Duncan Hines: The Man Behind the Cake Mix

Customer Reviews:

best biography ever read.......2003-01-27

This is Jane straight talking, in very much her own words. Her life is quite a story and a very interesting read, once I picked it up I read it straight off. Very advisable to buy for aspiring female boxers who need a real role model not just an image or for anyone who is interested in a broader spectrum of boxing.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Social Justice, published by Crime and Social Justice Associates on December 22, 2002. The length of the article is 3426 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The fire this time: A review of taking it personally.(Book Review) (book review)
Author: Herbert Kohl
Publication: Social Justice (Refereed)
Date: December 22, 2002
Publisher: Crime and Social Justice Associates
Volume: 29 Issue: 4 Page: 198(7)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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 Complete Book of Word Games & Word Play

Average customer rating:

The Complete Book of Word Games & Word Play
Ken; Carter, Philip Russell
Manufacturer: Foulsham & Co Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KG022K

Average customer rating:

The Complete Book of Word Games & Word Play
Ken Russell , and Philip Carter
Manufacturer: Foulsham
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0572019793

Book Description

comes from Mensa the international high-IQ society-but you don't have to be a genius to enjoy it. Everybody seems to love playing with words; pulling them apart reconstructing them in different guises arranging them in clever patterns and finding hidden meanings in them. Ken Russell and Philip Carter have compiled this comprehensive guide to word play and included over a hundred entertaining puzzles so you can have fun while learning the intricacies of the games.

Book Description

“Truth arrives in microscopic increments, and when enough has accumulated–in a moment of recognition, you just know. You know because the truth fits. I was the only member of my family to lack the gene for numbers, but I do need things to add up. Approaching midlife, I became aware of a darkening feeling–was it something heavy on my heart, or was something missing? Grateful as I am for the opportunities I’ve had, and especially for the people who came into my life as a result, I couldn’t ignore this feeling. I had the impulse to begin a conversation with myself, through writing, as if to see if my fingers could get to the bottom of it. It was a Saturday morning eight or ten years ago when I began following this impulse to find the answers to unformed questions. Skywriting is what I call my personal process of discovery.”

And so begins this beautiful and surprising memoir, in which beloved broadcast journalist Jane Pauley tells a remarkable story of self-discovery and an extraordinary life, from her childhood in the American heartland to her three decades in television.

Encompassing her beginnings at the local Indianapolis station and her bright debut–at age twenty-five on NBC’s Today and later on Dateline–Pauley forthrightly delves into the ups and downs of a fantastic career. But there is much more to Jane Pauley than just the famous face on TVs. In this memoir, she reveals herself to be a brilliant woman with singular insights. She explores her roots growing up in Indiana and discusses the resiliency of the American family, and addresses with humor and depth a subject very close to her heart: discovering yourself and redefining your strengths at midlife. Striking, moving, candid, and unique, Skywriting explores firsthand the difficulty and the rewards of self-reinvention.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Wide Ranging. Honest but Guarded. Light........2006-09-07

While bi-polarism introduces the book and recurs, the theme is really Jane's career.

Jane was catapulted to fame not by experience, her knowledge of public affairs, or even her rolodex, but by her looks, youth, midwestern charm and ability to make interesting conversation. She tells the story of this unmerited rise in a straight forward fashion. I remember Jane and Bryant as unrehearsed, positive, informed and amazingly entertaining. Despite the lack of a resume, she clearly rose to the occasion.

The photos of her family, childhood house and home made clothes show the simplicity of her roots. The text reveals that she never lost this quality. Despite my enthusiastic read, I didn't give it 5 stars because Jane gives the issues all too light a treatment. Ironically, I held back 2 stars for the very simplicity I admire in Jane.

One of these issues is the zeitgeist of Jane's rise. It illustrates role of women in news in the 70's. A sweet non-threatening personality was preferred over experience not only by the network execs, but also the audiences. She describes the fairy tale but the analysis is inadequate.

Jane gives us some old fashioned values in discussing her style which is not to create gotcha moments or invade an interviewee's privacy. She alludes to the competition to "get". She does not discuss how this change is driving the personalities of today's journalists, and ultimately the character of the news, nor the outlook for a future personalities such as Jane.

I'd like to know more about the issues raised in Jane's "brush" with Princess Diana. The American from the Great Plains and the British Aristocrat indeed had a lot in common. Both were plucked up at young ages and put before cameras with little training or preparation. Jane relates the story and the feeling in her plainspoken way ... and that is that.

It looked like the Today show was to be a marriage of 3. All the signs and rumors were there and there was no straight talk from the execs with Jane. Jane, writes about juggling and guilt of a mom with a career. She did a pleasure/pain calculus and had the resources stay home. With career drop out of successful women being a hot media topic, I'd be interested to know if uncomfortable situations like the one Jane found herself in (Jane, not Bryant, Willard or Gene) are the common trigger for this reported phenomena.

Jane writes of her children, but not of her marriage. This is provocative, because it seems so out of character... or out of the character that I believe her to be. Gerry is not just any cartoonist, but, one of the most controversial ones in my lifetime.

There is more to know about Jane's bout with bi-polarism too. It is the stated theme of the book. It appears as an isolated thing in her life, which it surely could not have been.

Reassuring.......2006-08-24

A beautifully written account of Pauley's illness. As I have a son with bipolar disorder, I found this memoir very reassuring. I have hope that my son will, with the right treatment, reach his potential.

More a memoir of life as an anchor-woman than as life with bipolar disorder.......2006-06-28

Jane Pauley's struggle with bipolar disorder takes a backseat to her life as an anchor-woman. We are charted through an exhaustive and rather drawn-out summary of her rise to the top, her life as a wife and parent, and oh yes, the small role bipolar disorder seemed to play in any of it.

Perhaps this won't bother you if you're a great fan of Jane Pauley but since I have my Bachelor's degree in psychology I found her analysis of herself somewhat irritating and naive. If you happened upon this book looking for information about bipolar disorder, you'll be much disappointed and would be better off reading "An Unquiet Mind" by Kay Redfield Jamison. If, however, you're only looking for a memoir that would be more aptly titled "Jane Pauley: My Life as an Anchor-Woman," then, by all means, look no farther.

Less Than Meets The Eye.......2005-12-31

This book confirmed my darkest fear regarding Jane Pauley, that she is in fact the cute, perky, vacuous, elfin blonde she appears to be. When I heard about it I was heartened because I thought a celebrity not named Patty Duke had gone public on her battle with Manic Depression, thereby helping to remove some of the stigma. No such luck.

This book reveals absolutely nothing about the illness, and virtually nothing about the author beyond what could have been discovered by Googling her name. I read Skywriting incredibly quickly and when I was done I realized that the reason for this was - there's nothing in it. Skywriting indeed, because it has the consistency of cotton candy, clouds floating past your eyes.

Very Disappointing.......2005-09-04

I read Skywriting to gain insight about the bipolar disorder, learn more about Jane Pauley's media career, her co-workers, the fascinating people she has met and perhaps some personal anecdotes about her husband, Garry Trudeau. It did not happen.

Skywriting is uninformative, disjointed therapy writing.

The only redeeming value of the book is the few pages near the end where Ms. Pauley writes about the final years of her parents as they aged and passed on.

Giving this book one star is generous.

Average customer rating:

Skywriting - A Life Out Of The Blue
Jane Pauley
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MMBC4Y

Product Description

From the Inside Flap: "Truth arrives in microscopic increments, and when enough has accumulated - in a moment of recognition, you just know. You know because the truth fits. I was the only member of my family to lack the gene for numbers, but I do need things to add up. Approaching midlife, I became aware of a darkening feeling - was it something heavy on my heart, or was something missing? Grateful as I am for the opportunities I've had, and especially for the people who came into my life as a result, I couldn't ignore this feeling. I had the impulse to begin a conversation with myself, through writing, as if to see if my fingers could get to the bottom of it. It was a Saturday morning eight or ten years ago when I began following this impulse to find the answers to unformed questions. Skywriting is what I call my personal process of discovery." And so begins this beautiful and surprising memoir, in which beloved broadcast journalist Jane Pauley tells a remarkable story of self-discovery and an extraordinary life, from her childhood in the American heartland to her three decades in television. Encompassing her beginnings at the local Indianapolis station and her bright debut - at age twenty-five on NBC's Today and later on Dateline - Pauley forthrightly delves into the ups and downs of a fantastic career. But there is much more to Jane Pauley than just the famous face on TVs. In this memoir, she reveals herself to be a brilliant woman with singular insights. She explores her roots growing up in Indiana and discusses the resiliency of the American family, and addresses with humor and depth a subject very close to her heart: discovering yourself and redefining your strengths at midlife. Striking, moving, candid, and unique, Skywriting explores firsthand the difficulty and the rewards of self-reinvention.

Average customer rating:

Skywriting: A Life Out Of The Blue
Jane Pauley
Manufacturer: Random House Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NY20GU

Customer Reviews:

A Boarding School Primer.......2000-07-30

This short, easy to read book presents a basic overview of boarding school issues which occurred throughout the U.S. during the boarding school era. Brenda Child's book concentrates on the Red Lake Ojibwes who attended boarding school at Flandreau specifically. The book also uses personal stories of students and their families in vignettes preserved through letters sent to and from Flandreau. I found this book well-written, readable, and recommended as an overview of the boarding school era.

Book Description

A compulsively readable account of the most mysterious manuscript in the world, one that has stumped the world’s greatest scholars and codebreakers.

The Voynich Manuscript, a mysterious tome discovered in 1912 by the English book dealer Wilfrid Michael Voynich, has puzzled scholars for a century. A small six inches by nine inches, but over two hundred pages long, with odd illustrations of plants, astrological diagrams, and naked women, it is written in so indecipherable a language and contains so complicated a code that mathematicians, book collectors, linguists, and historians alike have yet to solve the mysteries contained within. However, in The Friar and the Cipher, the acclaimed bibliophiles and historians Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone describe, in fascinating detail, the theory that Roger Bacon, the noted thirteenth-century, pre-Copernican astronomer, was its author and that the perplexing alphabet was written in his hand. Along the way, they explain the many proposed solutions that scholars have put forth and the myriad attempts at labeling the manuscript's content, from Latin or Greek shorthand to Arabic numerals to ancient Ukrainian to a recipe for the elixir of life to good old-fashioned gibberish. As we journey across centuries, languages, and countries, we meet a cast of impassioned characters and case-crackers, including, of course, Bacon, whose own personal scientific contributions, Voynich author or not, were literally and figuratively astronomical.

The Friar and the Cipher is a wonderfully entertaining and historically wide-ranging book that is one part The Code Book, one part Possession, and one part The Da Vinci Code—and will appeal to bibliophiles and laypeople alike.

Customer Reviews:

Good read, misleading title.......2007-08-06

As most other reviewers have stated, the book title is misleading.

The buildup to Roger Bacon and the manuscript is the first 200 of the total of 300 pages. Then there is a rush to squeeze in the ending.

It would have been nice to have more details about current attempts to read the manuscript.

Otherwise, it is actually a very easy and enjoyable book to read.

The good, the bad and the misleading.......2007-02-19

Without a doubt, this book is the most difficult to rate of any I have reviewed so far. The book is advertised as a tale of Roger Bacon and the Voynich Manuscript, both fascinating topics. But as previous reviewers have noted, the authors frequently go off on tangents, presumably in an effort to provide added context. Some of these digressions are riveting; some are distracting. I skipped several pages and even a whole chapter without losing any of the storyline. More than once I found myself asking, "How does this relate to Roger Bacon or the Voynich Manuscript?" The authors do eventually tie everything back to one of those subjects, but seldom with an economy of words.

I appreciated the conversational style the authors used in telling the story. Their flippant tone, on the other hand, made me wince. Think Thomas Cahill-type narrative without the pleasant aftertaste.

Ulimately, what soured me on this book was the apparent ax the authors have to grind with the Catholic Church and the degree to which it infected their writing. On page 42, they write that scholasticism "matured into the most powerful tool for maintaining and perpetuating doctrine that the Church had ever seen." The scholastics "remained uninterested in uncovering new knowledge, only in cementing the unlikely but now solid bond between Aristotle's logic and the Bible's revelation." That's pure, unvarnished B.S. Please compare those statements with the following:

"It is difficult to arrive at a satisfactory definition of Scholasticism that would apply to all the thinkers to whom the label has been affixed. ... The Scholastics, by and large, were committed to the use of reason as an indispensable tool in theological and philosophical study, and to dialectic ... as the method of pursuing issues of intellectual interest." (Thomas E. Woods Jr., "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, p. 58)

"What made it possible for Western civilization to develop science and the social sciences in a way that no other civilization had ever done before? The answer, I am convinced, lies in a pervasive and deep-seated inquiry that was a natural consequence of the emphasis on reason that began in the Middle Ages. ... It was quite natural for scholars ... to probe into subject areas that had not been explored before, as well as to discuss possibilities that had not previously been entertained." (Edward Grant, "God and Reason in the Middle Ages" p. 356)

The Goldstones argue passionately that Roger Bacon got hosed and history never gave him his due. That's probably true. But their cri de coeur glosses over the fact that, slight or no slight, Roger Bacon was a monk and therefore a committed adherent to Catholicism. Also noteworthy is that Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II is glorified in this book, which stands in stark contrast to his portrayal by at least one modern biographer. In short, if you'd like an at-times-gripping detective story/biography and an introduction to a plethora of historical luminaries, cherry pick from this book. If you are committed to learning the truth, get both sides and take "The Friar and The Cipher" with a bushel of salt.

Strange Book.......2006-12-31

The book is about a manuscript discovered in 1918. It is a fascinating manuscript written in a complicated cipher with eclectic illustrations in the margins. The most likely author of this manuscript is Roger Bacon. The authors then spend most of the book putting Roger Bacon in his cultural milieu and summarizing intellectual history in Western Europe until the 20th century. Don't get me wrong, they tell the story in a fun way, but they don't even mention the manuscript again until page 200. Then the authors detail a very tentative hypothesis of how the book ended up where it did. The authors can not even state with certainty whether this manuscript is Bacon's or not. They used words like "probably" or " most likely." I became bored. The authors tell an okay story, the story is well paced or even too fast, they obviously know history, but when it becomes apparent this is all conjecture, I lost interest. They simplify the history too much. They strain to make the scholasticism of Aquinas and the scientific method of the Bacons (Roger and and later Francis) the major conflict in the intellectual history of mankind. I didn't buy all their conclusions and commentary.

In other words, they cover far too much: too much history and too much philosophy. They did not spend enough time on the manuscript. I felt cheated. The title is very misleading.

Is this about philosophy or about a book?.......2006-03-29

Don't you hate it when a book description isn't completely accurate? While I wouldn't necessarily say that's true in the case of Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone's The Friar and the Cipher, it does come very close. Ostensibly, the book is about the Voynich Manuscript, a document that has never been deciphered and which many believe was written by the noted thinker Roger Bacon, who lived in the thirteenth century. There has been a lot of controversy about this manuscript and its possible authorship, with many people believing that there's no way that Roger Bacon could have written it, or that it must be a hoax. It appears to be in some sort of code with strange illustrations in the margins. And yes, the book does discuss the great debate about this, detailing the many attempts to decode it and the many theories about who might have written it. Was it all a hoax committed by a friend of John Dee, Queen Elizabeth's trusted advisor, back in the late sixteenth century?

Of course, the problem is that this debate begins on page 223 of the edition I have. The book runs just over 300 pages, which presents kind of a problem. The rest of the book is a history of Western thought and the constant struggle between science and religion in the Middle Ages, when the Catholic church was all-powerful. It gives a very detailed history of Roger Bacon, supposedly to give the background to the debate on the manuscript. It also details his philosophical adversaries, as well as demonstrating how Europe came out of the Dark Ages due to the rediscovery of some of Aristotle's works. In fact, the book goes all the way back to Aristotle himself, and his differences with Plato.

All of this is fascinating stuff, and if you're in the mood for a discourse on logical thought and its struggles to get through religious dogma, then this book is definitely for you. I know I enjoyed it immensely. I just wish it had been better advertised as such. It covered a lot of ground that I was slightly familiar with, yet for which I had no real details. The Saracen empire was stretching into Spain at this point, and many of its scholars were well aware of Aristotle and his ideas of Logic. In fact, many of these scholars faced their own persecution from conservative Imams and other Moslem leaders, as the Goldstones show us in this book. As Europeans began to push back against this invasion, parts of Spain were recaptured, and these Moslem studies of Aristotle began to spread over Europe.

The Gladstones do a really effective job in giving this history in a concise, yet detailed format. I never felt like they were glossing over anything and I found these sections extremely valuable. If you've studied Western philosophy or the history of the Dark Ages, than this may not be new to you, but I found it intriguing. The authors then give a short history of the Dominican and the Franciscan orders of the Church, and how opposed to each other they were. They give the story of Francis of Assissi and how the Franciscans were formed, as well as the Dominicans and their noted scholar, Thomas Aquinas, and they discuss the university system as it existed in Europe at the time. Then they begin to delve deeply into Roger Bacon's biography. That's when the focus of the book begins to shift. However, it doesn't move that far at first. They use the differences between Thomas' thought and Bacon's to highlight the differences between those using Aristotle's logic and those using Church dogma, and it's a very enlightening section of the book.

Finally, we get to the manuscript itself, and where it may have gone (as it disappears from history periodically). Unfortunately, this is where the book really begins to drag. We are given fairly detailed passages on cryptology as many twentieth-century cryptologists try to decode the manuscript. I found I was much more interested in the discussions on Western thought than I was in the decoding of the manuscript, especially after remembering that nobody has ever solved the riddle. Some of these stories are interesting, but I found my interest flagging as I read about what happened to these various people.

Which brings me to the ultimate problem with this book and how it was marketed (and even titled). The Friar and the Cipher is a wonderful book on Western philosophy. However, there's nothing really new in the book when it comes to the manuscript. It doesn't take sides in the controversy, only saying that it seems likely that Bacon did write it. They raise questions, but they don't really provide anything new to anybody who has any knowledge of the subject. The book seems to be a way to gather a bunch of different sources into one volume, sort of a "this is where we're at" kind of thing.

It also is almost a love letter to Roger Bacon. They ferociously defend him against any of his critics who claim he wasn't what his fans make him out to be. He has come in for a lot of criticism over the years, and the Goldstones bring it all up and knock it down. Who's right and who's wrong is not for me to judge, as this is my first exposure to Bacon. However, one positive aspect of this defense is that they do acknowledge that the criticism *could* be right, but that it's misplaced. Bacon may not have been the leading light his fans make him out to be, but it was his methods that made him special, regardless of the ideas themselves. And perhaps that could be a defense of the book as well. The Friar and the Cipher may not be as special as it could be regarding the Voynich manuscript, but the method of getting there is extremely well done.

David Roy

Middle Ages' Unsolved Literary Mystery..........2005-10-19

The 13th century was one of the most productive in the history of human knowledge. Instead of relying strictly on the word of the Bible, scholars translated Greek classics, the best minds theorized about the power of natural science by drawing hypothesis and testing them with experiments. We think of that time as composed of "knights in chain-mail hoods and crosses on their chests in tournaments and plodding through dark forests on their way to Jerusaleum or Camelot." It as a time of monks, saints, piety, barbarity and ignorance.

Travel on the European continent 'improved with the widening of roads to accomodate oxcarts after the Dark Ages,' the most significant technological advance in history. Oxford became a town in the 10th century when a wall was built as a defense and for protection of the inhabitants. In 1167, the small walled town in the rolling countryside became a favorite of Henry II. It became a university town when Henry forbade English students from crossing the Channel to attend school.

Roger Bacon went to school in 1228 at the Univesity of Paris in the City of Lights. "The Italians have the Papacy, the Germans had the Empire, and the French have the learning." Bacon's decision to learn all that was 'knowable' so he followed in Thomas la Becket's shoes to seek the source of knowledge available at that time. A difficult problem for Bacon was Aristotle's notion of the "eternity of time" -- he was unable to reconcile Aristotle to Christianity without corrupting the philosopher's words. Albert Mgnus would remain his enemy until the day he died, but it sas Albert's protege, Thomas Acquinas, and his rejection of "experimental science" which would bring about the ruin of Roger Bacon.

The photo section of Bacon's handwritten and illustrated in living color of his OPUS MAJUS shows his most detailed hypothesis of 'optical science.' Along with botany, optics was probably the most advanced science of the Middle Ages. Moral philosophy was the highest of the sciences, that to which the proper exercise of the other sciences led. It "teaches us to lay down the laws and obligations of life and to believe and approve so that man can act and live according to these laws."

He was a lucid and passionate writer, and many of his manuscripts have been translated from the Latin into English, the universal language of the twenty-first century. The ultimate value os his works was in approach and point of view. David Lindberg has recently published ROGER BACON'S PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE: A CRITICAL EDITION OF DE MULTIPLICATIONE SPECIERUM AND DE SPECULIS COMBURENTIBUS.

Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone have collaborated on OUT OF THE FLAMES, USED AND RARE, SLIGHTLY CHIPPED, and WARMLY INSCRIBED. Lawrence wrote solo, RIGHTS and OFF-LINE while Nancy has written BAD BUSINESS and TRADING UP (for women).

Book Description

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Government Finance Review, published by Government Finance Officers Association on June 1, 1994. The length of the article is 500 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Land Conservation Through Public/Private Partnerships. (book reviews)
Author: James D. Tinsley
Publication: Government Finance Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 1994
Publisher: Government Finance Officers Association
Volume: v10 Issue: n3 Page: p52(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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