Herbert, Frank, Dune, New English Library 1972 Jacket: 'Dune is the finest, most widely acclaimed science fiction novel of this century. Huge in scope, towering in concept, it is a work which will live in the reader's imagination for the rest of his life.'back

Sacks, Oliver, Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, Vintage 2002 Amazon editorial review From Publishers Weekly 'Sacks, a neurologist perhaps best known for his books Awakenings (which became a Robin Williams/Robert De Niro vehicle) and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, invokes his childhood in wartime England and his early scientific fascination with light, matter and energy as a mystic might invoke the transformative symbolism of metals and salts. The "Uncle Tungsten" of the book's title is Sacks's Uncle Dave, who manufactured light bulbs with filaments of fine tungsten wire, and who first initiated Sacks into the mysteries of metals. The author of this illuminating and poignant memoir describes his four tortuous years at boarding school during the war, where he was sent to escape the bombings, and his profound inquisitiveness cultivated by living in a household steeped in learning, religion and politics (both his parents were doctors and his aunts were ardent Zionists). But as Sacks writes, the family influence extended well beyond the home, to include the groundbreaking chemists and physicists whom he describes as "honorary ancestors, people to whom, in fantasy, I had a sort of connection." Family life exacted another transformative influence as well: his older brother Michael's psychosis made him feel that "a magical and malignant world was closing in about him," perhaps giving a hint of what led the author to explore the depths of psychosis in his later professional life. For Sacks, the onset of puberty coincided with his discovery of biology, his departure from his childhood love of chemistry and, at age 14, a new understanding that he would become a doctor. Many readers and patients are happy with that decision. (Oct.)Forecast: This book is as well-written as Sacks's earlier works, and should get fans engrossed in the facts of his life and opinions. Look for an early spike on the strength of his name, and strong sales thereafter.' Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. 
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Bucur, Bogdan G, "Exegesis of Bibical Theophanies in Byzantine Hymnography: Rewritten Bible?", Theological Studies, 68, 1, 2007, page 92-112. 'This arrticle discusses the intepretation of biblical theophanies in Byzantine hymns associated with the so-called Improperia tradition. After presenting the exegesis of specific theophanies as exemplified in hymns, the author argues that this type of exegesis is difficult to frame within the categories commonly used to describe patristic exegesis. He suggests that patristic scholars should instead consider the category "Rewritten Bible" current among scholars of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.'. back

Knill, E, et al, "An algorithmic benchmark for quantum information processing", Nature, 6776, 404, 23 March 2000, page 368-370. Letters to Nature: 'Here we report an experimental relaisation of an algorithmic benchmark using an NMR technique that involves coherent manipulation of seven qubits'. back

Knill, E, "Quantum computing with realistically noisy devices", Nature, 434, 7029, 3 March 2005, page 39-44. 'In theory, quantum computers offer a means of solving problems that would be intractable on conventional computers. Assuming that a quantum computer could be constructed, it would in practice be required to function with noisy devices called 'gates'. These gates cause decoherence of the fragile quantum states that are central to the computer's operation. The goal of so-called 'fault tolerant quantum computing' is therefore to compure accurately, even when the error probability per gate (EPG) is high. Here we report a simple architecture for failt-tolerant computing, providing evidence that accurate quantum computing is possible for EPGs as high as three per cent. Such EPGs have been experimentally demonstrated, but to avoid excessive resource overheads required by the necessary architecture, lower EPGs are needed. Assuming the availability of quantum resources comparable to the digital resources available in today's computers, we show that non-trivial quantum computations at EPGs of as high as one percent could be implemented.' . back

Darrin Durant, Servant or partner? The role of expertise and knowledge in democracy, 'A partner role for experts in democracy tolerates some “leakage” across functional domains. That leakage operates both ways, with experts influencing citizens and citizens influencing experts, leaving room for mutual persuasion in a way that the handmaiden role struggles to do. The partner role for experts in democracy is thus the only viable candidate to form the basis for a Goldilocks principle of “just enough” expertise.' back

David Keys, Alchemy, flushing toiets and blood letting: The secrets of medieval Oxford revealed, 'However, the Franciscans and their Dominican colleagues and rivals introduced a new emphasis on theology in the curriculum which in turn led to the teaching of advanced philosophy, physics, natural history, geology and even optics. At that stage, theology was viewed as the most ultra-modern cutting-edge intellectual discipline – and was even dubbed “the Queen of the sciences”. The friars used theology and the contents of the Bible as a way into all those other disciplines.' back

The Names of Love - Wikipedia, The Names of Love - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Names of Love (French: Le Nom des gens) is a 2010 French romantic comedy film directed by Michel Leclerc, written by Leclerc and Baya Kasmi, and produced by Antoine Rein, Fabrice Goldstein and Caroline Adrian. The film recorded 764,821 admissions in Europe. The film was awarded two César Awards in 2011, including Best Actress for Sara Forestier and Best Original Screenplay.' back

Katie Foster, People who watch porn more than once a week become more religious over time, study finds, 'Samuel Perry analysed data from more than 1,300 Americans over a six-year period to find out how watching pornography affects religious belief over time. “Those who used pornography at the highest frequencies seemed to be more religious in terms of prayer frequency and worship attendance than those who used pornography at more moderate levels,” Dr Perry told The Independent.' back

Melissa Davey, Victoria to abolish 'Ellis defence' that protects church assets from abuse victim claims, ' “These Victorian reforms, combined with abolishing the statute of limitations, means guaranteeing victims that they will have an entity to sue,” [Dr Judy] Courtin said. “It provides victims with the same right to access courts as everyone else in the community. It has taken a royal commission, state inquiries, and hundreds of suicides and stuffed lives to get here, but it’s fantastic that the churches have finally lost their battle.” ' back

Natural theology - Wikipedia, Natural theology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Natural theology, once also termed physico-theology, is a type of theology that provides arguments for the existence of God based on reason and ordinary experience of nature. This distinguishes it from revealed theology, which is based on scripture and/or religious experiences, and also from transcendental theology, which is based on a priori reasoning. Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BC – 27 BC) established a distinction between political theology (the social functions of religion), natural theology and mythical theology. His terminology became part of the Stoic tradition and then Christianity through St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.' back

Philip Almond, The Vatican, the exorcists and the return of the dei in a time of enchantment, 'Why the sudden increase in possession by the Devil? Palilla attributes it to an increase in practices that “open the door to the Devil” – such as people seeking out wizards and fortune tellers, reading tarot cards, and generally dabbling in magic and the occult. All this seems rather odd coming out of a Vatican under the reign of the apparently “modern” Pope Francis. Yet, while the pope is socially progressive, he is theologically quite conservative. The Devil is a real person, “armed with dark powers”, he declared in a television interview in December 2017.' back

Psychophysics, Psychophysics.space: an introduction to the intelligent universe, 'This essay is dedicated to all people who see our world as a living, intelligent organism to be loved and respected as we love and respect our gods and ourselves. ' back

Psychophysics - Wikipedia, Psychophysics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Psychophysics quantitatively investigates the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they produce. Psychophysics has been described as "the scientific study of the relation between stimulus and sensation"[1] or, more completely, as "the analysis of perceptual processes by studying the effect on a subject's experience or behaviour of systematically varying the properties of a stimulus along one or more physical dimensions".' back

Shahin Heidari, Saeed Seif Mohammedi, Amandeep Singh Oberoi, John Andrews, Technical feasibility of a proton battery with an activated carbon electrode, 'Highlights •A ‘proton battery’ with a carbon electrode is shown to be technically feasible. •A proton battery stores hydrogen in atomic rather than molecular gaseous form. •The storage electrode was made from activated carbon soaked in acid. •This experimental battery stored nearly 1 wt% hydrogen in charge mode. •In discharge mode, 0.8 wt% hydrogen was released, indicating high reversibility.' back