Showing posts with label Anthropology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anthropology. Show all posts

2023-05-29

"Elder Race" by Adrian Tchaikovsky


 

Publisher:  Tor Books
Copyright:  2021
ISBN: 9781250768728

Elder Race was a fun book to read, and while it was relatively short at 198 pages it was well worth the read. Mr. Tchaikovsky has written a very interesting story that explores both the anthropological idea of participant observation, as well as exploring the supposed non-interference directive which was part of the backstory of the Star Trek universe, and which was something they routinely violated in virtually every episode.

The elder in this case is a cultural anthropologist by the name of Nyr Illim Tevitch of the Earth Explorer Corps, who is on the planet many light years from Earth in the far distant future. He was left alone on this planet by the other anthropologists and scientists in his team when they were recalled to earth. He has been out of contact with them for over 300 years.

In the distant past he assisted the colonists of this planet in defeating an invading forces, and made a pact with the then ruling monarchy that he would do so again if another crisis arose. Another incident does require his assistance, but it has been well over 100 years between the two events.

This was a very good book, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in stories that deal with internal conflict and such. I would've liked to have seen more exploration of the anthropological concepts, but that's likely because I have an anthropologist myself.

Mr. Tchaikovsky has written a number of other books, and I will be definitely keeping my eye out for them.

2023-01-16

"For Small Creatures Such as We: Ritual for Finding Meaning in our Unlikely World" by Sasha Sagan

 


Publisher:  G. P. Putnam's Sons
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9780593087541

This book is an examination of how we humans interact with the natural world, and with each other. It is the story of Ms. Sagan and her life as the daughter of the astronomer Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan. She was raised in a secular household, and this forms the basis of her outlook on the world, which is to say the least a very good one that demonstrates that science has revealed truths more impressive and amazing than any religion, myth or fable.

She reminisces about hr life with her parents, how she met her husband, and how they are now raising their daughter in the same manner. She examines how her life has been influenced by her relatives, and how she has taken some of the rituals and developed others to enhance her family's life.

An excellent book that gives not only a good overview of a secular life, but also some insight into what it means to be secular in a world that seems to be dominated in certain places by religion, mythology, fables, and much more - some of which are very detrimental to the person and society at large.

Highly recommended.

2022-12-05

"First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human" by Jeremy DeSilva

 



Publisher: Harper Collins
Copyright: 2021
ISBN: 9780062938497

Dr. De Silvia's book is a well researched trip through time that looks at the development of the foot on various bipedal organisms, e.g., Us, as well as the great apes and a few other assorted beasties who walk on two legs (typically for short periods of time). It is easy to read and will be of great interest to both the layperson and high school as well as first year university students.

There have been many many changes since I graduated with an anthropology degree in the early 90s, and in fact some of the more fascinating things have happened in the last 10 to 15 years. If I was able, I would seriously consider going back and doing my masters so I can catch up on what's going on.

Dr. De Silva traces the development of the human, and other members of the genus Homo and its predecessors through the examination of fossil evidence, as wells as extent species of animals.

Well worth the read, highly recommended.

2022-09-12

"Evolution: The Human Story" by Dr. Alice Roberts


 

Publisher: DK Publishing
Copyright: 2018
ISBN: 9781465474018

Dr. Alice Roberts is the Professor of Public Engagement at the University of Birmingham in England, and a Biological Anthropologist, and host of "Digging for Britain", and is the is the author of a number of books.

This book is a great explanation of the evolutionary process as it applies to the human species. It takes the reader from a time about 8 million years in a past up to modern times in very well written sections that explain the origins of life in general, and then break down the individual stages of human evolution.

It would I believe be suitable for any young person who is interested in the subject, and make a fantastic addition to any school classroom, as it is very well written and easy to understand. It is full of pictures that explain the concepts of evolution, how facial reconstruction works, and much more.

While even though a book as well written as this one is will still likely not convince those people who are adamant that evolution isn't true, it should I believe go a long way towards convincing those who are on the fence.

Highly recommended.

2022-07-18

"Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human" by Richard Wrangham

 


Publisher: Basic Books
Copyright: 2009
ISBN: 9780465020416

Even though this book shares the first part of its title with one of a relatively popular series of novels, this book has absolutely nothing to do with "The Hunger Games", although cooking does typically satisfy hunger. It is in fact an anthropological investigation into the revolutionary history of humans and how we possibly might have teamed fire, and thereby learned to cook food, allowing us to evolve into what we have today.

The book starts off by examining the theories behind eating raw food, which at the time of writing was somewhat of a fad. Following this Dr. Wrangham looks into amongst other things the energy theory of cooking, how cooking began, what foods best affect brain development, the social structure of hunter-gatherers, how we differ from the great apes in both social structure and feeding habits, how domestication possibly influenced the male role in life, and much more.

In one chapter Dr. Wrangham looks at the social inequity between males and females, and it is rather surprising to see how much that parallels the inequality seen even today in certain cultures.

This book has 46 pages of reference notes, and a 30 page bibliography. Both of which are extremely valuable in understanding this topic. For the most part when I was taking my anthropology courses ideas such as this were not part of the curriculum but then again this was many years before this book was published.

An extremely book that is well worth reading.

2022-07-04

"Paleofantasy: what evolution really tells us about sex, diet, and how we live" by Marlene Zuk

 


Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 9780393081374

Paleofantasy is a very interesting book that goes into the great detail debunking the Paleo diet and other such pseudo scientific silliness. Dr. Zuk is a professor of ecology evolution and behaviour at the University of Minnesota, and she has researched this topic extremely well.

She uses the disciplines of anthropology, physiology, psychology, medicine and history to explain why the Paleo diet is not what proponents believe it is or promote it as i.e., a cure-all for societies ills, weight loss, etc.

In this book she examines the lifestyles that proponents of the Paleo lifestyle follow, and examines how actual science debunks this system of nutrition, and living. She gives a good overview on evolution, and how it works and then examines other concepts of the Paleo lifestyle such as exercising, love, sickness and health and much more.

Dr. Zuk's writing is clear and comprehensive, and the examples she uses are easily understandable by anyone. Or at least anyone who wants to understand them, as I am sure there are many paleo-fans out there who will dispute her findings as they have little or no scientific training.

Highly recommended

2022-02-14

"The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World" by Virginia Postrel


 

Publisher: Basic Books
Copyright: 2020
ISBN: 97815416117605

This book is without a doubt absolutely fascinating, it takes you on a guided tour through history of how textiles of all kinds were discovered, and developed. 

The first three chapters look at how fibres were developed, how the spinning industry made these into threads, then goes on to how cloth was made and how it developed throughout history.

After we humans had cloth Ms. Postrel goes on to examine the process of dyeing and the methods that were used historically, and then right up to modern day. She then moves on to looking at trading and how that affected the world over. This is a topic which is frequently and unfortunately glossed over in school as they typically mention only "The Silk Road", but trade was widespread throughout the world, and it is a shame that students aren't taught this type of thing, as maybe then they would have more of an appreciation of how the world works.

After trade her next focus is on consumers and how they see fabrics, how they guide the industry and influence changes in the market (and vice versa as well).

The last chapter deals with the innovators that are currently developing new and what I consider to be amazing fabrics. Such as ones that will allow sweat to easily evaporate from your skin thereby keeping your cool, but will also protect you from UV radiation. New fabrics, and new techniques that will result in a revolution in the fashion industry and the environment (for the better, I'm glad to note) when some of these hit the market.

An excellent book, highly recommended.

2020-04-06

"The Fresco" by Sheri S. Tepper (1929-2016)



Publisher:  Harper Collins
Edition:     First edition.
Copyright: 2000
ISBN:        9780380978792

This is I believe the first book of Ms. Tepper's that I read, and it's been a number of years since I read it the first time. With every subsequent reading it gives you a new insight on how today's world actually works. Her characterization is absolutely wonderful, the interplay between the various characters is also the sign of an excellent writer.

The story tells the tale of first contact with an advanced civilization who have come to Earth to give us the opportunity to join their confederation. To be eligible for a membership however, humans must conform to certain rules the major one being that we have to be able to get along with each other.

Unfortunately humans are an odd species of mammal. I say this because we humans seem to like to fight one another for no apparent reason, we also like to kill each other, and for the most simply cause trouble for each other. The majority of this conflict has had and continues to have its basis in politics, religion, and ethnicity.

Ms. Tepper's book brings a lot of these typically taboo subjects to light, and I believe if only we had the technology to do the things her alien emissaries did, along with the wherewithal to do it, we would probably be able to solve a lot if not all of our world's problems.

I would definitely recommend this book to any person who is looking for not only a feel good book, but one that actually portrays first contact in a positive manner.

2020-03-16

"Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" by Daniel C. Dennett



Published: New York: Penguin
Year: 2007, c2006.
Physical Details: xvi, 448 p. ; 23 cm
ISBN: 9780143038337

This books an extremely interesting read that examines the concept of religion essentially from the ground up. Dennett investigates the various controversial subjects of religion, such as why do we believe in a god or gods, how these beliefs frame and control our lives, how our societies are effected by the beliefs, and much more. Many people allow their lives to be controlled by these phenomena, and have for hundreds if not thousands of years. It affects how people see other cultures, how they raise their children, treat their elders, interact with a community, and many more aspects of human life.

The big question in this book is why do we have religion. Why do people from totally different cultures that have never met feel a bond when they meet based on these beliefs? On the other hand why do the beliefs of certain groups cause them to go to war?

The discussion ranges through the fields of anthropology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and many more ologies.

While I found this book extremely interesting it did read quite slowly at times, but once you began to think about what was said, then you realised that this was essentially the only way that the concept could be explained. This is definitely a book that every humanist, anthropologist, and philosopher should have on their shelf (hopefully after they've read it), as it provides many insights into human culture and belief.

2019-09-23

"Genus Homo" by L. Sprague de Camp (1907-2000) and P. Schuyler Miller (1912-1974)



Publisher: Berkley Books
Copyright: 1950

What happens when a group of 25 men and women who are on their way to a scientific conference are waylaid due to an accident, and wake up in the world so changed they don't realize where they are?

The story itself deals with a group of humans that are in advertently put in suspended animation following a bus crash, and the subsequent collapse of a highway tunnel. When they awaken they eventually realise that at least a million years have passed on earth and human civilization has ended. The way they discovered this is very well presented by the author as he does it through discussions between the characters with regard to changes in the constellations, the growth of trees and other plants, how animals have evolved,  and more.

Approximately the first half of this book is a story of how they survive, the interactions between the various members of the of the group, and so on. It does go into a fair bit of detail with regard to group psychology, group organization, survival, and so on and this is explored as the group learns how to live by themselves.

Depending on how much science-fiction you have read in your life this could lead you to see similarities with ither stories.  Probably the most obvious or possibly well known would be the book "Planet of the Apes" by Pierre Boulle, which was published in 1965. Genus Homo however was published in 1950, so is it possible M. Boulle was influenced by genus Homo? It's true there are a lot of similarities, but being that M. Boulle wrote his story originally in French I somehow doubt that this book influenced his work. In addition, while apes in Genus Homo are one of the dominant species on the earth, there aren't many other similarities, in they become good friends with the few remaining humans and welcome them into their community.

I found this to be a very good story, with a wonderful message. Highly recommended, however possibly difficult to find.

2019-07-01

"God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction" by Dan Barker



Publisher:New York : Sterling
Copyright Date:©2016
ISBN: 9781454918325

The impetus for this book and its title comes from a quote from Richard Dawkins' book "The God Delusion" in which he says (in the opening of chapter 2): "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction."

Dan Barker a former minister takes this thought and runs with it. This book contains verses from all 39 books of the Old Testament, and each of the 28 chapters begins with a commentary on one or two biblical stories that Barker has chosen. He goes on then to quote a number of selected versus along with commentary to prove his thesis. The final chapter also extends this commentary into the New Testament, which proves to be equally if not more  horrific as Jesus is typically portrayed as a honourable and compassionate person.

Because of Mr. Barker's previous occupation he is well-suited to be able to write a book such as this, his time as a minister gives him the experience and authority to give credit to his writing.

This book is unlikely to actually convert a true believer away from a religious point of view. But it should easily allow a person to strengthen their non-belief by giving them examples and information they can use to support and explain their choices. In addition, this book would be a fantastic resource for anyone who is actively questioning religion, or looking for evidence and reasons to support their choice to give up on religion.

I'm unaware of any books of this type that discuss other mainstream religions, but I would love to review them to see how they compare.

2019-06-17

"Westworld Psychology: Violent Delights" by Travis Langley and Wind Goodfriend (eds.)



New York: Sterling (2018)
ISBN: 9781454932413

This book takes an in-depth look at the psychology behind the hit HBO series Westworld (now filming it's third season). This series is based on the 1973 Michael Crichton movie of the same title which starred Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, and James Brolin and told the story of a theme park where things went horribly wrong. The series takes inspiration from this movie, and explores in great depth the interactions between the hosts (robots), guests. There are some overall differences between the movie and series as in the movie there were three theme parks Westworld, Roman World, and Medieval World. In the series so far we only know of two Westworld, and Shogun World.

This is not a fiction book but a critical  examination from a psychological perspective of what humans would be subjected to, and hosts have to endure in the event Westworld actually existed.

The various articles are written by prominent authors, scientists, medical personnel who deal with the psychological, sociological, and other issues as well as the concepts behind artificial intelligence, and human / machine interaction.

The book takes on such topics as: violent games and how they enhance aggression; the concepts of when games more than just games; when and why [and how] do we perceive what is human; The evolution of women's gender roles and the development of agency; overcoming complex PTSD; and much more.

Overall I found this book extremely interesting and I believe it would be a valuable resource for any would be fiction writers, or students in undergraduate or graduate anthropology, psychology, or sociology.

2019-03-11

"Sexual Intelligence" by Kim Cattrall


Publisher: Greystone / Madison Press Books, New Video Group (DVD)
Copyright: 2005 (Book), 2006 (DVD)
ISBN: 1-55365-105-7 (Book), 0-7670-8772-0 (DVD)

Ms. Cattrall first wrote the book and this inspired the documentary. According to her the reason for writing the book: "For me, it was a desire to define myself beyond an iconic character I played for over seven years - a character I love and fully embraced. Samantha Jones captured people's imaginations and earned a place in our collective culture."

The book and documentary interviewed a number of professionals with regard to their work in the areas of sex education, their thoughts, and feelings, etc. Three of the professionals consulted: Thomas Moore "The Scale of Sex", Michael J. Bader "Arousal", & Maggie Paley "The Book of the Penis" have each published on the topic and are considered authorities in the field. In addition the renowned sex therapist Betty Dodson gives her input from a medical point of view. Six non-professionals are also featured in the documentary and a seventh is included in the book, and all candidly tell their stories and give their opinions on how they feel about sex in general and with regard to specific topics.

Comprehensive and accurate sex education is something that is severely lacking in North American society, and unfortunately even more so in other cultures. The vast majority of today's youth have a very lopsided view of what sex actually is, as they are getting their information from a number of sources such as religious institutions, the internet, pornographic videos, etc. The vast majority of these are less than credible, after all how are religious practitioners - that supposedly practise abstention - supposed to give accurate information about something they shouldn't even know anything about? As for the internet, well that is likely the worst place to get accurate information as on there every male is so well endowed that he should probably invest in training wheels, those who aren't are told they should be and tons of ridiculous potions, pills, and other concoctions promise that he will be in a matter of days. For women, they are all supposedly ready for intercourse at the drop of a hat, have to be cleanly shaven, and have enormous breasts.

The book and DVD give a very good introduction to the history of sex, its representation in the arts (both historically and contemporarily), how it is seen in other cultures (primarily historically - in such places as Pompeii), and in basic sex education. Hopefully this inspires readers and viewers to investigate the topic further. The book contains an extensive bibliography, and this alone is worth the price of the book.

As the book asks "Is it possible to develop a kind of sexual intelligence, one that can deepen our pleasure and give us a greater awareness of ourselves?" If a reader takes this to heart and continues to read from reputable sources on the subject then I would say it is possible, but it is something that a person will have to work at.

2019-02-25

"The Storytelling Animal: How Stores Make Us Human" by Jonathan Gottschall



Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Copyright: 2012
ISBN: 9780547391403

The Storytelling Animal provides readers with a good overview of how stories and important to humans. It examines how stories are such a major part of our lives that we routinely ignore them as such, and simply assume that's the way life is. It also examines the way television, video games, and other activities are both part of our life's story, and in fact the story itself.

The author goes on to examine the realms of stories that are not exactly fiction, but that aren't true either such as reality television, commercials, etc. He also looks at the play both for children and adults can shape our worlds. Play in the children's sense is make-believe, pretend worlds, and how when you put a group of small children into a room they will pretty much spontaneously create a world in which they are both the writer, actors, protagonists, antagonists, directors, and virtually all other roles you can imagine.

Play in the adult sense is examined by looking a movies, theatre, live action role playing, Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), and such. The latter two of these could easily be translated into books on their own as there is so much to consider.

I found this book to be quite informative, and I think it would be a good suggested read especially for anybody who is interested in creative writing, or who is studying psychology.

2018-12-17

"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins




Publisher:Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006.
ISBN: 9780618680009 
Characteristics: 406 pages ;,24 cm

This is the first book of Richard Dawkins' that I've read, and I found it to be very well written, and informative. Dr. Dawkins poses his arguments logically, and follow them through to their logical conclusions. He does tend to goober things a number of times, but when you consider how ingrained some of the beliefs in religion are this is likely a good technique as not all people will see the relevance with only one example.

I have read other authors on the subject of atheism, and the vast majority follow the same general format, however Dr. Dawkins goes into much greater detail and gives more examples of why certain beliefs may have arisen, why they are regarded as unchallengeable truths, and what non-believers can do to attempt to understand where proponents of the beliefs in question come from.

I believe this is a good book for the general reader, and would also make a good addition to most anthropology, sociology and possibly even history courses.

2018-09-25

"Don't Know Much About Mythology" by Kenneth C. Davis




ISBN: 9780060194604

This was an absolutely fascinating book that goes into a lot of detail about the world's various mythologies. What I found most interesting was that it didn't deal simply with the Greeks and Romans myths but also included the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Celts & Norse, India, China & Japan, African, and finally the America's & Pacific Islands.

What most people either purposefully ignore, or fail to realize is that these myths were historically  the religions of these various civilizations, just as other myths are the basis of today's religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and others. Most people are only taught the about the Greeks and Romans in school, and if they are very lucky might hear something about the Norse. But the rest are rarely if every taught in any grade school. When I had the opportunity to teach a class on Norse mythology, the students were quite fascinated, as it was something they'd never heard before.

Why don't they teach this? Who knows! My guess would be that it is because these mythologies are never taught in a University's Education faculty (or at least I never encountered them), or possibly because a given teacher believes they are simply stories, or don't want to offend someone. Mind you I can't totally blame teacher training, as I was never introduced to much of this even when taking anthropology courses either.

In any case this book is highly recommended, and should be in all school libraries.




2018-09-10

"Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold" by Stephen Fry



Publisher:[London] : Michael Joseph, 2017.
ISBN: 9780718188740
Characteristics: ix, 416 pages :,colour illustrations, maps

This book is an excellent retelling of the Greek myths, that mainly focuses on the ones that you typically don't hear too often. In his introduction Mr. Fry says:

"Mythos begins at the beginning, but does no end at the end. Had I included heroes like Oedipus, Perseus, Theseus, Jason and Herakles and the details of the Trojan War this book would have been too heavy for a Titan to pick up."

With numerous footnotes this book gives a fantastic overview of Greek mythology, and points out the numerous links to our current myths, and legends. In addition Mr. Fry's famous sense of humour comes shining through in his prose, and this makes this book a delight to read.

I sincerely hope that he will consider expanding this book into a second volume that includes some, if not all of the above mentioned tales that he purposely omitted. This is a book well worth reading, that would make a great addition to any collection that focuses on history, anthropology, and numerous other social sciences.

2018-08-27

"Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" by Yuval Noah Harari



Publisher:[Toronto, Ontario] : Signal, [2015]
Copyright Date:©2015
ISBN: 9780771038686
Characteristics: 440 pages :,illustrations

This is the second book from this author that I have reviewed recently. The first one was three weeks ago, and was called "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind". This book continues the narration with a look at what the future of humankind could possibly be like.

The author goes into a lot of detail by examining politics, technology, economics, sociology, anthropology, and a few other ologies that I'm not very familiar with. He gives a very in-depth examination of these various topics, and makes the case that the human species is due for a relatively drastic cultural and sociological evolution sometime in the next century or so that will make it almost unrecognizable when compared to what we currently have today.

I found this to be an extremely interesting and thought-provoking book, that was extremely difficult to put down when I got into it. I'm not sure whether I really want to see some of the changes that are being predicted happen, but then again it could be interesting to witness.

2018-08-20

"The Adventure of English" hosted by Melvyn Bragg



Publisher:[Silver Spring, Md.] : Athena, [2009]
Edition:Widescreen edition.
Copyright Date:©2009
ISBN: 9781598282207
Characteristics: 4 videodiscs (405 min.) :,sound, black & white ;,4 3/4 in. +,1 booklet.

This is an absolutely fascinating look at the history of the English language and how it developed over the last 1500 years from its roots into the language as we hear and use it today. The host Melvyn Bragg asks and answered questions such as where did English start, how did it grow, what were it's influences, and what hampered its development.

A unique feature of this series is actually hearing scholars speaking Old English, and other versions of the language as it developed and changed over the centuries.

Mr. Bragg has written a book under a similar title "The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language" which while not listed as a companion to the video series sounds like it would make an excellent read, and if I can obtain a copy of it I will review it here as well.

2018-08-13

"Food: Delicious Science" PBS video presented by Dr. Michael Morley & James Wong



Publisher:Arlington, VA : PBS, [2017]
Edition:Widescreen edition.
ISBN:9781531701918
Characteristics: 1 videodisc (180 min.) :,sound, color ;,4 3/4 in.

This week I'm going to review a video I watched recently. Thus video is the scientific story behind what we eat, why we eat it, and what effects it has on us. It is hosted by Dr. Michael Morley, and botanist James Wong.

The two hosts take a look at three different aspects of food. It starts by examining the chemical basis for the food we eat, how this affects our brains, and creates cravings. The second segment takes a look at taste, and what makes our food taste delicious. Third and final chapter takes apart our favourite meals to examine chemically how food keeps our bodies fit and healthy.

I found this series of programs to be extremely interesting, and very informative. There are some things that either Dr. Morley or Mr. Wong ate that you'd never get me anywhere near (such as pickled sheeps brains, or ridiculously hot peppers), but then again some things are definitely acquired tastes - and I don't wish to acquire them. Mind you haggis is an acquired tastes as well, but that's another story.

I definitely recommend this 3 part series to anybody who is interested in food, cooking, and how the two areas can be looked at in a scientific manner.

Enjoy!

Going on Hiatus

 Greetings, I have decided to put a hold on doing further book reviews for a while. In fact I'm not sure if I will resume doing reviews ...