Book Description
The work explores the historical and intellectual context of Tsongkhapa's philosophy and addresses the critical issues related to questions of development and originality in Tsongkhapa's thought. It also deals extensively with one of Tsongkhapa's primary concerns, namely his attempts to demonstrate that the Middle Way philosophy's de-constructive analysis does not negate the reality of the everyday world. The study's central focus, however, is the question of the existence and the nature of self. This is explored both in terms of Tsongkhapa's de-construction of the self and his re-construction of person. Finally, the work explores the concept of reality that emerges in Tsongkhapa's philosophy, and deals with his understanding of the relationship between critical reasoning, no-self, and religious experience.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Work on the Prasangika Madhyamaka Thought of Je Tsongkhapa.......2007-08-10
According to Mahayana Buddhism, it is direct realization of the true nature of reality (emptiness/dependent-origination) that liberates one from suffering and leads to nirvana and enlightenment. Yet the subtle nature of reality is not easy to grasp, and requires diligent effort in the form of study, reflection, and meditation. This work is most valuable in helping scholars and students come to an understanding of emptiness and understood and explained by the great 14th century philosopher and meditation master, Je Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and one of the giants of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
Geshe Thupten Jinpa is uniquely qualified to write such a work, having attained the highest degree of scholarship in the traditional Tibetan Buddhist system of education (Geshe Lharampa) and also a Ph.D. from Cambridge University. He is extremely well versed in both traditional Tibetan and western philosophical thought. Moreover, having served for over twenty years as principal English translator and interpreter for H.H. the Dalai Lama, he is very skilled in conveying information in English and in translating Tibetan terminology and concepts into English.
This book will probably be of most benefit to serious scholars and practitioners of Mahayana Buddhism who seek a better understanding of Je Tsongkhapa's presentation of emptiness. As an edited version of Geshe Jinpa's doctoral dissertation, it is not intended as an introductory work. However, those who already have some background in this area of study may find it of great value.
Geshe Jinpa is also the series editor of the Library of Tibetan classics, a wonderful series of books that are also highly recommended for students of Tibetan Buddhism.
Average customer rating:
- It is fun!
- A most remarkable and enjoyable book
- mathematical Champagne
- Hey you!
- Marvellous collection of curious math facts
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A Passion for Mathematics: Numbers, Puzzles, Madness, Religion, and the Quest for Reality
Clifford A. Pickover
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ASIN: 0471690988 |
Book Description
A Passion for Mathematics is an educational, entertaining trip through the curiosities of the math world, blending an eclectic mix of history, biography, philosophy, number theory, geometry, probability, huge numbers, and mind-bending problems into a delightfully compelling collection that is sure to please math buffs, students, and experienced mathematicians alike. In each chapter, Clifford Pickover provides factoids, anecdotes, definitions, quotations, and captivating challenges that range from fun, quirky puzzles to insanely difficult problems. Readers will encounter mad mathematicians, strange number sequences, obstinate numbers, curious constants, magic squares, fractal geese, monkeys typing Hamlet, infinity, and much, much more. A Passion for Mathematics will feed readers’ fascination while giving them problem-solving skills a great workout!
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A singular collection of fascinating information for those who share a love of all things mathematical A Passion for Mathematics is a delightful, dizzying, and entertaining trip that includes an eclectic mix of history, biography, definitions, number theory, and mind-bending problems. Readers will encounter mad mathematicians, religious mathematicians, strange number sequences, obstinate numbers, curious constants, zany math problems, classic recreational puzzles, magic squares, fractal geese, monkeys typing Hamlet, infinity, and much, much more!
Customer Reviews:
It is fun!.......2007-08-01
The book's title is "A Passion for Mathematics: Numbers, Puzzles, Madness, Religion, and the Quest for Reality" is very accurate.
This is not a text book where you must to read page n-1 in order to understand page n. It is more like the Guinness Book of Records which you can open on any page and find something fascinating.
I found this book in our local library, but already after a couple of days I knew that I wanted this book. This was the only book I took with me on my recent trip overseas, and now it lying around in the kitchen and as I look into it at my leisure I find most fascinating anecdotes and problems.
Right from the onset the book captured me with the story of Ramanujan, a barefooted South Indian young man writing to a famous English mathematician. The mathematician (Hardy) first looked at it and threw the letter in the garbage, but then later took it out of, read it again and realized that the author must be a rare genius. Ramanujan was invited to England where he continue stunning his contemporaries with most unusual original discoveries. No mathematicians could follow Ramanujan's reasoning, but could see that his formulas were correct. Ramanujan himself explained that he received his formulas from an Indian Goddess while he was sleeping!
If you have a few mathematical programs such as Excel, Graph, Mathematica, or GSP, you can check out many of the problems, play with them, change them around or produces some pretty pictures like for example the "Schmidhuber Circles" on page 206.
The book does not require any deep knowledge of mathematics. This book can be equally enjoyed by highschool kids and university graduates.
Please don't believe me, check it out: The chances are that you will love it.
A most remarkable and enjoyable book.......2007-06-10
I have read hundreds of recreational math books over the years, and this recent addition has become my all time favorite -- a veritable smorgasbord of mathematical puzzles, factoids, amusing anecdotes about famous mathematicians, and insights into all nature of things. There is something for everyone, and the material is presented in a concise and entertaining way. As one example, you will learn the origin and orginator of most of the symbols we use -- e, pi, +, -, the factorial sign (!), etc. The book also shows a large number of delightful formulas by the Indian math protegy Ramanujan that are rare to see collected in a book for the general reader. Even the type font and layout makes for an easy read. Strongly recommended and a great gift for anyone with an interest in math.
mathematical Champagne.......2007-05-12
Sparkling, fascinating and creatively stimulating: the next best thing to a Brain Stimulator. A must have. Pickover as usual which means at his best.
Hey you!.......2006-07-25
I should have known better! My ineptitude with numbers overcame some of the simplest concepts in this book. Perhaps those with a modicum of intelligence would fare better.
Marvellous collection of curious math facts.......2006-05-30
Clifford A. Pickover's book A Passion for Mathematics is a marvellous collection of curious math facts that is sure to please lovers of Recreational Mathematics everywhere.
Pickover's book is filled with math curiosities that will enchant all those with a genuine interest in and love of recreational mathematics.
Pickover's book contains many mathematical gems. Within its covers there are many beautiful and interesting formulas involving the famous math constant, Pi. On page 78 of the book Pickover gives a truly beautiful and wonderful equation involving the two famous transcendentals, Pi and e. This equation illustrates the beauty and harmony that is to be found throughout mathematics.
The book is crammed with extremely interesting number facts. Many delightful puzzles are also packed between its covers.
I particularly liked Pickover's discussion of Sam Loyd's mixed teas puzzle, which illustrates just how good a mathematician Sam Loyd was.
This book will find a very welcome place on my bookshelf. Pickover's book will also be welcomed by all those who like to read about or collect curious mathematical facts and oddities.
Customer Reviews:
Basic Conceptions of Physical Reality.......2005-08-21
The other reviewers have been a little excited and mistated the propositions that this book outlines.
1. Einstein never proposed a "hidden variables" theory, he was against this formulation. It was David Bohm who proposed hidden variables.
2. Einstein's ironic statement was "Does the moon disappear when I'm not looking at it?" This was stated in order to show the absurdity of the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, which states that there are no particles in the universe until scientists perform experiments; i.e. the experiments themselves 'create' reality ahead of them, creating an illusion that scientists are exploring a reality that is independent of their mental existance.
"Einstein's Moon" is an excellent summary of that small, but important, battle that occured between the realists, lead by Einstein, and the quantum nihilists, lead by Niels Bohr.
The surprising state of affairs today, summed up under the ruberic of "Bell's Inequality" has yet more surprises waiting just around the corner. This is an area of physics and philosophy that can and will produce world-changing results in the very near future.
So, "Einstein's Moon" is excellent reading for anyone who wants to be prepared for the next revolution in man's understanding of the universe!
If I look at the moon does it disappear?.......2005-01-09
If I look at the moon does it disappear?
The Quantum Double Slit paradox: Quantum theory teaches that light is ultimately made up of finite and indivisible quanta called photons.
Common sense dictates that since a photon is indivisible, a single photon can only pass through one slit at a time. Therefore, the photon must pass through slit A or B and then hit the photographic particle screen. If one blocks slit B and measures the results of the photon passing through slit A, the result should match commonsense and since the photon can only pass through one slit the interference pattern can not form; however, when the results of a very large number of these individual events are collected, the familiar interference pattern appears, as if the photon also passed through slit B. This is where the quantum world departs with logic and common sense. The photon acts like it can be at two places at once. It seems light and electrons can behave both like a particle and wave.
Radium 228 demonstrates the concept of the quantum jump. An elementary particle sitting inside the nucleus has too much energy and wants to escape, but no event exists to cause the escape; however, a quantum particle seems to move between two points without occupying the intermediate space in between the two points. This is called the quantum jump. The particle makes a discontinuous leap defying commonsense. At the instant before the leap it occupies a local space and later it is somewhere else. It seems space-time changes shape and the particle emerges in a different topology.
Plank and Einstein claim light existed in discrete packages called quanta. Quanta are so small they are not observable in the large scale world. In large scale light is observed as continuous wave. In thinking about a model for atom, Bohr realized energy of an electron as it orbits the nucleus could not gradually lose energy. Gradual energy loss would mean the electron would collapse immediately into the nucleus and all matter voids out itself. Electrons can not gradually spin inwardedly, they can only jump orbit to orbit. An electron-planet changes its orbit only by losing or collecting a whole quantum of energy.
Heisenburg struggle with the perfect predictable model of the atom and his work in non-communtive matrices formed the uncertainty principle: Error in velocity X Error in position = planks constant, such that, decreasing the error in position increase the uncertainty in velocity and attempting to pin velocity increase uncertainty in velocity. So, if the information about position and velocity is no longer possible to pin down then a prediction about path is impossible. Heisenburg originally believed a path existed but was unknown. Bohr corrected Heisenburg and stated, "the electron does not have a path" meaning that all information about the path was ambiquous. Bohr further introduced the notion of complementarity suggesting Quantum Universe could not be contained within one description.
In an attempt to defend classic determinism, Schrodinger constructed a mathematic wave equation capable of matching the exact calculations by Pauli and Heisenburg's matrix quantum theory. The wave equations turned out to explain hydrogen spectrums perfectly. Born realized Schrodinger incorrected applied the equations as material waves and it turns out the wave equations represented probabilities. The wave function corresponded to the probability of discovering an electron in a region of space. The wave equation predicted where electrons would appear on the screen in the double slit experiment 100 percent. The wave function could not predict the actual position of the electron.
A logic challenge by Albert Einstein, Boria Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen (EPR) would form presenting a logic paradox charging the Copenhagen Intrepretation (disruption or creation as a reason a particle could not be measured) as ambiquous, therefore, concluding the quantum theory was incomplete. The paradox suggests we measure Bs velocity and deduce the velocity of A from it. But since we have nothing to do with A, this means A is in such a state, with this certain velocity. Suppose, we measure Bs position again it is possible to know As position. Both position and velocity are "cards of identity" that have a definite physical existence and the Heinsburg uncertainty principle can not account for this, the theory is incomplete.
John Bell reformulation began as a thought experiment extending work by David Bohm. Bohm's experiment shots two particle opposite direction of each other, at detectors A and B. The resulting measurement is called C.
Every electron has a spin and it can have a value of either up or down. In the detector there is a fifty-fifty chance of up or down, such that, 50 percent register up and 50 percent register down. Pair of electrons initially in a well-defined state fly-off in opposite directions and measurements is done at opposite side of the laboratory. The independent output of A and B is random. The result of Bohm's experiment can be accounted by using conventional Quantum Theory. Bell improved the experiment by changing the angle of the detector and predicted C=- Cos theta where theta is the angle of orientation of the detector. A spin detector can be thought of as a traffic signal. This signal directs up electrons along one route and down electrons along another path. If a second detector is placed after the first, if the second signal is located on the up road, then 100 percent of the traffic will register up. In Quantum mechanical terms the first measurement has forced the state up and repeating the measurement will give the same answer. If theta is 90 degrees then 50 percent of the electrons will go along the up path and at 180 degree up electrons become down. One of the detectors is given a small rotation changing the orientation of the detector and breaks the 100 percent correlation as predicted by Quantum Mechanics.
God Does Play Dice With The Speed Of Light.......1999-03-03
Einstein thought quantum uncertainty would eventually be explained by "Hidden Variables" . Little did he realize those "Hidden Variables" would travel faster than the speed of light. I wonder what Einstein would say about the breakdown of his speed of light constant by those variables?
A very important book, though not a great read........1998-03-06
I found the explanations of the standard modern physics subjects to be mediocre except the part about Bell's Theorem. The significance lies not in the treatment of the subject (Bell's Theorem) but in the fact that Peat has tackled the subject at all. This theorem may prove to be the most important discovery in human history. Experimental proof (I've heard tell that it has been proven.) of local indeterminacy is mind-boggling. Why every science writer worth his salt isn't jumping to come up with a better write up is beyond me. This book is a must read--even for real students of quantum mechanics.
Please Update and Reprint!.......1997-10-29
What a good book! The metaphors for the layman are usually dead-on, although the heart of the paradox of Bell's Theorem is fuzzy, and better handled in "Shroedinger's Kittens". Otherwise, this book does the best job of navigating clearly through the history of the debate over reality.
Book Description
An exploration of mankindÂ's fascination with worlds beyond our own—by the bestselling author of The Physics of Star Trek
Lawrence Krauss —an international leader in physics and cosmology—examines our long and ardent romance with parallel universes, veiled dimensions, and regions of being that may extend tantalizingly beyond the limits of our perception. Krauss examines popular cultureÂ's current embrace (and frequent misunderstanding) of such topics as black holes, life in other dimensions, strings, and some of the more extraordinary new theories that propose the existence of vast extra dimensions alongside our own. BACKCOVER: “An astonishing and brilliantly written work of popular science.”
—Science a GoGo
“A brilliant, thrilling book . . . YouÂ'll have so much fun reading that youÂ'll hardly notice youÂ're getting a primer on contemporary physics and cosmology.”
—Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
Customer Reviews:
The prehistory of and rise -- and perhaps fall -- of string theory.......2007-04-23
According to Ed Witten of Princeton's Advanced Institute (former home to BOTH Albert Einstein AND Kurt Godel), modern string theory is a piece of 21st century science that fell early into the 20th century.
According to string apologist Brian Greene, sring theory succeeds where Einstein himself failed...in uniting nature's fundamental forces to form a complete explanation of reality itself...our "Elegant Universe."
According, however, to a growing cadre of notable physicists however string theory is not even wrong by virtue of its untestability but fails to explain some astrological phenomenon and in fact retards the actions of those who would.
Krauss has been rightly praised for this book which attempts to put the modern fascination with string theory into a proper historical context. The idea that explanation of scientific phenomenon can made by recourse to higher dimensions is not new. Perched at the beginning of western thought in the Greek philosophy of Socrates/Plato, Krauss recounts "Socrates" story of the cave.
In the story of the cave, "Socrates" as related by Plato wonders what would happen to prisoners in a cave, illuminated from behind, whose only contact with each other was through their shadows. The speculation was that they would come to regard their shadows as their essences. The further speculation was that maybe we -- in looking at our manifestations of each other -- perhaps do much the same thing.
More contemporarily, Krauss talks about the nineteenth century fascination with the 4th dimension. As explained in the H.G. Wells book "Time Machine" the fouth dimension would be a means by which individuals could enter and exit seemingly locked rooms.
As recounted by Krauss, the religous considered it the purview of God. And some scientists considered it the purview of a possible explanation of reality. As fads come and go in popular culture, however, Krauss tells how this science fad fell under the excitement of new discovery.
In discussing the spectre of contemporary string theory, Krauss suggests that we may see yet the same phenomenon occur yet again. In so doing, Krauss' point is well taken.
It is perhaps the most characterizing element of science that its theories rely upon testably provable phenomenon.
Masterful Explanation of a Complex Subject to General Readers.......2007-02-20
Lawrence M. Krauss has steered a course perfectly between the Scylla of scaring the general reader off with massive amounts of math and the Charybdis of dumbing down his subject. It's not an easy book to read, but then it's not exactly an easy subject. He has a good time, but not to excess, with some of the sillier New Age and PoMo attempts at appropriating physics for one or another version of the newer superstition, but the main thrust of the book is his attempt to convey to us general readers what's going on in particle physics, insofar as this is accessible to those of us who stopped struggling somewhere in the neighborhood of differential equations.
This is, of course, a quixotic project, rather like trying to explain serious music to the profoundly deaf. It can be done, to some extent, but it's not easy to do. It's not even easy to try. I can't imagine that the tangible rewards are at all commensurate with the effort required, and Viking Press didn't really hold up their end, in my opinion. The book appears to have been neither copy edited nor proofread. VP, like not a few other publishers, has figured out that few readers demand their money back just because the book is riddled with errors. Apparently their professional ethic is simply "They can't kiss us on the mouth."
Krauss deserves better with this book, but then so do all the writers who publish books intended to inform and even, in the best sense, educate the public. Krauss knows he can't make me understand the math, but he's done the best job I can imagine of getting the ideas across without it. At every stage of the exposition, his honesty and integrity shine through; he gets it across without ever kidding (or flattering) the reader.
I intend to look up everything else of his that might be accessible. If you are interested in what's going on in modern physics but aren't an expert, check out this book. You'll be glad you did.
a guide through the pitfalls of science careers..........2006-12-30
If you pay close attention, then you can hear Lawrence Krauss cautioning you to beware of taking science as a religion. Krauss explains his own immunity to falling victim to this affliction by way of having been caught in the crossfire between the two insititutions of science and religion.
I applaud his insistence on taking the physical evidence as evidence of itself only while resisting the allure of the reported enthrallling beauty of the equations and precision in physical theory.
If the lesson comes across that it is possible to be a scientist without out being a secular religionist, then that can be realistic encouragement to future potential scientists.
Well done, sir!
A superficial view of a multi-dimensional world.......2006-10-26
After reading Brian Green's "The Elegant Universe", I wanted to learn more on the possibility of a world made of more than 4 dimensions, time included. L. Krauss seemed to offer the opportunity not only to learn more about these extra dimensions based on scientific knowledge but also to melt it with an insightful adventure into the history of human creativity which has already imagined such world. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. Both the scientific and artistic parts are poor and shallow, a shame when the explanation of a multidimension world is at stake. The rhetoric has nothing of the passion and the doors-opening of Brian Green's book. Too bad.
Krauss is a physicist of many dimensions.......2006-09-01
Lawrence Krauss has a particular knack for taking the reader through a wonderful journey of discovery through science, and Hiding in the Mirror does just that. His scholarly approach is both witty and colloquial, profoundly informative without being preachy. The book begins with a lively introduction to modern-day cosmology, relativity and quantum physics, the quest for the grand unifying theory and a presentation and critique of a potential candidate: string theory. His critique is timely and well presented, and never without the humor and readability which marks Lawrence Krauss as one of the greatest science writers today. This is Krauss' best work, and an absolute joy to read.
Average customer rating:
- Best look elsewhere
- This meat is sliced too thin�
- Every Truth Has its Price
- Lee's Upsetting Quest
- SEEK THIS OUT
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Quest for Sex, Truth & Reality
Edward Lee ,
Jeffrey Thomas , and
Scott Thomas
Manufacturer: Bedlam Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Lee, Edward
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ASIN: 1889186287 |
Book Description
This is a reprint of the first and almost-impossible to find chapbook by Ed Lee. This is chapbook #3 in the Necro Chapbook line. Contains three stories, including "Pay Me," which is only available in this chapbook. Each story has excellent artwork by Erik Wilson. 300 chapbooks.
Customer Reviews:
Best look elsewhere.......2004-03-14
This is a small collection of three stories dealing with the theme of a search for truth. All three involve a writer as the main character, presumably Lee's alter ego.
In the first story, "Goddess of the New Dark Age," a cancer-stricken author is literally haunted by his life's failures. He consults people of various stripes - a priest, a professor, a call girl - in an attempt to answer the question "what is real?"
The second story, "The Seeker," is essentially a rehash of the first, with added gore and the revolting acts that Lee is infamous for. It is perhaps meant for those who couldn't hold their attention on the previous story.
In the final story, "Pay Me," a writer visits a sex club and encounters an acquaintance he carried a torch for in high school. He soon finds she has changed in unspeakable ways. Lee tries to add weight to the story by telling us (in his afterword) that it is a philosophical tale. It's really just a soulless piece of pornography, and the inexplicable ending seems like a lame attempt to root it in the horror genre.
The first story is recommended. It is deep and surreal and the only well-written piece of the three, and earns this publication three stars. The others aren't worth the time it took to read them.
This meat is sliced too thin�.......2003-09-06
Iým really glad that Edward Lee is better than this tiny chapter book. (and I do mean tiny, very thin) In my opinion, horror should be in-your-face; a fast, slap-happy read that leaves no doubts about what just happened. Lee gets a little bit, well, ethereal in this chapter book. A kind of wandering, dreamlike prose that belongs in space-type SF and not flat horror; for this book does contain some of the most gruesomely described horror I have ever encountered, definitely not for the faint of heart. The stories are still good, and the book is thin enough to read while waiting for a dentist appointment, but if you want something juicier in content and not just an indistinct wade through knee-high gore and splatter, pick up a different Lee and save this one for the waiting room.
Goddess of the New Dark Age: A story of a man dying of cancer, and of the ghost who follows him , whispering to him, as he seeks the meaning of what is real. Only in death will the ghost make reality clear to him. This is the best story of the three.
The Seeker: A man wanders through a quarantined zone, seeking truth and finding only revolting people and horrific acts of violence. When he does find what the army and he himself has been seeking, he discovers that he is capable of handling it when others are not. This is the most vague, and yet the goriest, of the three.
Pay Me: A man finds an old school mate in a Live-Sex bar, and witnesses her involvement in a pornographic stage show. Still wanting to see her, he gets involved with her only to find out she will recruit him for the show in horrible fashion. This is the most sexually graphic of the three, better than The Seeker but not as good as Goddess.
Every Truth Has its Price.......2003-06-02
An author finds himself close to death and followed by a ghost that tells him to ýmake her real.ý So, his quest for enlightenment, to find the becoming mentioned before his terminal illness catches him begins. A town that is going mad, filled with horrific events that consume mind after mind, and a writer that thinks of himself as ýa seekerý journeying through it. Along the way he hears a voice, a voice that tells him not to turn away but to seek out what is real. A man listening to a voice inside his head journeys into a ýseedyý part of town, into a bar offering ýlive shows,ý finding someone he once loved in the process and also finding that, in time, truth is relative and it all changes. Every truth has a price.
Three stories, one chapbook, and the label out-of-print on all this beastýs previous release. That is what this work, by Edward Lee, comprises on its Quest For Sex, Truth, and Reality. It also entails something thatýs well written in its short, 35-page run, something that reflects upon its author while the main characterýs ý all reflecting on bits of Edwardýs internal struggle ý search for something more, and a more meaningful side of the gore writerýs persona. Personally, I find this time period in his writing life an interesting one, filled with reflections of what is going on in the authorýs mind after each tale told, letting you into the painterýs mindset as the scene was crafted. To me, that is an important keyhole to sometimes peek through because knowing the author, its knowing something behind-the-scenes.
For fans of Leeýs writing, this is something that youýll want to definitely procure because the alternative to picking it up here is paying way too much for the out-of-print volumes of this, his first chapbook. Also, Pay Me, the third story in the book, is also listed as exclusive to the volume, so that makes it a nice find, too. Included herein is Goddess of a New Dark Age, The Seeker, and the before-mentioned piece, evening it out as something that is worth picking up. For anyone that has yet to check out Lee, you should bear in mind that he is a horror creator and incorporates the spilling of internal stimuli to get his message across. If this works for you and you want a tale coated in the renditional imagery of terror, then this is worth picking up.
Lee's Upsetting Quest.......2003-02-05
Ed Lee is best known for spectacularly gruesome books like "The Bighead," or sick short stories like "Header." This little chapbook, entitled "Quest for Sex, Truth, and Reality" marks a significant departure for Lee. While the three stories included here still contain Lee's usual warped outlook on modern day society, the stories are much deeper than mere blood and guts tales. The three stories in this booklet are not easy to decipher, but in that respect they mirror our own individual search for truth and reality.
The first story, "Goddess of the New Dark Age," concerns a washed up writer dying of cancer and his attempt to seek the meaning of reality. He goes to the usual sources one would consider in such a quest, heading down to the university to talk to a philosophy professor. The professor gives him a long, academic rant that is neither illuminating nor coherent. The author turns to sex, finding nothing lurking there that reveals reality. Only when he recognizes that the reality of our time is horror heaped upon horror, the reality of man's cruelty and endless heartbreak, does he discover what is real.
Lee moves down darker trails in "The Seeker," a tale even more obscure than the previous story. A writer wonders into a strange town, encountering several weird people in a local bar while the army searches for something strange in the surrounding environs. A few stomach churning scenes later finds the writer encountering what the army is looking for. What it is and what it means is unclear, but the man discovers the object has bigger plans than corrupting the local townspeople. Lee writes that the symbolism of this story is that the things we seek out because we believe it is the truth often turn out to be something completely different. Hmmm.
"Pay Me" unavoidably deals with the quest for sex. In this pornographic yarn, a man named Smith runs across Lisa, an old school chum, in a seedy bar. She is even more attractive than he remembers, and the two make small talk over drinks for a time. Regrettably for Smith, he soon sees what her job is in this type of bar. The descriptions here are graphic in a tone that suggests certain magazines available only to those over eighteen. Smith and Lisa do spend the night together, resulting in Smith's incorporation into the stage show at the bar. Lee claims this story deals with the biggest fear of the 1980's, namely the shroud of sexual terror that descended over the country due to the AIDS virus.
Ed Lee fans will want to pick this slim book up quickly, since small press stuff tends to quickly fade from view. I do not pretend to understand these mysterious stories, but they are quite different from the usual Ed Lee fare. For instance, I do not remember any rednecks or hillbillies turning up in any of the stories, definitely a rare and noticeable occurrence for this author. Ultimately, it is nice to see a writer in the grue genre attempt to stretch his talents now and again even if he does not necessarily pull it off.
SEEK THIS OUT.......2003-01-11
When I ordered this Necro chapbook, I didn't realize that I'd already read 2 of it's three stories ("The Goddess Of The Dark Age" and "The Seeker" were both in the author's 1st collection of short fiction - The Ushers). Knowing that now, I would still order this book as it is the only place (besides the original out of print chapbook by Tal) to get the 3rd story, "Pay Me". Having just finished Lee's Sex, Drugs & Power Tools, I had to shift gears a little bit as this collecion isn't as hardcore/in your face as S,D&PT. Don't take that the wrong way. If you like Edward Lee, you'll like this collection. Just don't go looking for a header. Be sure to check out the afterword that follows each story (and the picture of Lee smiling at the end). Seek out this chapbook now before it joins the Tal edition.
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Earth Quest Lab Pack (Eyewitness Virtual Reality)
DK Publishing
Manufacturer: DK MULTIMEDIA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM
Geology
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Geology
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
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ASIN: 0789412373 |
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Eyewitness Virtual Reality CD-ROM: Earth Quest (mac/win)
DK Publishing
Manufacturer: DK MULTIMEDIA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM
Nonfiction
| Earth Sciences
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0789412349 |
Book Description
A meticulously modeled 3-D environment ; Learn about the forces and power of the Earth.
Book Description
Since Galileo, critics have waged a relentless assault against science, attacking it as dehumanizing, reductionist, relativistic, dominating, and imperialistic. Supporters meanwhile view science as synonymous with modernity and progress. The current debates over the role of science-- described by such headlines as Scientists are Urged to Fight Back Against `Politically Correct' Critics in The Chronicle of Higher Education--testify to how deeply divided we remain about the values and responsibilities of science in the modern age.
Acknowledging the validity of a deep skepticism about science but eager to preserve its strengths and values, Alfred I. Tauber's anthology seeks to avoid an either/or configuration. Science, Tauber argues, is fundamentally pluralistic and must accept detracting criticism as part of its very code in the hope that, in its defense, the scientific enterprise is strengthened and reaffirmed.
Featuring essays by a wide range of interdisciplinary, classical, and contemporary thinkers such as Martin Heidegger, Thomas Kuhn, Hilary Putnam, Evelyn Fox Keller, and Max Weber, the work is divided into five parts: science and its worldview; the problem of scientific realism; the nature of scientific change; the boundaries of science; and science and values.
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