Two Words, One Answer.
Prometheus
 American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer $18.95 This biography of Robert Oppenheimer does an excellent job of capturing the legacy of this giant of the early cold war. Oppenheimer, a brilliant young physicist with left leaning politics, was recruited to head up the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer succeeded brilliantly, with the help of Lloyd Grove and the young scientists Oppenheimer recruited to work on the project. However, a few years later when discussions began of the building of a "super" or h-bomb, Oppenheimer expressed doubts about the morality of the weapon. His old politics were then used against him, and in the context of the McCarthy era witch hunts, Oppenheimer was stripped of his security clearance and effectively barred from ever again working for the government. The book won multiple awards, all richly deserved. I highly recommend this book.  Prometheus Rising $19.95 I'll say right upfront that I thought that this book has some strange stuff in it in places, but readers should put that aside long enough to read through the whole thing. Don't let the cover art put you off either, readers; I know that the green guy creeped me out, but he is not really mentioned in the text. This book is well worth reading. I found this book while looking around for something easy to get through on General Semantics. However, it is mostly concerned with the eight neurological circuits (bio-survival, emotional-territorial, semantic, moral, neurosomatic, neurogenetic, metaprogramming and quantum) that Timothy Leary was big on - don't panic, there is no need to do LSD to understand what is going on here. The author also includes discussion on other topics like yoga and quantum mechanics (no math required here) as well as on many interesting subjects that I for one had never heard of before as he goes along. If they are like me, readers will give wikipedia a real workout right after finishing each chapter to learn more on many of these topics. There are very thought provoking exercises as well - I still haven't found any quarters, but I may have not tried hard enough yet. It may take some people a while to get through the book as a result, but it is worth the time to do the outside study as needed and to do the exercises. The author spends a lot of time on the first 4 circuits and less on the others which is understandable I guess as the latter are newer and less understood. The chapters on brainwashing are frightening and probably all too accurate - readers might want to give these some more thought after finishing them. There is much more presented that warrants further thinking by readers as well. For example, one might get some insight into why certain people that they know behave as they do and maybe even gain some insight as to their own behavior as well. As the book winds up, the author presents some ideas about where we might be heading as individuals and as a species; some of his predictions did not come true, at least not yet, but there seems to be a ring of truth at least in much of this. I found the book a little disorganized in many spots, but readers should be able to follow it for the most part anyway. I did find several apparent errors in the book early on, but noticed fewer as it went. Please note that sometimes at least it seems that the author meant melancholic when he wrote choleric - this may save some readers a lot of time trying to figure out Chapter 4. Despite some real strangeness and disorganization here and there, most readers probably will learn a great deal from this book - at least if they are ready. If anyone wonders what I mean by that, they will have to read the book. Highly recommended, but be prepared as there may be some shocks.  Prometheus Bound and Other Plays: Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes, The Persian (Penguin Classics) $12.00 Vellacott's epitomizes for me the highest dramatic and poetic translator of Aeschylus and Euripides. His classic versions of Prometheus Bound, Seven Against Thebes, The Suppliants and The Persians have captivated millions since they were published almost 60 years ago. They speak an idiom that everyone can relate to and understand, he is true to Aeschylus words and gives the English language a powerful substitute...almost as if they were originally written in English! Obviously the highlight of the collection here is Prometheus Bound. I have never read such a moving and absorbing rendition than Vellacott's! Some of the highest wisdom I know are contained in these plays, which like Vellacott will remain for a long time still. |
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