MacQuarrie wrote a compelling narrative concerning the Spanish discovery of the Inca Empire in the year 1532 and the subsequent events, battles, and pMacQuarrie wrote a compelling narrative concerning the Spanish discovery of the Inca Empire in the year 1532 and the subsequent events, battles, and political struggles that occurred between the Inca ruling family and the invading Pizarro brothers. MacQuarrie intertwines his succinct summary with other chroniclers' accounts; from the moment of the discovery to the last Incan stronghold in 1572. This interweaving provides the reader with multiple perspectives of the ever-changing events that occurred during the clash of these two cultures and a good reference to other authors if one wishes to further explore the subject.
Towards the end of the book, MacQuarrie fast-forwards to the historian and explorer Hiram Bingham 1911 fortuitous discoveries of the lost Inca city of Vitcos and the well-known Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, all while in search for the rebel Emperor's Manco Inca lost city of Vilcabamba that was later (re)discovered by Gene Savoy and Vincent Lee.
Two thoughts came to mind while reading The Last Days of the Incas (2007). The first is, how different societies, that were not aware of each other's existence, share numerous identical cultural traits and structures of a community, which can all serve as an indication of how hardwired, collective, and predictable are human behavior patterns and how deterministic societal evolution can be. The other (which the author discussed in his epilogue) is on existence and discovery, and how carelessly these words are used in similar genre of literature that unfortunately impose on the reader that, as if, a culture or civilization does not exist until and unless a person of European origin discovers it. For instance, the locals knew of Machu Picchu's existence all along, and Hiram Bingham mapped, excavated, and published his findings and did not discover this Inca citadel.
"Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you’ve traveled." It's a quote by Muhammad (c. 570-632 CE), the founder of Islam, that I first h"Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you’ve traveled." It's a quote by Muhammad (c. 570-632 CE), the founder of Islam, that I first heard as a child from my mother, who genuinely longed to travel, and still does till this day.
Well, Robert S. Newman, traveled and visited every single habitable continent of the World, and lived on most of them too. Living a life many of us could only dream of.
This book is composed of numerous autobiographical anecdotes and essays. Newman, a Jewish American, is a real cosmopolitan that has a PhD in Anthropology and is fluent in Japanese, Hindi, and Spanish. What a remarkable and uncommon mix!
We learn that in life we have to take chances and we see how travel changes us and the different cultures grow on us which in return give us a new layer of identity. The author takes us through the struggles of adapting to different environments and shares with us the rewards that come along with it, all intertwined with his childhood experiences and memories.
Newman, a non-conformist, was also a part of the Anti-Establishment during the late sixties and early seventies. He is a music lover, food enthusiast, and a hopeless romantic: "My dreams had fled, just like hers. Mine lived in sound, hers in silence, but I understood her completely - lost dreams were our bond."
This is a wonderful well-written book with a strong narrative that I would recommend to anyone interested in Indian, small town American, and Australian cultures, and many other nooks and crannies of the World you probably never heard of.
For the record, Robert (Bob) Newman, is a Goodreads friend and he did not ask me to read or review his book nor did he allude to it in any way (he’s just not that type of guy). I just really like his reviews and choice of books and I wanted to end the year with friendship....more
I have always found the night sky intriguing and calming, and as a result, I have even named my first daughter "night" in Arabic. But you can for onlyI have always found the night sky intriguing and calming, and as a result, I have even named my first daughter "night" in Arabic. But you can for only so long gaze up into the endless space and glittering stars before you begin to question, "What is it all?" and "How does it work?".
After more than 3,000 years of recorded astronomical observations, Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827) in The System of the World (1824) presents the final touches on his predecessor's works and on celestial mechanics (a term Laplace coined) as a whole. This is all prior to the introduction of the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, and the modern view of cosmology that was set in motion at the turn of the 20th century.
Laplace's outstanding contributions to mathematics and astronomy earned him the status of a Nobleman and was often referred to as the French Newton. Besides just presenting his scientific findings, Laplace expresses his love for astronomy, his irritation with astrology, and Earth's and human's insignificance and position in the vastness of space. He introduces the readers to his nebular hypothesis and in the final part of the book, Laplace shares a well-balanced summary of the history of astronomy and its most prominent contributors. This was well-done.
With Laplace's final chapter, I will also temporarily pause my exploration of the original works of geometry, astronomy, and what can be considered now the classical view of physics. I wish to move on and read other books on this topic but from the 20th and 21st centuries. For those of you interested in exploring the development of heavenly mechanics these are the original works I would recommend:
Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) narrates the first half of his life in his Memoirs of a Revolutionist (1899) through historical events, ideals, and peoplePeter Kropotkin (1842-1921) narrates the first half of his life in his Memoirs of a Revolutionist (1899) through historical events, ideals, and people he was surrounded by while occasionally sharing his inner thoughts and contemplations. He unveils the accounts of his life, which seem credible and never exaggerated, that left the greatest impression on him emotionally and the circumstances, travel and attained knowledge that formulated his thoughts which led him to become the most famous anarchist in the world by 1886.
Kropotkin was born and brought up in a Russian aristocratic family in the affluent Old Equerries Quarter of Moscow. He was homeschooled throughout his childhood by French, German, and Russian teachers and grew up surrounded by books where he developed his love for reading. Respecting his father's wishes he attended the military academy in St. Petersburg, while after graduation, and not to his father's liking, spent the next five years in Siberia as a Cossack officer. His written illustrations of the Amur River, Manchurian flora, Lake Baikal, and his experiences in Siberia made me long for adventure. He later returned to St. Petersburg and enrolled at the university for scientific study and research which led him to achieve an important discovery in topography that rectified the inaccurately illustrated physical features of Asia; Kropotkin redrew the map of Asia.
Even though Kropotkin was born into privilege with a status of a prince and became a prominent scientist, he decided to give it all up to improve the social and economical status of the peasants and labor workers. Kropotkin sacrificed his social status and personal safety for the benefit of all those in a society that were discriminated against.
He dedicated the remainder of his life to raising the intellectual well-being and awareness of the peasants and labor class and participated in the development of the founding principles, organization, recruitment, and advocacy of the socialist movements of the 19th century in Western Europe and Russia.
As a scientist and anarchist, he draws interesting parallels between political revolutions and human evolution. He presents nihilism in a positive light compared to the press of his time that labeled it as terrorism. His firsthand accounts of the cruelty and injustice of serfdom in Russia, as his father possessed 1,200 male serfs, were heart-wrenching while the chapters of his imprisonment and escape were exhilarating to read. Although, Kropotkin does not touch upon stories relating to any romantic involvements, neither his nor someone else's, but I am not sure if these accounts would have improved or possibly weakened the essence of the book? Nevertheless, he continuously expresses, throughout the book, his unconditional love for his older brother, Alexander, that at times he felt like the central character in some of the memoirs.
Thank you, Ilse, for bringing this book and author to my attention. I enjoyed every single page and found Kropotkin's character, motives, and actions an embodiment of altruism at its finest. This read broadened my perspective of anarchism and in addition, I become more acquainted with this historical period that's rich with theories of social organization.
The Voyage of the Beagle written by Charles Darwin is a collection of his travel memoirs, from the time he was 22 to 27 years of age, during which perThe Voyage of the Beagle written by Charles Darwin is a collection of his travel memoirs, from the time he was 22 to 27 years of age, during which period he circumnavigated the globe with the second expedition of the HMS Beagle (1831-1836).
This hardcover edition is a physically beautiful book with coated paper full of watercolor, lithographic, and line engraving illustrations of the places, cultures, and specimens Darwin collected during his voyage. There are also more recent photographs of the scenery and landscapes depicted in the book. While, as always, the historical illustrations tell a more meaningful story.
Darwin's written observations resemble those of a geologist, ecologist, and even anthropologist with only a few occasional observations of an evolutionary biologist. There were scarcely any substantial hints that this Naturalist would become the greatest evolutionary biologist to have ever lived.
Nevertheless, in the travel journals, there were indications that Darwin had already begun to formulate his opinions on evolution and God; by referring to Lamarck's idea that acquired characteristics are gradually inheritable, as speculations. Also, mocking a few citizens of Chilenos and "like a few in England who are a century behindhand" for being entirely satisfied with the belief that geological formations were the sole acts of God.
Even though the book is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, the lamp light reflected off the glossy paper, at a certain angle, was irritating for my eyes. Additionally, the numerous inserts of the Beagle's Captain, Robert Fitzroy, travel journals, and excerpts of Charles Darwin's other works throughout the book were a distraction and interrupted the flow of my read.
Throughout Darwin's five-year journey on the Beagle, it's evidently noticeable in his journals how he has developed as a scientist. However, this book is not at the level of Darwin's later monumental work On the Origins of Species (1859) in which he presented to the world, which I am aware of now, not only his theory of evolution but to what incredible degree his knowledge and comprehension of life had reached....more
Why didn't the indigenous people of the Americas, Oceania, and sub-equatorial Africa conquer Europe and its people? Why was it the other way around?
WWhy didn't the indigenous people of the Americas, Oceania, and sub-equatorial Africa conquer Europe and its people? Why was it the other way around?
Why didn't agriculture, cities, the wheel, writing, craftsmanship of metal processing originate in Europe? Why did it instead originate in the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia) and its surrounding areas? These are some very intriguing questions discussed in Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (1997) written by Jared Diamond.
This book is a brief history of the human evolution of the last 13,000 years with a focus on social evolution, ethnology, and ecology. The book also pays special attention to the regions which boarder the vast Pacific Ocean.
Well, the Europeans discovered and conquered the Americas and Oceania because they were a more advance civilization. The Europeans had firearms, metal weapons, logistical technology that conquered land and sea, written language, centralized political power, and contagious diseases with which they infected and killed the natives, as the Europeans have already become genetically resistant to and acquired an immunity to those contagious diseases.
The reason why the cradle of civilization originated in the Fertile Crescent is due to its specific geographical characteristics of the environment that had more favorable ecological conditions compared to other regions and Diamond states that it had nothing to do with the biology of those people. This region had access to metal based material for their tools and weapons. They were surrounded by animals that could be domesticated for defense, labour, and food. Last but not least, the Mesopotamians had local available plants that were edible and easily cultivated. All in all, in general, the Eurasians had a more favorable environment, a head start, a greater population, larger continent, and this is why they had an advantage on the people of the Americas, Oceania, and sub-equatorial Africa. I am assuming this is part of the story, but I can name several counter arguments. I was expecting a lot more, and I just wasn't satisfied with the arguments presented, nor were they all convincing. I can't recall any creative ideas or clever theories in this book. The influence of culture was discussed, but hardly religion or genetics.
Diamond also very briefly discusses how the development of technology was amplified by a cumulative effect which reminded me of how well Richard Dawkins in The Blind Watchmaker (1986) explained the various positive feedback loops and the cumulative effect in biological evolution.
The book is well-written and informative, this is a given, but many things are unnecessarily being repeated throughout the book with too many recapitulations. It could all have been more concise.
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