Book Review ~~ Inherit the Wind ~~

Yesterday I read the play Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence. It’s set in a normally peaceful town, Hillsboro, but when a schoolteacher violates the law and teaches science that contradicts religion, famous lawyers come to town, trials happen, and even the state Capitol’s attention falls upon the town. Coincidentally, this is yet another story of science vs. religion, like The Dance Of the Frogs. However, it’s actually based off of real events and is much more believable than the other story. Remarkably, the story of a courtroom-based trial showcases one schoolteacher’s courage to do something that is right, but not popular, much better than any other story would. Bertram Cates teaches evolution; evolution that goes against what has been scientifically proven by religion. He is taken to trial; but, luckily for him, his attorney from the Herald is a very good lawyer, good enough to have a chance at winning against one of America’s most important politicians. Henry Drummond, an agnostic who takes on the most difficult cases, is defending him, he finds out. Even Matthew Brady, the State’s representative, is worried. I thought it was a really amazing play with a very meaningful story and would rate it a 9.5/10. Anyone interested in matters of religion vs. science or a good, occasionally humorous read should try reading this book.

Book Review ~~ The Dance Of the Frogs ~~

Today I read the essays The Dance Of the Frogs by Loren Eiseley. It’s part of the collection of his essays in The Star Thrower, a compilation that I’m reading right now. It’s a really interesting book that I’ve enjoyed reading so far, and I’ve already reviewed some of the other essays in The Star Thrower, namely The Bird and the Machine, How Flowers Changed the World, and The Fire Apes. The Dance Of the Frogs is written in a different style than most of his other works, though, which combine a personal story with a historical story. This one is simply one story that borders on the fantastical, alluding to a gigantic frog king and something religious in a scientific book. I still enjoyed reading it, though, an interesting account of what happened to one researcher. I’m not sure if it’s true and actually doubt it, but it made for entertaining reading that still taught me something about how hard it is to be religious while also a scientist. A story on Native American culture mixed with a story from Eiseley’s life, which incorporates an entirely different story of another person’s life, The Dance Of the Frogs is a complex but informative and entertaining essay. I highly recommend that anyone interested in religion, science, or simply a fan of this author’s works read it. I would rate it a 9/10.

Book Review ~~ The Fire Apes ~~

Today I finished reading the essay “The Fire Apes” by Loren C. Eiseley. An amazing writer, he blends yet another story from his life with a history, but this time, he incorporates something more: an explanation on evolution. The story starts with a single incident, apparently insignificant. The author, however, takes meaning out of it so that we understand something more about evolution, writing about historical events and including facts on evolution along the way. He makes his readers truly believe him because of how captivating his story is. It’s a story that seems personal, that seems to contain his emotion and thoughts while still introducing facts and a story about the fire apes, apes who could create fire. It’s not simply a scientific article, but also a story of what had truly happened to him and his relevations because of it. I really enjoyed learning about his thoughts, his revelations, and his learning. It doesn’t seem like he’s explaining something, but rather that we’re learning it together. The writer, both an exceptional writer and scientist, hooks you in at first before tangling you up in an amazing story. Another essay in The Star Thrower Collection, The Fire Apes is an amazing piece of writing that I would recommend to anyone intrested in evolution or science in general. I would rate it 9.7/10.

Book Review ~~ The House of the Scorpion ~~

A couple of days ago I read the book “The House of the Scorpion” by Nancy Farmer. She’s also written “The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm,” another book I’ve reviewed, but “The House of the Scorpion” is one of the most acclaimed and a truly amazing book. With an ever-changing storyline, the author shows what the main character’s feelings are as he goes through a process of learning that he’s a clone, learning what they are, and learning the plan of the person he is a clone of. A complex story that left me eager to continue reading, the book is woven together like a rollercoaster. Each character is unique and dynamic in his or her own way. Almost no character’s loyalties go unquestioned; each one seems to have done something against Matt in the past. Things are not as they seem, and as the book goes along, new characters are introduced, new information is released, and the plot changes. I really enjoyed reading the book and highly recommend it to everyone, especially those looking for a good fiction or sci-fi story. I would rate this book a 9.8/10 and suggest that you read at least the first three chapters before deciding that it’s boring.

Book Review ~~ The Tell-Tale Heart ~~

Yesterday I read the book “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. It’s a short, horror story written in first person about a man who seems mad but says he isn’t. I found it a very interesting, if slightly frightening story with a lot of description about the man’s feelings as he kills and hides the body of another man, confessing to the murder because of his own guilt. The author is able to use imagery and description well enough to make me understand how the narrator felt and why he killed the older man who had always been so kind to him. The use of the narrator’s beating heart to capitalize on and show in detail his guilt was also a good tactic in the author’s writing. I thought it was an amazing story and recommend it to anyone interested in horror stories. I would rate it a 9/10.

Book Review ~~ How Flowers Changed the World ~~

A few days ago I read the essay “How Flowers Changed the World” by Loren Eiseley. I thought it was a very combination of a story about the wisteria pods in his kitchen that exploded and the history of how angiosperms began to dominate the world. Like his earlier essay, “The Bird and the Machine,” “How Flowers Changed the World” is an essay that really combines two stories; one from the author’s life and the other from history. The two are woven together seamlessly so that the reader doesn’t notice the two overlapping timelines, only an informative and very interesting story. When I started reading it, I doubted that flowers could change the world, but after reading the book, I saw how they did so. An amazing writer as well as a naturalist, Eiseley made me certain of how flowers changed the world, presenting a case as to how and why flowers could and did change the world. He taught me many facts that I hadn’t known before. While, like the other essay of his I read, rather dense reading in the beginning, it progresses into a well-written, captivating history of the world. Though not very popular, I recommend this book for anybody looking for information of flowers, the history of the world, or just some good reading. I would rate it 9.5/10.

Book Review ~~ Switch ~~

Today I read the book “Switch” by Chip and Dan Heath. It offers useful and pertinent advice that showed me how to motivate people by getting them to think logically and emotionally while shaping the environment for the best results. I enjoyed reading about the various stories of success that nicely illustrated the reasons people were able to initiate change. It introduces many tactics that can help people inspire others to change, all backed up with useful information. The three main points–to direct the ‘Rider,’ motivate the ‘Elephant,’ and shape the ‘Path’ are all very helpful with additional advice about how to do so. It’s not vague about how to switch from one tactic to another, giving advice about each. The examples of how the advice worked were striking, and I was amazed at how simple some solutions to problems could be. I learned about how humans are sometimes too perceptive for their own good and recognized similar problems in myself. This was an excellent book with usable advice and interesting, sometimes funny, examples. I would rate this book a 9.5/10. Overall, the book is great but occasionally dense.

Greek Mythology ~~ Favorite Gods and Goddesses ~~

I’ve recently become interested in Greek mythology, especially Greek gods and goddesses. I think that each deity is different and all of them have unique, interesting personalities. However, I do prefer some of them over others.

Athena, goddess of the olive, a symbol of peace and victory, and the owl, a symbol of wisdom, mystery, intelligence, protection, and secrets is my favorite goddess. She is cunning and intelligent. For example, Athena tricked Hector so that Achilles could kill him by turning into Hector’s favorite brother, Deiphobus. As Deiphobus, Athena told Hector to face Achilles in battle because Deiphobus would be fighting alongside him. Hector agreed to face Achilles, but as Deiphobus was not actually there, Achilles won the battle. I admire her traits of cunning and wisdom because it means she has a sense of self-preservation, unlike many gods who seem to be focused mainly on brute strength. Furthermore, by being logical and intelligent, she wouldn’t act impulsively based on hatred, but would calculate her decisions and usually achieve her goal. Athena is also sympathetic at times. After Arachne committed suicide because of the guilt Athena tried to give her over the weaving contest, Athena was sorry for being the cause of Arachne’s hanging and turned her into a spider after her death so she could weave eternally. Another example of her kindness was when she gave Teiresias the ability to understand birds after accidentally blinding him because he had seen her naked. She normally considers the feelings of others. However, when she is feeling vengeful, she may forget about other people at times and simply focus on her own target. For example, when Paris insulted her beauty and said that Aphrodite was fairer than her, Athena fueled the entire Trojan War in The Odyssey. Although Athena occasionally feels vengeful, most of the time she is rational and rewards intelligence and cunning with her help. Unlike Ares, she is the god of defensive war and strategy.

My least favorite god is Ares; he likes to fight and destroy buildings, lives, landmarks, and more. He is impulsive and warlike, but he acts on instinct instead of with rational thought. Unlike Athena, he rushes into battle without thinking about how he might be able to avoid it. As the god of war, he is very violent, but doesn’t consider the consequences of his actions or how they might negatively affect other people. As the patron of offensive war, he is easily angered and likes to start wars, not a very good trait for an important person with a lot of power. His symbols are the vulture and offensive weapons. The vulture represents death or impending death, which means that Ares brings death. I do not particularly like the concept of dying, as it can emotionally hurt many people who will not see those that they love again. The people who die will also never have another chance at life, so death in battle can ruin futures that could have helped others or contributed greatly to society. Ares was a god of destruction, and he created mayhem and destruction in his wake. He destroyed many lives, and buildings. I do not think that wanton destruction is a good thing; it tears down meaningful creations that might otherwise have been valuable or rare in the future. Ares is often arrogant and doesn’t usually care for others’ feelings. Unlike Athena, he is the god of offensive war and destruction.

Book Review ~~ The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm ~~

Today I read the book “The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm” by Nancy Farmer. At first, the book was dull, and I felt like putting it down. It described the simple, sheltered life the Chief of Security’s three children, Tendai, Rita, and Kuda Matsika. However, their Mellower, a person who praised and soothed them, soon hypnotized their parents into allowing them to go a trip. They first had an exciting adventure through the city, but soon things took a turn for the worse when the She Elephant kidnapped them. Luckily, their parents discovered that they were missing and went searching. Their father, as the Chief of Security, had plenty of influence, and soon many people were searching for them. The Matsikas hired the detective agency ‘The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm’ to look for them, which was when things began to get exciting, but dangerous. I thought that the book was very interesting, melding together different elements such as the idea of a dystopian society, though it was slightly altered, overprotected children, mythology, and a haven separate from the rest of the world to create a dynamic story. I really liked the author’s style of writing and recommend this book to children and teenagers. I would rate this book an 8.5/10.

Book Review ~~ The Bird and the Machine ~~

A short while ago I read the essay ‘The Bird and the Machine‘ by Loren Eiseley, a naturalist. I thought that the material consisted of fairly interesting reading. Eiseley skillfully incorporated a story with informative information that really taught me about the differences between life and machines no matter how refined machines are. I thought that the story really illustrated the ways that birds and just life in general could have feelings, ranging from sorrow and loss to joy and love. I really enjoyed reading the essay, which is part of ‘The Star Thrower,’ a compilation of Eiseley’s essays. While I enjoyed reading the story about how Eiseley captured a bird, but let it go because of its mate, I also liked the part about how machines were becoming intelligent and learning how to do things faster and more accurately than humans. The two were woven together cleverly so that the story about the birds made me wonder about whether machines would ever be able to feel emotions instead of simply doing what humans told them to. Eiseley suggests that they won’t, and because of that, will never actually become better than humans. Humans, after all, are more complex than simply being the energy that makes up cells, which are combined to create humans. I would rate this essay a 9/10 and recommend it for anyone who’s interested in learning about nature. While it may, at first, seem like dense reading, it’s actually quite interesting.