knowledge Books

All information must be analyzed carefully to better ascertain accuracy, however, "'Egyptologists, said John West, 'are the last people in the world to address any anomaly.'" (Chapter 47, p.441)
In addition, a concept that nicely sums up my feelings on the study of history as well, is stated by Professor Robert Schoch, a Boston University geologist, on page 447: " 'If my findings are in conflict with their [Egyptologists] theory about the rise of civilization then maybe its time for them to re-evaluate that theory.'"
A fascinating and intriguing book that is as mentally stimulating and mind-bending as "The Atlantis Blueprint" by Wilson, C. and Flem-Ath, Rand

This book presents very compelling circumstantial evidence for Earths ancient history. Graham Hancock & Robert Bauval have provided varying scenarios concerning; the building of the pyramids, ancient mapmakers representation of the earth and lost civilizations. They have woven the evidence together in such a way as to suggest our past is not as it is presented today, even going so far as to suggest who really built the pyramids and what really happened to Atlantis. This book makes you think about the immensity of our 'unknowledge' and the brevity of our own lives.

John Rickaby's "First Principles of Knowledge" is truly a great book. The writing is wonderful, and the message, epistemological verity, is terribly important in this age of increasing skepticism. I came back to Rickaby after a long sojourn in the arid clime of the absurd writings of John Birch Society apologist Clarence Carson. In this state, Rickaby's writings were as a drink of cool water, which constantly refreshed, and edified.

In my own exploration of philosophia perennis, I have used Rickaby's present work as a supplement to the material provided by the Saint Augustine Institute of Catholic Studies on epistemology. And this text has worked exceedingly well in that sense.

We must caution, in fairness, that the early chapters of the second part of this book are fairly "heavy" for anyone who has not made a serious study of Scholastic philosophy. But, then, it is probably unlikely that anyone not so disposed would even venture into this realm. With that qualification having been stated, we can strongly recommend this wonderful text to any who would clearly understand the epistemological perspective of neo-Scholasticism. God bless.

This is a gorgeous, large-format book full of intriging and inspirational art. The book is in itself an art object, with enigmatic diagrams, colorful designs, and clues to a mystery. The book is a major bargain at this price and will be of interest to both artists and general readers who are interested in art.

This is one of the best books of it's type that I have read. It was written by the founders of The Aerial Phenomenon Research Organization, who had access to some excellent information.
It describes numerous incidents involving UFOs and their "occupants", whoever they are. It does not attempt to presume where these crafts come from or who the occupants are, but describes exactly what the human witnesses reported. There are many cases and they are all incredibly interesting.
Whether you suspect these things come from outer space, some other dimension, or some other place we are not aware of, this book is fascinating. It has great photos of these crafts and the sightings are from solid witnesses and sound very true. I enjoyed reading it and will continue to read it in the future.

...then be sure to pick up the book TURN ME ON, DEAD MAN by Andru J. Reeve. It's the true saga of the story behind the infamous "Paul-Is-Dead" hoax of 1969, when millions believed a persistent rumor that Beatle Paul McCartney was killed in a car crash, his death kept a secret while the Beatles replaced him with a lookalike and planted "clues" to his death on subsequent Beatles albums. It's an amazing story and Reeve explores the who-what-and-whys of the story, explaining how this hoax was perpetrated and who was behind it. One of the most talked-about books of the year -- and it's available right now, right here at Amazon.com !!!

"An Amazing Book! I couldn't put it down!" -- Dr. Heritage Smith, folklorist and urban legends historian

This book is a gem. In the first section, Wainwright discusses the Christian's experience of Christ-the incarnate Word of God-in the Church's liturgy through her senses and her response to those sense experiences. Catholics and Orthodox alike may find themselves thinking that this book is written by one of their own, while Protestants (I should note that Wainwright himself is a British Methodist minister) should find themselves challenged to think about sacraments in ways that may be new to them. The second section takes up the matter of the munus triplex, or Christ's threefold office as prophet, priest, and king. Here, Wainwright identifies five applications for the participation of both the individual Christian and the Church in the prophetic, priestly, and royal offices. This discussion should be thought provoking for ministers and laity alike as they seek how best to live out their faith.

I could get to read this book more than 10 times about 20years ago while I was doing my Engineering Degree. It gave me a thorough insight about the acheivements by Human mind and the Power of it. The book gave me a new set eyes to look at the world and its' present condition with lots of depth. It would make anyone to grill his senses to understand the world with more responsibility and indebtness to those "Achievers" instead of simply negotiating it like one more animal. The Book gave me lots of experience and increased my abilities to present myself with a depth in the later part of my life in so may occasions. It made me successful in many of my endeavours.

I am trying to possess one print for myself for the past 20 years. I searched even at the Foyle's Book stores in London in the year 1988 but I could not.

I feel proud in suggesting this book to anyone.

This is a highly academic and extremely interesting book about the ways in which human culture is formed, the processes that affect its formation, and the forces that impact our understanding of it. Two interesting threads weaving in and out of the book are (1) the relationship between natural and cultural environments, and (2) the relationship between culture formation and prehistoric religion, particularly religion centering around female divinity.

In addition to a prelude and a brief coda, the book is divided into five parts. The first, "Arbiters of Culture," focuses on four specific phenomena that "modulate" cultural knowledge: a group's conceptions of time, reality, space-time processes, and identity. In relation to the first of these, time, Haarmann says that "the inclusion of ... non-linear time in a culture theory is a necessary ingredient" (p. 22) and that although virtual reality is new to us in the "developed" world, traditional cultures recognized it long ago (p. 24).

The second part of the book, "The Significance of Symbol-making," deals with prehistoric art, including Venus figurines and other mobiliary art, and the evolution of language, speech and writing. I found Haarmann's section on the written script of the Danubian civilization (archaeologist Marija Gimbutas' Old Europe) particularly interesting.

Haarmann's third section, "Knowledge-construction in the World of Cultural Diversity," deals with the way in which cultures are constructed, i.e., how they come to be as they are.

Section four deals with the fascinating subject of the "oecumene," the newly discovered/identified type of early civilization that in stark contrast to the state model, was characterized by egalitarianism, relative non-violence, probable self-rule, and commonwealth status. Haarmann makes an important point when he says that the Danubian civilization should be added to the group of early oecumene societies, along with the Indus Valley and Halafian civilizations.

One of Haarmann's major theses is that certain modes of modern thinking impede our understanding of culture. In a section called "Modernity's Replacement Ideology" he discusses two of these: our modern propensity to hold technological advancement as a primary ideal, and our tendency to see that advancement as total replacement of the old by the new. As a result, as we look at history, we erroneously see culture change as a "detachment from an earlier stage," a sudden and total shift from state A to state B.

For example, when thinking about the shift in Europe to Indo-European languages, we tend to think in terms of a sudden lurch from the pre-Indo-European language, to the new IE language. As Haarmann so rightly points out, however, the new IE language never totally eradicated the languages it "replaced," and the pre-IE language would have always affected and changed the incoming IE language. Likewise, the shift in Europe from Paganism to Christianity was not a sudden replacement of the former by the latter. The change was a gradual one, different in different parts of Europe, and quicker in some areas, slower in others.

The fifth section of Foundations of Culture, which takes up a good third of the book, offers 30 "postulates" about the nature of culture and cultural processes. These postulates revolve around "cultural networks," and communal life and patterns of sustenance; symbol making; the relationship between natural and cultural environments; culture change; and the "life cycles of cultures."

Haarmann provides a plethora of examples to illustrate all 30 postulates, and one thing I personally like about his book is that many of these examples revolve around prehistoric religion and female divinity. For example, his illustrations include one on the relationship between the bull and Goddess from the Palaeolithic on; one on fertility deities in agrarian vs. pre-agrarian societies; another on the long-standing relationship in Europe and Siberia between the Goddess and the bear; still another on the persistence even today of several hundred "Old European" (the Neolithic Danubian civilization of Southeast Europe) words in some European languages; and another on the Finno-Ugrian Earth Mother Mokosh, which Haarmann relates to the powerful symbol of "Mother Russia" manipulated by Soviet Communist regimes.

Haarmann also includes a fascinating section on the relationship between the infamous Black Sea flood of c 6700 BC, which destroyed the major land bridge between Europe and Asia, and the rise of Old Europe. Summarizing the relationship is a great timeline called "Anatomy of the Big Bang" (p. 267).

Throughout his book Haarmann decries the move away from cultures deeply rooted in experiential knowledge of the natural environment. In his coda he says that to heal the earth we must "retune the human mind to an appreciation of natural knowledge-construction." He ends with a plea he makes elsewhere in the book: that we allow indigenous cultures to work with us as we attempt to repair the global environment, and that we learn from them more productive ways to relate to that environment.

~ Jeri Studebaker, author of Switching to Goddess: Humanity's Ticket to the Future

This is a great collection of essays from a powerful philosopher. It collects some of Burge's best contributions to the philosophy of mind, especially regarding his thesis of anti-individualism. In addition to these seminal essays, the book has a useful introduction and some important postscripts. It's a must-read for anyone interested in the foundations of thought.