“There are phases in cultural evolution that are by their nature big leaps; a technology, or a constellation of them, proves so explosive that its lucky hosts suddenly seem light-years ahead of other cultures. Those laggard cultures, indeed, look so pathetic that it is tempting to ask whether there isn’t some qualitative difference at work, […]
“‘No, Robert.’ Hooke took advantage of Daniel’s plea to jam a leather strap in his mouth. ‘You may bite down on that if you wish, or you may spit it out and scream all you like––this is Bedlam, and no one will object. Neither will anyone take heed, or show mercy. Least of all Robert […]
“The Revolution was done, it had been Glorious, and what made it glorious was that it had been an anticlimax. There’d been no Civil War this time, no massacres, no trees bent under the weight of hanged men, no slave-ships. Was Daniel flattering himself to suppose that this could be put down to his good […]
“‘It is all right for a clock to run fast or slow at times, so long as it is calibrated against the sun, and set right. The sun may come out only once in a fortnight. It is enough. A few minutes’ light around noon is all that you need to discover the error, and […]
“‘A spherical body––a planet, moon, or star––having a given quantity of matter, produces a gravitational attraction that is the same as if all of its matter were concentrated into a single geometric point at the center.’ ‘The same? You mean exactly the same?’ ‘It is a geometrical proof,’ Isaac merely said. ‘That the particles are […]
“World currency markets are rocked by the turbulent force of electronically lubricated financial speculation. Weapons of mass destruction are cultivated by rogue regimes and New Age cults. Nations seem less cohesive than before, afflicted by ethnic or religious or cultural faction. Health officials seriously discuss the prospect of a worldwide plague––the unspeakably gruesome Ebola virus, […]
Mark Johnson was my senior thesis adviser at the University of Oregon. More than that, he changed my life profoundly, starting with his Philosophy 101 lecture course on Philosophical Problems, which caused me to change my major after just one term at UO. Johnson introduced me to the works of John Dewey––my intellectual hero––and also […]
“‘Yes, Dr. Waterhouse, we live in an orderly society and men replace each other.’ ‘Sometimes. But some can’t be replaced.’ ‘I don’t know that I agree.’ ‘Suppose that, God forbid, Newton died. Who would replace him?’ ‘Hooke, or maybe Leibniz.’ ‘But Hooke and Leibniz are different. I put it to you that some men really […]
“‘I will not rest until my enemy’s identity is known, and I’ve put him in his grave.’ ‘But suppose that when you learn his identity, he turns out to be your great-uncle, and your cousin’s brother-in-law, and your best friend’s godfather?’ ‘I’m only speaking of one enemy––’ ‘I know. But royal families of Europe are […]
“‘What’s a chakra?’ ‘You’ll know when I find it.’ Some time later, she did, and then the procedure took on greater intensity, to say the least. Suspended between Eliza’s two hands, like a scale in a market-place, Jack could feel his balance-point shifting as quantities of fluids were pumped between internal reservoirs, all in preparation […]