The Wild but Dazzling Universe
Even in the 21st century, there are places on the planet where few people tread. Lonely mountain tops, desert interiors, Arctic ice floes, or the vast ice sheets of Antarctica. The Kerguelen Islands of Indian Ocean and Spitsbergen of Norway are good examples. Earth is a very tiny place in our universe that is made of spacetime fabric with matter and energy. They come in various forms; planets, stars, galaxies, and black holes. The observable universe is estimated to be 93 billion light-years in diameter.
Solar system is a well-studied system and a good deal of information is available here. The Sun and eight planets with about 170 known moons and countless asteroids, some with their own satellites; comets and other icy bodies; and vast reaches of highly tenuous gas and dust known as Kuiper belt and Oort cloud. There is also other information; physical and chemical characteristics of exoplanets, galaxies, nebulas and galactic clusters. There are many colored pictures to admire the wonders of our universe.
One of the surprises is that the Pillars of Creation taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of interstellar gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula is prominently displayed on the cover but not documented in the book. This is about 6,500–7,000 light years from Earth and it is also known by other names like Messier 16 or M16, NGC 6611, the Star Queen Nebula and The Spire.
This is a good reference book that prepares you for exploring the universe. It provides a comprehensive review of cosmic structures in the observable universe. Lonely Planet offers a good guide for readers interested in astronomy.
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Monday, November 11, 2019
Book Reviewed: The Boundless Sea: A Human History of the Oceans Hardcover, by David Abulafia
The Captive Sea: Communication and Commerce in the last four millennia
Long before Columbus set off for India, merchant mariners had been plying trade from Rome to the Indian subcontinent trading silk, spices, timber and ivory. This book is voluminous work at 1050 pages that takes the reader to far depths of the planet on water from the Pacific to Atlantic and Indian Oceans. There are 50 chapters and the reader can pick and choose a continent of interest rather than read from beginning. The five sections of the book, each dealing with the three oceans is a magnificent work and describes the tenacity of human beings for their struggle to survive, prosper and dominate the planet.
The Great Sea since the beginning of civilization is amazing as the author begins to focus on Mediterranean’s capacity over the last 3,000 years and reveals the imagination, resilience and ruthlessness of sailors. The unending domination continues as recently China leased the Piraeus docks from a cash-strapped Greek government. Building on economic and political strength is as old as the birth of civilization.
The trade of Indian Ocean from Alexandria and Red Sea ports to Indian coasts brings together the robust trade from Rome to India and the tremendous impact on commerce, culture and religion. The trade continues onwards into the eastern side of Indian Ocean to Malay Archipelago. The navigation based on monsoons propelled trade between China, the eastern archipelago and India. The Indian trade also brought Hinduism and Buddhism to South East Asia.
Author Abulafia decodes successive generations testing the sea as a source of survival. He also shows that it is a bearer of promises and rewards. The waterways were an ecosystem swayed by oceans currents and monsoon. But the political initiative and commerce determined the importance of Mediterranean cities and Asia. This is a fascinating book that includes every continent and brings amazing amount of history. I recommend this to readers interested in human adventure and ancient history.
Long before Columbus set off for India, merchant mariners had been plying trade from Rome to the Indian subcontinent trading silk, spices, timber and ivory. This book is voluminous work at 1050 pages that takes the reader to far depths of the planet on water from the Pacific to Atlantic and Indian Oceans. There are 50 chapters and the reader can pick and choose a continent of interest rather than read from beginning. The five sections of the book, each dealing with the three oceans is a magnificent work and describes the tenacity of human beings for their struggle to survive, prosper and dominate the planet.
The Great Sea since the beginning of civilization is amazing as the author begins to focus on Mediterranean’s capacity over the last 3,000 years and reveals the imagination, resilience and ruthlessness of sailors. The unending domination continues as recently China leased the Piraeus docks from a cash-strapped Greek government. Building on economic and political strength is as old as the birth of civilization.
The trade of Indian Ocean from Alexandria and Red Sea ports to Indian coasts brings together the robust trade from Rome to India and the tremendous impact on commerce, culture and religion. The trade continues onwards into the eastern side of Indian Ocean to Malay Archipelago. The navigation based on monsoons propelled trade between China, the eastern archipelago and India. The Indian trade also brought Hinduism and Buddhism to South East Asia.
Author Abulafia decodes successive generations testing the sea as a source of survival. He also shows that it is a bearer of promises and rewards. The waterways were an ecosystem swayed by oceans currents and monsoon. But the political initiative and commerce determined the importance of Mediterranean cities and Asia. This is a fascinating book that includes every continent and brings amazing amount of history. I recommend this to readers interested in human adventure and ancient history.
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Book Reviewed: The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution, by Eric Foner
The constitutional, political, and social issues after American Civil War (four stars)
This is an historical account of the constitutional, political, and social crisis after the Civil War. United States was faced with an enormous task of ending the slavery constitutionally and offering a solution to institutional racism. The constitutional amendments; Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth were adopted between 1865 and 1870 to guarantee freedom to former slaves and offer equality and citizenship rights. The 13th ended slavery. The 14th made anyone born in the U.S. a citizen and a state in the union can't deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. The 15th gave the vote to black men but not any women. What followed their adoption was the way the constitutional power was eroded by state laws and supreme court decisions throughout the late 19th and first half of 20th centuries. The full benefits of these amendments were not realized until the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The reconstruction amendments were nullified in the south, step-by-step with the compliancy of the Supreme Court of the United States. Violent groups like KKK resorted to violence to deprive blacks of their rights. This challenge to the 14th was direct but Supreme Court interpreted that it is not a state action, and the private individuals committing private acts of violence should be handled by state laws. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the states. There were additional challenges associated with slave states like Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri, which had nearly three-quarters of a million slaves. Since the Proclamation was a war measure against the Confederacy, the states that were in the Union retained the constitutional protections of slavery.
In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that the separate but equal facilities in South is constitutional, which suggested that separation is not a form of prejudice or discrimination. It opened the door to all sorts of laws that the Southern states would pass requiring segregation in every phase of life. This became central to the Jim Crow Laws in the 20th century South.
This is an exciting book written by Columbia University Professor Eric Foner who has researched this material much of his academic life. The interpretation of constitutional amendments by states and court systems is highly engaging. United States was born with a belief in individual liberty and reconstruction was intended to create a new republic. But it was created in a harsh environment of racism.
This is an historical account of the constitutional, political, and social crisis after the Civil War. United States was faced with an enormous task of ending the slavery constitutionally and offering a solution to institutional racism. The constitutional amendments; Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth were adopted between 1865 and 1870 to guarantee freedom to former slaves and offer equality and citizenship rights. The 13th ended slavery. The 14th made anyone born in the U.S. a citizen and a state in the union can't deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. The 15th gave the vote to black men but not any women. What followed their adoption was the way the constitutional power was eroded by state laws and supreme court decisions throughout the late 19th and first half of 20th centuries. The full benefits of these amendments were not realized until the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The reconstruction amendments were nullified in the south, step-by-step with the compliancy of the Supreme Court of the United States. Violent groups like KKK resorted to violence to deprive blacks of their rights. This challenge to the 14th was direct but Supreme Court interpreted that it is not a state action, and the private individuals committing private acts of violence should be handled by state laws. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the states. There were additional challenges associated with slave states like Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri, which had nearly three-quarters of a million slaves. Since the Proclamation was a war measure against the Confederacy, the states that were in the Union retained the constitutional protections of slavery.
In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that the separate but equal facilities in South is constitutional, which suggested that separation is not a form of prejudice or discrimination. It opened the door to all sorts of laws that the Southern states would pass requiring segregation in every phase of life. This became central to the Jim Crow Laws in the 20th century South.
This is an exciting book written by Columbia University Professor Eric Foner who has researched this material much of his academic life. The interpretation of constitutional amendments by states and court systems is highly engaging. United States was born with a belief in individual liberty and reconstruction was intended to create a new republic. But it was created in a harsh environment of racism.
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