Alighieri, Dante, and Mark Musa (translator), The Divine Comedy Vol. III: Paradise, Penguin Classics 1986 'In his translation of Paradise, Mark Musa exhibits the same sensitivity to language and knowledge of translation that enabled his versions of Inferno and Purgatory to capture the vibrant power and full dramatic force of Dante’s poetry. Dante relates his mystical interpretation of the heavens, and his moment of transcendent glory, as he journeys, first with Beatrice, then alone, toward the Trinity. Professor Musa’s extraordinary translation and his interpretive commentary, informative glossary, and bibliography clarify the theological themes and make Dante accessible to the English-speaking public.' 
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Fodor, Jerry A, The Modularity of Mind, MIT Press 1983 Jacket: 'This monograph synthesizes current information from the various fields of cognitive science in support of a new and exciting theory of mind. Most psychologists study horizontal processes like memory. Fopdor postulates a vertical and modular psychological organisation underlying biologically coherent behaviours. This view of mental architecture is consistent with the historical tradition of faculty psychology while integrating a computational approach to mental processes. One of the most notable aspects of Fodor's work is that it articulates features not only of speculative cognitive architectures but also of current research in artificial intelligence.' Prof. Alvin Liberman, Yale University, 
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Fursenko, Aleksandr, and Timothy Naftali, Krushchev's Cold War, W W Norton 2006 Jacket: 'Drawing on Alexandr Fursenko as Timothy Naftali's unrivaled access ro Politburo and Soviet intelligence materials, this acclaimed study provides a gripping gistory of the crisis years of the cold war. The authors bring to life head-to-head confrontations between the mercurial Soviet premier Nikita Kreshchev and President Eisenhower and Kennedy, offering new insights into the Cuban missile crisis and startling narratives for Suez, Iraq, Berlin and Southeast Asia.' 
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Goddard, Peter (editor), and Abraham Pais, Maurice Jacob, David Olive, Michael Atiyah and Stephen Hawking, Paul Dirac, The Man and His work, Cambridge University Press 1998 Amazon Product Description 'Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac was one of the founders of quantum theory. He is numbered alongside Newton, Maxwell and Einstein as one of the greatest physicists of all time. Together the lectures in this volume, originally presented on the occasion of the dedication ceremony for a plaque honoring Dirac in Westminster Abbey, give a unique insight into the relationship between Dirac's character and his scientific achievements. The text begins with the dedication address given by Stephen Hawking at the ceremony. Then Abraham Pais describes Dirac as a person and his approach to his work. Maurice Jacob explains how Dirac was led to introduce the concept of antimatter, and its central role in modern particle physics and cosmology. This is followed by David Olive's account of the origin and enduring influence of Dirac's work on magnetic monopoles. Finally, Sir Michael Atiyah explains the deep and widespread significance of the Dirac equation in mathematics.' 
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Hobson, M P, and G. P. Efstathiou, A. N. Lasenby, General Relativity: An Introduction for Physicists, Cambridge University Press 2006 Amazon Editorial Reviews Book Description 'After reviewing the basic concept of general relativity, this introduction discusses its mathematical background, including the necessary tools of tensor calculus and differential geometry. These tools are used to develop the topic of special relativity and to discuss electromagnetism in Minkowski spacetime. Gravitation as spacetime curvature is introduced and the field equations of general relativity derived. After applying the theory to a wide range of physical situations, the book concludes with a brief discussion of classical field theory and the derivation of general relativity from a variational principle.'  
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Misner, Charles W, and Kip S Thorne, John Archibald Wheeler, Gravitation, Freeman 1973 Jacket: 'Einstein's description of gravitation as curvature of spacetime led directly to that greatest of all predictions of his theory, that the universe itself is dynamic. Physics still has far to go to come to terms with this amazing fact and what it means for man and his relation to the universe. John Archibald Wheeler. . . . this is a book on Einstein's theory of gravity. . . . ' 
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Nin, Anais, Incest: From a Journal of Love: The Unexpurgated Diary of Anais Nin 1932-1934, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 1992 Amazon editorial review: From Library Journal "This second volume of the unexpurgated version of Nin's diary spans the period from October 1932 to November 1934. It draws upon previously unpublished material from the period covered by the first volume of the diary as published in 1966. Incest follows Henry & June ( LJ 10/1/86), focusing not only on Nin's continued relationship with author Henry Miller but also on her physical and emotional attachments to four other men. Nin offers intimate details of disturbing events such as her intense incestuous affair with her father and her abortion during her sixth month of pregnancy. Her diary offers direct insight into a narcissistic, passionate, analytical, and complex mind, but the brief introduction does disappointingly little to explain the editorial process that created this version of Nin's diary, which differs dramatically in style and content from its expurgated counterpart. Nevertheless, this is an important supplement to the 1966 diary and is recommended for most literature collections.' - Ellen Finnie Duranceau, MIT Lib. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. 
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Russell, Bertrand, The Principles of Mathematics, W W Norton & Co 1903, 1938, 1996 Amazon Product Description 'Russell's classic The Principles of Mathematics sets forth his landmark thesis that mathematics and logic are identical—that what is commonly called mathematics is simply later deductions from logical premises. His ideas have had a profound influence on twentieth-century work on logic and the foundations of mathematics.' 
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Wittgenstein, Ludwig, and David Francis Pears, Brian McGuinness, Bertrand Russell , Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Routledge 2001 'This as a most imortant book containing original ideas on a large range of topics, forming a coherent system, which, whether or not it be, as the author claims, in its essentials the final solution of the problems dealt with, is of extraordinary interest and deserves the attention of all philosophers.' Frank Ramsey, 'Critical Notice of L Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus', Mind, XXXII, no 128 (October 1923) pp 465-78.  
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Heisenberg, Werner, "Quantum Mechanical Re-interpretation of Kinematic and Mechanical Relations", Zeitschrift fur Physik, , 33, 1925, page 879-893. translated in B L van der Waerden, Sources of Quantum Mechanics, Dover Publications, New York, 1968, pp 261-276. On Quantum Mechanical Reinterpretation of Kinematic and Mechanical Relations Zeitschrift fur Physik 33: 879-893. . back

Al Jazeera, Timeline: How US presidents have defended Israel over decades, ' As the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s continuing bombardment of Gaza mounts, anger with US President Joe Biden’s handling of the situation is growing. On the same day that Israeli air raids killed 10 members of a single family and levelled an 11-storey building housing the media offices of Al Jazeera and The Associated Press, as well as residential apartments, Biden reasserted his unequivocal support for Israel.' back

Ema (film) Wikipedia, Ema (film) Wikipedia, the free encyclppedia, ' Ema is a Chilean drama film directed by Pablo Larraín from a screenplay by Guillermo Calderón and Alejandro Moreno. It stars Mariana Di Girolamo, Cristian Suares, Gael García Bernal, Paola Giannini and Santiago Cabrera. It had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 30, 2019. back

Etschmann, Brugger & Wong, We sliced open radioactive particles from soil in South Australia and found they may be leaking plutonium, ' Almost 60 years after British nuclear tests ended, radioactive particles containing plutonium and uranium still contaminate the landscape around Maralinga in outback South Australia. These “hot particles” are not as stable as we once assumed. Our research shows they are likely releasing tiny chunks of plutonium and uranium which can be easily transported in dust and water, inhaled by humans and wildlife and taken up by plants.' back

Frank L Lambert, Why Don't Things Go Wrong More Often? Activation Energies: Maxwell's Angels, Obstacles to Murphy's Law, 2834 Lewis Dr., La Verne, CA 91750 'Students often invoke Murphy's Law when inanimate "things go wrong", when skis break or fires occur or instruments fail due to corrosion or tires unexpectedly wear out. But why don't similar upsetting events happen to everyone every minute? Unwanted combustion and corrosion of common materials, although energetically favored, are not kinetically instantaneous. (The second law of thermodynamics is time's arrow but chemical kinetics is time's clock.) Chemistry students learn that chemical changes are usually obstructed by activation energy barriers whose origins lie in the energy required for bond breaking as new bonds are formed. Thus, activation energies act as obstacles to Murphy's Law in being deterrents to undesirable reactions and, lightly, as our "Maxwell's Angels". The fracture of solids - whether surfboards or car fenders - also involves breaking chemical bonds. However, such incidents are classed as physical changes because the free energy of the fragments is not notably different from the unbroken whole. The micro-complexity of fracturing utilitarian or beautiful objects prevents assigning a characteristic activation energy even to chemically identical artifacts. Nevertheless, a qualitative EACT SOLID (actiovation energy of the sold?) can be developed. Its surmounting is correlated with the radical drop in human valuation of an object when it is broken.' back

Hana Adli, ‘They aim to kill’: Gaza doctors recount experiences as war rages, ' Gaza City – For more than 10 days, Palestinian doctors in the Gaza Strip’s main al-Shifa hospital have been working around the clock to save lives during the Israeli army’s relentless bombardment of the besieged enclave. At least 230 people, including 65 children, have been killed since Israel began bombing the Gaza Strip on May 10. More than 1,500 have been wounded. The killing this week of two senior doctors – Ayman Abu al-Ouf, head of internal medicine at al-Shifa hospital, and psychiatric neurologist Mooein Ahmad al-Aloul – dealt a further psychological blow to medics already working under immense pressure and faced with a severe shortage of medical resources due to multiple wars and a 14-year blockade.' back

Helser, Moses & Teague, ACIC thinks there are no legitimate uses of encryption. They’re wrong, and here’s why it matters, ' Australia’s parliament is considering legislation to give new powers to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and the Australian Federal Police. These powers will allow them to modify online data, monitor network activity, and take over online accounts in some circumstances. Last week, in a submission to parliament regarding the proposed powers, ACIC made an inaccurate and concerning claim about privacy and information security. ACIC claimed “there is no legitimate reason for a law-abiding member of the community to own or use an encrypted communication platform”.' back

Ian Jacobs, ‘Devastated and sad’ after 36 years of research — early detection of ovarian cancer doesn’t save lives, ' The final results of the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening showed the multimodal screening approach could detect cancers early and increase the number of early-stage ovarian cancers by almost 50%. But to our surprise and despair, that did not reduce the number of deaths from ovarian cancer. All it seemed to do was to bring forward the time of diagnosis of the cancers in these women, without improving their survival.' back

International Energy Agency (IEA), Net Zero by 2050; A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector , ' This special report is the world’s first comprehensive study of how to transition to a net zero energy system by 2050 while ensuring stable and affordable energy supplies, providing universal energy access, and enabling robust economic growth. It sets out a cost-effective and economically productive pathway, resulting in a clean, dynamic and resilient energy economy dominated by renewables like solar and wind instead of fossil fuels. The report also examines key uncertainties, such as the roles of bioenergy, carbon capture and behavioural changes in reaching net zero. . . . All the technologies needed to achieve the necessary deep cuts in global emissions by 2030 already exist, and the policies that can drive their deployment are already proven. ' back

Jamoe G.Roberts, Guide to the classics: Shakespeare’s sonnets — an honest account of love and a surprising portal to the man himself, ' The Shakespeare of the plays is god-like: he is everywhere in his creations as a masterful and unifying presence, and yet he is aloof. If I had to take a punt, I’d say he was wise, wry — the kind of person who knew how to do life right. Thus it is a shock to meet the Shakespeare of the sonnets. This Shakespeare is frail (sonnets 29 and 145), obsessed (28), judgmental (130), fickle (110) and self-pitying (72). And so we are drawn in. We begin to ponder how much of himself Shakespeare reveals in the sonnets, and, if he is in there, how one of the most remarkable humans could be so like the rest of us.' back

Johan Lindberg, It’s time for the government to walk the talk on media freedom in Australia, ' When the Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided journalists and media organisations two years ago, it showed the balance between national security and journalism is severely out of whack in Australia. To address this, a Senate inquiry into press freedom was launched. Its report, released this week, made 17 recommendations — many of which go much further than previous inquiries into media freedom. This week’s report acknowledges, across party lines, the imbalance between national security and public interest journalism in Australia.' back

Liz Tynan, Dig for secrets: the lesson of Maralinga’s Vixen B, ' This lack of knowledge about the British nuclear tests in Australia is not surprising. The tests were not part of the national conversation for many years. Even when older people remember that nuclear tests were held here, no-one knows the story of the most secret tests of all, the ones that left the most contamination: Vixen B. . . . At Maralinga, part of our territory became the most highly contaminated land in the world. But the Australian public had no way of granting informed consent because no-one knew it was happening. Remediating the environmental contamination was delayed for decades for the same reason.' back

Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staricase (No 2) - Philadelphia Museum of Art, 'Label On March 18, 1912, Marcel Duchamp received an unexpected visit from his two brothers, Jacques Villon and Raymond Duchamp-Villon, at his studio in Neuilly-sur-Seine. They informed their younger brother that the hanging committee of the Salon des Indépendants exhibition in Paris, which included themselves, Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, and others, had rejected his Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2. These Cubist painters had refused to display the painting on the grounds that "A nude never descends the stairs-a nude reclines." Although the work was shown in the Salon de la Section d'Or in October 1912, Duchamp never forgave his brothers and former colleagues for censoring his work.' back

Marwan Bishara, Why Netanyahu thinks America is stupid, ' The United States has provided Israel with the military means and diplomatic cover it needs to defeat Hamas in Gaza, while devastating the livelihood of more than two million Palestinians, in what qualify as war crimes. The Biden administration has covered for Israel at the United Nations and lied about it. Its denial of having obstructed a mere statement by the UN Security Council (UNSC) calling for a ceasefire, makes it look foolish, disingenuous and weak. Washington has stood alone among the members of the council in its opposition to consensus on a ceasefire, not once, not twice, but three times in the past few days. The White House spokesperson insisted that the US is pursuing an “effective” approach of “quiet, intensive, diplomacy”, but as it turns out, President Joe Biden has been merely buying Israel time to get on with “finishing the job”.' back

Paul Karp, Secrecy challenge by Witness K lawyer Bernard Collaery will itself be held in secret, ' A legal challenge to the secrecy of information involved in the prosecution of a lawyer for representing whistleblower Witness K will itself be held in secret. On Monday, the ACT court of appeal began a two-day hearing of Bernard Collaery’s appeal but closed the court to the public within five minutes due to the requirements of the National Security Information Act. Independent human rights lawyers and Labor have criticised the secrecy involved in the case, as well as its cost.' back

Riemann zeta function - Wikipedia, Riemann zeta function - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Riemann zeta function is a function of complex argument s that . . . plays a pivotal role in analytic number theory and has applications in physics, probability theory, calculation of pi, and applied statistics.' back

Ronald C. Desrosiers, HIV/AIDS vaccine: Why don’t we have one after 37 years, when we have several for COVID-19 after a few months?, ' In current times, millions of lives have been saved because of rapid deployment of effective vaccines against COVID-19. And yet, it has been 37 years since HIV was discovered as the cause of AIDS, and there is no vaccine. Here I will describe the difficulties facing development of an effective vaccine against HIV/AIDS.' back

Samantha Hepburn, International Energy Agency warns against new fossil fuel projects. Guess what Australia did next?, ' Even if every country meets its current climate targets, Earth’s temperature will still rise by a dangerous 2.1℃ this century, according to sobering findings from a new International Energy Agency report. The IEA found the route to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 was “narrow and extremely challenging”, and electricity grids in developed economies such as Australia must be zero emissions by 2053. The IEA was abundantly clear: no new fossil fuel projects should be approved.' back

Saunders, KO et al, Neutralizing antibody vaccine for pandemic and pre-emergent coronaviruses., 'A nanoparticle-based vaccine protected monkeys against SARS-CoV-2 and elicited antibodies that could neutralize a range of coronaviruses. The findings provide a platform for further development of a vaccine to prevent future coronavirus outbreaks.' back

Timothy Snyder, The Big Zone How a Ukrainian dissident remained free in the Gulag, ' A young man named Myroslav Marynovych was arrested in 1977 for telling the truth about his country. The crime for which he was sentenced was the distribution of bulletins about human-rights abuses in Soviet Ukraine. When he was arrested at twenty-eight, he was an agnostic. When he was released a decade later, he was a Christian ethicist and political thinker. His memoir is a humble, and humbling, account of a man maturing in hell.' back

Tony Abbott - Wikipedia, Tony Abbott - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Abbott was born in London, England, to Australian parents. In 1960, his family returned to Australia, living first in the Sydney suburbs of Bronte then moving to Chatswood. Abbott was schooled at St Aloysius' College before completing his secondary school education at St Ignatius' College, Riverview in Sydney. He graduated from the University of Sydney, residing at St John's College, with a Bachelor of Economics (BEc) and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB).[ At university he was active in student politics, gaining media attention for his political stance opposing the then dominant left-wing student leadership. He was also a prominent student boxer. He then went on to attend the Queen's College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and graduated with a Master of Arts (MA). Said to be a devout Catholic, he wanted to join the Catholic priesthood, and entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly. He subsequently decided to leave the seminary and choose another career path. Due to this time in the seminary Abbott was given the nickname "The Mad Monk" by his critics. back

William Roberts, Why is the US unequivocal in its support for Israel?, ' With Israel bombarding Gaza for a second week, United States President Joe Biden and his administration are sticking to a long-established script in Washington, expressing unequivocal support for Israel and its “legitimate right to defend itself” from Hamas rocket attacks. That narrative fails to acknowledge the profound advantages the state of Israel enjoys over the Palestinians when it comes to military prowess, wealth and resources. It also turns a deaf ear to growing cries from progressive Democrats in Congress to take a harder line with Israel over its military assault on Gaza.' back

Zylstra, Wardell-Johnson, Watson & Ward, Native forest logging makes bushfires worse – and to say otherwise ignores the facts, ' Naturally, the drivers of the fires were widely debated during and after the disaster. Research published earlier this month, for example, claimed native forest logging did not make the fires worse. We believe these findings are too narrowly focused and in fact, misleading. They overlook a vast body of evidence that crown fire – the most extreme type of bushfire behaviour, in which tree canopies burn – is more likely in logged native forests.' back