History: Fiction or Science? Dating methods as offered by mathematical statistics. Eclipses and zodiacs. Chronology Vol.I

Product Description

History: Fiction or Science? is the most explosive tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by solid scientific data. The book is well-illustrated, contains over 446 graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays, which never cease to amaze the reader. Eminent mathematician proves that: Jesus Christ was born in 1153 and crucified in 1186 The Old Testament refers to mediaeval events. Apocalypse was written after 1486. Does this sound uncanny? This version of events is substantiated by hard facts and logic - validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources - to a greater extent than everything you may have read and heard about history before. The dominating historical discourse in its current state was essentially crafted in the XVI century from a rather contradictory jumble of sources such as innumerable copies of ancient Latin and Greek manuscripts whose originals had vanished in the Dark Ages and the allegedly irrefutable proof offered by late mediaeval astronomers, resting upon the power of ecclesial authorities. Nearly all of its components are blatantly untrue! For some of us, it shall possibly be quite disturbing to see the magnificent edifice of classical history to turn into an ominous simulacrum brooding over the snake pit of mediaeval politics. Twice so, in fact: the first seeing the legendary millenarian dust on the ancient marble turn into a mere layer of dirt - one that meticulous unprejudiced research can eventually remove. The second, and greater, attack of unease comes with the awareness of just how many areas of human knowledge still trust the three elephants of the consensual chronology to support them. Nothing can remedy that except for an individual chronological revolution happening in the minds of a large enough number of people.

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.

Tax Systems and Tax Reforms in Europe (Routledge Studies in the Modern World Economy, 42)

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Tax Systems and Tax Reforms in Europe (Routledge Studies in the Modern World Economy, 42)
Luigi Bernardi
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0415322510

Book Description

The last decade has seen important changes taking place in the tax regimes of many European countries. A comprehensive picture of what is happening in European fiscal systems has not been easy to find--until now.
This comprehensive volume provides an impressive analysis of tax systems and tax reforms in varous European countries including France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. With a preface from Vito Tanzi and an impressive range of contributions, the book identifies and analyzes the main common forces that drive fiscal reforms such as globalization, European reunification and fiscal federalism.
This impressive book will be of great interest not only to academics interested in international finance and fiscal studies but also to those professionals involved in the financial sectors across the world.

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Tax Systems and Tax Reforms in Europe
Luigi (EDT)/ Profeta, Paola (EDT) Bernardi
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N6BU2I

Customer Reviews:

Bio Booster Armor Guyver Dark Masters.......2000-03-24

Bio Booster Armor Guyver Dark Masters contains a gripping storyline and awesome graphics. One of the best books by Yoshiki Takaya I know. It coincides with the rest of the Graphic Novels. Namely the first two before it, Bio Booster Armor Guyver and Bio Booster Armor Guyver Revenge of Chronos. Which are both incredible as well. If anyone wants to see a classic Japanesse Graphic Novel with a great story and art. I would suggest Bio Booster Armor Guyver to everyone.

Book Description

Allegories of Telling: Self-Referential Narrative in Contemporary British Fiction has as its founding premise Ross Chambers's notion that "one of the important powers of fiction is its power to theorize the act of storytelling in and through the act of storytelling." In this critical study, Lynn Wells presents detailed readings of novels by five prominent British authors - John Fowles, Angela Carter, Graham Swift, A.S. Byatt and Salman Rushdie - with an emphasis on how the texts' self-referential aspects illuminate the acts of reading and writing fiction in contemporary Britain and, by extension, around the world. The book begins by situating contemporary British fiction historically as the product of an "aesthetics of compromise" arising from the "realism versus experimentalism" debate that consumed the English literary establishment during the 1960s. In her discussion of the texts, Lynn Wells then draws on a wide range of theoretical approaches, from narrative and psychoanalytic theory to existentialist philosophy and the historiographic ideas of thinkers such as Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault and Giambattista Vico. These original readings challenge superficial "postmodern" interpretations of contemporary British fiction as pessimistically anti-historical, and reassert the value of readerly engagement and narrative reconstruction of the past.

Book Description

From the earliest Puritan displays of piety and rectitude to the present-day epidemic of staged school massacres, the history of America has been characterized by a dual impulse: to cast public event and character as high drama, and to dismiss theater and theatricalization as un-American, even evil. This book rethinks American history as theater, and theater as the ethos and substance of American life, ironically repudiated at every turn by the culture it produces.

Beginning with the writings of John Winthrop and others, through the Federalist and "romantic" stages of American cultural life, and into the modern and contemporary periods, Anthony Kubiak finds an America not usually discovered by traditional or materialist approaches to history. He deploys the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan, the cultural theory of SlavojZizek, and the performance theory of Herbert Blau in an unparalleled reappraisal of dominant American identity, culture, and history.

Anthony Kubiak is Associate Professor of English, University of South Florida. He is also author of Stages of Terror: Terrorism, Ideology, and Coercion as Theatre History.

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Easy and Complete Coverage on the Dragon

The best book ever on the Dragon

Winning With the Sicilian Dragon 2: A Complete Repertoire Against 1 e4 For the Attacking Player
Chris Ward
Manufacturer: Batsford
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Play the Sicilian Dragon

Winning With the Dragon (Batsford Chess Library)

Easy Guide to the Dragon

Anti-Sicilians: A Guide for Black

Starting Out:The Sicilian Dragon (Starting Out - Everyman Chess)

ASIN: 0713482362

Customer Reviews:

Easy and Complete Coverage on the Dragon.......2003-03-13

This book has just the right mix of theory and analysis as well as tactical themes. Unlike some books (such as The Complete Dragon and Ultimate Dragon by Gufeld and Stetsko) this book focuses primarily on white systems against the Dragon and offers one or two systems against each of White's systems. It also covers early deviations once the basic Dragon position has been reached (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cd4 4. Nd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6). It includes some brilliant wins by Black (which is what the reader should strive to emulate) as well as some examples of Black players underestimating the potential strength of White's kingside attack.

There is even a section on anti-Sicilians which help the reader to find lines in which play is similar to that of the Dragon so that the reader does not have to sift through pages of an opening reference to find an antidote.

All in all, a great buy for players looking to add the Dragon to their repertoire.

The best book ever on the Dragon.......2002-05-29

Chris Ward is an expert on the Dragon. This is the second edition of the book and he has other publications on the subject, at least one video and a website where paying customers get his latest analysis. Above all he has the incredible ability to present the Dragon in all its beauty. Chris style is original, funny and makes learning the Dragon a pleasure.

This book presents complete sample games on each variation and there is an index at the end with the opening tree. One caveat: the book does not deal with the anti-Sicilians. For that you need to look elsewhere. Chris only presents a few pages on this subject and as soon as the word gets out that you are a strong Dragon player, guess what? Your opponents start playing the closed Sicilian or an anti-Sicilian. I hope on the third edition he takes a deeper look on this issue.

If you only buy one book on the Dragon, get this one.

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An inspiring book.

Winning With The Dragon
Chris Ward
Manufacturer: Batsford
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Play the King's Indian: A Complete Repertoire for Black in this most Dynamic of Openings

Play the Sicilian Dragon

Easy Guide to the Dragon

Mastering the Najdorf

Kings Indian Battle Plan

ASIN: 0713472103

Customer Reviews:

An inspiring book........2000-05-06

Ward writes with humor, yet his explanations are lucid and insightful. If you don't play the Dragon but want to, this is the book to get.

Book Description

The majestic natural beauty of the Himalaya Mountains has inspired awe and religious devotion in people around the world for millennia. With thirty peaks rising over 25,000 feet (7,620 meters) -- including Everest and Kanchenzonga, the world's highest and third-highest peaks -- the Himalaya dwarf all other mountain ranges. Sprawling 2,700 kilometers across India, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan, the Himalaya possess an abundance of ecological niches, from subtropical to arctic climates, and support vast quantities of flora and fauna -- more than 650 varieties of orchids thrive in the wet mountain region of Sikkim alone. In the valleys, a surprising number of tenacious peoples have over centuries carved out diverse cultures in the harsh mountain environment.

Although seemingly timeless, the Himalaya are anything but unchanging. The mountains themselves continue to grow an average of one centimeter per year, with some peaks rising ten centimeters in a single year. More alarming are the profound environmental and cultural changes occurring throughout the region. In Himalaya: Life on the Edge of the World, David Zurick and P. P. Karan explore these dynamic changes through geological records, scientific reports, and official documents dating back over a century and through years of field research and travel which have given them an intimate knowledge of the landscape and people of the Himalaya. The authors provide a comprehensive natural history of the region from the birth of the Himalaya out of the tectonic disruptions beneath the primordial Tethys Sea to the variety of landforms, habitats, and climates seen today; a lively study of the peoples who make the mountains their home, tracing human history in the Himalaya back more than a thousand years; and an in-depth analysis of the relationship between nature and society in the Himalaya and the pressing problems of environmental degradation, explosive population growth, spiraling poverty, and globalization confronting the region and its people.

Challenging widely held assumptions about the current ecological crisis in the Himalaya -- that deforestation, for example, can be blamed exclusively on local villagers or that pollution and rampant resource exploitation occur uniformly throughout the range -- the authors detail a much more complex scenario in which the population explosion is only one of the many factors affecting the Himalayan landscape and in which some regions exhibit little of the environmental decline witnessed elsewhere. Himalaya also offers reasons for hope, documenting the success of wildlife preserves and national parks in protecting the region's fragile ecology, effective strategies of local environmental activists, the encouraging rise of ecotourism, and the introduction of both new and rediscovered techniques of sustainable agriculture. Thoroughly researched, engagingly written, and lavishly illustrated with helpful maps and evocative photographs, Himalaya provides a compelling account of the mountain range's natural history, cultural diversity, environmental predicament, and future survival.

Customer Reviews:

Myths and Realities of the Himalayan Environment.......2000-01-14

Zurick and Karan's book on the Himalaya is easily the best book in recent years focussing on the condition of the Himalayan environment. Instead of using evidence from a few small examples, usually villages scattered across the Himalaya from Pakistan to Assam, the authors invoke a meta analysis, an examination of many studies and especially data from the entire area. This technique avoids any instances of the universal fallacy, that is, generalizing from a few cases the characteristics of all.

The thematic focus is on what is called The Theory of Himalayan Degradation as it was constructed by the alarmists in the 1970s into the 1980s including the German ecologist H-C Reiger, earth scientists Bruno Messerli and Jack Ives, and journalists like Erik Eckolm, a sometime science editor of the NY Times. Much of this concern, that there is a widespread environmental catastrophe in the Himalaya, is still being promoted. Zurick and Karan, both human geographers who have have been studying the Himalaya for a total of sixty years, find in their analysis that the Himalayan environmental situation is highly variable, problems exist, but the basic scenario that overpopulation causes cultivated land expansion and deforestation of steep lands, thereby increasing erosion, and silt laden runoff deposited downstream, is overly simplistic.

The authors review a large number of field studies and data sets across the Himalaya and through cartographic analysis to demonstrate that the current status of the Himalayan environment is diverse. Through a series of seven intensive regional studies, in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan the authors demonstrate the contemporary environmental status. Factors such as historical land tenure systems, trading routes, border closings, road building and migration all play critical roles in influencing environmental perturbation.

For anyone interested in the Himalaya the book is well worth reading. The authors provide contextual photographs, copius notes to the chapters, and the very first published set of maps of Himalayan districts accompanied by tabular material on 100-year population, agricultural and forest data. The introductory chapters will provide the general reader with a good background to Himalayan habitat and society. I highly recommend it.

Nigel J. R. Allan, author/editor, Human Impact on Mountains; Mountains at Risk: Current Issues in Environmental Studies; Karakorum Himalaya: A Bibliography.

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HIMALAYA: Life on the Edge of the World.(Review): An article from: The Geographical Review
Nanda Shrestha
Manufacturer: American Geographical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008JCF56
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Geographical Review, published by American Geographical Society on October 1, 2000. The length of the article is 1265 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: HIMALAYA: Life on the Edge of the World.(Review)
Author: Nanda Shrestha
Publication: The Geographical Review (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 2000
Publisher: American Geographical Society
Volume: 90 Issue: 4 Page: 650

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Himalaya: Life on the Edge of the World
David; Karan, Pradyumna P. Zurick
Manufacturer: Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OLXWPK

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Avatars of the Word comments on the intersection of the history of written word and the explosion of cyberspace. Crafted with a meandering, laconic style, James O'Donnell wittily juxtaposes the modern and ancient.

Take, for example, the concept of the "virtual library." "The dream of the virtual library comes forward now not because it promises an exciting future," O'Donnell writes, "but because it promises a future that will be just like the past only faster and better." As children, many of us were raised with the sanctity of the library--the quietness, the beauty, the celebration of language, and the idea that this institution provides complete access to the "scarce resource" of information.

O'Donnell demonstrates that a future repository for knowledge cannot be based on the model of the "codex" (the first recognizable form for the traditional published book). Instead, we will be in a community where information is decentralized, no longer dependent on a finite circle of publishers. The importance of this shift can't be understated: countries base economics on centralized institutions, and--just as importantly--these places have psychological sway within us as keepers of our common humanity.

Unlike other authors who want to comment on the influence of the World Wide Web, O'Donnell--a professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania--has a sound foundation with which to validate his theories. He grounds his assertions in the writings of philosophers from Sophocles to Derrida. Proposing his ideas with light humor and elegance, O'Donnell releases recent technological developments from their current clichéd context. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Book Description

The written word has been a central bearer of culture since antiquity. But its position is now being challenged by the powerful media of electronic communication. In this penetrating and witty book James O'Donnell takes a reading on the promise and the threat of electronic technology for our literate future.

In Avatars of the Word O'Donnell reinterprets today's communication revolution through a series of refracted comparisons with earlier revolutionary periods: the transition from oral to written culture, from the papyrus scroll to the codex, from copied manuscript to print. His engaging portrayals of these analogous epochal moments suggest that our steps into cyberspace are not as radical as we might think. Observing how technologies of the word have affected the shaping of culture in the past, and how technological transformation has been managed, we regain models that can help us navigate the electronic transformation now underway. Concluding with a focus on the need to rethink the modern university, O'Donnell specifically addresses learning and teaching in the humanities, proposing ways to seek the greatest benefit from electronic technologies while steering clear of their potential pitfalls.

Customer Reviews:

History of the written word.......2006-03-12

In his "Management Challenges for the 21st Century", Peter Drucker suggests that "Everybody today believes that the present Information Revolution is unprecedented in reducing the cost of, and in the spreading of, information-whether measured by the cost of a "byte" or by computer ownership-and in the speed and sweep of its impact. These beliefs are simply nonsense."

"Avatars of the Word" puts meat on these bones. For instance, it teaches that the flavor of modern opinions about digital preservation and authenticity-that these are better served by printed works on paper than by digital objects copied from place to place in computer networks-is hardly new. This has eerie similarities to 16th-century opinions about the transition from hand-written copies on parchment to versions printed on paper. Trithemius argued that paper would be short-lived and that hand-written versions were preferable for their quality and because they eliminated the risk that printed inauthenticities and errors would mislead people because all copies would be identical.

From the dawn of civilization to the Internet .......2005-06-03

At first I couldn't imagine how someone specializing in Middle English History could have anything cogent to say about the Internet. To my surprise O'Donnell has a lot to say and he says it well in a tightly crafted book that takes the reader from the dawn of civilization to the present.

Contrary to another reviewer's comments, I found the predictive portions of the book well thought-out and insightful. With each past shift in information transmission, the world has undergone huge upheavals. We can expect no less as the paradigm shift of the Internet makes its impact felt in the decades to come.

Stay tuned...

A Bracing Conversation on the Future!.......2001-09-23

J. J. O'Donnell is one those scholars whose learning is assumed rather than displayed. As a result, his brief approach to the long-terms effects of the computer revolution on reading and higher education feels like a bracing, sophisticated exchange of ideas. Like conversation, O'Donnell's thesis is not terribly unified or orderly. He often makes sidetracks from his focus on high technology and literacy into explaining such interesting things as how we choose our cultural ancestry instead of merely evolving out of it, the errors of current education, and perhaps more than you ever wanted to know about other avatars of the word such as St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and Cassiodorus. Great cover too.

O'Donnell is uniquely suited to write such a book and to indulge in such digressions. He is Professor of Classical Studies but also Vice Provost for Information Systems and Computing at the University of Pennsylvania. His purpose is to compare the transformation already begun within the electronic medium to earlier transformations such as those from oral to written culture in ancient Greece, the papyrus scroll to the codex manuscript, and the codex to the printed book. ... O'Donnell proclaims that interactive `hypertext' was the original form of written communication. In fact, the book as a form of authorized mass communication has allowed individual and community freedoms to dissolve and centralized authority to legitimize itself. `Control over texts had brought control over people' (p. 37). Books will never disappear entirely, he prophesies, because of the public's love for a good, self-contained, often fictional narrative. Scholarly tomes, however, will lose their influence and the libraries which contain them will have to radically adapt: `In a world in which the library will cease to be a warehouse and become instead a software system, the value of the institution will lie in the sophistication, versatility, and power of its indexing and searching capacities' (p. 61).

The greatest change in store, then, will be in the manner in which scholarly research is undertaken and written up. `The traditional monograph, with its sustained linear argument, its extraordinarily high costs of publication and distribution, and its numerous inefficiencies of access, is beginning to look more and more like a great lumbering dinosaur' (p. 58). No single point of view will do in our electronic postmodern utopia. The author must die and so must the enclosure of singular line of argument and conclusions declared by one mind to which all the world is expected to accede. `Instead of publication that says "This is how it is," we have a form of public performance of scholarship that asks "What if it were this way?" Publication of this sort becomes a form of continuing seminar, and the performance is interactive, dialogic, and self-correcting' (p. 136).The next generation of scholars - who will have learned `disorientation' of their assumptions, according to O'Donnell - may be the ones to actually listen to and learn from each other.

The question of consciousness is only hinted at but O'Donnell's stance here falls somewhat short of postmodern. Though he understands the way we remember is largely determined by our culture and communication system, he still accepts human nature, that is, human consciousness, as essentially stable and guided by the simple - and singular - motivations which drove our ancestors: `Technology will do what it always does: provide tools. Those tools may eventually shape their owners, but they are always assuredly instruments with which their owners may pursue their own aims' (p. 148). It may be that in an electronically communal, de-authored culture, individual memory will lose its egocentric center (which others have understood as the postmodern condition). In this scenario, individual identity may either become fragmented or become, as Ricoeur suggested, mutualized as `oneself as another'. If this is the case, then writing, codices, books, and the computer may do more than act as tools. They may instead have altered and be continuing to alter the nature of our self-awareness - human consciousness itself.

Original, Well-Conceived and Well-Produced.......2001-07-27

This book I found very enjoyable. It connects the past and the present in a sensible and imaginative way. The dream of the virtual library is an ancient one, the author tells us. O'Donnell is knowledgeable about world history and about his particular Irish heritage. I enjoyed reading the chapter for academics very much. I think that many peopel will find this book engrossing and educational. Bravo O'Donell!

Interesting ideas in a mixed-up presentation.......2001-04-25

There are without a doubt some brilliant ideas in this book. However, reading the book is a bit like mining for precious ore, you have to go through a lot of uninteresting rocks to get to the good stuff.

It would appear that the author had some serious ideas he wanted to publish and chose book format as conventional and lucrative. However, the book is a mish-mash of ideas that don't necessarily string together to form anything like a cohesive argument or narrative. While this non-linear presentation works well in cyberspace, it is a frustrating thing to deal with in book format.

It is heartening that a classics professor would tackle a subject like the change from print to electronic technology. His comparisons between the coming of the Internet and the rise of the codex in late antiquity are interesting. He clearly "gets" the Internet and doesn't consider it the big bad book-slayer.

The author sprinkles in some of his theories on education, particularly post-secondary. He poses interesting questions but provides no answers to those questions about the purpose of post-secondary education in the modern world.

Some of the ideas presented were compelling, the style of the book was difficult to handle, and his final comparisons between himself and Cassiodorus were a bit much. I could only give it two stars.

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AVATARS OF THE WORD: FROM PAPYRUS TO CYBERSPACE.(Review) : An article from: American Scholar
Alex Soojung-kim Pang
Manufacturer: Phi Beta Kappa Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00098MWFE
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Scholar, published by Phi Beta Kappa Society on January 1, 1999. The length of the article is 2353 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: AVATARS OF THE WORD: FROM PAPYRUS TO CYBERSPACE.(Review)
Author: Alex Soojung-kim Pang
Publication: American Scholar (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 1999
Publisher: Phi Beta Kappa Society
Volume: 68 Issue: 1 Page: 136(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

AVATARS OF THE WORD: FROM PAPYRUS TO CYBERSPACE

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AVATARS OF THE WORD: FROM PAPYRUS TO CYBERSPACE
James J. O'Donnell
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NXI6NM

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The Everyday Science Sourcebook: Ideas for Teaching in the Elementary and Middle Schools/Ds09514
Lawrence F. Lowery
Manufacturer: Dale Seymour Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
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