Africa Doesn't Matter by Giles Bolton - Book Review

Africa Doesn't Matter: How the West Has Failed the Poorest Continent and What We Can Do About It.
Giles Bolton 2007
Arcade Publishing, NY

A long time ago I was introduced to Chomsky. His scholarship is impressive, his arguments are strong, but after reading a couple of his texts I thought to myself, "What do I gain from reading more of the same sad story about the influence of power in human affairs?" Chomsky left me frustrated because while he can powerfully articulate an argument and raise many important issues, he does not seem to proffer any real solutions to the problems he raises. Perhaps I am wrong about that, perhaps I have forgotten his prescriptions for action, but I am pleased to report that Giles Bolton does make a genuine and fruitful effort to put forward solutions and attitudes we can adopt to help recover the cradle of humanity.

Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation into Civilisation's End

Book Review: Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation into Civilisation's End.
Lawrence E. Joseph.
Broadway Books, New York, 2007

I find this a perplexing text. So many new ideas from so many different sources. The author traveled around the world to interview scientists, psychics, Mayan ancestors, and various individuals ranging from shamans to mystics. It would take me far too long to investigate all the claims in this text. Other reviews on this text indicated a mixture of respect and caution in judging this text. There are errors, there must be errors, but there is enough solid material in this text to leave me interested.

The first two thirds of the text are an entertaining read. The author employs an easy reading style that doesn't become too technical and bogged down. Thankfully the text is not alarmist or written as if being some great document of revelation. He quotes the relevant individuals, he puts forward their ideas clearly and without editorialising their statements.

The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century

The Modern Mind: An intellectual history of the 20th Century
Peter Watson
Perennial, London, 2001

Links:

Amazon
Wiki entry on the author


This work is a remarkable scholarly achievement. The author admits he cannot cover in detail all the relevant ideas of the last century yet he does an excellent job in providing the reader with a sweeping panorama of 20th century thought.

The writing is lucid and entertaining, though at times I found some of the material covered tedious. That is to be expected, a coverage of this extent is bound to leave the individual reader with pages tedious to read. That is not the author's fault, it is just a function of human behavior. This is a valulable text, one that should be read in its entirety and then kept handy as a reference source.

Re inventing Gravity: a Physicist Goes Beyond Einstein

Physics is something I read for fun because I'm too ignorant to analyse it. I love it though, the research is fascinating and hats off to the physicists who labor so hard and long to uncover the mysteries of the universe.

For a preview of this work you can refer to this website of Prof Moffat.

Full credit to John Moffat for presenting very complex arguments in a highly accessible literary style that kept me going at a cracking pace. The man is not only a brilliant intellectual but an excellent communicator. If you are not familiar with the issues concerning gravity you will find this text difficult but if you are someone like myself who has held a life long fascination with physics and cosmology you'll find this text to be a hoot of a read.