"How can you print a piece of your own soul," Dickinson, p. 51

This is the 2nd in the Krull and Hewitt's "Lives of ..." series. The book contains 19 chapters on 20 writers in birth order: Murasaki Shikibu (973?-1025?), Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Jane Austen (1775-1817), Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), Charles Dickens (1812-1870), Charlotte & Emily Bronte (1816-1855 & 1818-1848), Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), Mark Twain (1835-1910), Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924), Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), Jack London (1876-1916), Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), E. B. White (1899-1985), Zora Neale Hurston (1901?-1960), Langston Hughes (1902-1967), Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991)

This is a perfect book for young adolescents and pre-teens who as they grow and mature frequently feel awkward. Krull introduces us to the idiosyncrasies of the literary. Some of the authors were loners, eccentric, a wee bit peculiar. Michael Jackson's behaviors might seem normal when held in comparison. Some retreated into themselves. Some sought out adventures. Some as adults were unsuccessful at the ordinary.

Some worked at a young age to support the family. Some took daily walks, very long daily walks. Some were not healthy and therefore wrote in bed. There were some similarities and some differences, but they all shared a singular conviction to write and write they each did well.

Hewitt's delightful portraits of the writers are precious. My favorite portrait is of Frances Hodgson Burnett of "The Secret Garden" fame. Her hat is the secret garden.

Given the high price of the book, I was surprised that Krull did not include a list of the authors' books and/or poems and the publication years. END

This book is a fun and informative book. The pictures are filled with humorous meanings and hidden information. The book keeps the reader's attention by keeping the included information short and simple, but also makes sure that the reader gets as much possible about the author. This book is great for kids and students to use as a report source as it is filled with great information. Kids would rather use this book as an information source rather than an encylopedia since the information is easy to understand. Authors in there are some you may not know, ( Murasaki Shikibu) and some well know ones ( Charles Dickens). I am glad I purchsed this book. I really liked the pictures which are so vibrant with color. This would make a great buy.

I would give 5 stars to Russell's essays but 3 stars to this edition.
This edition contains most of the important/technical papers that russel wrote & are still worth reading for any serious philosophy student. The editor did a great job at selection but his snobbish introductory essays prefacing each russell essay is a complete waste of space & (your) time. The editor should have but didn't bother to update the logical symbols in the 1st russell essay, 'logic of relations', with the result that it would be incomprehensible even to people trained in symbolic logic.
'philosophy of logical atomism', for me anyway, helps me understand wittgenstein's Tractatus, which was otherwise incomprehsible to me.
I didn't make it through 'on denoting'. Who would really care about this important but by now mainly historical essay if you have already learned quantification theory & description theory?

This book reproduces Russell's famous article 'On Denoting' that appeared in "Mind" in 1905. It provides the earliest account of his theory of descriptions that was later developed in principia mathematica and 'improved' by W.V Quine. (It is however, a dog to read!) It is truly a fundamental work in logical analysis and I recommend it to you all.

I spent two very pleasant evenings and a reasonable morning reading this 300 page book.

As a consultant who is about to do just that: measure the impact of an intranet web site for a large international company I was of course very interested (and critical) of what the authors have to say.

The book breaks down into three parts:
Part I: Measurement Strategy and Planning
Part II: Measurements and Consolidation
Part III: Analysis and Action

I found part I to be a very useful overview and framework for developing a measurement strategy.

In particular, the many sets of questions that the authors list are a great help in exposing elements of a strategy.

Parts II and III were (for me at least) less informative in that they were more based on common sense and many of the statements made there were all too easy too derive from part I. This is not as bad as it seems however for Part I covers almost half of the book and this part alone provides more than enough value to cover the cost of the book. In any case they were interesting enough that I read through the entire book (which says a lot).

While the book is a good start it is by no means the be all and end all (and considering the rapid flux of the field I don't think the authors ever had this pretention). In particular, my interest lies in the impact of intranets and this issue is covered almost as an afterthought in the very last chapter which is a pity considering that probably over 80% of all web development currently takes place on intranets.

An indepth discussion on impact measures related to knowledge management and sharing, workgroup collaboration and culture transformation would all be highly useful additions in a possible second edition. From the costing point of view, cost lowering metrics of websites such as self-maintainance and self-regulation as well as extensive support for self-publication (i.e. without intervention of "traditonal" webmasters might be a useful addition.

Nevertheless currently this book is a must read for anyone in the field involved with website justification.

Not only does this book expose the key metrics, but it also provides a methodology for gathering and analyzing the metrics.

Chapter 1, Planning and Measurement Essentials, is uniformly excellent and lays the groundwork for what follows. I also liked Chapter 3, Measurement strategies and Sources, because the information has much wider application than web site analysis. The overall methodology steps you through gathering raw measures, consolidating them, developing assumptions and approximations, then performing impact measurements.

This book will not only give you insights into the business and what is important, but will also give you a methodology that can be employed for technical analysis within the IT domain. For example, these business techniques are also the basis for measuring IT effectiveness, service level attainment and other performance areas. Of course the metrics for IT are going to be different than the business metrics given in the book.

If you're in marketing or competitive intelligence you'll find this book to be an asset for the ideas and methods. I personally learned many subtle facts and techniques about measurement and highly recommend this book to anyone who is tasked with impact analysis, regardless of whether it is for web site effectiveness or other technical or business areas.

This is a new edition of a book originally published in 1968. As such, many readers are probably already familiar with this title. I, however, had never seen it before. As a Christian and a fan of Peanuts, I found it to be a very good book.

One of the reasons I think I like it is that, since it was written in 1968, it's not one of these wishy-washy new-age/ spirituality books that have become so common. Someone looking for "inspiration" should look elsewhere. This book is a serious theological tract that uses Peanuts cartoons to illustrate various points. I found this to be a very clever approach with which Charles Schulz himself "could not be more pleased."

I also like the fact that Short is not afraid to come out and say what he thinks. He tackles the tough questions of Christianity and gives the answers he believes are true. He doesn't try to sugar-coat the cross that a Christian is required to carry and he tries to make his way down to the very core of Christian belief. This is a worthwhile task.

On the other hand, I did find Short to be a bit repetitive in his writing. He hammers away his points over and over. Additionally, I have to say that I'm not a believer in everything he has to say. That, in and of itself, is fine with me. People willing to state their convictions make me willing to examine my own more deeply. This is something we all--even Mr. Short--need to do from time to time if we are to keep our faith strong.

Robert L. Short uses Charles Schulz's "Peanuts" cartoons to illustrate his theology, which is broadly speaking, Calvinist. As he is aware, his interpretations are not the only ones possible, but he has the merit of showing the depths of Schulz's work. He cites various thinkers and writers to illustrate his points, such as Kierkegaard, Barth, Bonhoefer, Pascal, Herman Melville, Kafka, Einstein, T. S. Eliot, and Paul Tillich. He takes account of modern biblical scholarship and theology on such things as original sin and hell. It is a very good book, which describes and illustrates many features of human life and the need for saving grace. The fact that I disagree with some of the theology doesn't change that. I will contrast some of his theology with more Catholic views.

Short points out that Schulz quite explicitly communicated Christian themes in his cartoons, but knew well he could not impose his own interpretations on them. As Jacques Maritain pointed out long ago, if art is to be Christian, it must be real art. Having read enough devotional and didactic stories and pictures in my life, I can attest to their general dullness. In great part, I think, Schulz has created real art in his Peanuts cartoons. As Short points out, they say something; they are more than mere entertainment.

Short summarizes the freedoms offered by Christian faith: first, the freedom from worship of false gods, idols; second the dreadful freedom of being deprived of being left with nothing to hold on to; third, the freedom of living under the easy yoke of Jesus Christ; and fourth, the freedom to use any legitimate means to spread the message of Christ. This can serve as a summary of the many descriptive themes of the book. One can see that in many ways, Christian faith lights up reality, the world as it is. However, he regards doctrines of free will as illusions.

Short is convinced that human beings are basically depraved, and that one must discover this fact before one can become a Christian. Along with this is predestination, although he conceives God's love as so universal as to preclude final damnation. This is hard to argue with, for there is nothing in Christian belief that implies that anyone has ever been consigned to Hell.

There is no question that human beings can be very evil indeed. Schulz was a master in showing the self-deception, arrogance, and confusion to which we are prone. The Peanuts are often quite cruel to one another. Short quite skilfully uses various cartoons to illustrate many aspects of human life in the light of the Gospel, and this is one of the great strengths of the book. However, people often do a great deal of good, and sometimes this comes out even in "Peanuts." Does it make sense to consider human beings as totally depraved? Not really. For one thing, evil is a deformation or misuse of something good. It has no independent existence. While one can agree that wounded human nature cannot attain the salvation without God's help, there are serious objections to removing all goodness.

As well, to whom would the Christian message be preached if human nature were totally depraved? Preaching would respond to nothing in human nature. Only if we were created for something better does salvation make sense. Short evidently sees the force of this objection and cites Pascal, who follows Aristotle and St. Thomas here, that human beings desire happiness, something Short does not elucidate. For Aristotle, happiness was eudemonia, well being. Short points out that Jesus wished to bring new life and joy. He finds support in T. S. Eliot, among others, to the effect that only God is capable of giving full happiness and that human beings are prone to seeking happiness in the wrong places and in the wrong ways. In other words, if there were not tendency to good in human beings, there would be nothing in them to respond to Christian teaching. But then what becomes of the doctrine of total depravity?

Following on his view of human nature, Short also proposes that human beings must be driven to despair before they can become Christians, a view historically reflected in much evangelical preaching. What this really means is that only persons of the right psychological types with the right experiences can become Christians.

Short accepts predestination of a deterministic kind. In particular, in the chapter, "Just Who's in Charge Here?", Short proposes that doctrines of free will are simply attempts to assert our independence from God. This appeal to a motive is not a valid argument against free will. Technically, it is a circumstantial ad hominem. As well, he opposes free will to the sovereignty of God. The view that the more one attributes to the creatures, the less one attributes to God has antecedents has antecedents in St. Bonaventure, Luther, Barth and others. But really, how grand is it when God can only create puppets? Thomists such as Etienne Gilson and existential ontologists such as Paul Tillich and John MacQuarrie point out that this is to treat human beings as things rather than persons, and misrepresents the relationships between human beings and God. On a more theoretical theological plane, they also hold that the creation of free beings shows the wisdom and majesty of God far better than the creation of mere things. For myself, I would rather worship a God who can create free beings, rather than one who cannot.

The Parables of Peanuts is a very effective popular presentation of a particular sort of Christian theology. I have tried to indicate some the areas I think the theology falls short, but there is so much good in it that I give it a top rating. After all, there is nothing else quite like Short's way with "Peanuts."

Lee's work is well written and, in some cases, provides the only description of the legion of battles and skirmishes that characterized the Southern Campaign. The reader needs to keep in mind that Lee wrote in the 18th century tradition of exagerating one's own triumphs and glossing over any shortcomings. Lee likewise writes in a seemingly authoritative manner about events where he wasn't present. For example his condemnation of the NC militia at the battle of Guilford CH has influenced most subsequent accounts although Lee wasn't aware that their orders allowed them to leave the field after delivering up two rounds. In contrast he fails to mention the flight of the Virginia militia in the right wing. Given these faults, Lee's work is still the best of it's kind. Any Rev War library should have a copy.

Anyone with a sobriquet of "Lighthorse Harry" sets up some expectations with his memoirs, but this book delivers on them. Not only does the book take you into the thick of battle in the Revolutionary War's "Southern Campaign", it also takes you to deliberations about how the Colonists reacted to British Rule and what kind of government America should have and how it should solve practical issues of the day. Henry Lee was there for all of it as one of the "Lees of Virginia". This book has a zest and pacing that gently draws the reader in for the next installment.

Two Rooms : The Life of Charles Erskine Scott Wood By Robert Hamburger

This is a crackerjack of a biography about one of the most fascinating Americans of his time: dashing West Point graduate, Indian fighter, outstanding lawyer, poet, anarchist, romantic lover, satirist, visionary, discriminating patron of arts and the list goes on an on. So many facets, in fact, had Charles Erskine Scott Wood that it is hard to believe that they belonged to one swashbuckling champion for justice and independence.

Perhaps that is why Colonel Wood needed two rooms for himself in his suite of law offices in Portland, Oregon. One room was where he counseled his corporate clients whom he represented with zeal and intelligence to earn the large fees he needed to maintain his luxurious life style. The other room was for his other life, the life of the poet-anarchist-romantic where he let his other self flourish. It was the two room symbol that inspired the title to Robert Hamburger's well written, hard-to-put-down biography.

The life of C.E.S. Wood reads like a cross section of American history -- covering his 92 year life span. As a lad, Wood saw Abraham Lincoln campaigning to become president. As a young man, Wood was appointed to West Point by President Grant; was ordered to Oregon and later he fought the Nez Perce Indians in the last great Indian War of the Northwest after which Wood recorded and made famous the thrilling, yet tragic, words of resignation by Chief Joseph: "From where the sun now stands, Joseph will fight no more, forever."

Wood chose to remain in Portland in the late part of the 19th century, studied law, became a respected member of the bar, handled complicated and high profile cases while all the time he remained dramatically vocal about his anarchism.

Many famous personalities of his time paraded through Wood's life, like a march of American and literary history: Mark Twain, Lincoln Steffens, Woodrow Wilson, Clarence Darrow, John Cowper Powys, Emma Goldman and many others. If they were prominent, he met them, hosted them, corresponded with them, befriended them.

Wood had great passions and he wore them grandly. His early passion for wife Nan cooled over the years. In his 50's he was all but consumed by his turbulent affair with the Portland suffragette Sara Bard Field. Finally, after providing for them financially, Wood left his wife and family and moved to San Francisco to spend his vintage years with Sara and to devote the rest of his life to being his other self, the creative, poetic self, the occupant of the 'second room.'

One may not entirely approve of everything Wood did, but that certainly does not detract from the absorbing review of his unique life.

6/3/2000

This is a fascinating account of Charles Erskine Scott Wood, a true Renaissance man: lawyer, painter, poet, patron of the arts, champion of the disenfranchised. In writing about the life of this passionate and vibrant man, Hamburger describes not only a man and his family, but also the greater community: the West, the nation, and the political and social tides that were sweeping the continent during Wood's lifetime. Colonel Wood, a young graduate of West Point, was sent to the northwest to participate in the Indian wars, specifically those with the Nez Perce. Ultimately he became a close friend of Chief Joseph, even sending his son to live with the tribe for a period of six months. This book reads well. Hamburger is an engaging story-teller, and Wood's life provides him with much grist for the mill.

Having been a "spiritual student" most of my life, I found this book very interesting... the techniques given are for those who have the discipline to do them with diligence. It is a "beginner's book" that does the job well! For those who want to go a step further, and explore the many more dimensions of the reality of the "inner worlds" there is another author which wrotes more than a dozen books on the subject... yet with a "step further approach": He goes much beyond astral travel (a limited form of exploring the inner worlds), and explain way of moving completeley outside the MEST universe (Matter-Energy-Space-Time). It's called Soul Travel. He recall some of his experience in "Soul Travellers of the Far Country." Another author is Paul Twitchell who wrote in "The Tiger's Fang" an absolutely incredible voyage to the heart of creation! A must for aspiring "spiritual student"!

Here is a person who is interested in sharing how he accomplished OOBE in a practical and down to earth manner where everybody can understand. His main focus is to teach others how to do it not to make money. This book was on the web before it was even published!!!

He talks about his experiences in short stories which is easily digested and with each chapter he has exercises that you can do to have OOBE. He writes not only how to have OOBE but as the title of the book implies "what to expect" when you do have them so you will be prepared and not totally off guard.

For example, he talks about the silver cord and how things are a little different in the astral than in the physical. The last chapter of the book has a detailed method of getting out of the body.

However, I wish he wrote about some of the struggles that he had and how long it took for him to have some of his OOBE. I think it is important to have people understand that for most people it will take time and effort and dedication. And by reading about some of his failures, readers won't be too discoruaged when they don't have OOBE as soon as they want. Instead they will say, "Hey, he had difficulties too and still accomplished OOBE. I'm like him and if he did it, I can do it too!"

Again, I would highly recommend this book for anybody who is interested in having OOBE. It is easy to understand and doesn't have the esoteric "mumbo jumbo" that are found in some of the other books.

As always, there are what is considered 'essential books' in any subject matter. I feel that this book ranks with the essential books in the field of OOBE. Some of the other essential books, in my opinion are, Journey Out of the Body by Robert Monroe, Adventures Out of the Body by William Buhlman, Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce and Rick Stack's book(I can't remember the title). There are more but these are from more recent times and may be easier to understand and read than some of the older books.

It's important to have good books to read(this is one of them) so that your subconscious is saturated with the subject so that it knows that you are serious about having OOBEs. Good luck in having OOBEs and remember not to get discouraged and keep at it.

I was hunting for my first book on OBEs here on Amazon.com and I decided to buy Robert Peterson's book that you are now considering. I couldn't be more pleased with the book, and highly recommend it to everyone. You get a first hand account of this man's exploration into the astral realm. You live vicariously through him from his first experience and on through the years. At the end of each easy to read chapter, there is an exercise. But when you get there, you won't want to stop reading. I know I didn't. I just ate this book up. And now that I'm finished with it, I'm going back through the exercises. After reading this book, you know exactly what you have to do to have an OBE, and what you'll find once you get there. You'll also learn some unexpected treasures about psychic phenomenon.

"Treasure Island" is the classic adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Set on the high seas amid treasures and pirates, it is the story of a young boy's adventure. "Treasure Island" has been done by everyone from Disney to the Muppets. It's been imitated many times and influenced countless books and movies.

A mysterious pirate shows up at an inn owned by Jim Hawkin's mother. The pirate is killed by a gang of rogues, but Jim finds a treasure map belonging to the pirate. Jim then embarks on a journey to far away island to find the treasure. Of course, nobody can be trusted - especially the cook, Long John Silver. With his peg leg and parrot, Silver is the stereotypical pirate. Once the island is reached, sides are chosen - the mutinous pirates against the ship's crew. Jim goes on a journey within a journey on the island, going from one side to another, as the treasure is hunted for.

Everyone should read this book at some point. It's especially good for young boys, due to the fact that the main character (Jim) is a young boy. It's well crafted, and easy to read. And it's hard to put down once you get going. What else can you ask for?

This book is absolutely amazing! The beginning may have been a little dull, but towards the middle I really started to get into it. The story kept me glued to the book. I would get dissapointed when I was told to stop reading. It seemed that every time I had to stop, there was some adventure that had just begun.

It starts out with a struggling family who owns an inn. One day, an adventurous seaman, known as the "cap'n" comes to their inn. Once the pirate dies, the inn owners son, Jim, starts to check out the cap'n's chest that was in his room. Jim discovers a map that leads to Captain Flint's buried treasure. This brings along many adventures, and laughs!

Jim and the town doctor and the town squire set out to find this buried treasure. During the trip to Treasure Island, Jim makes the startling discovery that the people working and sailing the ship are planning to overthrow the captain and his men. Once there, Jim, the captain, the doctor and the squire sneak off to the other side of the island. This leads everyone to war as Jim meets a castaway that had been on the island for three years. This man helps Jim and the other men to saftey, while the leader of the pirates, Long John Silver, continues to hunt for the treasure.

Jim and the castaway take control of the pirates ship and are soon looking for treasure themselves. Jim, wandering about on his own, falls into the clutches of the enemy. This creates commotion as the castaway and the other men try to free him, but cannot. The pirates are soon out looking for the treasure again with Jim and make it to where the treaure should be. To their surprise, it is gone!

The doctor and squire kill the other pirates, except for Silver, and take him and Jim to the castaways cave. The castaway, having been on the island for three years, had found the treasure and carried it all to a hidden cave by the coast. Inside the cave was also meat that the castaway had hunted for. Jim and the others make it to the cave and move the treasure onto the boat.Then they sail away and everyone lives happily ever after (except the pirates).

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is by far one of the best adventure stories I have ever read. This book deserves all five stars, it has everything you could ask for such as, suspense, comedy, action, drama and a great plot line. R.L. Stevenson puts a lot of detail into his main characters such as Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins just to name a few. He describes the scenes with such great detail that at times I had to remind myself that it is only a book. I spent more than 2 months reading this book and I enjoyed every part of it. I could RARELY find a paragraph that was dull, the book was very exciting overall. This book is fairly easy to read and I would recommend it to adults and children of all ages. The book moves at a very good pace, not too fast, not too slow. This book is anything but boring, something new happens in every chapter for instance, when Jim witnesses a murder and when he gets into bar fights, those are just some of the many things that happened. I was very surprised myself when I read this book because it seems a little childish but in fact it's quite the contrary. I highly recommend that you go out and read this book!

Darwin's "Origin of Species" is in fact an abstract of a 20 volume thesis containing the evidence gathered over many years which support the concept of evolution by natural selection. This way of describing the evolution of organisms on earth has by now become the standard and, in fact, one hardly ever thinks of evolution without automatically connecting it with Darwin's ideas.

At first, upon commencing reading this small book, I continued to ask `where is the evidence for that' but on realising that he had gathered a large volume of data to support this theory I simply continued to read on. Its not either an easy read or that complicated. Darwin looks at evolution in a very comprehensive way: first, linking the main idea with the variation of animals under domestication, something he himself had extensively studied in the case of pidgeons; second, associating this with variation under nature and the struggle for existence; he then goes on to describe in detail natural selection and the laws of variation. He follows this like any good scientist by an analysis of what may be the theory's weaknesses, such as the scarcity in the geological record and the lack of organisms in a state of gradation. He then applies the ideas to instinct, hybridism and then discusses in great depth the imperfections of the geological record. He also considers how geographical distribution can alter the results of evolution and how the embryos of various animals have a resemblance to that of other animals and how they also appear to repeat previous evolutionary steps as they mature.

Its too bad the 20 volume set was never published, even the incomplete version would have been better than only the abstract. Nonetheless it is well discussed and written as a comprehensive summary of the main thesis. At times the style can be repetitive and even dull but this is compensated for by fascinating little excerpts which are present throughout. This was, remarkably enough, my first reading of "The Origin of Species" and I do believe that every practicing scientist should read it as part of their education rather than accepting its tenets without question as is the wont. However rather than being a description of the true origin of species, it actually takes a change which occurs (by whatever means) and then describes the process the species undergoes from then on. Darwin never actually said anything about how new variations are formed, this was left for others to consider and eventually led to the modern Darwinian thesis including the idea of mutation caused by radiation, viruses or chemical agents. Much has also come to light over the last century such as the symbiosis of organisms producing the merger of cell and mitochondria seen in every cell today and similarly the recent evidence of gene swapping going on between bacteria and now also larger organisms, see "Lamarck's Signature" by Ted Steele. Since Darwin did also not explain form but rather the possibility of how form came about Brian Goodwin's Form and Transformation is a good place to start.

It must also be remembered that in his time the thesis was new even if many others were working on similar ideas Darwin was the first, in conjunction with Wallace, to expand on natural selection and obtain strong evidence for it. An essential read for any scientist.

It feels odd reviewing such a historic work as The Origin of Species, yet some warnings must be espoused regarding this volume as Darwin's work is often cited as the central document (along with the bible) in an argument over creation versus evolution. It is bad enough that people who so often are the most vociferous in this debate (on both sides) are relatively unread, but worse is that The Evolution of Species as a scientific manifesto is really of very little value today. Although Darwin was a brilliant naturalist, it would be as improper to call a scientist who studies evolution a Darwinist as it would be to call all computers Apple II's. Darwin has no working model of genetics, and while he proposed many excellent hypothesis about various forms of selection--he even wrote a book on behavior and facial expressions in animals!--we would be hard pressed to find Darwin as a citation in any of the modern literature. My rating of four stars is not entirely fair. I feel that people who wish to learn about evolution should seek out modern authors (I strongly recommend John Maynard-Smith's 'Theory of Evolution' as it is robust in its degree of current biological theory and will leave the reader not only understanding the biological theory of evolution, but also a lot of general biology.) On the other hand, if you are a person who is interested in history and in people, do read Origin or perhaps The Voyage of the Beagle (which I imagine must be an interesting read). Darwin sets a fantastic example of the dedicated naturalist, unbiased and thorough. His theories, which came later, were elegant--to such an extent that many of the detractors (even modern day) do not understand them. Darwin's biogeographical arguments for instance (I am thinking here about 'Darwin's Finches) stand unmolested by the diatribe of those who would make poor of a man just because they disagree with him. Neither do his opposers note Darwin's unwillingness to bring forth his theory. Truth be told, I care little whether or not people believe in evolutionary theory, only so much as they might at least understand how his ideas, humbly presented, changed the entire landscape of science. But most importantly I think people miss that Darwin was a good scientist--and there are a lot of bad ones. Science has recently taken the turn toward being all experiment and theory driven, with many of the funds in biology going more to 'gene splitters' or whatever you might want to call them than toward what little remains of descriptive science. Indeed it seems there is little room left for naturalists anymore--even to an extent that naturalists are sometimes not considered scientists. There are no more scientific works that are purely descriptive, or they are very rare, or worse done mostly for placement on coffee tables and not for the furthering of our understanding of the natural world. Darwin then is almost a sort of fatalist to his own kind; ushering in the modern age of a unified biology, he inadvertantly relegating the Conrad Lorenz's, the Jane Goodall's and (fill in the blank of your favorite naturalist) to antiquity or at least near-poverty. It might also be nice to remember that Darwin was above all interested in understanding the natural world, something he shared with a long history of zoologists before him who were of course creationists--and I see more in common between these people then I do between Darwin and the modern day evolutionist. Given all of this it seems very unfortunate the connotations and burden that Darwin's name has take on. Instead, it would be very kind if the name Darwin were flung about with the sort of respect I think it is due instead of attached to ugly terms like 'social' or as though the man had little red horns and a tail.

There is only one other book that is so widely known, discussed, and debated, yet so rarely read: that other book is the Bible. To make my point, here is a little quiz:

1) Which name is most closely associated with the theory of evolution?

2) Which book did this person write on evolution?

3) What claims are made in that book?

4) What else is contained in that book?

With astonishing regularity, the average literate adult will respond as follows: 1) Darwin, 2) Origin of Species, 3) Humans descended from apes, and 4) I have no idea. The first two are correct, the third is absolutely false, and the fourth is an admission of complete ignorance. Considering that "Origin of Species" is over 600 pages long, and took nearly two decades to write, one would expect it to contain something more than the four simple words "Humans descended from apes," which, in fact, it neither contains nor implies. So, what DOES it contain? There is one word that best summarizes the bulk of Darwin's magnum opus: "observation".

It is a lengthy book; at times it is tedious, at times politically incorrect, and at times scientifically off-base. But, despite its numerous flaws, it is one of the greatest achievements in the history of mankind. Even if you are among the few who refuse to accept Darwin's ideas, you cannot deny their impact. The theory is the cornerstone--if not the very foundation--of modern biology. Whatever your preconceptions, you will likely be surprised by this work. Darwin was the consummate naturalist and scientist, as well as a refined and articulate gentleman. "Origin" is a delight and an epiphany to read. It's amazing how much Darwin got right, despite the fact that he had essentially no idea of how inheritance worked. It's amazing how much data Darwin carefully assembled, analyzed, and described. It's amazing how meticulously Darwin weighed the evidence, noting when competing theories made different predictions, when the available evidence was not what he would have expected, and what future evidence could completely discredit (falsify) his theory. It's amazing in its honesty.

The misconceptions about "Origin of Species" are not merely rampant, they are effectively universal, fueled (largely in the US) by the rise of creationism, which seeks first and foremost to vilify the theory of evolution as well as Darwin (often failing to distinguish between the two). It's worth the time to read this enormous but meticulously crafted volume, if only to allow you to form your own opinions about such an influential book. Once you have, take the little quiz again. You may need 600 pages to answer the last question.

The premise of this novel is great. I won't waste your time repeating it here - undoubtedly you've already read about it in the other reviews here on Amazon. Suffice it to say, the premise hooked me into buying this book.

The story is less so. One of my gripes is that Wilson has the same small set of characters interact through a series of "coincidences" over two decades as the story unfolds. He explains these away as a time-related side-effect of the chronoliths. Now, I might buy this, except that he never really gives a clear explanation of what the twisted causality is that he refers to. I don't mean that I expect him to give a scientific explanation. But some examples (outside of the coincidental character interactions in the book) to illustrate his idea would lend it credence. Without this, these coincidences come across almost as laziness on the part of the author.

I have a hard time putting my finger on what else I didn't like about this book. The story moved along well and the main characters were fairly well-written. Perhaps it's the uneasiness that arose in me as the unfolding story told of a progressively bleak future for the world and the resulting degeneration of the American political scene. We Americans always seem to think of the future as better and brighter, and The Chronoliths points out that this might not always be the case.

In the end, I would like to give this story a better rating, but I can't. I might not recommend it, but on the other hand, you wouldn't be wasting your time if you chose to read it.

As many other reviewers have said, the concept of this book is very interesting. However, two things annoyed me about the book. First, there are numerous plot mistakes in the story. Stupid little things that probably won't annoy everyone but did annoy me. For example, characters don thermal protective suits in order to avoid freezing during an arrival. However, these suits don't seem to include gloves as people routinely touch freezing metal and leave skin behind. A minor oversight perhaps, but hard to believe that they would forget to include gloves. Small technical discrepencies like this abound and are distracting because they hurt the story's plausibility.

Second, the ending was not very satisfying. The end just doesn't have any real payoff. You don't cheer for the hero because he isn't very likeable. You don't really cheer for anyone. This book reminded me of Robert Silverberg's The Alien Years. Both books have a similar melancholy tone and unsatisfying endings.

I wanted to like this book but cannot heartily recommend it.

The concept of this book is brilliant and utterly original. I love scifi and this is one of the greatest ideas for a book I've come across.

With that said, however, I think the followthrough is disappointing. The book never rises to the potential offered by its concept. The story itself is promising in the beginning, but then it sort of evolves into a tepid made-for-TV movie.

Sadly, I think this is something of a habit for Robert Charles Wilson. I felt the same about Darwinia -- great concept that never is realized in the telling of the story.