Darwin (1859), Charles, ic, Cambridge University Press 1859, 2009 'It's hard to talk about The Origin of Species without making statements that seem overwrought and fulsome. But it's true: this is indeed one of the most important and influential books ever written, and it is one of the very few groundbreaking works of science that is truly readable. . . . Darwin's friend and "bulldog" T.H. Huxley said upon reading the Origin, "How extremely stupid of me not to have thought of that." Alfred Russel Wallace had thought of the same theory of evolution Darwin did, but it was Darwin who gathered the mass of supporting evidence—on domestic animals and plants, on variability, on sexual selection, on dispersal—that swept most scientists before it. It's hardly necessary to mention that the book is still controversial: Darwin's remark in his conclusion that "Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history" is surely the pinnacle of British understatement Mary Ellen Curtin 
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Deutsch, David, The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes - and its Implications, Allen Lane Penguin Press 1997 Jacket: 'Quantum physics, evolution, computation and knowledge - these four strands of scientific theory and philosophy have, until now, remained incomplete explanations of the way the universe works. . . . Oxford scholar DD shows how they are so closely intertwined that we cannot properly understand any one of them without reference to the other three. . . .' 
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Everett III, Hugh, and Bryce S Dewitt, Neill Graham (editors), The Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Princeton University Press 1973 Jacket: 'A novel interpretation of quantum mechanics, first proposed in brief form by Hugh Everett in 1957, forms the nucleus around which this book has developed. The volume contains Dr Everett's short paper from 1957, "'Relative State' formulation of quantum mechanics" and a far longer exposition of his interpretation entitled "The Theory of the Universal Wave Function" never before published. In addition other papers by Wheeler, DeWitt, Graham, Cooper and van Vechten provide further discussion of the same theme. Together they constitute virtually the entire world output of scholarly commentary on the Everett interpretation.' 
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Liddy, G Gordon, Will: The Autobiography of G Gordon Liddy, St. Martin's Press Amazon editorial review: 'G. Gordon Liddy's autobiography is as spookily fascinating now as it was in 1980, especially the memorably unvarnished depiction of his early years. Listening with admiration to Adolf Hitler on the radio, seeking to free himself from "disabling emotionalism" by slaughtering chickens, young Gordon must have made quite an impression on the neighbors. The army, the F.B.I., the Watergate scandal, and jail are covered with equal pungency: you have to admire the author's ferocious candor, whatever you think of his values. This new edition features a 1996 postscript as combative as the main text.' 
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Lonergan (1992), 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' 
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Moussaieff (editor), Jeffrey, The Complete Letters of Sigmund Freud to Wilhelm Fliess 1887-1904, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 1985 'The Freud-Fliess letters are the very foundations of psychoanalysis as most authors agree that it is possible to recognize what Freud developed later. Basically, through those letters Freud analysed himself and the reader can appreciate the very beginning of the great discoveries that Freud did after that period. In particular, Fliess who was Freud's best friend, shared the same scientific enthusiasm of Freud, but the pair ended up building a very odd relationship, namely Freud unconsciously considered Fliess his analyst (even if they were only corresponding) and most authors agree that Freud developed a negative transference that led to the end of the friendship. Anyone interested in the history of psychoanalysis should read this book and explore Freud's passions.' Maurizio Pompili 
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Noyes, H. Pierre, and J. C. van den Berg, Bit-String Physics: A Finite and Discrete Approach to Natural Philosophy, World Scientific 2001 'We could be on the threshold of a scientific revolution. Quantum mechanics is based on unique, finite, and discrete events. General relativity assumes a continuous, curved space-time. Reconciling the two remains the most fundamental unsolved scientific problem left over from the last century. The papers of H Pierre Noyes collected in this volume reflect one attempt to achieve that unification by replacing the continuum with the bit-string events of computer science. Three principles are used: physics can determine whether two quantities are the same or different; measurement can tell something from nothing; this structure (modeled by binary addition and multiplication) can leave a historical record consisting of a growing universe of bit-strings. This book is specifically addressed to those interested in the foundations of particle physics, relativity, quantum mechanics, physical cosmology and the philosophy of science 
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Peacock, John A, Cosmological Physics, Cambridge University Press 1999 Nature Book Review: ' The intermingling of observational detail and fundamental theory has made cosmology an exceptionally rich, exciting and controversial science. Students in the field — whether observers or particle theorists — are expected to be acquainted with matters ranging from the Supernova Ia distance scale, Big Bang nucleosynthesis theory, scale-free quantum fluctuations during inflation, the galaxy two-point correlation function, particle theory candidates for the dark matter, and the star formation history of the Universe. Several general science books, conference proceedings and specialized monographs have addressed these issues. Peacock's Cosmological Physics ambitiously fills the void for introducing students with a strong undergraduate background in physics to the entire world of current physical cosmology. The majestic sweep of his discussion of this vast terrain is awesome, and is bound to capture the imagination of most students.' Ray Carlberg, Nature 399:322 
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Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre, The Phenomenon of Man, Collins 1965 Sir Julian Huxley, Introduction: 'We, mankind, contain the possibilities of the earth's immense future, and can realise more and more of them on condition that we increase our knowledge and our love. That, it seems to me, is the distillation of the Phenomenon of Man.'  
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Veltman (2003), Martinus, Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics, World Scientific 2003 'Introduction: The twentieth century has seen an enormous progress in physics. The fundamental physics of the first half of the century was dominated by the theory of relativity, Einstein's theory of gravitation and the theory of quantum mechanics. The second half of the century saw the rise of elementary particle physics. . . . Through this development there has been a subtle change in point of view. In Einstein's theory space and time play an overwhelming dominant role. . . . The view that we would like to defend can perhaps best be explaned by an analogy. To us, space-time and the laws of quantum mechanics are like the decor, the setting of a play. The elementary articles are the actors, and physics is what they do. . . . Thus in this book the elementary particles are the central objects.' 
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Whitehead, Alfred North, and Bertrand Arthur Russell, Principia Mathematica (Cambridge Mathematical Library), Cambridge University Press 1910, 1962 The great three-volume Principia Mathematica is deservedly the most famous work ever written on the foundations of mathematics. Its aim is to deduce all the fundamental propositions of logic and mathematics from a small number of logical premisses and primitive ideas, and so to prove that mathematics is a development of logic. Not long after it was published, Goedel showed that the project could not completely succeed, but that in any system, such as arithmetic, there were true propositions that could not be proved.  
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Abraham Pais, Einstein and quantum theory, ' This is an account of Einstein's work and thoughts on the quantum theory. The following topics will be discussed : The light-quantum hypothesis and its gradual evolution into the photon concept. Early history of the photoelectric effect. The theoretical and experimental reasons why the resistance to the photon was stronger and more protracted than for any other particle proposed to date. Einstein's position regarding the Bohr—Kramers—Slater suggestion, the last bastion of resistance to the photon. Einstein's analysis of fluctuations around thermal equilibrium and his proposal of a duality between particles and waves, in 1909 for electromagnetic radiation (the first time this duality was ever stated) and in January 1925 for matter (prior to quantum mechanics and for reasons independent of those given earlier by de Broglie). His demonstration that long-known specific heat anomalies are quantum effects. His role in the evolution of the third law of thermodynamics. His new derivation of Planck's law in 1917 which also marks the beginning of his concern with the failure of classical causality. His role as one of the founders of quantum statistics and his discovery of the first example of a phase transition derived by using purely statistical methods. His position as a critic of quantum mechanics. Initial doubts on the consistency of quantum mechanics (1926—1930). His view maintained from1930 until the end of his life: quantum mechanics is logically consistent and quite successful but it is incomplete. His attitude toward success. His criterion of objective reality. Differences in the roles relativity and quantum theory played in Einstein's life. His vision regarding quantum theory in the context of a unified field theory. His last autobiographical sketch, written a few months before his death, concluding with a statement about the quantum theory, a subject to which (by his own account)he had given more thought than even to general relativity.' back

Al Jazeera, Israeli forces attack Al-Aqsa protesters during Prophet rally, ' Palestinians gathered in the courtyard, but before they began their march from Al-Aqsa to the Old City’s Damascus Gate, Israeli forces raided the compound through Bab al-Silsila, one of its entrances. The Palestinian Red Crescent said nine people were hurt, with three hospitalised, as Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades, emptying the compound of thousands of worshippers. . . . Over the past few weeks, hardline Israeli settler groups have entered the premises on a near-daily basis, under heavy protection from Israeli troops. The groups’ objective is to rebuild the Third Jewish Temple on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to their websites.' back

Albert Einstein, On a heuristic point of view concerning the production and transformation of light, There exists a profound formal difference between the theoretical conceptions physicists have formed about gases and other ponderable bodies, and Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic processes in so-called empty space. While we conceive of the state of a body as being completely determined by the positions and velocities of a very large but nevertheless finite number of atoms and electrons, we use continuous spatial functions to determine the electromagnetic state of a space, so that a finite number of quantities cannot be considered as sufficient for the complete description of the electromagnetic state of a space. According to Maxwell's theory, energy is to be considered as a continuous spatial function for all purely electromagnetic phenomena, hence also for light, while according to the current conceptions of physicists the energy of a ponderable body is to be described as a sum extending over the atoms and electrons. The energy of a ponderable body cannot be broken up into arbitrarily many, arbitrarily small parts, while according to Maxwell's theory (or, more generally, according to any wave theory) the energy of a light ray emitted from a point source of light spreads continuously over a steadily increasing volume. back

Andrei D. Sakharov, Thoughts on Progress, Peaceful Coexistence and Intellectual Freedom, ' [1] The division of mankind threatens it with destruction. Civilization is imperiled by: a univerdal thermonuclear war, stupefaction from the narcotic of "mass culture" and bureacratized dogmatism, a spreading of mass myths that put entire peoples and continents under the power of cruel and treacherous demagogues, and destruction or degeneration from the unforeseeable consequences of swift changes in the conditions of life on our planet.' back

Andrei D. Sakharov, РАЗМЫШЛЕНИЯ О ПРОГРЕССЕ, МИРНОМ СОСУЩЕСТВОВАНИИ И ИНТЕЛЛЕКТУАЛЬНОЙ СВОБОД, ' In 1967, I wrote a futurological article about the future role of science in the life of society and about the future of science itself for a collection that was distributed on an official basis. In the same year, together with the journalist E. Henry, we wrote an article for the Literary Gazette about the role of the intelligentsia and the danger of thermonuclear war. The Central Committee of the CPSU did not give permission for the publication of this article, but unknown to me, it got into the "Political Diary" - a mysterious publication, as it is supposed, something like" samizdat " for senior officials. Both of these little-known articles formed the basis of the work that was destined to play a central role in my social activities a year later.' back

Anna Johnston, Hidden women of history: Eliza Hamilton Dunlop — the Irish Australian poet who shone a light on colonial violence, ' Eliza Hamilton Dunlop’s poem The Aboriginal Mother was published in The Australian on December 13, 1838, five days before seven men were hanged for their part in the Myall Creek massacre. About 28 Wirrayaraay people died in the massacre near Inverell in northern New South Wales. Dunlop had arrived in Sydney in February, and the Irish writer was horrified by the violence she read about in the newspapers. Moved by evidence in court about an Indigenous woman and baby who survived the massacre, Dunlop crafted a poem condemning settlers who professed Christianity but murdered and conspired to cover up their crime.' back

Aquinas, Summa I, 28, 1, Are there real relations in God?, 'Reply to Objection 4. Relations which result from the mental operation alone in the objects understood are logical relations only, inasmuch as reason observes them as existing between two objects perceived by the mind. Those relations, however, which follow the operation of the intellect, and which exist between the word intellectually proceeding and the source whence it proceeds, are not logical relations only, but are real relations; inasmuch as the intellect and the reason are real things, and are really related to that which proceeds from them intelligibly; as a corporeal thing is related to that which proceeds from it corporeally. Thus paternity and filiation are real relations in God.' back

Aquinas, Summa, I, 27, 1, Is there procession in God?, 'As God is above all things, we should understand what is said of God, not according to the mode of the lowest creatures, namely bodies, but from the similitude of the highest creatures, the intellectual substances; while even the similitudes derived from these fall short in the representation of divine objects. Procession, therefore, is not to be understood from what it is in bodies, either according to local movement or by way of a cause proceeding forth to its exterior effect, as, for instance, like heat from the agent to the thing made hot. Rather it is to be understood by way of an intelligible emanation, for example, of the intelligible word which proceeds from the speaker, yet remains in him. In that sense the Catholic Faith understands procession as existing in God.' back

Black-body radiation - Wikipedia, Black-body radiation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Black-body radiation is the type of electromagnetic radiation within or surrounding a body in thermodynamic equilibrium with its environment, or emitted by a black body (an opaque and non-reflective body) held at constant, uniform temperature. The radiation has a specific spectrum and intensity that depends only on the temperature of the body.' back

Codec - Wikipedia, Codec - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. Codec is a portmanteau of coder-decoder or, less commonly, compressor-decompressor.' back

Finch, Gleadow, Hergt & Ouzman, This 17,500-year-old kangaroo in the Kimberley is Australia’s oldest Aboriginal rock painting, ' In Western Australia’s northeast Kimberley region, on Balanggarra Country, a two-metre-long painting of a kangaroo spans the sloping ceiling of a rock shelter above the Drysdale River. In a paper published today in Nature Human Behaviour, we date the artwork as being between 17,500 and 17,100 years old — making it Australia’s oldest known in-situ rock painting. We used a pioneering radiocarbon dating technique on 27 mud wasp nests underlying and overlying 16 different paintings from 8 rock shelters. We found paintings of this style were produced between 17,000 and 13,000 years ago.' back

Gideon Levy, Opinion | Prime Minister Naftali Bennett Has Nothing to Lose , ' Bennett has nothing to lose: he puts his name either on a forgotten episode, or on history. Either a one-paragraph entry in Wikipedia, a stub article, or books on the history of Israel. Perhaps he is also courageous. Perhaps he knows the truth, deep down, and the truth is that he will be the prime minister of about 14 million people. Five million of them have no rights. They cannot vote for or against him, even though he is their prime minister as well, against their will. In the United States, Bennett must have learned that this can only be called apartheid. And that the prime minister of apartheid is the prime minister of apartheid, and not of Israel or of a democracy. Bennett also knows from history that this situation is reversible. It can be changed in a single stroke, in fact that’s the only way to change it.' back

Graham, Haywrd, Foster & Havas, Gencost 20-21, ' This report concludes that:
Solar and wind continue to be the cheapest sources of new-build electricity.
Battery costs fell the most in 2020-21 compared to any other generation or storage technology and are projected to continue to fall. Lower battery storage costs underpin the long-term competitiveness of renewables.
Pumped hydro is also important and is more competitive when longer durations of storage (above eight hours) are required.
The new approach is a model of the electricity system that optimises the amount of storage needed, and also includes additional transmission expenditure.
Previous reports added arbitrary amounts of storage costs and did not include transmission or other costs.' back

Haaretz, Editorial | End of ‘Intel Mapping’ Is a Start for IDF , ' But the endless intelligence the defense agencies collect on all the Palestinian residents of the territories was not the only goal of those invasions. They were also a means to demonstrate the army’s control and power over the occupied civilian population and to drill soldiers and keep them alert. These are invasive, frightening and violent raids that were conducted nightly for years. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in 2017-18 the army carried out about 265 raids each month, using verbal or physical violence in a significant number of them. But the primary violence lies in the very act of raiding the homes of innocent people as they slept, in the middle of the night. Large numbers of armed soldiers in full protective gear, sometimes with dogs, forcibly broke into people’s homes, undermining the fundamental confidence that everyone must have in the security of the place they call home.' back

Joanna Mendelsshon, How the stunning abstract art of Hilma af Klint opens our eyes to new ways of seeing , ' Hilma af Klint was once known as a minor academic Swedish artist. Born in 1862, she had been one of the first women to graduate from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and had exhibited at the Swedish General Art Association. But these paintings on display in Los Angeles revealed another life, a different art. Her involvement with spiritualism had radicalised her art to such an extent she can only be described as one of the great abstract artists. Her work was the sensation of the 2013 Venice Biennale, with a full scale retrospective organised by the Moderna Museet shown in Stockholm, Berlin and Malaga the same year. In 2018, New York’s Guggenheim Museum exhibition broke all attendance records. Hilma af Klint: The Secret Paintings brings her art to the southern hemisphere for the first time.' back

Mach's principle - Wikipedia, Mach's principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In theoretical physics, particularly in discussions of gravitation theories, Mach's principle (or Mach's conjecture) is the name given by Einstein to an imprecise hypothesis often credited to the physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach. The idea is that the local motion of a rotating reference frame is determined by the large scale distribution of matter, as exemplified by this anecdote: You are standing in a field looking at the stars. Your arms are resting freely at your side, and you see that the distant stars are not moving. Now start spinning. The stars are whirling around you and your arms are pulled away from your body. Why should your arms be pulled away when the stars are whirling? Why should they be dangling freely when the stars don't move?' back

Meme - Wikipedia, Meme - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'A meme . . . is "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture." A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures' back

Michael Westaway & Joshua Gorringe, Friday essay: how our new archaeological research investigates Dark Emu’s idea of Aboriginal ‘agriculture’ and villages , ' We have been working in a landscape that provides an important test of the Dark Emu hypothesis. In partnership with the Mithaka Aboriginal Corporation, who occupy the Channel Country in Central Australia, we have begun investigating Aboriginal settlement sites, pit dwelling huts (known as gunyahs) and quarries. Our landscape study, published in the journal Antiquity, has found over 140 quarry sites, where rock was excavated to produce seed grinding stones. We have also developed a method to locate traces of long-lost village sites. Were First Australians farmers or hunter-gatherers? Contemporary archaeological research suggests it’s not such a simple dichotomy. Understanding the Mithaka food production system may well tell us whether such terms are a good fit for defining socio-economic networks in Aboriginal Australia.' back

Ofer Aderet, Haaretz Journalist Gideon Levy Awarded Israel’s Top Journalism Prize, " “Journalist Gideon Levy regularly challenges the Israeli consensus in courageous work on the ground that brings the testimonies and stories of those who do not receive adequate exposure in the local media discussion – the voices of Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and in the past the Gaza Strip,” wrote the judges in their decision to award the prize. Levy “presents original and independent positions that do not surrender to convention or social codes, and in doing so enriches the public discourse fearlessly.” ' back

Pharisees - Wikipedia, Pharisees - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought in the Holy Land during the Second Temple period, beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty (140–37 BCE) in the wake of the Maccabean Revolt. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs became the liturgical and ritualistic basis for Rabbinic Judaism (commonly known as simply Judaism).' back

Robert Horvath, ' How Andrei Sakharov went from Soviet hero to dissident — and forced the world to pay attention to human rights , ' Andrei Sakharov was one of the most brilliant scientists of the nuclear age. In the field of theoretical physics, he made an enduring contribution to our understanding of the universe. He also played a pivotal role in the creation of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb in 1953. A decade later, he helped instigate a move towards limiting these weapons – the atmospheric Test Ban Treaty. . . . Sakharov’s transformation from a pillar of the Soviet scientific establishment to persecuted dissident began in 1968 with his essay “Reflections on Progress, Peaceful Coexistence and Intellectual Freedom”.' back

Rose Gottemoeller, A Former Nuclear Negotiator’s Advice for Biden and Putin, ' To set their arms control teams up for success, Biden and Putin should issue clear, simple guidance about what exactly the new treaty will cover and when it should be completed. Then, they should step back and let negotiators do what they do best. This diplomatic reality is often underappreciated: It’s not big headline breakthroughs that make a summit successful; it’s the clear marching orders that leaders give their teams to lay the groundwork for the tough negotiations to come. / back

Ross Gittins, Economists are slowly revealing the weaknesses of their ‘rational’ theories, ' Advances in digitisation and the information revolution have made much more statistical information about aspects of economic activity available, and made it easier to analyse these new “data sets” using improved statistical tests of, for instance, whether the correlation between A and B is causal – whether A is causing B, or B is causing A, or whether they’re both being caused by C. But another development in recent decades is economists losing their reluctance to test the validity of their theories by performing experiments. Let me tell you about two new examples of empirical research by Australian academic economists, one involving data analysis and the other a laboratory experiment. . . . Back in 2017, retailers and the hospitality industry argued that making them pay much higher wage rates on weekends would discourage them from opening. . . . The employers got strong support from the Productivity Commission and some economist expert witnesses. So the commission decided to reduce the Sunday and public holiday penalty rates in the relevant awards by 25 to 50 percentage points, phased in over three years. But a recent study could find no effect on employment.' back

Sol Invictus - Wikipedia, Sol Invictus - Wikipedia, the feee encyclopedia, 'Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun") was the official sun god of the later Roman Empire and a patron of soldiers. In 274 the Roman emperor Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults. Scholars disagree whether the new deity was a refoundation of the ancient Latin cult of Sol,[1] a revival of the cult of Elagabalus[2] or completely new.[3] The god was favored by emperors after Aurelian and appeared on their coins until Constantine.[4] The last inscription referring to Sol Invictus dates to 387 AD[5] and there were enough devotees in the 5th century that Augustine found it necessary to preach against them.' back

Stefan Nicola, How Germany’s Greens Moved From Fringe to Contenders, ' Germany’s Greens party has come a long way from the radical fringe group of the 1980s, moving into the mainstream and appealing to a wider swath of voters backing policies for tackling climate change. It has helped shape Germany’s exit from nuclear power and pushed for Europe’s industrial powerhouse to become a world leader in hydrogen technology. Now, it heads into the Sept. 26 election in a strong position to be part of the next coalition government, and perhaps even to lead it.' back

Thalia Anthony, Stolen wages: Northern Territory class action will hold the Commonwealth to account, ' Aboriginal stock workers were excluded from being paid award rates until 1966, when the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission ruled they should be paid equal wages under the Cattle Industry (Northern Territory) Award 1951. Pastoral companies were given until 1968 to restructure their labour practices. But this proved a limited win. Cattle stations never resumed the mass employment of Aboriginal workers, turning instead to motorised mustering techniques. Nor did they pay compensation for profiting from decades of low or withheld wages. In these practices the Commonwealth government was complicit through its 1918 Aboriginal Ordinance, which provided powers to territory officials (called “Aboriginal Protectors”) to govern all aspects of Aboriginal peoples’ lives, including their employment and wages. The class action (filed in the Federal Court on June 10) seeks compensation from the Commonwealth for wages of Aboriginal workers in the Northern Territory held in trust accounts from 1933 to 1972 and never paid.' back