Customer Reviews (1)

Revolutionary.
Before Martin Brennan and his team researched the Boyne Valley cairns and Knowth, few archeologists took the locals seriously when they told stories of the structures. Even after the studies were complete many archeologistswouldn't comment on what the team found. Now, years later, there is agrudging admittance that Brennan's astronishing work is correct. Theconcepts and the illustrations will take your breath away. Prepare to beastounded. ... Read more

Product Description
Observations of the sun, moon, planets, and stars played a central role in ancient Maya lifeways, as they do today among contemporary Maya who maintain the traditional ways. This pathfinding book reconstructs ancient Maya astronomy and cosmology through the astronomical information encoded in Precolumbian Maya art and confirmed by the current practices of living Maya peoples. Susan Milbrath opens the book with a discussion of modern Maya beliefs about astronomy, along with essential information on naked-eye observation. She devotes subsequent chapters to Precolumbian astronomical imagery, which she traces back through time, starting from the Colonial and Postclassic eras. She delves into many aspects of the Maya astronomical images, including the major astronomical gods and their associated glyphs, astronomical almanacs in the Maya codices [painted books], and changes in the imagery of the heavens over time. This investigation yields new data and a new synthesis of information about the specific astronomical events and cycles recorded in Maya art and architecture. Indeed, it constitutes the first major study of the relationship between art and astronomy in ancient Maya culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Star Gods, Calendars & Astronomy
This book is full of the most embarassing mistakes. While the drawings are wonderful the discussion of astronomy is a real problem. I'd suggest Anthony Aveni's work (many many books) as a correction to this work.

Art historian's master work
In her brilliant, beautifully researched book, Susan Milbrath uses her extensive knowledge of Mayan art to recreate the structure of the Maya's astronomy and cosmology and, even more importantly, to celebrate theirmysterious beauty. Star Gods is a splendid book written by an amazing arthistorian at the peak of her powers.

Art historian's master work
In her brilliant, beautifully researched book, Susan Milbrath uses her extensive knowledge of Mayan art to recreate the structure of the Maya's astronomy and cosmology and, even more importantly, to celebrate theirmysterious beauty. Star Gods is a splendid book written by an amazing arthistorian at the peak of her powers.

Five stars for Star Gods
Star Gods of the Maya is one of the best works on Precolumbian religion to be produced in recent years. It presents material about the astronomical interests of the ancient Maya in a manner which is accessible to theamateur but sufficiently well-documented to satisfy the specialist.Wellorganized and user friendly, it will probably become the desk reference ofchoice on this subject. ... Read more

Product Description
CBS Direct Marketing Services, Terre Haute, IN, 1968. Staple. Book Condition: Mint - Slightly Aged. Clean pages, clear text with bright, colour images throughout - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Originally published in the UK by Martin Cavendish. US Edition: 120 Parts published weekly by CBS 1969 - 1979. Each Issue (weekly part) included articles covering 7 areas of Human Knowledge: Geography, Biology, Man and Medicine, Ideas, Physical Science, The Arts, and History. Illustrated with hundreds of beautiful photographs and spectacular maps and diagrams, mostly in color. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

Attributes of saints
Great book for anyone who visits galleries and wonders why St. Catherine is always depicted with a wheel... With Internet, these days one can Google "Attributes of saints," but this book is great to handle, smell, browse through, even read, from cover to cover. And it is a nice conversation piece on a coffee table.

Wonderful Book
This beautiful book contains a collection of biographies of saints together with Old Master's paintings.There are usually several paintings depicting each saint.
They include bullets of artistic information about most of the pictures.I do not recommend it for children
because of the sometimes grahic depictions of martyrdom.

What about that guy with the axe in his head?
Books with stories that you can leaf through, without reading linearly from cover to cover, are always fun, and for lovers of medieval art, Saints is one of the best. Lushly illustrated, and formatted somewhat like a travel guide, the mini-biographies summarize what is known about each saint. Representative art works are provided, accompanied bysidebars and annotations with arrows that point out key features. Saints in Art is a valuable resource for anyone wishing to decipher the symbology and iconography contained in the religious works, great and small.

everything i wanted
this book is awesome! it has info on over 100 saints commonly found in art. stuff like name, time and place of earthly life,what they did, patronage,special devotions, connections to other saints, when they became saints and their feast days are easily found on the sidebar. there is a little biography and thena collection of maybe three paintings and an explanation of who is in the painting and what they are doing as well as the meanings of the objects they are pictured with. for instance, if i ever see a painting of a woman with her hair down pictured with a container of oil or ointment i will know it is mary magdalene. a t-shaped cane is an emblem of St. Anthony Abbot, etc. super useful saint painting decoder.

Holy writ!
This title originally comes from the popular Dizionari dell'Arte series by Italian publishers Electa and we should be thankful that the Getty has taken on the task of translating these fabulous reference books into English.Saints in Art is an important source not only for the iconography and hagiography of the principal saints in art but on the great visual history of European painting (with an emphasis on Italian).Lavishly illustrated.I highly recommend it! ... Read more

Product Description
Unique in the literature of spaceflight, this book is an encyclopedic history of the spaceship from the earliest yearnings for space travel to plans for the distant future. Covering in unprecedented detail over 2,000 years of spaceship design, the text chronologically documents thousands of events, with illustrations and photos graphically demonstrating the centuries-long evolution of an idea that has changed our world forever. Included are rare photos and illustrations from science fiction films, books, and magazines; unique drawings of Soviet spacecraft; NASA photos never before reproduced; and artwork specially commissioned for this book. The illustrations are reproduced in two colors throughout, with a sixteen-page full-color section, appendixes, bibliography, and index.Winner of the Booklist Editor's Choice 1994 Technology Award. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Endlessly fascinating and thought provoking.
I agree with all of the other reviewers in that this book makes for all-emcompassing and fascinating reading.For the hobbyist, there are almost endless subjects to stoke the imagination.The time-line style of the book also works and gives the book a sense of forward momentum, of seeing how designs morphed as people's understanding of the nature of space and physics increased.Some of the designs are amazingly predictive of how actual spacecraft were made and used.

If the book has one flaw aside from some missing subjects (and I understand that this is subjective to me) it is that the illusrations and photos, while excellent and numerous, most are not keyed to a specific entry in the book.An illustration can occur on the same page, or pages before, or pages after its reference in made in the book.It means in many cases, flipping back and forth and searching to find the back-story to the illustration.A simple fig. 1-2 (example) or other identifier on the illustation with a matching reference in the text would have increased my enjoyment.

I still highly reccomend this boos to anyone with a interest in the subject.I continue to find intersting facts and previously unknown knowledge every time I open this book.The funkiness with the illutrations is the only reason I'm giving this book 4 stars.

Same Dreams, Same Machines
The first surprise for the new buyer of Ron Miller's "Dream Machine: An Illustrated History of the Spaceship in Art, Science and Literature" is that it was published in 1993, leaving the book strangely out-of-date despite being exactly what the spaceship romantic has desired all these years. My library is chock-full of books and magazines on the subject of spacecraft, and I admit with shame to having discarded older books which would now be collectors items because the spaceships depicted in them were "out of date". Something Miller's book emphasizes is that there is no such thing as an idea that is out of date. "Dream Machines" (beautiful title) treats Defoe (1705), Jules Verne (1865) and H.G.Wells (1901) who dreamed of space travel with the same dignity as Tsiolovsky, Goodard and von Braun, who made it a reality. This book's 714 pages are packed with the brilliant, the outlandish, the amusing, the thought-provoking and the real - and the almost real - spaceships which have graced humanity's longing to go "out there". The fan of early science-fiction has a rich field to explore, no less the student of hard-core spaceflight technology. Of special interest are details of the spacecraft which almost made it - the Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar, the European Space Agency Hermes spaceplane, the Russian Buran, and all the developmental designs which were considered, often discarded, with these never-to-fly spaceships. The impressive hard-cover book is well laid out, with bold-type dates and crisp drawings and a few color pages. There is some confusion about which drawing goes with which text due to minimal captions, but the generous white-space give the pages a friendly tone that allows the reader to go cover-to-cover (if one is so dedicated) or to leaf through looking for technological or impossible gems. The development and discards of the Apollo Moon project are well documented, and compared with the Soviet attempt to trump the United States in the Space Race to the Moon. The discussion of starship designs leans more to the "realistic" such as the British Interplanetary Society's "Daedalus", leaving Star Trek's "Enterprise" to get just a bit more than a mention. Many designers of spacecraft which never made the grade get their names into these pages. Author Miller has really delivered a work of love here. Strangely though, the reader's final emotion is one of sadness and loss. Here is all this brilliance, designing machines that could really take us off the Earth to however far we wish to go, yet few - very few - have become a reality, and usually by the power of short-sighted politics which beggar the vast vision of so many of those whose works are described in this book. If you dream of the Solar System and the stars, you need this one on your shelf.

A sprawling encyclopedia of rockets
In 360 B.C., Archytas of Tarentum made a model pigeon that flew by flowing steam out its tail. A humble beginning, perhaps, but it's the first entry in The Dream Machines, and it should give you some idea of just how comprehensive this book is. Every rocket I've ever seen or heard of is in here, fact or fiction, and for every one I knew about beforehand there are probably a hundred that I didn't know about until I found this book.

One of the best things about the book is that its contents are ordered chronologically. This lets you trace the evolution of spacecraft from pulp magazine covers to illustrations in popular and technical articles to serious design proposals to prototypes to full production. It gives you a taste of what it must have been like to watch all this happen in the middle of the 20th century, and it's fascinating to see all the designs that never made it off the drawing board. In particular, near the end of the book there are no less than 6 pages of drawings that trace the evolution of the Space Shuttle from a winged bullet launched from a jet-powered mothership to the familiar configuration that finally entered service in 1981. A similar sequence shows the development of the Apollo program spacecraft.

If all of that sounds dry instead of inspiring, you'll be pleased to know that all of those shiny silver rockets from the golden age of science fiction are in here, too. Some of them I hadn't seen since I was a 12-year-old watching old movies on Saturday afternoons, and there are many more that I had never seen at all. Radio dramas, television, movies, even prominent spacecraft from comic books and novels are covered.

The book is over 700 pages long and EVERY two-page spread has at least one illustration; most have three or four. The illustrations are in black & white and monochrome color, and there are several sections of full-color pages scattered through the book. Multiple orthogonal views are provided for many spacecraft, which will make this book a valuable reference for scale modelers. The reproduction quality of the illustrations is great, and the cover and binding are solid and of high quality. I know the book is durable because there is a well-thumbed copy at the local library that is still as sturdy as ever.

This is one of those books that you can dive into at random and not look up from for hours. If my house catches on fire, I'm going to grab this on the way out. It's spaceship heaven.

Outstanding Reference for Space Craft Fanatics!
I can't believe how fantastic this book is! I got it for christmas and have a hard time putting it down. Considering the weight of this encyclopdiac work that's saying something. Pound for pound worth it's weight in gold or platinum! Only a few notable omissions that I would have liked to see (ie. "The Valley Forge" fromDouglas Trumbull's "Silent Running" ) Probably the most amazing relvelation is that many current designs have thier genesis back in the late 40's ! Truly a must have for anyone who dreams or dreamedof interplanetary voyages!

The Dream Machines
Exellent book for any rocket or sci-fi enthusiast.The illustrations and drawings bring home man's facination with the heavens.I have read numerous publications concerning rocketry, and by far this is the best book I have yet to see published to date.I was blown away by the sections, 'The Archaeology of the Spaceship', and 'The Experimenters'.All dealt with rocketry ante-WWII.There are also page after page of NASA concept vehicles that were never flown, including several pages of Apollo and Space Shuttle designs that did not make it to the lauch pad, but yet look like they are ready to just rocket from the page.This book would be a great source of information for those who scratch build model rockets. Color illustrations, 3 view diagrams, an appendix of U.S., Soviet, and international lauch vehicles; what more could one want? If I could only own one rocket book, this would be the book I would chose over all the rest!Buy this book, heck buy 2 and give one to a friend! ... Read more

Product Description
The remarkable astronomical discoveries made by Galileo with the new telescope in 1609-10 led to his famous disputes with philosophers and religious authorities, most of whom found their doctrines threatened by his evidence for Copernicus's heliocentric universe. In this book, Eileen Reeves brings an art historical perspective to this story as she explores the impact of Galileo's heavenly observations on painters of the early seventeenth century.

Many seventeenth-century painters turned to astronomical pastimes and to the depiction of new discoveries in their work, yet some of these findings imposed controversial changes in their use of religious iconography. For example, Galileo's discovery of the moon's rough topography and the reasons behind its "secondary light" meant rethinking the imagery surrounding the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception, which had long been represented in paintings by the appearance of a smooth, incandescent moon. By examining a group of paintings by early modern artists all interested in Galileo's evidence for a Copernican system, Reeves not only traces the influence of science on painting in terms of optics and content, but also reveals the painters in a conflict between artistic depiction and dogmatic representation.

Reeves offers a close analysis of seven works by Lodovico Cigoli, Peter Paul Rubens, Francisco Pacheco, and Diego Velázquez. She places these artists at the center of the astronomical debate, showing that both before and after the invention of the telescope, the proper evaluation of phenomena such as moon spots and the aurora borealis was commonly considered the province of the painter. Because these scientific hypotheses were complicated by their connection to Catholic doctrine, Reeves examines how the relationship between science and art, and their mutual production of knowledge and authority, must themselves be seen in abroader context of theological and political struggle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Painting the Heavens
Eileen Reeves has created a portrait of Galileo the artist-scientist that is complex and and worth a long look. I was not familiar with Galileo the artist, and her story includes memorable tidbits that add another dimension to his life. For example, Galileo's dislike of pietre dure, or portraits that were mosaics of polished minerals, and his study of the illumination of the Moon convincingly show that Galileo had an artistic sensibility that influenced his scientific observations. Reeves conclusions may be stretched, but they are worthwhile debating. The writing is not easy, the book wanders and is repetitious, but a careful read will pay off with a new understanding of a giant of the Renaissance and subsequent Scientific Revolution. ... Read more

Product Description
Fire in the Sky collects many representations of comets and meteors in Britain during the eighteen and nineteenth century when a large number of works inspired by these celestial objects were produced. Over 100 photographs--and two sections of luscious color plates--beautifully portray the inspired output of some of the world's most talented artists, fully capturing the phenomenon that obsessed not only a nation but an era as well.Olson and Pasachoff reveal the many different ways that comets and meteors have appeared in paintings and literature and link these works to the achievements of British science in the wake of Newton and Halley.They also examine the different symbolism that writers and artists have attached to these spectacular objects.Throughout, Fire in the Sky conveys how the development of new technologies, and the burgeoning interest of the general public in science and art, dovetailed with an interest in nature and a strong literary tradition of comet and meteor symbolism. Beautifully illustrated and packed with engaging stories, this book will delight anyone with an interest in the art and astronomy of comets. ... Read more

Product Description
In the summer of 1996, the question of life beyond the reaches of Earth was suddenly cast into a new dimension by the report of fossilized organic structures found in a Martian meteor. Later that summer and fall, as NASA launched the Mars Pathfinder and Surveyor missions, mankind's interest had once again fixed itself on the Red Planet. Named for the Roman god of war, Mars has beguiled earthlings since time immemorial with ominous red hue and its peculiar motion across the night sky. It has been noted in the records of Babylonian, Chinese, and Mayan stargazers, and it has figured prominently in ancient mythology. With the invention of the telescope by galileo, the science of astronomy developed. As knowledge of the planet grew, Mars appeared to bear a strange kinship to Earth. Early on, Mars was seen to have a twenty-four-hour day and the appearance of atmosphere, and it was speculated that it harboured intelligent life. Later it was observed to have two moons, a polar cap, and a curious array of features - the notorious 'canali', described by Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1877.Over the centuries the planet Mars lodged itself in the human imagination as a locus of hope, fascination, and fear. H.G. Wells's novel "War of the Worlds" 91898) played on those fears and ushered in the golden age of science fiction. The novel was dramatized with stunning consequences by Orson Welles in 1937, and Mars became the preeminent destination of science fiction writers and movie makers, with the planet figuring in many masterpieces of the genre, including "Strange in a strange land" and "The Martian chronicles", and the works of Philip K. Dick. "Destination Mars" examines how earthlings have perceived the planet throughout human history - in mythology, religion, astrology, folklore, early scientific history, science fiction and the modern era of scientific discovery and space travel. Special attention is given to NASA's exploration of Ma Mariner and Viking missions of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as NASA's two missions currently on their way to Mars and due to arrive in July and September of 1997. Profusely illustrated, this is a stunning portrait of a planet that has proven to be enduring fascination. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Non Fiction
The Six Million Dollar Man guy takes a crack at a coffee table book, this time about astronomy and Mars.The possibilities of organic compounds being found on the red planet were making news at the time, so I suppose this was part of that.Not a whole lot of substance here, but it is attractive enough for a quick flip through.

A very good book
All I have to say is that you should get this book if you have any interest in Mars at all. ... Read more

Product Description
This challenging treatise by Sir Fred Hoyle, astrophysicist, begins by instructing us how to avoid "being sucked into a maelstrom of respectable ignorance. Whenever the word 'origin' is used, disbelieve everything you are told." Then, in a progressive, fathomable, fascinating discourse, he posits his beliefs about the organ of the universe, beginning with an explanation of the ice ages and his theory of the giant comet, the disintegration of which, Hoyle maintains, contributed to the origin of religion. Under expert guidance, we see how this event gave rise to the belief in Mohammed, early Christianity, and impacts on the thinking of medieval times. ... Read more

Product Description
Gods in the Sky uses the remarkable story of early astronomy to reveal mysteries of early civilizationfrom the Ancient Egyptians through the Mayan civilization of Meso-America to Medieval Europe. Gods in the Sky reinterprets the meaning and significance of the buildings, art and inscriptions of the ancients, in the light of what historians have recently discovered about early astronomy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Rubbish.
Gods in the Sky

The thesis of the book is that science and religion are not natural foes.The religious focus of the book is almost exclusively on Christianity (it therefore comes as no surprise that Chapman was raised as a Christian).Islam is afforded the occasional paragraph and the word "Jewish" appears a few times.Barely any other religion, past or present, gets a single mention.

Similarly, the only branch of science provided any real coverage is Astronomy.In the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the biggest controversies dividing science and religion have been in Biology and Medical Science.Christianity long since surrendered Astronomy to scientific inquiry (even if it took until 1992 for the Vatican to formally apologize for its treatment of Galileo) so Chapman really missed his mark.

Gods in the Sky shirks the fundamental chasm separating science from religion.Religion is about faith (is it not?) and science is about reason.What greater difference could there possibly be?

To be fair, most of the book really just describes some history of Astronomy and says nothing about whether science and religion are antagonistic or not.[...]

The book did nothing to change my view that science and religion are natural enemies.The adoption of science is the adoption of reason; the adoption of religion is the adoption of quackery.Science tells us that Mary, mother of Jesus was not a virgin.Christians believe she was a virgin.That is quackery.Christians believe that prayer can affect the outcome of future events through the actions of an omnipotent, loving being.That is quackery.Science is the pursuit of objective truth.Religion is an emotional crutch, an intellectual sedative and a reason to go to war.

There follow some detailed remarks on the text to explain why I gave the book 1 star.

Introduction
Page vi, Paragraph 2: "It is my suggestion that human beings are instinctively religious creatures. ...".I agree with this paragraph (but would omit the word "coherent"). But Chapman does not appreciate the full significance of what he is saying.Humans are instinctively religious creatures.Some have faith in Brahma, some have faith in Jesus Christ, some have faith in... etc etc.

Page Vii, Paragraph 1, "... priests, who supposedly ... keeping `the truth' hidden".Priests do not hide `the truth'.They simply don't know it.When "scientific truth" contradicts "religious truth" then priests pick a side.

Chapter 1 - Science and its modern myths
Page 3, Paragraph 3, Line 1 : "One favourite and fondly perpetuated scientific myth ... is that of scientific and religions thinking as being fundamentally antagonistic".Chapman neglects to inform his reader that "the writings" of Thomas Henry Huxley to which he refers were provoked by the church's refusal to accept the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection because it contradicted their "religious truth" on the origin of man.

Page 3, Line -6: "Christianity ... was temporarily stunned by science".Why only temporarily?I am still stunned by the science of the 19th century.Christian establishments have a pattern of first ridiculing, then coming to terms with scientific progress that contradicts their dogma before finally acting as if the progress had never posed them a challenge in the first place.

Page 5, Paragraph 3, Line 2 "... religious understanding has developed no less rapidly than science itself ...".Religious understanding of what?Our origins?Our significance in the universe?The workings of the steam engine?What monumental nonsense."Religious understanding", if it exists, is dragged kicking and screaming forward by the discoveries of science.There is approximately nothing in the sum of all human knowledge and understanding that can be credited to religious introspection or the study of scripture.I challenge you to pick up an encyclopedia and point to some knowledge that can be credited to religious study.

Page 5, Paragraph 3, Line 5.".. scientist-critics of religion still stuck in an 1860s Darwinian time warp."It is not the scientists who are stuck in a time warp.The time warp engulfs the Christian fundamentalists who have been waging a cold war in the classrooms of the United States since the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925.In 1999 (2 years before this text was published), the School Board of Kansas removed the teaching of Evolution from the School Curriculum.(It was re-instated 2 years later when the people responsible were voted out of office.)Did Chapmen perform any research for his book?See for example [...] to get an idea.Please tell me again, who is stuck in the time warp?

Page 6, Line -4 "... genuine revelation ...".What is a genuine revelation?Right here Chapman demonstrates one reason that science and religion are natural enemies.In science there is no such thing as a "genuine revelation".

Page 7, Paragraph 2, "In this way, for instance, the simple yet dramatic Genesis narrative of the creation of the world can be understood within the context of evolution."How?The Genesis story has nothing to do with Evolution.It claims that the world and all species within it were created, in their current form, in 6 Earth days by an omnipotent being.Nothing could be further from the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. [...]

Page 7, Paragraph 3, Line 4."In fact, Darwinism was not only a wonderful discovery ...Both Aubrey Moore and Frederick Temple ... pointed out ".Moore and Temple did not show God to be an active participator in the evolutionary process.They can claim it all they like but the fact is they don't have a jot of evidence or reasoned logic to justify the claim.But I am sure they have faith.In fact, a corollary of evolution by Natural Selection is precisely that no such creator is required.[...]

Page 8, Paragraph 3, last 5 lines "One encounters cosmologists who will use their computer models to twist theoretical postulates of helium and hydrogen through every permutation of implausible fantasy rather than countenance the merest possibility that perhaps God preceded the Big Bang".There is no more implausible fantasy than "God preceded the Big Bang".Cosmologists should no more consider that "God preceded the Big Bang" than consider that magic pixies preceded the Big Bang.[...]

Do you see the pattern?I hope you understand its consequences.Explaining something with "God" explains nothing.It anesthetises the mind.

Page 9, Paragraph 3."When defending their materialist stance ... imprudent leaps in the dark ... appears astonishingly like blind faith".For every imprudent leap that leads to a discovery, there were a million that you hear nothing of because they landed in a big hole of wrongness.The imprudent leaps that you do hear about are the ones that turn out to be correct or interesting or made by already famous scientists.Using "imprudent leaps" in science is different from religion because in science, you make the leap and test it, in religion you make the leap and apply faith.[...]

Page 10.This page is one big compliment to science.But I think it was intended as a criticism.Very revealing.

Page 11.I no longer even know what he is trying to do here.What is his point?

Page 12, Paragraph 2, Line 6. "... the scientist must have a faith in the fact that acids will always turn litmus paper red, ...".No.When there is overwhelming precedent, there is no need for faith.Drugs are not prescribed or dispensed on faith.Or are they - you tell me.People don't get into planes because they have a faith in flight mechanics that can be compared to any religious faith.Etc etc etc I can't believe I have to write this.

Page 12, Paragraph 3, Line 3. "... no more susceptible to solid proof ...".Same again.Rubbish.Precedent and overwhelming evidence provide proof of many things, for all practical purposes.The way in which Chapman defines "proof" renders the word useless.There are degrees of proof and thus far, religious theories have earned zero degrees.Scientific theories have earned many degrees of proof.

Page 13, Paragraph1, Line 12. "... playing of hunches ...".Correct.An hypothesis must be formed before it is tested.In science, hunches are tested using scientific methods.In religion they are not.

Page 14, Line 6."... he drew the correct conclusion ...".How does he know it is the correct conclusion?Because it has been tested and verified over and over again, [...]

Page 14, Paragraph 3, Line 6."... and have faith ...".Repeating the lie.The scientist does not need to "have faith".Time tells.

Page 15, Parapgraph3, Line 4."...a scientific materialist mode of explanation depends just as much upon faith as dies that of divine creation".Repeating the lie.Materialist explanations have a fantastic track record.Divine explanations have a terrible track record.

Page 17, Paragraph 3, Last sentence."The acceptance or rejection of purpose, therefore, is not an inevitable consequence of scientific research, but is the personal philosophical choice of the individual scientist.".[...]

Page 17, Paragraph 2, 1st sentence."The results of modern science are often used to lend weight to the myth of science's ultimate truth status, but this myth can be countered by two arguments".Skipping directly to the second "counter", Chapman states (Paragraph 4) "Secondly, why is it that, after science has done so much to transform the modern world, there is significant minority [emphasis added] of people within the West who seem to be disillusioned by it?" He continues on Page 18, Paragraph 2 "No-one, of course, is suggesting that scientific truth should be judged by its popularity in a plebiscite".[...]

Page 20, Paragraph 2 Line 5."For in a truly dog eat dog world ... human rights have no place".So what?This is the common attempt to take credit for human compassion on behalf of religion.With this claim, [...]Human rights have never been better respected that they are today in secular democracies.The worst human rights violations today occur in religions states such as Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.Think about that.

Page 24.Line 2."... the point that Galileo was, like Copernicus, a pious Roman Catholic."How is that "the point".The "point" is that when free scientific enquiry and religious dogma collided, the religious establishment used house arrest to argue its case.They did not use reasoned argument or experimental evidence because they had none.On that day, religion was most definitely an enemy of science.The claim that Galileo and Copernicus were `pious Roman Catholic' is a common want evangelical Christians.They are frequently at pains to claim that some famous scientist or other was a Christian.We don't know if Galileo was a Christian or not.We do know that when he suggested the world might not be the centre of the universe, he was arrested by the Christian church.We cannot imagine what would have happened to him if he had publicly questioned, verbally or in writing, the existence of God.Under those circumstances it is simply wishful thinking to believe that he was a "pious Roman Catholic".I don't know what he believed and frankly it does not matter.I do know that it took until 1992 for the Roman Catholic Church to apologise for their treatment of Galileo.

Page 24, Paragraph 3."Charles Darwin, who undoubtedly caused some ripples within the Victorian Church of England". I must give Chapman credit for his slight of hand.He subtly tries to explain away the religious opposition to Darwinism with the word "Victorian" as if that somehow exonerates them.The Christian establishments opposed Darwinism because they understood its implications for their beliefs.Line 5 "... contemporary theologians and scholars came to terms with evolution surprisingly quickly..."Why "surprisingly quickly"?[...].After thousands of years, Christian Creationism, which was inherited directly from Judaism, was dead.And it took a scientist, using a scientist's methods to do it - Darwinism was formed after thousand of tons of data were collected and analyzed by thousand of scientists.Creationism was made up one day when somebody asked the question we all want to answer.How did the church react to Darwinism?It took at least a generation for the church to adapt, reinvent its creationist myths in the light of the latest science and carry on as before.The history of science and religion is one of a repeated pattern of one generation of clergy opposing scientific progress that contradicts their beliefs or their morals.Eventually the old clergy are replaced by the new who have grown up standing on the shoulders of scientific giants.They adapt and re-invent the myths.Everything that is not yet explained scientifically is touted as "proof" of a God.

Well's that's Chapter 1 but so help me I don't have all day.Let's skip to my favourite bit in the entire book. Chapter 9, Page 234.The first paragraph tells how Christopher Columbus used his knowledge of Astronomy to trick less educated natives of Jamaica into believing that his prayers were responsible for bringing back the light of the moon at the end of a lunar eclipse. [...]

It can't be right!
Hello,
...we read from the Author De Lacy O'Leary, D.D. in his book titled "How Greek Science Passed to the Arabs"
How through the many schools the "Nestorians" (Assyrian Church of the East) founded, including the Schools at Edessa, Nisibis, and Jundi-Shapur, the Greek works were translated into Syriac for use in the curriculums. These works included Theophania, Martyrs of Palestine, and Ecclesiastical History by Eusebius, and many others

In the first place Hibha [a Nestorian-Assyrian] had introduced the Aristotelian logic to illustrate and explain the theological teaching of Theodore, of Mopseustia, and that logic remained permanently the necessary introduction to the theological study in all Nestorian education. Ultimately it was the Aristotelian logic which, with the Greek medical, astronomical, and mathematical writers, was passed on to the Arabs

So the point is that it was through those Assyrian Christian Schools that Greek sciences was passed to the Arabs, and the truly inheritors of the science mace in Middle East should have been mentioned as the Assyrians and not the Arabs.

...

The World's Best Teacher
From a student who studied under Dr. Allan Chapman, this book does equal justice to the lectures he gave while studying at Oxford University. His writing pulls into a deep emotional state which makes it hard to put the book down. ... Read more

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1934. Al-Biruni was an astrologer and a scholar. Living in the Middle East, he was able to interact with both Hindus and Arabs. Translated into English, this book is one of the rare, pre-Rennaissance texts that's been available to 20th Century astrologers. It's also a classic work of Arabic astrology, written by a true master. ... Read more

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Tantalizing!
The magic of numbers unveiled.An exciting book to read and a must have for anyone interested in expanding their occult knowledge of ancient mysteries. ... Read more

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This book is the second volume under the titleOrganizations and Strategies in Astronomy (OSA). These OSAbooks are intended to cover a large range of fields and themes: inpractice, one could say that all aspects of astronomy-related life andenvironment are considered in the spirit of sharing specific expertiseand lessons learned. This book offers a unique collection of chapters dealing withsocio-dynamical aspects of the astronomy (and related space sciences)community: characteristics of organizations, operational techniques,strategies for development, conference series, coordination policies,observing practicalities, computing strategies, sociology of largecollaborations, publications studies, research indicators, researchcommunication, public outreach, creativity in arts and sciences, andso on. The experts contributing to this book have done their best to write ina way understandable to readers not necessarily hyperspecialized inastronomy while providing specific detailed information and sometimesenlightening 'lessons learned' sections. The book concludes with anupdated bibliography of publications related to socio-astronomy and tothe interactions of the astronomy community with the society at large.

This book will be most usefully read by researchers, teachers,editors, publishers, librarians, sociologists of science, researchplanners and strategists, project managers, public-relations officers,plus those in charge of astronomy-related organizations, as well as bystudents aiming at a career in astronomy or related space science. ... Read more