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The idea behind the book is on its smallest scale it is inside a qark inside an atomic nucleus, inside an atom, attached to a DNA molecule, inside a nucleus of a white blood cell, slightly below the skin on a hand of a man asleep at a picnic on some grass in Chicago....all the way to the scale of the universe. My son and I will transverse the middle 1/3 or 1/2 of the journey. He gets to pick his own bedtime books and he chooses this one out of hundreds once or twice a week.
The pictures make a great way to explain the concept of scale and various aspects of science. On the facing page of the main picture underconsideration are objects of the same scale. You can really see that the tail of a dinosaur is 10 times longer than a man.
For the adult, it is an easy introduction to various aspects of science all at different scales. It is not a super serious book - no math - simple explanations. But as a practicing scientist, I view it as vary factual.
The original film was potent too; more so in the directness with which it expresses the scale of the world. But the book, with its annotations and additional pictures, has its own power. You can flip back and forth, and take as much time as you want absorbing the incredible range of scale in the universe.
The book's first picture is scaled at about a billion light years across--ten to the twenty-fifth metres. On this scale even super-clusters of galaxies are just clots of dust on a black background. The right hand side of each page, as you go through the book, zooms in by a factor of ten, and we dive into galaxy clusters, into our galaxy, our spiral arm, our solar system, through the moon's orbit and into the earth's atmosphere, down into North America, and then Chicago, and a picnicker asleep in a park. After twenty five pages we're at a human scale; the pictured scene is a metre across. But the camera continues to zoom in; to the picnicker's hand, through his skin to a lymphocyte, and on down through the cell nucleus to coils of DNA, to a carbon atom and through its electron cloud, and down to the nucleus and beyond. Sixteen pages from the picnicker have brought us to the quarks.
The left hand side of each page provides companion pictures and comments, some drawn from the history of science. For the nanometre picture there's a copy of John Dalton's two-hundred-year-old models of simple molecules; at the millimetre and tenth-millimetre scale there are pictures of radiolaria, seeds, and other microscopic beauties. All are interesting and informative.
I can't recommend this book too strongly--it's a fundamental work of scientific culture, and should be in every house. However, I particularly recommend that you buy this for any nine-to-fourteen-year-old child in your life; it's the best way I know to introduce a child to a love of science.
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Archbishop Chaput fully presents the challenge of Catholic moral teaching. For example, unlike many others, he does not shrink from vigorously presenting the Church's teaching on contraception. Catholics who read this book will be reinvigorated in the practice of their faith. Non-Catholics will see the attractiveness of the fullness of Catholic teaching.
the topics are discussed in a fresh way, not requiring one to be a bible scholar to understand what he is saying and why he is saying it. the archbishop has published many articles and his speeches have been circulated beyond catholic circles. his sincere love for his church and his vocation as an ordained minister comes through clearly. a great read for catholic and non catholic alike.
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Learning about the transits of Saturn and Uranus has helped me analyze my life and has been constructive in dealing with change, making me resilient and adaptable. Robert Hand, who in my opinion is our greatest living astrologer, has in this book (originally published in '76) the definitive interpretations of the transits of sun, moon, and the planets through the houses and by aspect.
I usually focus on Saturn and Uranus, as these are the big daddy planets of change, but the others have their merit too, though the influence is subtler, and Hand's clear, concise and inspired writing and no-nonsense descriptions will help you get a good grip on the meaning of each transit. If you can read and own an ephemeris, this should be the # 1 book to go with it.
The first 3 chapters are short. One on interpretation, one on timing, and a case history of Nixon and Watergate. The rest of the book is devoted to aspect interpretation...477 pages of some very enlightening information, written by the best of the best.
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Hopefully, by then, he'll have another I can take with me.
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I have used many translations over the years. But I find myself always going back to the NASB. I just know that when all is said and done, I "trust" it. I use the NIV also, but there are just too many passages in the NIV that, upon closer examination, add or subtract from the text of the original Greek. For example, in Luke 9:62 the NIV translators add two words to the text that are not in the Greek "...no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for SERVICE IN the kingdom of God." The NASB simply translates what the actual Greek text says--"...look back IS FIT FOR the kingdom of God." If I did not know Greek, I would not have known that the NIV adds words that are not in the Greek text. In short, the NAS does not supply so much "interpretation" to the actual Greek text. It sticks to "translation." I just find over and over again, that when I read my NIV I either have to pull out my Nestle Greek text or my NAS to see if that is what the verse REALLY says.
The NIV is a great translation in many ways, but for serious Bible study, the NASB is, I believe, the most trustworthy translation on the market. And so, if you are going to go with the NASB text, why not get one with the best aesthetic qualities as well? This Bible has it all!!!
Only 3 drawbacks: I wish this Bible had included:
1. the cross-references found in most editions of the NASB
2. ALL of the footnotes that appear in most editions of the NASB (this one is pretty bare-bones), and
3. a little more margin space on the inside margins (not a whole lot of room to write on the inside margins).
But on the whole, I love it and am glad I purchased it. It's my favorite Bible (and I have many Bibles).
Unfortunately, all the Bible has is text and concordance with coloured maps in the back, and wide margins. No helps whatsoever.
I would even hesitate before I marked up the Bible, that's how beautiful it is. However, if all you want is a pretty cover, buy it. Otherwise, forget it. Other NASBU reference or study Bibles in genuine or top-grain leather are available at lesser cost. So, save yourself a few bucks and get yourself something that has more information.
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The book is filled with wonderful insights like that one and reminds us on nearly every page of the real reasons why golfers love this sometimes maddening, often magical, game. For those of us who never will have the pleasure of sharing a round with Charles Slack, this book is a delightful substitute.
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Many Christians, as well as skeptics, are unfamiliar with the rules of biblical interpretation and therefore, regardless on which side of the fence the reader is on religious issues, all groups can benefit from this book.
While Sproul holds that the Bible is the inspired word of God, this is not a fundamentalist text. Thoughtful analysis and interpretation are taken on with an eye to culture, author intent, literary style, and other factors. This book is a priceless vault of information and tools. Common pitfalls in Bible study are dealt with and explained. It is a short, easy read in a friendly conversational style but has great depths of information to plumb...look at is as a key that opens the door to a new level of intelligent Bible study. I cannot stress how well written and very useful this book is. When you hand someone a new Bible, toss in a copy of _Knowing Scripture_, too. I recommend this book with the greatest intensity.
Although the book does have lots of textual info pages, the core of the book is a series of 42 full-page pictures which depict the an ordinary picnic photo in different scales.
Starting from an ordinary dude resting on the grass, each page turn shows the scene from 10 times farther away. First we see the park he is picnicing on, then the entire city, and before you know it we are in deep space racing towards the outskirts of the Universe.
On the other side of the journey, each page turn magnifies the last picture tenfold. First by viewing a close-up view of the picnicing guy's hand, you quickly find yourself probing deeper and deeper through the realms of biology and chemistry right into the core of a single atom.
The really cool thing about the whole deal, is that all the images are centered at the same object: a single atom on the picnicing dude's hand.
In short, the idea is absolutely brilliant. The images chosen for the presentation is not perfect, but they are still amazing. Of-course, the film is much more impressive then the book, but you can't take a film with you to a camping trip...