explain life as we know it." (There is reason to doubt that Kristol at least really believes evolution is false: this may be just a crass ploy for political influence.)

Jennifer Morgan's trilogy is the best cure I have seen for the anti-science hysteria.

Although the evidence for evolution and modern cosmology is, logically and rationally, overwhelming, one of the big problems is that scientists have failed to grab the popular imagination in the same way that mythical religious tales of the Garden of Eden or the Tower of Babel have done.

Morgan has taken the discoveries of science and done what we scientists ourselves seem unable to do: packaged them with a sense of wonder and imagination that can show ordinary people, and most especially children, the grandeur and spectacle of the transcendental truths uncovered by modern science.

Most importantly, she is scientifically accurate: while her books read almost like books of lyrical poetry written for children, I was stunned by the care with which she hewed to the best science available as she wrote (I have a Ph.D. in theoretical physics - I was looking for errors).

This concluding volume in the trilogy discusses the Cenozoic Era, the "age of mammals," focusing especially on the evolution of human beings. Morgan's technique throughout the trilogy is to have the universe tell her own story.

In this volume, she begins by reviewing the chain of catastrophes discussed in the previous two volumes - the nearly total annihilation of elementary particles at the Big Bang, the nearby supernova that is believed to have triggered the formation of the Solar System, the "oxygen crisis" that poisoned much of the early life on earth, and of course the asteroid that ended the age of the dinosaurs.

The theme of this book is that these apparent catastrophes led to us.

She moves through the mammalian and avian radiations, briefly discusses the rise of the hominids, and finally ends the trilogy in an inspiring reminder that, in us human beings, the universe is finally able to understand and comprehend itself.

The book is aimed at children - I read it with my early grade-school children and it would certainly be appropriate through middle school. The book will necessarily offend religious creationists, but should not offend anyone with any other religious beliefs - whether Catholics, mainstream Protestants, non-Christian religious believers, or atheists. It has beautifully imaginative illustrations.

There is a useful appendix with more of the serious science for older kids or adults.

Like most scientists, I am, frankly, skeptical of any attempt to combine "spirituality" with science. In science, the only true "spirituality" is the truth. Morgan shows that this is indeed the truest spirituality of all. She grasps what it is that caused so many of us to become scientists and what motivates so many scientists to continue working at the hard task of patiently teasing out the secrets of reality.

Our generation is the first in human history to have a clear picture of the entire history of the universe and of life on earth. Every human being is entitled to share in this wondrous knowledge.

Get this book (and the other two books in the trilogy) and read it with your kids and grandkids - and for yourself. Show them the incredible beauty, grandeur, and wonder of the universe we inhabit.

This is the greatest story ever told.

This trilogy is a great bridge between spirituality and science.......2006-09-24

"Mammals Who Morph" is Jennifer Morgan's 3rd book of a trilogy that successfully condenses 3.7 billion years of natural history from the big bang beginning to the present into a story told by the universe itself (who else could do it?). She highlights important scientific concepts and presents them in a way that is compelling to children and makes them feel good about being part of a greater whole. Morgan's ability to make difficult scientific concepts easy to understand and to weave spiritual concepts of unity, commonality and community throughout these stories makes them a great bridge for children wrestling with what politicians have made into polarized issues between science and religion. Although Morgan's degree is in theology, she sticks to the facts as they are now known and spins them into an easily readable story that all ages and religions can enjoy and learn from. In this last book of the trilogy she describes the population of the planet by an assortment of mammals in a way that conveys the beauty of evolution without dwelling on the how. Cleverly, the text is written with two type sizes enabling the youngest readers to hear the story without much detail by reading the largest type. Every elementary school, church, synagogue, mosque and parent should have a set and read it to their children. Without a doubt, this is a comforting story that all who ever have seriously asked the question "Where did we come from?" will enjoy.

The Human Story: Our Evolution from Prehistoric Ancestors to Today (Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 (Awards))

Average customer rating:

Not an easy read

The Human Story: Our Evolution from Prehistoric Ancestors to Today (Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 (Awards))
Christopher Sloan
Manufacturer: National Geographic Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Prehistoric | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0792263251
Release Date: 2004-04-01

Customer Reviews:

Not an easy read.......2006-03-19

I bought this to supplement our homeschooling science program because it is next to impossible to find a homeschooling science curriculum that will encompass human evolution and/or the earth's geological inception.

This book has not been very helpful. The illustrations do not create a time map to show how human evolution progressed through time. In fact, the illustrations are not particularly helpful. The text is too wordy, and not the best at describing the evolutionary process to lower and mid-grade children.

This book does, however, cover pretty thoroughly the migration and development of humans over the world. But still, I do not believe that it handles the information in a way that is inticing to children or even adults as it had me yawning--and this is the type of information that I usually devour!

Average customer rating:

Great Primer
Unbelievable
great introduction to natural selection
debunking creation
FABULOUS book!!

Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution
Steve Jenkins
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Philosophy | Reference & Nonfiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0618164766

Book Description

There are millions of different kinds of plants and animals living on the earth. Many millions more lived here in the past. Where did they all come from? Why have some become extinct and others lived on? In this remarkable book for children, Steve Jenkins explores the fascinating history of life on earth and the awe-inspiring story of evolution, Charles Darwin's great contribution to modern science.

Customer Reviews:

Great Primer.......2007-07-03

This book is a very broad survey of life on Earth basics for children new to learning about science, biology, and evolution. It's already proved invaluable in jumpstarting conversations with them about more specific points in evolutionary history (like horse evolution--in the book, there's a brief blurb about the first horses that led into a discussion about "toes" and grasslands and other specifics of their changes over time). My children are also able to make connections to other things that have read, learned, or noticed in other places, too, thanks in large part to the multitude of charming illustrations and varied species to support and flavor broad, boiled-down theoretical points. Fantastic classic picture-book with lots of opportunities for sparking interest, making connections, and explaining (in simple terms) the magnificence of evolutionary theory.

Unbelievable.......2006-08-27

I got this book from the library and was reading it with my daughter.
The illustrations are wonderful and overall it is a good introductory to evolution for kids.
However I find it unbelieveable that the author describes the appearance of the primate/human "common ancestor" as being descended from apes.
For someone who thinks himself knowlegable enough to be writing educational books for any age on the theory of evolution this "mistake" is unforgivable.
Considering the idea is the most repeated falsity used by ignorant opponents of evolution.
You are not helping to educate children by feeding them ignorance.
It`s enough to keep me from reading anything else written by this author.

great introduction to natural selection.......2006-04-06

I'm always on the look-out for engaging, informative books on the development of life on earth. My kids and I have actually read quite a few of them. I consider this book one of the better ones for young kids. It does not speak down to kids, nor is it too complicated. The illustrations are Eric Carle-esque with their paper designs and interesting to young ones.

This books begins with first bacteria and progresses through the emergence of human life. However, it does not cover the process of human development at all. It simply says that modern humans appeared on earth 130,000 years ago. I was a little disappointed by this book's lack of detail in the area of human development. If you are looking for a book to introduce human evolution to kids, this one is not for you. If you simply want to introduce Darwinism and the survival of the fittest concept--this book is great.

debunking creation.......2005-09-02

I bought this book because my 7-year-old has learned to say hi to Jesus when he passes by a church (thanks to grandma). He stopped believing in Mother Nature and I wanted to nip religious fanaticism in the bud. This book worked! It is beautifully illustrated, interesting, and full of cool facts. It furthered our discussions about creation vs. evolution and since my son is a lover of dinosaurs, he is on his way to scientific allegiance. I highly reccommend it to any parent who wants to teach children about the history of the earth and to unteach insipid mythology. *Although I must warn, it has quite a bit of writing and big words for young children.

FABULOUS book!!.......2004-03-22

FABULOUS book introducing the evolution of the earth and all its life forms! Perfect for children pre-k through all of the elementary school years (and parents too!). This book mentions Charles Darwin, the Galapagos Islands, survival of the fittest, variation and mutation, extinction, and more. Nice pictures. Highly recommended for homeschoolers.

Shaping the Industrial Century: The Remarkable Story of the Evolution of the Modern Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries (Harvard Studies in Business History)

Average customer rating:

Consistent and Complete

Shaping the Industrial Century: The Remarkable Story of the Evolution of the Modern Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries (Harvard Studies in Business History)
Alfred D., Jr. Chandler
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 067401720X

Book Description

The dean of business historians continues his masterful chronicle of the transforming revolutions of the twentieth century begun in Inventing the Electronic Century.

Alfred Chandler argues that only with consistent attention to research and development and an emphasis on long-term corporate strategies could firms remain successful over time. He details these processes for nearly every major chemical and pharmaceutical firm, demonstrating why some companies forged ahead while others failed.

By the end of World War II, the chemical and pharmaceutical industries were transformed by the commercializing of new learning, the petrochemical and the antibiotic revolutions. But by the 1970s, chemical science was no longer providing the new learning necessary to commercialize more products, although new directions flourished in the pharmaceutical industries. In the 1980s, major drug companies, including Eli Lilly, Merck, and Schering Plough, commercialized the first biotechnology products, and as the twenty-first century began, the infrastructure of this biotechnology revolution was comparable to that of the second industrial revolution just before World War I and the information revolution of the 1960s. Shaping the Industrial Century is a major contribution to our understanding of the most dynamic industries of the modern era.

Customer Reviews:

Consistent and Complete.......2005-06-07

Alfred Chandler has done a great job in compiling the history of Chemical and Pharmaceutical companies. Comparing it to Inventing the Electronic Century, it is clear that author has a deeper knowledge of the chemical industry than the electronic industry.

The book is consistent,well organized and the level of detail is well balanced. It deserves to be read and reflected upon, for those willing to understand business strategy and its results.

Due to the importance of the German companies, I would recommend reading Christopher Freeman's work to complement this book on the chemical industry.

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