Book Review ~~ Total Lack of Recall ~~

Total Lack of Recall is another philosophical puzzle in “The Pig that Wants To Be Eaten”, by Julian Baggini. This particular puzzle is about a man who remembers being Arnold Conan, but used to be Alan Wood. Wood was an unpleasant man who got into trouble, and was given the option to have his memory erased and replaced with a set of made-up memories. He agreed, so Conan/Wood remembers being Conan. However, he was Wood for the many years before his memories were replaced, so who is he? He was born Alan Wood, so it seems that he is, in fact, Alan Wood, but he remembers being Arnold Conan. Is it the true past that is more important, or does his current personality and set of memories matter most? I really enjoyed thinking about the identity crisis the puzzle presented, but I only confused myself more as I continued to think. If it is his thoughts and beliefs that matter most, then he is Conan, but since his former memory could just as easily be replaced, does it matter? This was an intriguing philosophical puzzle, and I recommend it to anyone interested in philosophy, logic, or looking for an interesting brain teaser. I would rate it 9.7/10.

Book Review ~~ The Nightmare Scenario ~~

The Nightmare Scenario is another philosophical puzzle from “The Pig That Wants To Be Eaten,” by Julian Baggini. Again, this puzzle questions humans’ rationality. It suggests that we are dreaming, but that we never wake up. If we did, we might think, How absurd my dream was! And, in fact, even when we did “wake up”, it might simply be another dream, as false awakenings are perfectly plausible. Of course, the natural reply is that everything makes sense, and since we remember the past, we can’t be dreaming, as dreams don’t involve pasts. However, it is possible that, in the dream, we are constructing pasts for ourselves so that we can make sense of the dream while we are in it, and when we wake up, we will laugh at its absurdity. Once, I dreamed that I was in a rainbow-colored forest, with a vividly hued jaguar chasing me. Afterwards, I knew that it was false, but during the dream, the events I experienced seemed perfectly reasonable. I really enjoyed this puzzle because, again, it is impossible to question something using a faulty tool — in this case, rationality. I would recommend it to anyone interested in philosophy, rationality, dreams, or simply looking for a brain teaser to occupy their time, and rate it 9.7/10.

Book Review ~~ The Evil Demon ~~

Today I read The Evil Demon, which is the first of a hundred philosophical puzzles in “The Pig That Wants To Be Eaten,” by Julian Baggini. The book is a lovely compilation of various philosophical puzzles, so I’ll probably review a variety of them. The Evil Demon suggests that a demon is tricking us into thinking that, say, one plus three is four, when, in truth, one plus three is nine. It seems “obvious” that one plus three does, in fact, equal four, but how can we prove that? It is our ability to think rationally that is doubted, so we cannot rationalize an argument to show that our rationality can be trusted, because that would be assuming that we are rational to reach the conclusion that we are rational. The most interesting part about the puzzle was that it questioned the premise that must always be used to reach any sort of conclusion — that our thinking is rational and correct. After all, to a person under hypnosis, it’s perfectly reasonable to count “one, two, three, five . . .” without realizing that she missed saying four, so assuming that a demon is using a similar tool, we cannot trust our rationality. I really enjoyed the puzzle that this suggestion presented and would rate this puzzle 9.8/10. I recommend it to anyone interested in philosophy or simply looking for an interesting brain teaser to puzzle over for days.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent of Man — Generation upon Generation ~~

Today I read the twelfth chapter in “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski — Generation upon Generation. This chapter was about dominant and recessive genes as well as the person who thought of them, Gregor Mendel. Although he was not particularly skilled in school, he was able to conceive of the idea of the gene theory because of his observations as a naturalist and farm boy. He performed various experiments and gathered evidence supporting his idea, using peas and then lizards to test his theory. I enjoyed learning about Mendel’s success, especially because it is a delightful tale of how a simple farm boy could achieve success because of an interest of his. I also liked learning more about recessive and dominant genes — the gene for being tall may triumph over the gene for being short in the first generation, but in the second generation, there is a small possibility that the recessive gene for being short may reappear, which I found quite interesting, as it explained why people weren’t all the same if dominant traits won against recessive ones. The chapter also contained more, interesting information about DNA. I would recommend it to anyone interested in DNA or simply looking for a good read and rate it 9.8/10.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent of Man — Knowledge or Certainty ~~

Today I read Knowledge or Certainty, the eleventh chapter in the book, “The Ascent of Man,” by Jacob Bronowski. This chapter is about gaining and applying knowledge. It primarily concerned the fact that, no matter how precise an instrument used for measuring is, there will always be a tiny margin of possibility. Nothing is absolutely definite, although the range of variations may be minuscule. The chapter also talked about the atomic bomb and Leo Szilard, who made major contributions towards developing the atomic bomb and created the idea of a chain reaction. He realized that, by hitting an atom with a neutron that split into two, a chain reaction would be created. He tried to make sure that the idea wasn’t published until after the war, but it didn’t work, and the bomb was used on the Japanese. The book went on to say that, contrary to common belief, science will not make people inhumane, because with science, there is always something new to discover. It is a belief in absolute knowledge without reasons that makes people into numbers, like at Auschwitz and other concentration camps. With science, no one knows everything, but people can always continue to discover more. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the debate of whether science makes people into numbers or simply looking for an interesting book to read and rate it 9.8/10.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent of Man — World Within World ~~

Today I read the tenth chapter in “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski, World Within World. It was quite interesting and focused on atoms and the progression of human knowledge about those atoms. It began by describing Mendeleev’s classification and ordering of the elements known of then, better known as the periodic table today. Mendeleev’s ability to put together the table without knowing of a great amount of elements and to be able to think of reasons for the gaps was a phenomenal tale of inductive reasoning, and I enjoyed learning of it very much. Originally, people thought of atoms as indivisible, the basic building block of the universe — but Joseph Thomson proved this theory untrue when he discovered the electron, which explained the reason for atomic weight and number. The discovery of further electrons within atoms — the world of atoms within the real world — inspired not only further developments in science, but also different forms of art, such as the Cubist style of painting. Other scientists continued to advance the knowledge of atoms to present-day knowledge. This chapter taught me a lot about atoms as well as history, so I would recommend it to anyone interested in atoms, particularly the history of how humans learned of them, and rate it 9.7/10.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent of Man — The Ladder of Creation ~~

Today, I read the ninth chapter in “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski — The Ladder of Creation. Although the book itself is actually about how mankind has been able to undergo cultural changes rather than biological changes, this specific chapter focused on evolution — biological evolution. Of course, though, the chapter is about how humans — Charles Darwin, Alfred Wallace, and Louis Pasteur — learned more about evolution than actually went through it. It begins by explaining how Darwin and Wallace underwent similar experiences, asking the same questions and doing much of the same things, and therefore reached the same conclusions. Although Darwin reached the conclusion of natural selection first, he didn’t publish it until Wallace’s paper was shown to him. This chapter also mentions Louis Pasteur’s work in showing that animals like maggots did not simply appear, but had parents. He proved that the evolutionary distance between humans and animals was shown in the amount of amino acid differences. Then, Stanley Miller proved that amino acids could be formed in electrical conditions, and other scientist showed that those acids could also be created in extremely cold conditions. I would recommend this chapter to anyone interested in evolution and rate it 9.7/10.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent of Man — The Drive For Power ~~

Today I read Chapter Eight in “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski, titled The Drive For Power. I really enjoyed reading it and learning about the events described in it — The Industrial Revolution, for one, but also the French and American revolutions. Although both the French and American revolutions were political, while the Industrial Revolution was a scientific revolution, they all — according to Bronowski — made huge impacts on the social structure of society. However, unlike the previous chapters, which were about specific individuals who contributed to mankind’s development, The Drive for Power is about how people in general, though mostly people who lived in the countryside, changed how construction happened. People went from rural areas to the city and worked in factories instead of farms, using machines to produce items far more quickly than before. This chapter also explained how things such as tableware, before made out of porcelain and highly expensive, became cheaper as white earthenware pottery replaced them, easily affordable at a shilling a piece. I would recommend this interesting chapter to anyone interested in the Industrial Revolution, evolution, or simply looking for an account of how the trio of revolutions changed everyday life and rate it 9.4/10.

Book Review ~~ The Ascent of Man — The Majestic Clockwork ~~

Today I read the seventh chapter in “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski — The Majestic Clockwork. I enjoyed reading it and learning about the many contributions that man has made to improve their knowledge of time, math, astronomy and light. It focused on Newton and Einstein, explaining their achievements and the impact they made on science, as well as everyday life. I was surprised that for a thousand years, everyone simply accepted the explanation that when light passed through a glass prism, it was darkened, more so at some parts than others, and as a result white light was refracted into different colors, but only Newton thought to put a second prism to the light produced by the first, making the discovery that the color of light was not changed, only separated, by prisms. Other notable achievements of his were the invention of the calculus and the calculation of the shape of planets’ orbits around the sun — an ellipses. The largest difference between the two people this chapter concentrated on, however, was that while Newton thought of light, space, and time as different things, Einstein thought that they were all connected and went on to prove it. He showed that light and time are relative because light takes time to travel, and that time and space are relative because time passes more slowly in space. This chapter really shows that people who think out of the box can come up with ingenious ideas and solutions to modern problems. I would recommend this chapter to anyone interested in Einstein, Newton, or evolution and rate it 9.4/10.

Book Review ~~ Nemesis ~~

“Nemesis,” by Agatha Christie, is another mystery novel, and — like most Agatha Christie novels — has a unique twist to it. After Mr. Rafiel’s death, his solicitors offer Miss Marple twenty thousand pounds if she can complete the task assigned to her — but she doesn’t know what that task is! Mr. Rafiel also sends her on a trip, though, and eventually she concludes that, on this tour, she must have to meet people that will help her in this task or visit a place that was essential to this task. As the story progresses, Miss Marple learns more from people that she meets through the tour or at various destinations, and eventually concludes that her task has something to do with Mr. Rafiel’s son, Michael, who was convicted of murdering Verity Hunt, who he supposedly loved and was going to marry before she was killed. Although Michael had been convicted of various crimes before, Miss Marple and some others doubted that he could have done it, given his character, so Miss Marple set out to learn whether or not he was the murderer, and, if not, who was. I really enjoyed reading this story and recommend it to anyone interested in a good mystery with an unusual twist. I would rate it 9.5/10.