Darwin's Backyard

Darwin's Backyard
by James T. Costa  copyright 2017

How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory
1. Origins of an Experimentiser
2. Barnacle years, Barnacles to Barbs
3. Nature of competition and diversity
4. The mystery of bee cells
5. Geographical distribution
6. Plumbing the secrets of pollination and flower morphs
7. Masterful case study of orchids
8. Carnivorous plants
9. Climbing plants
10. Earthworm Serenade

Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World 1400-1800

Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World 1400-1800
by John Thornton, Second edition 1998

Part I  Africans in Africa
   1. The birth of an Atlantic World
   2. The development of commerce between Europeans and Africans
   3. Slavery and African social structure
  4. The process of enslavement and the slave trade
Part II  Africans in the New World
  5. Africans in colonial Atlantic societies
  6. Africans and Afro-Americans in the Atlantic world; life and labor
  7. African culture groups in the Atlantic world
  8. Transformations of African culture in the Atlantic world
  9. African religions and Christianity in the Atlantic world
  10. Resistance, runaways, and rebels
  11. Africans in the eighteenth-century Atlantic world

completed reading 11/23/2017

also  Reinventing Africa
         Museums, material Culture and Popular Imagination
         in Late Victorian and Edwardian England
by Anne E. Combes, 1994

completed reading 11/29/2017
Last 2 sentences in Conclusion:
The spectre  of degeneration then, was never easily confined to Africa and the other colonies.  It haunted the very centre of the imperial heartlands and threatened to undermine irrevocably the myth of racial purity which continues to cling tenaciously to notions of 'Englishness today.
New sciences to me:  anthropology and ethnography    

Changes in the Land

Changes in the Land
by William Cronon, copyright 1983

Europeans sought to give their New England landscape a new purposefulness, often by simplifying its seemingly chaotic tangle.
The relationships of the New England Indians to their environment revolved around the wheel of the seasons.
To take advantage of the land's diversity Indian villages had to be mobile.
By 1800 the Indians and colonists had decimated many of the animals whose abundance had most astonished early European visitors to New England.
Deforestation was one of the most sweeping transformations wrought by European settlement in New England.

Written by Historian and Ecologist William Cronon it is very interesting in describing  New England from 1600 to 1800.   Changes include Indians replaced by Europeans, plants, animals, farming, fences, and village living. 

Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind

Today completed reading Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind
by Yuval Noah Harari, copyright 2015
Years before the present;
6 million   Last common grandmother of humans and chimpanzees
2.5 million   Evolution of the genus Homo in Africa.
500,000    Neanderthals evolve in Europe and the Middle East
200,000    Homo Sapiens evolve in East Africa
13,000     Homos Sapiens the only surviving  human species
12,000    The Agricultural Revolution
500   The Scientific Revolution
200   The Industrial Revolution
The Present   Humans transcend the boundaries of planet Earth
The Future    Homo Sapiens replaced by super humans
A great History book.

Catch-22

Catch-22
by Joseph Heller, 1955

A novel, it is set in the closing months of World War II, in an American bomber squadron on a small island off Italy.  A cover review says it moves back and forth from hilarity to horror.  In my opinion it is the most ridiculous story in a long time.  It is filled with very untrue information all the way. Typical of that is the repeated story about a "syndicate" set up by the mess officer using American aircraft to transfer food and other equipment from and to many locations including Germany. One transfer list included cork from New York, shoes from Toulouse, ham from Siam, nails from Wales, and tangerines from New Orleans.  Very amusing but ridiculous.

Completed reading 7/14/2017.

Walden Two

Walden Two
By B.F. Skinner, 1948
Incudes Walden Two Revisited, 1976

Walden Two is a utopian novel, visited by 2 college professors and 2 young couples.
The original Walden, Life in the Woods was written by Henry David Thoreau in 1854.
Walden Two attempts to provide a greatly improved life for many people. Many questions and surprises in the story, with one couple and one professor deciding to join the group to enjoy the many advantages offered. 
Completed reading yesterday, 6/29/2017.

The Heart

The Heart
by French writer Maylis de Kerangal
A novel translated by Sam Taylor

Very interested and detailed novel describing a heart transplant.
Family activities  of the young man providing the original heart is describe in detail as is the final removal procedure.  Then final chapters cover the family activities of the older lady who receives the original heat.  The final chapters of course describe the transplant procedure including details of starting the heart to operate again successfully.

Completed reading on 6/17/2017.

Uncle Toms Cabin

Uncle Tom's Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852

The very best book so far on my current to read list.  Terrific all the way through 519 pages.  Now I very much appreciate what the negro slaves put up with before the civil war in this country. Stow wrote it  before the war but she had some contact with Abraham Lincoln near the beginning.  A lot of Christian references throughout the story.  Highly recommended to anyone not having read it.
Completed reading it today, 6/11/2017.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein
by Mary W. Shelley,

In the story Frankenstein created a monster, who pestered him most of his life but in the end outlived him.  His creation was outrageous and an impossibility.  So of what value is the story?  The writing is easy to read and follow the characters. Not a waste of time but almost so.

Finished reading 5/25/2017

Slaughterhouse-Five

Slaughterhouse-Five
by Kurt Vonnegut, 1969

This book contains essays written by 9 writers in review of the original Vonnegut book.
Harold Bloom - Introduction
Peter J. Reed - The End of the Road
 Peter G. Jones - At War with Technology: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
James Lundquist - The "New Reality"
Robert Merrill and Peter A. Scholl - The Requirements of Chaos
Lawrence R. Broer - Pilgrim's Progress
Leonard Mustazza - Adam and Eve in the Golden Depths: Edenic Madness
William Rodney Allen - Slaughterhouse-Five
Jerome Klinkowitz - Emerging from Anonymity

Science Fiction defined:  fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes, frequently portraying space or time travel and life on other planets.
Original Slaughterhouse-Five contains story about bombing of Dresden Germany near end of WW 2, extraterrestrials Tralfamadorians,  and a backwards running war movie ending with Adam & Eve. Science Fiction at its best.

Completed reading this review book on 5/21/2017.

Brave New World & Brave New World Revisited

Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley, copyright 1932 & 1946

Very ridiculous book about all babies produced in a factory, no marriages at all with everyone doing whatever and with anyone, and all people divided into 7 classes from A to G.  Class A the most intelligent and class G the most dumb. The world Ford instead of Lord or Christ throughout the book.  Ford = Henry Ford maker of Ford autos.

Brave New World Revisited
by Aldous Huxley, copyright 1958

Various chapters in the first book are analyzed showing little movement of the world toward those practices.  In the final two chapters suggestions are written regarding action and practice in the future: Education for Freedom and What Can be Done"

Completed reading both books on 5/15/2017.

Life in the Crystal Palace

Life in the Crystal Palace
by Alan Harrington, copyright 1958

This is a review of the book found on Google:
Harrington saw that corporate employee as a new species, one that “may be distinguished from other American working people at least in one way, by an absence of nervousness.” This was the era when people could join a company and talk about having “a job for life”.

From my personal experience I can easily relate to much in the book.  I worked for  only one large manufacturing company all my life as a mechanical engineer.
I retired from that company after 43 years.

The author wrote about his experience working for 3 years at a very large unnamed corporation. He worked in the public relations department.  He called that company the Crystal Palace.  Most of what he wrote about the company was positive.  But a major part of the book describes negative experiences by others in other companies and work places.

Finished reading the book on May 6, 2017.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Nineteen Eighty-Four
By George Orwell, First current printing April 1983
Copyright 1949

Story takes place 35 years before 1984.
In many ways it predicts the future, even when reading it today.
Today (4/20/2017) Completed reading "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell. Amazing book written in 1949 and story is fiction about 1984. Recent comments by some writers are warning that some political events today in 2017 are going down this very bad road of control of the public in a similar way. A lot in the news recently about "alternate facts" etc. Is this "double thinking" as in the 1984 story???
How can a President in so many messages say one thing today and reverse it tomorrow?  He freely calls so many other political folks liars when he does not agree with them. "Double Thinking" at its best. 

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck, original copyright 1937

Very short and interesting reading.
About George and his halfwit friend Lennie.
Lennie loves rabbits and little else.

Completed reading 4/10/2017

Herbert Hoover A Biography

Herbert Hoover A Biography
by Eugene Lyons
Written in 1964

Defended all the way, very little bad about Hoover in this biography.
In Wikipedia about Hoover it says that he is now listed among the 5 worst US Presidents.  This book writes about all of the bad things about FDR which Hoover continued to say during his lifetime.
Hoover was still alive at age 90 when this biography was published in 1964.
Hoover died later in 1964.

Complete reading it all on 4/8/2017.

Heart Of Darkness and The Secret Sharer

Heart Of Darkness and The Secret Sharer
by Joseph Conrad
Copyright date of this Pocket Books version: 2004

A very complicated fictional story about a boat trip up the Congo River into the dark heart of Africa.  The story ends with the boat captain meeting in England with a lady to inform her about the death of her injured future husband on the sudden rescue trip back down the Congo.  Very descriptive writing with an interesting note at end of some action sentences.  Ending now and then was "you know".

Started reading on February 28, 2017.
Completed reading on March 26, 2017.

the Catcher in the Rye

the Catcher in the Rye
by J. D. Salinger, copyright 1945, 1946, 1951

Story is fiction written in the words of a 16 year old boy who is dropped out of a Pennsylvania prep school because of his failure in everything except English.  Highly recommended and a very successful book.  Catcher in the Rye is mentioned briefly only twice in the story, near the middle and near the end. That phrase refers to a song: "If a Body Meets a Body Coming Through the Rye" by Robert Burns.
I dislike the story very much and consider it a waste of my time to have read it.
My main dislike is the use of so many swear words by the boy,  at least a half dozen or more on every page. A review in Wikipedia refers to it as: "1940's New York vernacular." To top if off almost all activities or other actions have the words "and all" attached to the end of the sentence.  Did they talk like that in the 1940's in New York?


Completed reading on Sunday, February 26, 2017.

Lord of The Flies

Lord of The Flies
by William Golding
Copyright 1954

began reading January 24, 2017
finished reading February 8, 2017

This edition has Notes at the end by E. L. Epstein
and Selected Highlights of Critical Analysis by various writers

Enjoyed reading it without critical thinking about the intended meaning of various events in the story. One writer goes so far as to observe that the  snake clasp on the belt of the main character Ralph reflects the "influence of the serpent."

The Night Trilogy

The Night Trilogy
by Elie Wiesel , Copyright 1972, 1985, 2008

Translated from the French

Three parts: Night - Dawn - Day
Night:   A teen age boy describes his time in Auschwitz with his Father.
The Father is eventually killed and the boy escapes at the end of the war with Germany.
Dawn:     Wiesel's second book is a novel is set in Palestine, still Jewish but ruled by Great Britain.  Elisha, a young survivor of the death camps, his superiors give him the job of executing one of His Majesty's officials in retaliation.

Day:    Wiesel' third book is a novel, with  the same character now living in New York.
He is hit by a taxi and spend weeks in a hospital, battling the pain of his multiple injuries.  There is a young woman in his life from time to time in this story.

A long read of all three parts and very interesting.

Business Adventures

Business Adventures
by John Brooks
Copyright 1959 first year and other years to 1969

1. THE FLUCTUATION
       The Little Crash In '62
      Stock Market crashes of 1929 and 1962 were compared.
It could happen again for certain.
As de la Vega said, "It is foolish to think that you can withdraw from the Exchange after you have tasted the sweetness of the honey."

2.  THE FATE OF THE EDSEL.
           A Cautionary Tale
      Rise and Flowering,  several years of research, design, and planning.
      Then building separate factories and sales facilities.
     Decline and Fall,  Production and sales started.
     Some sales and then buyers disappeared.  Some quality problems.
     Finally in 1958 production was stopped and the Edsel was discontinued.
     Reasons for failure not clear,  the downturn in the economy may be the reason.
    In the end it did little harm to the Ford Motor Company.
    Other new designs and smaller models were introduced with much success.

3.  THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX.
     Its History And Peculiarities
    The current Federal Income system has grown very complex and needs simplification.  Optimists believe simplification will soon occur and hopefully bring it back to be near to that in 1913, the first ever put in during peacetime in the USA.

4.  A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME
        Insiders At Texas Gulf Sulphur
     How much time should there be before an insider can release information to cause others to buy stock from a corporation, as well as that insider to also buy that investment stock???

5.  XEROX XEROX XEROX XEROX
     Very successful with new copy machines in the 1960's.
Later they they invented the mouse and other features for computers and passed along the information to Microsoft and Apple.  Xerox did very little for computers and soon were bypassed by Microsoft and Apple.

6.  MAKING THE CUSTOMERS WHOLE
           The Death of a President
    A story about the Ira Haupt & Co., a member if the New York Stock Exchange.
This exchange company was faced with a big loss of funds due to oil reserve failures due to false information.  The New York Stock Exchange wanted to at least protect the investment companies doing investment business with the Haupt Co..  Other Exchange members were asked to provide funds to cover the probable losses to Haupt investment companies, including 4 Exchange members in England.  In the end total amount raised and donated was about $9,000,000. 
   This happened during the weekend when US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963,

7.  THE IMPACTED PHILOSOPHERS
         Non-Communication At GE
    Price fixing in the electrical supply industry was denied by top executives at General Electric and other companies. Blame was placed on poor communication between top leaders and those lower down in the company. In the end the courts held many of the lower leaders guilty resulting in large fines and jail time.

8.  THE LAST GREAT CORNER
       A Company Called Piggly Wiggly
   Clarence Saunders as head of the Piggly Wiggly grocery chain attempted to play the game of "Corner" the market by buying nearly all the stock of that company.  Then he attempted to sell much of the stock at a greatly inflated price.  He borrowed a lot of money  to buy the stock.  His attempt failed due to stock market controls and the market selling a lot of stock market short sales. He became bankrupt and resigned as head of the company. He had several more attempts at starting new grocery stores with very little success.

9.  A SECOND SORT OF LIFE
         David E. Lilienthal, Businessman
   Lilienthal was very successful in government work, but moved to private enterprise later in life.  At first he was doubtful about that, but eventual found it to provide much more personal satisfaction than he ever derived from public service.

10.  STOCKHOLDER SEASON
         Annual Meetings And Corporate Power
   Four large company annual meetings were described, including professional stockholders who attended to ask difficult and foolish questions.
11.  ONE FREE BITE
          A Man, His Knowledge, And His Job
     Donald Wohlgemuth worked at B.F. Goodrich in Akron, OH making space suits.
 When he later applied to work for International Latex Corp. he faced law suites etc.to prevent his use of space suits knowledge in his new job.

12.  IN DEFENSE OF STERLING
           The Bankers, The Pound, And The Dollar
     The Federal Reserve Bank Of New York with other world bankers, saving the English sterling pound, and worldwide selling of US gold reserve are all covered in this section.