Book Review ~~ Hop-Frog ~~

Today, I read “Hop-Frog,” a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. I really enjoyed reading it and learning about the main character, Hop-Frog. At first, he seems to be just a dwarf, often ridiculed for his gait and race, but still loyal and helpful to the king. However, when the king pushes his “best friend,” Trippetta, for trying to help him, his true nature is revealed. Carefully, he makes preparations for the party, suggesting an outfit for the king and making a few adjustments to the party room to organize his revenge on the king. Poe’s writing was very engaging, and the intricacy of Hop-Frog’s plans were a surprise to me. Although, from his tone when he suggested an outfit, I could guess that he was either trying to spare his friend from further punishment or organize revenge, I didn’t understand what he was trying to do until he was already doing it. I would recommend the story to anyone interested in reading a short story about how an “underdog” can triumph over a bully through cunning plans and rate “Hop-Frog” 9.2/10.

Book Review ~~ The Time Machine ~~

Today I read the story “The Time Machine,” by Herbert George Wells. I found it to be a very interesting story about the Time Traveller, who built a machine allowing him to travel in time. The theory that time was no more than a fourth dimension was one of the most attention-catching parts of the story, and I really enjoyed reading the Time Traveller’s explanation of it. His account of his adventure was described vividly, and the description might almost be believed had it not been for how fantastical the story was. When the Time Traveller explained how his Time Machine had been taken, I eagerly continued to read, hoping that he would find his Time Machine even though I knew that he must have, to return to the time he had started and tell his story. The account of the Time Traveller’s journey in the future was very engaging, not because I wanted to find out what happened in the end — I already knew that he returned to his time — but because I wanted to learn more about the people who inhabited the future, the Eloi and the Morlocks, and discover why they had evolved to such a point. Although the truth was never revealed, the Time Traveller’s theories were just as fascinating and pulled me into the story. I would recommend it to anyone interested in a good read and rate it 9.8/10.

Book Review ~~ The Bridge of San Luis Rey ~~

Today, I finished reading “The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” by Thornton Wilder. It was about a monk who was a witness to the collapse of “the finest bridge in all Peru.” He saw five people fall from the bridge, but instead of being thankful that he hadn’t fallen from the bridge, as most people would, he wondered why they were the ones that had fallen. Thinking that it was because a higher deity had willed it to be so, he researched the lives of each person, as well as that of people who hadn’t been on the bridge when it collapsed, calculating their goodness, piety, and usefulness. I enjoyed reading the story and learning about why each person had been crossing the bridge when it collapsed. The stories of the people who were killed in the collapse were sometimes interconnected, and I enjoyed learning about the life of other people who were affected by or affected the victims of the bridge, and in particular, the actress, Camila Perichole, who had touched upon the lives of every person in the collapse that the story described. The monk’s findings were unusual, and the end result of the story was very interesting. I would recommend it to anyone who wants some good reading material and would rate it 9.2/10.

Book Review ~~ Night ~~

Today, I read “Night,” by Elie Wiesel. It’s a summary of Wiesel’s time as a Jew during the time of the Nazis and provides a look into the average life of a Jew sent to live in a concentration camp. It explained his attempt to remain his humanity, and yet stay alive, retaining a sufficient amount of self-preservation — not an easy thing to do when it was every man for himself in the concentration camps. The story was a deeply heartfelt chronicle of Wiesel’s journey to survive, but also stay with his father and keep the other alive as well, in various concentration camps. I was saddened by the cruelty shown in the concentration camps for the weak — those who were sick or old were sent to the furnace and burnt. I was also shocked by the inhumanity shown by various members of the concentration camps — one boy left his father behind, running ahead, because his father was weak, while a man’s friends never prayed for him after he died, three days after they promised to, because they had suffered much while he had been taken to the crematory and had forgotten. I hope that such inhumane practices never happen again and recommend that everyone read this book to learn about the terrible conditions in Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and other concentration camps so that similar instances never happen again. I would rate the book a 9.5/10.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent of Man — The Starry Messenger ~~

Recently, I finished reading the sixth chapter in “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski — The Starry Messenger. It was very interesting, this time explaining astronomy’s impact on human evolution and the ideas introduced and eventually accepted about the nature of the planets. At first, astronomy was used only for timekeeping and to guide travelers. People assumed that the sun and various other planets revolved around Earth, but by the fifteenth century, Copernicus presented a different idea: he suggested that all planets, including Earth, revolved around the sun, but for several more decades, his idea went unaccepted until Galileo Galilei used his telescope to look at the stars and proved Copernicus’s theory. However, for various political reasons, those ideas were shunned by the authorities at the time. Forgeries were produced to show that Galileo had not been allowed to use the theory as a hypothesis, and despite the lack of Galileo’s signature on the documents, he was still found guilty of violating the law. I found it a morally reprehensible action to deny his claims merely because of common belief, especially since Galileo’s ideas were eventually proved true. The book provided an accurate, quick summary of astronomy, almost a timeline of what humans accomplished with astronomy, and I recommend it to anyone interested in astronomy or evolution. I would rate it 9.7/10.

Book Review ~~ The Cooperation Instinct ~~

Recently, I read “The Cooperation Instinct,” an article in the Discover magazine. In it, Kristin Ohlson explained Martin Nowak’s analysis of why humans cooperate and don’t simply fight each other. Nowak, combining mathematics with evolution, created a scientific model of the prisoner’s dilemma, where two criminals are charged with a crime and placed in separate rooms. If both prisoners ‘defect,’ incriminating each other, they are charged with three years in prison. If neither criminal defects, both are given only a two-year sentence. However, if one criminal defects and the other doesn’t, the defector gets only one year in prison and the criminal who didn’t gets four. Clearly, defecting is more beneficial — so why do people cooperate? In the past, biologists have attributed it to inclusive fitness, the theory that people die to save their kind, to protect their genes, but Nowak suggests that people cooperate simply because species that fight amongst themselves eventually all die out, so only species that do cooperate survive. Their genes are then passed down to the next generation. Nowak and Karl Sigmund, another evolutionary biologist, created a virtual tournament where ‘criminals’ were equipped with strategies. If they won, using those strategies, then a replica of the strategy would be introduced in place of a different strategy. Prisoners that always defected prospered at first, but eventually, a strategy called ‘Tit for Tat,’ doing exactly what the other prisoner had previously done, began to win out. Then ‘Generous Tit for Tat’ was introduced, occasionally cooperating despite a previous defection. This strategy, however, was easily taken over by the ‘Always Defectors’ before the pattern repeated. Their simulation represented times of peace and war and proved that people cooperate simply because of their genes — people who fight each other tend to be killed, so more genes leaning towards cooperation appeared. I would rate this article 9.7/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in evolution.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent of Man — The Music of the Spheres ~~

Today I read the fifth chapter in “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski, The Music of the Spheres. In it, he explains that nature and numbers are closely related, referring to the Pythagorean Theorem as an example, since it is often used to build structures such as ancient Egyptian pyramids and The Hanging Gardens. He continues to explain how the religion of Islam spread the invention of the astrolabe and used it to calculate latitude, sunrise, and sunset. He also explains how Arabs created the use of modern decimal notation and symmetrical designs. I was particularly interested in his description of how Alhazen realized that we can see because objects reflect rays into our eyes, not because our eyes create light that bounce back to us from objects. I found the chapter very interesting and learned a lot of information about mathematics and its relationship with nature. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys learning about how humans progressed in terms of science and mathematics and rate it 9.6/10.

Book Review ~~ The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle ~~

Recently, I finished reading “The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle,” by Avi. I found it an engaging novel chronicling Charlotte’s journey on the Atlantic Ocean towards America. The author does a wonderful job of adding action to the story, especially given the fact that it takes place on a ship in the nineteenth century, which meant that they were completely isolated from the rest of the world. No additional people can be added to the ship; it’s almost like a separate world. However, the author continues to introduce more information, and it is quickly obvious that all is not as it seems. Although Charlotte expected a fun, safe voyage at first, the families who were supposed to travel with her never arrived, and instead, Charlotte was placed into a dangerous environment where she was accused of murder and, through her actions, indirectly killed a man. It a suspenseful, exciting story throughout, beginning with the second mate’s warnings that it was dangerous for Charlotte to be on the ship. I would date it 9.7/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in reading a good book.

Book Review ~~ A Report to an Academy ~~

Today I read the short story “A Report to an Academy,” by Franz Kafka. It’s a fascinating story about how an ape learns to adapt and become a man in order to leave his cage. The story really illustrated the cultural changes I described in my review for chapter one (Lower than the Angels) of The Ascent of Man by J. Bronowski; the ape didn’t change biologically to become like a man, remaining exactly like it was, but it learned new habits and overcame strong dislikes out of necessity. I found it very engaging, since the ape sometimes makes everything sound like a trap, with freedom an idea that can never quite be reached — although he escaped the cage, by doing so, he had to become a man, and to escape his new life and return to his former life as an ape, he would have to relearn the manners of an ape. I enjoyed learning about how quickly he changed into becoming a man — humans took hundreds of thousands of years — and his description of the time that he first drank alcohol and spoke. I would rate this book 9.6/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in a good, quick read.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent of Man — The Hidden Structure

Today I finished reading the fourth chapter in “The Ascent of Man,” by Jacob Bronowski — The Hidden Structure. I found it a very interesting chronicle of man’s journey to learning about atoms, from the discovery and creation of fire, which led to the creation of alloys and the shaping of other metals such as copper, iron, and gold. The Hidden Structure then continues to explain how gold, a symbol of purity, was the focus of alchemy and was often used as a metal that could extend people’s lives. The chapter continues to explain about discoveries of oxygen and its uses until, finally, thousands of years after alloys are discovered, it explains how people discovered atoms. I found this chapter very interesting, and I enjoyed learning about how Dalton’s simple question provoked a discovery about atoms. This book was very engaging, Bronowski’s skill with words blending with his knowledge of the past to explain how man went from discovering fire to learning about atoms. I would rate this chapter 9.3/10 and recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the journey of man through the centuries.