Wednesday 13 February 2013
Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang
- ran out of library time with this one - have to get it again
A Tranquil Star - Primo Levi
I love some of the quirky premises Levi builds his short stories on. Entertaining and clever, absurd and biting, insightful and critical - also capable of great wonder. His stories are built on politics, history, social observation, even cosmology...
The World Until Yesterday - Jared Diamond
This book is a very interesting read. It looks at the great variety of human societies and how they deal with or conceive of some basic human activities. The book is divided into areas of human endeavour and life.: there are chapters looking at warfare and conflict resolution, child rearing, aging and the elderly, diet, dealing with strangers, danger and risk, languages, multilingualism and the disappearance of world languages.
Diamond frames his book as an attempt to see what is valuable in traditional societies and how we might benefit by adopting some of these elements in modern western society. I don't see that though. For me, the most important or valuable element of the book is the sheer variety of ways of life, thinking and understanding that humans have developed over the millennia, in response to different environments, social conditions and simply just because. It offers a huge shakeup to cultural self-centredness and western-centric thinking. The book underscores the sheer extent of possibility for us humans.
It offers background to understanding some of the cultural differences between different societies - for example the stronger family-focused element in Turkish society, which on the surface seems modern and western in many ways. You could see it as a surviving element from an earlier culture where the state did not provide the kind of security and support that we are used to in western Europe and North America, and where family was the main source of security and safety when faced with economic or social difficulties. Also, as a surviving element of village life when people's families remained close-by and provided a strong social network - true also for my mother and her generation (somehting which I observed but couldn't really be part of...)
His accounts of New Guinea are also in themselves very interesting. It's hard to imagine how such a small space came to be inhabited by so many different cultures and languages (over 1000 distinct languages from different families and types) in such a density without somehow blending and losing their distinctness. Reminds me a bit of the Caucasus, especially Azerbaijan.
Diamond frames his book as an attempt to see what is valuable in traditional societies and how we might benefit by adopting some of these elements in modern western society. I don't see that though. For me, the most important or valuable element of the book is the sheer variety of ways of life, thinking and understanding that humans have developed over the millennia, in response to different environments, social conditions and simply just because. It offers a huge shakeup to cultural self-centredness and western-centric thinking. The book underscores the sheer extent of possibility for us humans.
It offers background to understanding some of the cultural differences between different societies - for example the stronger family-focused element in Turkish society, which on the surface seems modern and western in many ways. You could see it as a surviving element from an earlier culture where the state did not provide the kind of security and support that we are used to in western Europe and North America, and where family was the main source of security and safety when faced with economic or social difficulties. Also, as a surviving element of village life when people's families remained close-by and provided a strong social network - true also for my mother and her generation (somehting which I observed but couldn't really be part of...)
His accounts of New Guinea are also in themselves very interesting. It's hard to imagine how such a small space came to be inhabited by so many different cultures and languages (over 1000 distinct languages from different families and types) in such a density without somehow blending and losing their distinctness. Reminds me a bit of the Caucasus, especially Azerbaijan.
Sunday 3 February 2013
Ancient Wine - P. E. McGovern
Not a particularly great read - too much arcane methodology discussion.
Some interesting facts, though:
- wine seems to have first appeared around 5500 BCE, which is remarkable; almost contemporaneous with the appearance of farming - wine and cheese, some of our earliest foods
- first records are in the Zagros mountains above the plains of Babylon - also along the highlands in Turkey above the Syrian plain and in the Caucasus - basically the edges of the fertile crescent where elevations created slightly cooler, wetter growing conditions
- the method of fermenting wine in clay containers buried in the ground is one of the earliest methods, and is still practised in Georgia
- flavoured wines were very common in early period - spices and other flavourings helped preserve the wine from turning to vinegar - retsina (or pine resin) is only one of the additives - frankincense myrrh, a selection of herbs and spices were also used - oaking wine is a very ancient practice; it is basically adding the flavour/chemical substance in oak to the wine by storing it in barrels, and served to preserve as well as mellow the wine by interacting with some of the chemicals in the wine
- Christianity is so deeply rooted in the preceding mythology and ancient culture of the middle east, not only in its Old Testament mythology and stories, but also in its cult of wine - wine has been an integral part of religious rites and offerings since its first appearance in the Middle East
- makes wine all the more fascinating and enjoyable...
Some interesting facts, though:
- wine seems to have first appeared around 5500 BCE, which is remarkable; almost contemporaneous with the appearance of farming - wine and cheese, some of our earliest foods
- first records are in the Zagros mountains above the plains of Babylon - also along the highlands in Turkey above the Syrian plain and in the Caucasus - basically the edges of the fertile crescent where elevations created slightly cooler, wetter growing conditions
- the method of fermenting wine in clay containers buried in the ground is one of the earliest methods, and is still practised in Georgia
- flavoured wines were very common in early period - spices and other flavourings helped preserve the wine from turning to vinegar - retsina (or pine resin) is only one of the additives - frankincense myrrh, a selection of herbs and spices were also used - oaking wine is a very ancient practice; it is basically adding the flavour/chemical substance in oak to the wine by storing it in barrels, and served to preserve as well as mellow the wine by interacting with some of the chemicals in the wine
- Christianity is so deeply rooted in the preceding mythology and ancient culture of the middle east, not only in its Old Testament mythology and stories, but also in its cult of wine - wine has been an integral part of religious rites and offerings since its first appearance in the Middle East
- makes wine all the more fascinating and enjoyable...
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