Graves, Robert, Claudius the God and his Wife Messalina, Vintage:Vintage international 1989 'Picking up where the extraordinarily interesting I, Claudius ends, Claudius the God tells the tale of Claudius' 13-year reign as Emperor of Rome. Naturally, it ends when Claudius is murdered--believe me, it's not giving anything away to say this; the surprise is when someone doesn't get poisoned. While Claudius spends most of his time before becoming emperor tending to his books and his writings and trying to stay out of the general line of corruption and killings, his life on the throne puts him into the center of the political maelstrom.' 
Amazon   back

Hamid, Mohsin, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Penguin 2008 '"From the start, I was gripped...There's an almost delightful allegorical symmetry to the flow of events, as well as a sensuousness and finish that might belong to some other form of art: music, perhaps...Hamid manages marvellously well in creating a novel that's rendered entirely in terms of the spoken word, and governed by the shape of what's evaded or not uttered" '-- Amit Chaudhuri, London Review of Books 
Amazon   back

Illich, Ivan, Deschooling Society, Marion Boyars Publishers 2000 'Ivan Illich (4 September 1926 – 2 December 2002) was an Austrian philosopher, Roman Catholic priest, and "maverick social critic" of the institutions of contemporary Western culture and their effects on the provenance and practice of education, medicine, work, energy use, transportation, and economic development.' 
Amazon   back

Kauffman, Stuart, At Home in the Universe: The Search for Laws of Complexity, Oxford University Press 1995 Preface: 'As I will argue in this book, natural selection is important, but it has not laboured alone to craft the fine architectures of the biosphere . . . The order of the biological world, I have come to believe . . . arises naturally and spontaneously because of the principles of self organisation - laws of complexity that we are just beginning to uncover and understand.'  
Amazon   back

le Carre, John, A Small Town in Germany, Putnam 1968 Editorial review: 'A man is missing. Harting, refugee background, a Junior Something in the British Embassy in Bonn. Gone with him are forty-three files, all of them Confidential or above. It is vital that the Germans do not learn that Harting is missing, nor that there's been a leak. With radical students and neo-Nazis rioting and critical negotiations under way in Brussels, the timing could not be worse -- and that's probably not an accident. Alan Turner, London's security officer, is sent to Bonn to find the missing man and files as Germany's past, present, and future threaten to collide in a nightmare of violence.' 
Amazon   back

Locke, John, Two treatises on Government and a Letter Concerning Tolerationb, Digireads.com 2005 Amazon Product Description 'John Locke's "Two Treatises of Government" are considered to be some of the most important works of western philosophy ever written. In the first treatise Locke disputes the divine right of monarchial rule principle that is put forth in the book "Patriarcha" by Sir Robert Filmer. In the second treatise Locke sets forth the basic principles of natural law that lay the foundation for basic human rights and the government of man. Also contained within this volume is the shorter work, "A Letter Concerning Toleration." ' 
Amazon   back

Lonergan, Bernard J F, Insight: A Study of Human Understanding (Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan : Volume 3), University of Toronto Press 1992 '. . . Bernard Lonergan's masterwork. Its aim is nothing less than insight into insight itself, an understanding of understanding' 
Amazon   back

Nielsen, Michael A, and Isaac L Chuang, Quantum Computation and Quantum Information, Cambridge University Press 2000 Review: A rigorous, comprehensive text on quantum information is timely. The study of quantum information and computation represents a particularly direct route to understanding quantum mechanics. Unlike the traditional route to quantum mechanics via Schroedinger's equation and the hydrogen atom, the study of quantum information requires no calculus, merely a knowledge of complex numbers and matrix multiplication. In addition, quantum information processing gives direct access to the traditionally advanced topics of measurement of quantum systems and decoherence.' Seth Lloyd, Department of Quantum Mechanical Engineering, MIT, Nature 6876: vol 416 page 19, 7 March 2002. 
Amazon   back

O'Hara, John, BUtterfield 8, Modern Library 2003 Book Description: 'A bestseller upon its publication in 1935, BUtterfield 8 was inspired by a news account of the discovery of the body of a beautiful young woman washed up on a Long Island beach. Was it an accident, a murder, a suicide? The circumstances of her death were never resolved, but O’Hara seized upon the tragedy to imagine the woman’s down-and-out life in New York City in the early 1930s. “O’Hara understood better than any other American writer how class can both reveal and shape character,” Fran Lebowitz writes in her Introduction. With brash honesty and a flair for the unconventional, BUtterfield 8 lays bare the unspoken and often shocking truths that lurked beneath the surface of a society still reeling from the effects of the Great Depression. The result is a masterpiece of American fiction.' 
Amazon   back

Tomonaga, Sin-itiro, The Story of Spin, University of Chicago Press 1997 Jacket: 'The Story of Spin, as told by Sin-itiro Tomonaga and lovingly translated by Takeshi Oka, is a brilliant and witty account of the development of modern quantum theory, which takes electron spin as a pivotal concept. Reading these twelve lectures on the fundamental aspects of physics is a joyful experience that is rare indeed.' Laurie Brown, Northwestern University. 
Amazon   back

Wain, John, Samuel Johnson: A Biography, Macmillan 1980 Jacket: 'This universally acclaimed book, first published in 1974, is about every aspect of Samuel Johnson: a discussion of his ideas, a criticism of his writings, an historical placing of the man within the social and intellectual landscape of the day, and a personal story—above all a personal story. ... ' 
Amazon   back

Christopher Shields (Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), The Active Mind of De Anima III 5 , ' After characterizing the mind (nous) and its activities in De Animaiii 4, Aristotle takes a surprising turn. In De Anima iii 5, he introduces an obscure and hotly disputed subject: the active mind or active intellect (nous poiêtikos). Controversy surrounds almost every aspect of De Anima iii 5, not least because in it Aristotle characterizes the active mind—a topic mentioned nowhere else in his entire corpus—as ‘separate and unaffected and unmixed, being in its essence actuality’ (chôristos kai apathês kai amigês, tê ousia energeia; DA iii 5, 430a17–18) and then also as ‘deathless and everlasting’ (athanaton kai aidion; DA iii 5, 430a23). This comes as no small surprise to readers of De Anima, because Aristotle had earlier in the same work treated the mind (nous) as but one faculty (dunamis) of the soul (psuchê), and he had contended that the soul as a whole is not separable from the body (DA ii 1, 413a3–5). back

Cicisbeo - Wikipedia, Cicisbeo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In 18th- and 19th-century Italy, the cicisbeo , or Cavalier Servente, was the professed gallant and lover of a married woman, who attended her at public entertainments, to church and other occasions and had privileged access to his mistress.' back

Darren Curnoe, The biggest mistake in the history of science, ' Science is one of the most remarkable inventions of humankind. It has been a source of inspiration and understanding, lifted the veil of ignorance and superstition, been a catalyst for social change and economic growth, and saved countless lives. Yet, history also shows us that its been a mixed blessing. Some discoveries have done far more harm than good. And there’s one mistake you will never read about in those internet lists of the all-time biggest blunders of science. The worst error in the history of science was undoubtedly classifying humans into the different races.' back

David C. Barker and Morgan Marietta, From 'Total exoneration!' to 'Impeach now" - the Mueller report and dueling fact perceptions, ' For example, the perception that vaccines cause autism – against all available empirical evidence – is now shared equally by Democrats and Republicans. Partisanship cannot account for this dueling fact perception. But when we looked at the role of core values and their associated questions, we found the strongest predictor. If someone we surveyed ranked this question highly, “Does it appear that people are committing indecent acts or degrading something sacred?” they were by far the most likely to believe that vaccines are dangerous.' back

Glenys Byrne, Professor Freda Briggs tackled the systemic problem of child sexual abuse, ' Freda Briggs had a long and dedicated career confronting what she termed 'the contagious disease of child abuse', a criminal area so repugnant that most people have preferred not to know about. She was driven by anger – not only from the way paedophiles prey on the vulnerable, but also from the systemic failures of many institutions responsible for protecting children, which deepen and prolong the suffering of victims. However, it was community complacency about these abuses of power and lack of courage in dealing with them that really energised her. She advocated a Royal Commission in Australia long before the current one was established; few politicians escaped her pen.' back

Heart, Stairway to Heaven, ' Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, along with Jason Bonham, playing Stairway to Heaven as a tribute for Led Zeppelin on Dec. 2, 2012 at Kennedy Center. It was televised by CBS on Dec. 26, 2012, but as a short version. This is the full version released on iTunes in 2013. back

JoAnna Klein, Gas That Makes a Mountain Breathe Fire Is Turning Up Around the World, ' At the top of a mountain in southwest Turkey, the ground spits fire. Known as the Flames of Chimaera, they have burned for millenniums. Local myth long held that these fires were the breath of a monster — part goat, part snake, part lion. Today we know the fuel for this flaming mountaintop is gas escaping from deep within the earth. But it doesn’t come from the decay of ancient plant, algae or animal life, like fossil fuels. Instead, this gas comes from a chemical reaction inside rocks.' back

Kyle Smith, Now Hillary Clinton's lose is being blamed on Jon Stewart, ' Proving that the nation’s professoriate is even more obtuse than you would have suspected, Ethan Porter of George Washington University and Thomas J. Wood of Ohio State University note that when Stewart departed “The Daily Show,” ratings sank. “The transition at ‘The Daily Show’ spurred a 1.1% increase in Trump’s county-level vote share,” they claim in their paper, “Did Jon Stewart Elect Donald Trump? Evidence From Television Ratings Data” published in the journal Electoral Studies.' back

Long Shot (2019 film) - Wikipedia, Long Shot (2019 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' Long Shot is a 2019 American romantic comedy film directed by Jonathan Levine and written by Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah. The plot follows a journalist (Seth Rogen) who reunites with his former babysitter (Charlize Theron), now the United States Secretary of State. O'Shea Jackson Jr., Andy Serkis, June Diane Raphael, Bob Odenkirk, and Alexander Skarsgård also star.' back

Lucifer - Wikipedia, Lucifer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Before the rise of Christianity, the pseudepigrapha of Enochic Judaism, the form of Judaism witnessed to in 1 Enoch and 2 Enoch, which enjoyed much popularity during the Second Temple period, gave Satan an expanded role. They interpreted Isaiah 14:12-15 as applicable to Satan, and presented him as a fallen angel cast out of Heaven. Christian tradition, influenced by this presentation, came to use the Latin word for "morning star", lucifer, as a proper name ("Lucifer") for Satan as Satan was before his fall. As a result, "Lucifer has become a by-word for Satan in the Church and in popular literature", as in Dante Alighieri's Inferno and John Milton's Paradise Lost.' back

Matthew Campbell and Peter Martin, China's Latest Crackdown Target Is Liberal Economists, ' Unirule is the brainchild of Mao Yushi, a respected 90-year-old economist who was among the first scholars to spread free-market ideas such as deregulation and privatization within China. Until recently, the think tank was one of the country’s more influential nongovernmental organizations, benefiting from the relative liberty granted to economics since the rule of Deng Xiaoping, who once declared that he didn’t care “if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice.” So long as they stayed mostly clear of politics, scholars were free to discuss Western thinkers and how their ideas applied to China. The result was a vibrant intellectual community that interacted with government decision-makers, providing data-driven reality checks for officials with little experience outside the Communist Party. That space has shrunk drastically under President Xi Jinping, who has forcefully reasserted the party’s power and the state’s economic role, and has attacked the civil society that emerged under his predecessors.' back

Metanoia - Wikipedia, Metanoia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Metanoia (from the Greek μετάνοια, metanoia, changing one's mind) in the context of theological discussion, where it is used often, is usually interpreted to mean repentance. However, some people[citation needed] argue that the word should be interpreted more literally to denote changing one's mind, in the sense of embracing thoughts beyond its present limitations or thought patterns (an interpretation which is compatible with the denotative meaning of repentance but replaces its negative connotation with a positive one, focusing on the superior state being approached rather than the inferior prior state being departed from).' back

Miranda Sawyer, Shane Meadows; 'For many years I didn't remember it . . . but it caused me a lifetime of anguish, ' They picked on him – “they mentioned my dad” – scared him, and made him go into the woods behind the park. And once they’d got him in there, the older brother sexually abused him over a long period of time. Shane was nine. Immediately after he left the woods, he says, he thought to himself, “If you don’t say anything, it never happened… if you just don’t tell anyone, it didn’t happen.” And he never did tell anyone.' back

Paola Fovaro, Ancient Rome inspired Washington but its legacy of being open to all has fallen into oblivion, ' In the 19th and 20th centuries, the US’s optimism and vision mirrored that of Rome and is echoed in the inscription on the Statue of Liberty: Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! In contrast, recent political leadership in the US has been dominated by fear of the future. Growing inequality in the West along with job insecurity, wage stagnation, low growth and disruptive technology have fuelled this fear. The response has been a vision of a “walled city”: let’s make America great again by building a wall.' back

Pascal's Wager - Wikipedia, Pascal's Wager - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Pascal's Wager (also known as Pascal's Gamble) is an argument in apologetic philosophy which was devised by the seventeenth-century French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist, Blaise Pascal. It posits that humans all bet with their lives either that God exists or does not exist. Given the possibility that God actually does exist and assuming the infinite gain or loss associated with belief in God or with unbelief, a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.).' back

Puritan - Wikipedia, Puritan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Puritans by definition felt that the English Reformation had not gone far enough, and that the Church of England was tolerant of practices which they associated with the Catholic Church. They formed into and identified with various religious groups advocating greater "purity" of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and group piety.' back

Rob LeDonne, Björk’s Cornucopia: is this the singer's most ambitious show yet , ' Björk’s Cornucopia, a masterclass in exploration, is a show that’s being billed as her “most elaborate staged concert to date”, which plays with ideas of sound, lighting, costumes, video projection and set design. Created by Björk and directed by the acclaimed Argentinian film-maker Lucrecia Martel, making her theatrical debut, the production is concocted to be an immersive experience and is funneled straight from the singer’s unique psyche.. back

Romanticism - Wikipedia, Romanticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Romanticism (or the Romantic era/Period) was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. . . . Defining the nature of Romanticism may be approached from the starting point of the primary importance of the free expression of the feelings of the artist. The importance the Romantics placed on untrammelled feeling is summed up in the remark of the German painter Caspar David Friedrich that "the artist's feeling is his law".' back

Steven Ward, Because China isn't 'Caucasian' the U.S. is planning for a 'clash of civilizations.' That could be dangerous, ' On Tuesday, the Washington Examiner reported the State Department’s policy planning staff, led by Director Kiron Skinner, is “preparing for a clash of civilizations” with China. Skinner’s office is composing what it calls “Letter X” — styled after George Kennan’s “X Article” that laid out an argument for containing the Soviet Union during the first years of the Cold War. back