There has been alot said and written about Nostradamus over the years, but here is a slightly more scientific/psychological slant than some others, based primarily on the work of Jung and others.

Nostradamus' words eminated from dreams and dream states deep within his mind, but they are essentially no different to the dreams and thoughts of other people. The brain dreams, we all dream. Some people simply have more connection to their dreams and their dream states, and Nostradamus was probably one of these people. Most dreams are random, but a few relate to the outside world, ie the thoughts, anxieties, and culture one lives in, whilst some people probably tend to dream more common and universal symbolic themes. These dreams/dream states/visions, written down, will therefore tend over time to follow consistent patterns, and some dreams and words will at one point or another prove to be 'correct', or 'fulfilled', simply because we live in a world where history and historical processes tend to repeat themselves.

This book may have value for personal inspiration, such as personal understanding of own's own dreams. But it would be wrong to believe that the words of one man several centuries ago were directly connected or ACTUAL images of events of another age. It is more likely that he saw, in his dream-like trance states, the same universal images, the same warnings of his mind of his own time, which also occur in other ages. That is also why he left them vague and cryptic. The messages are symbols, they are dreams, they are not, as some people interpret them, supposed to be uniquely accurate, or some kind of magic.

Dreams are inspiring, they show us images from deep within the collective pscyhe, which the mind interprets and warns from the world around it, but they are not necassarily external reality.

As one wouldn't necasarily take ones own dreams in the night, as necassarily real or true, I wouldn't take other people dreams from trance-like states, as literally or necassarily real either.

With the recent remake of this popular 1968 film, this might be one movie you may want to revisit. I did, and it was worth it. It's dated to be sure, but that is part of the charm. Whilst the special effects are not as profound, the storyline itself is probably better than the 2001 version. The recent 2001 remake in fact borrows many of the original lines, ideas and scenes, so interested viewers might like to get some background information by taking another look at the original film.

Being a bit of a movie buff, an interest for me was the diffferences which have been brought into the story in the 2001 version. Some of these differences reflect our increased understanding of primate behaviour since the 1960s. For example, in the 2001 film, the time traveller crash lands in a JUNGLE, in the 1960s movie it was a desert. Primates such as apes and chimpanzees and orangutans are at home in the jungle, not the desert, which may sound obvious, but the value this adds to the special effects, primate calls, signals and general ambience have been incorporated into the 2001 film, will a telling improvement. Furthermore, the primal instincts, urges, feelings and fears of primates seem more diverse and appropriate.

The purpose of both films was, in part, to show that the differences between primates and humans is not as much as people formerly thought. This first film, with Charlton Heston as the lead, touches on a bit of science, anthropology, archaeology, primate behaviour, philosophy, the lure of the hunt, and also has a very good twist in the end. It probably has a touch more substance, and a more detailed storyline than the 2001 film, but both are entertaining films. The 2001 film also has an unusual twist in the end, (dont worry I wont give it away!) which I thought was an excellent idea, and in keeeping with the 1968 tradition.

A good film for your collection, and to compare the differences and similarities to the more colourful, snappy-special-effects 2001 version.

Mr Berton you excel yourself. This book is very well written, meticulously accurate, entertaining, and justifies its reputation as one of the very best accounts of the last of the great gold rushes. As Mr Berton says, who grew up in the site of the infamous rush in Dawson City, "it was certainly one of the strangest mass movements of human beings in history.". At least 100,000 people from all over the world set out seriously for the gold fields on the remote Klondike Valley in the late 1890s. (Probably at least 5 times that many set out half seriously, but never managed to get even close to the Klondike). Of these, only around 30,000 actually made it to their destination. Of those who made it, only around 0.5% actually made any money. Of those only a handful managed to keep thier money for the remainder of their lives. A handful. Thousands perished on route, most of these succumbing to poorly planned expeditions, over mountainous passes and remote icefields that they never dreamed of when they set out. Most of those who actually arrived in the remote location were too exhausted financially, emotionally and physically, to bother looking for gold. Furthermore, when they arrived they found that all the land was already staked. Most simply booked a ticket on the nearest steamship, and went home.

Amongst the way there were many bizzare and tragic stories, which are too many to detail here. Avalanches, sunken ships, freezing winters, con-men, women, children, old men and young, gamblers, dance hall girls, swindlers, dead horses, suicides, -they were all there. The desperate, the poor, the rich, the ignorant, the informed, the millionaire and the pauper alike, rubbed shoulders in a wild human exodus that has seen little like it, before or since. Some of the stories Mr Berton meticulously relates, simply beg belief. It was a time of general insanity, set amidst a terrible depression, which helped spark off the 'fever', or mania being a more apt term. After news arrived of fabulous riches in gold found in Dawson, some tried to get to Dawson on bicycle, others on huge wheeled contraptions, others thought they would walk there with a handful of nuts. What many didn't realise, was that there was a reason this phenomenoly rich gold field was discovered so late in time compared to many others-it was absurdly difficult to get to. Experienced, grizzley old miners would have had serious trouble getting and surviving there over several winters, to the average office clerk, dentist and city type, it was nigh impossible-as they soon found. Many were conned and caught up in a general mania, whilst many others died. All the stories, all the tragedies, the colour, the mania, the lucky and the unlucky are described.

James Michener thought much of the book, and based his novel Journey, another exellent story of this gold rush, on parts of the Edmonton stories contained herein.

It is a story of humanity as good as any. A delight to read on cold winters nights, in the safety and security of a warm fire, a homely house, and a hot meal. Many in this book gave up this and more for a dream that could never be fulfilled, for they were too late, and even though they were willing to die trying.

They didn't know that the past was already behind them....

The extinction of ice age mammals and other megafauna is not just a periphereral topic. It is important because, as Mr Ward duly points out, in a sense WE are Ice age megafauna. The mammoths and mastodons and their extinctions are particularly interesting, not just from their romantic appeal, but because they are indeed representative of much that we can learn about what happened to other megafauna at the same time, and indeed about ourselves. A selection of both the probiscideans (elephant line) and hominids wandered out of Africa during the last few million years. Both hominids and the various probiscideans are large and adaptable to varying environmental conditions, including ice ages. Both seem wanderers by nature. Both are intelligent and social animals. Both have few natural predators. Both were very successful during climatic change, including the Ice Ages. Emphasis on WERE. What happened to the mammoths, and other megafauna? This book seeks to answer such a question- the causes, and moreover, the lessons we can learn from this about our own selves.

Their extinction is not simple. Overhunting by humans is considered the most likely and significant cause, although there may well have been other contributing factors. Mr Ward contends that the end of the last ice age(s) created stress for mammoths and some other megafaunal species, which humans were then able to push over the edge through overhunting. It is true to say that without humans, they never would have gone extinct, as they survived many other climatic changes. However, the stress that was created by these climatic changes reduced their natural 'immunity' to such predators as humans in the first place, making it easier for humans to drive them to extinction. Basically, we kick other species when they are down.

There are interesting discussions on wave front (killings), species threshhold and the like, stress, environmental change, elephant-and by correlation-suspected aspects of mammoth behaviour and nature, including gestation, rate of birth, mortality and its causes, and so on. Studies on modern elephants help us gain insight into what the mammoths might have been like, and so this book is also a good read for those who are interested in elephants in general. Some snippets include how elephants increase birth rates under stress, neglect their young in times of drought, the problems of poaching, their eating habits, and why they survived in Africa (they are already extinct in the wild in India).

The basic thrust of the book concerns the debate between overhunting and the Clovis hunters which are suspected to account for their demise, and environmental causes. There are also some discussions on the extinction of other Ice age megafauna such as the diprotodon of Australia-a very large extinct elephant-like marsupial herbivore (there is a skeleton in the Coonabarabran Information Centre in NSW, Australia, recently found, which I have seen, with what looks like a spear point in its ribs), and others. There are overviews from various studies on Quaternary extinctions in general, throughout the world, although Mr Ward focuses primarily on mammoths.

It is a very readable and entertaining book, neither long-winded nor self-congratulatory. However one criticism is that perhaps Mr Ward could have discussed other megafauna in more detail, especially in places like Madagascar, New Zealand and Australia. He does mention these places and their extinct megafauna, but only really in passing. (There isn't much on Australia Mr Ward!). But of course the book is about *mammoths*, I suppose.

The book is quite readable, entertaining, and anything but dry. And I also think it gets better as it goes along, towards the end he introduces some interesting possible twists to the tale of mammoth extinction, and about ourselves, but you will have to read them yourself. Suffice to say those ice ages we have come through may have had more influence on human prehistory than we have formerly given credit.

It really is an excellent book which thoroughly deserves more circulation, full of rare insights and romance. For science enthusiasts, animal and murder mystery lovers, put it on your shelf. I doubt you will regret it.

This book concerns an exceptionally interesting and important topic-"island biogeography"-which can teach most of us continental types a thing or two. The nature, origin and distribution of island flora and fauna reveals scientific wonders and beauty that only those who've either studied, or visited themselves, can know and appreciate. If you don't have time to traverse wild remote islands and undertake a detailed study of their biota on your own, to find scientific wonders that can scarcely be imagined, this book provides an easier alternative-a summary of the biological goings-on in these remote places, and the scientific discussions and arguments which surround them. And, like everywhere else, beneath the veneer of their beauty and wonder is another story- ancient, deep and dark.

There are discussions on most of the remote islands of the world such as Madagascar, New Zealand, New Guinea, Bali, New Zealand (could have been more detailed -Mr Quamman!), Australia (again, not his most studied area I am afraid to say, being an Australian myself), Maurituis, Aldabra, Hawaii, and so on. The significance and discovery of the Wallace Line is discussed in detail, along with that poorly recognised and forgotten naturalist-Wallace himself. He didn't mention much about 'herbaceous woodinesss', (which is a point I think is rather significant), but there is much about the so-called 'ecological unravelling' as related to habitat fragmentation, area-species relationships, dispersal, tameness, radiation, divergance and convergance, dwarfism, gigantism, founder effects, punctuated equilibrium (accept the broiling for now-it's good for science), and so on.

All the evolutionary theory you'd ever want goes on unmasked on remote isolated islands-if only people knew.

The Theory of Island Biogeography (1968), much quoted in the text, is an excellent work, which still has much relevance to discussions on evolutionary theory today. Interested readers might like to peruse it, as I have done.

One criticism is that the book is at times long winded- I found it easier to skip over some topics I wasn't all that interested in (eg Guam, and others). I suggest readers pick for themselves which areas they want to read about, but don't miss discussions on the dodo, the Tasmanian tiger, birds of paradise, and the diprotodon (need more here Mr Quamman!). Another criticism is that there should be more pictures-biology is a visually profound science! Who knows what a thylacine or a spotted quoll really looks like?

When I was at university I had the pleasure of attending a course on island biogeography by a naturalist who had spent many years traversing and cavorting across most of the world's most remote islands. It was the most invigorating course I ever attended. What goes on 'out there', is a window into what goes on here, on bigger land masses, as Darwin, Wallace and others discovered. Not only that, they are beautiful places to boot.

Read it and wonder for yourself.

This book concerns an exceptionally interesting and important topic-"island biogeography"-which can teach most of us continental types a thing or two. The nature, origin and distribution of island flora and fauna reveals scientific wonders and beauty that only those who've studied or actually been to remote and idyllic islands, can know and appreciate. If you don't have time to traverse wild remote islands and undertake a detailed study of their biota on your own to find scientific wonders that can scarcely be imagined, this book provides an easier alternative-a summary of the biological goings-on in these remote places, and the scientific discussions and arguments which surround them.

Quamman's book details much of the natural history of island life, and the history of their study, including the various players such as Wallace, Darwin, Wilson, Macarthur and others. The Theory of Island Biogeography (1968), much quoted in the text, is an excellent work, published in the 1960s by Macarthur and Wilson, and which still has much relevance to discussions on evoltionary theory today. Interested readers might like to peruse it, as I have done.

There are discussions on most of the remote islands of the world such as Madagascar, New Zealand, New Guinea, Bali, New Zealand (could have been more detailed -Mr Quamman!), Australia (again, not his most studied area I am afraid to say, being an Australian myself), Maurituis, Aldabra, and so on. The significance and discovery of the Wallace Line is discussed in detail, along with that poorly recognised and forgotten naturalist-Wallace himself. He didn't mention much about 'herbaceous woodinesss', (which is apoint I think is rather significant), but there is much about the so-called 'ecological unravelling' as related to habitat fragmentation, area-species relationships, dispersal, tameness (what he called naiviete), radiation, divergance and convergance, dwarfism, gigantism, founder effects, punctuated equilibrium (accept the broiling for now-it's good for science), and so on and so on.

All the evolutionary theory you'd ever want goes on unmasked on remote isolated islands-if only people knew.

One criticsim is that the book is at times long winded, I found it easier to skip over some topics I wasn't all that interested in (eg Guam, and others)-I suggest readers pick for themselves which areas they want to read about. Another criticism is that there should be more pictures-biology is a visually profound science! Who knows what a thylacine or a spotted quoll really looks like?

When I was at university I had the pleasure of attending a course on island biogeography by a naturalist who had spent many years traversing and covorting across most of the worlds most remote islands. It was the most invigorating course I ever attended. What goes on 'out there', is a window into what goes on here, on bigger land masses, as Darwin, Wallace and others discovered. Not only that, they are beautiful places to boot.

Read it and wonder for yourself.

This book concerns an exceptionally interesting and important topic-"island biogeography"-which can teach most of us continental types a thing or two. The nature, origin and distribution of island flora and fauna reveals scientific wonders and beauty that only those who've studied or actually been to remote and idyllic islands, can know and appreciate. If you don't have time to traverse wild remote islands and undertake a detailed study of their biota on your own to find scientific wonders that can scarcely be imagined, this book provides an easier alternative-a summary of the biological goings-on in these remote places, and the scientific discussions and arguments which surround them. And like many other aspects of things beautiful on the surface, there is another side- a side ancient, deep, and dark.

Quamman's book details much of the natural history of island life, and the history of their study, including the various players such as Wallace, Darwin, Wilson, Macarthur and others. The Theory of Island Biogeography (1968), much quoted in the text, is an excellent work, published in the 1960s by Macarthur and Wilson, and which still has much relevance to discussions on evoltionary theory today. Interested readers might like to peruse it, as I have done.

There are discussions on most of the remote islands of the world such as Madagascar, New Guinea, Bali, New Zealand (could have been more detailed -Mr Quamman!), Australia (again, not his most studied area I am afraid to say, being an Australian myself), Maurituis, Aldabra, and so on. The significance and discovery of the Wallace Line is discussed in detail, along with that poorly recognised and forgotten naturalist-Wallace himself. He didn't mention much about 'herbaceous woodinesss', (which is apoint I think is rather significant), but there is much about the so-called 'ecological unravelling' as related to habitat fragmentation, area-species relationships, dispersal, tameness (what he called naiviete), radiation, divergance and convergance, dwarfism, gigantism, founder effects, punctuated equilibrium (accept the broiling for now-it's good for science), and so on.

All the evolutionary theory you'd ever want goes on unmasked on remote isolated islands-if only people knew.

One criticism is that the book is at times long winded, I found it easier to skip over some topics I wasn't all that interested in (eg Guam, and others)-I suggest readers pick for themselves which areas they want to read about. Another criticism is that there should be more pictures-biology is a visually profound science! Who knows what a thylacine or a spotted quoll really looks like?

When I was at university I had the pleasure of attending a course on island biogeography by a naturalist who had spent many years traversing and cavorting across most of the worlds most remote islands. It was the most invigorating course I ever attended. What goes on 'out there', is a window into what goes on here, on bigger land masses, as Darwin, Wallace and others discovered. Not only that, they are beautiful places to boot.

Read it and wonder for yourself.

There is a very good overview of current scientific research and argument regarding the nature of religious and mystical exerience here. Recent research into the neurological origins of religion, the stunning compatibilities between various religious myths and inclinations, the function and universality of ritual (across the animal kingdom), the commonness of lesser mystical experience and ritual-such as music, art, or by simply taking a bath, and the social cohesian and function that religion plays in virtually any society, are all discussed.

The book also details the long standing arguments about whether various deep religious experience is an expression of some kind of mental disorder(s), or a higher brain function useful for specific purposes. It notes for example that highly religious persons throughout the ages have often also been significant achievers. This appears to be imcompatible with the notion that they are 'mentally disordered'. The book asserts that for whatever reason 'altered brain states' occur, there was/is a significant evolutionary reason for them to have been selected in the first place. This is an important point;- altered brain states, including mystical/religious experience, probably had their origin in the struggle for existance, which was then utilised for other circumstances. The origin of myth-making and ritual in the human condition for example, is discussed in this way. There are also discussions on the importance of conflict, contradiction and resolution in religious ritual and myth, and their likely evolutionary origins.

Many of the books early assertions appear to be summations and ideas strung together from elsewhere, but the book in the second half becomes more controversial in asserting that the altered mental states or 'higher reality', as described variously by mystics, may in fact BE an alternative/higher reality, and not a cultural interpretation of unusual brain functioning. This is a bold assertion, which requires some weighty evidence. The evidence presented in this book however appears to rest mostly on shaky anecdotal support, "I experienced a highly significant event, therefore my interpretation of this event must also be correct". The authors suggest that various mystical/religious experience may imply the existance of an independant 'higher reality', which brain evolution has already cottoned onto. The authors seem to suggest that whilst most people who have some kind of religious experience do in fact misinterpret them, it is still possible that they are ultimately right-an independant and profound reality exists, independent of the evolution of the senses and the self. Whilst conceding the possibility, I personally need more evidence of this concept of 'God' to accept that this experience isn't just a fundamentally important ability of the brain, to give us survival, purpose and meaning, but not necassarily a connection to an external 'God' or 'reality', however you may want to define this 'reality'.

Ultimately there are two possibilities this book suggests to account for religious experience. 1) It is fundamentally a state of mind, selected by evolution and useful for survival in predominantly past environments 2) It is the evolution into a higher reality, something we are perhaps 'evolving into'. The jury is out for me on this one. I don't know whether as a scientist we are evolving into "religion", or out of it, but I do recognise its origins in the evolution of the brain. It seems clear to me, that evolution selected the altered mental states this book describes (and some of which I have experienced) for various individual/group survival purposes, which can then be used/modified for other purposes. Whatever is the case, soemthing strange is going on in this brain of ours.

I agreed with the books view that many of the simple things we do for example, as humans, are simply variations of the 'ritual' experience-such as taking a relaxing bath, or listening to rythmical music. These have been shown to stimulate areas of the brain in a similar way to relgious ritual and association. Interestingly, there also seems to be a link between various altered brain states/mystical/religious experience and the evolution of the orgasm. There are many similarities-they are associated with the same brain areas, and they both produce deeply profound and satisfying 'brain-body' experiences. The evolution of some religious experience may in fact be linked with a kind of schism in the sexual experience within the brain. It is an interesting idea.

There is also good balance in this book between recognising that 'religious experience' is not all for fuddy-duddies. It is real, and it has played a huge and benificial part in human development. It is asserted however, that it is often misunderstood. Rather than being a window to 'God', it may simply be a neuorological ability of the brain, to deal with difficult environments. It's apparently unusual social expression is easily misunderstood.

The book only briefly touches on the negative side of religious experience, and simply notes that any human activity can be perverted, or misused. It was not the purpose of this book to focus on the negative social aspects of religion, other than to perhaps note that it is possible much of this is possibly the incomplete mental expression of these mental mechanisms.

The title pretty much covers the content-'God' isn't going away so easily, primarily because we have a biological tendancy to religious experience. Science is only just beginning to learn of the social benefits of various religious states and mental associations. This book is definitely a step in the right direction. I don't think any scientist can call himself a lover of humanity who doesn't seek to at least examine the basis and the implications of the ideas presented in this book, with an open mind.

This 1963 version of Golding's Nobel prize winning novel has stood the test of time, and comes through with flying colours. It has been widely acknowledged as capturing the great depth and substance of the highly acclaimed book. Definitely one for your movie collection, to keep for years to come.

The story is simple yet profound. An airplane with a group of schoolboys crash lands on a beautiful remote tropical island, with the only survivors not more than 10 or so years old, and some as young as 4 or 5. Nobody knows exactly where they are, so their chance of rescue whilst real, but not great. They have to find food, shelter, a level of organisation, and direction. Simple, or is it? What do young people really think about, away form their teachers and parents? How would they cope with such a situation? What kind of things can go wrong in such an environment? There are no TV viewer's voting system, no edited TV shows, just Nature and young, vibrant children. What do you think would happen in such a situation? Would they all behave, or would they fight each other? How would they cope with such simple things as feeding themselves, and organising their priorities? Would the older boys bully the younger, and what would they do to try to deal with this? You'll have to see the film for yourself to find out.

The film touches on notions of religion, fear, superstition, government, science, knowledge, and tribalism- to mention just a few. Chance and accident play a large part in the development of the story.

Golding wrote the book on which this movie is based, in one sense as a parody of the book "the Coral Island", which describes a somewhat different set of outcomes as to what would transpire in such a situation. Interested viewers/readers might like to research the latter for alternative notions regarding human nature and co-operation.

The film is to say the least, very well done. The characters are very true to the book (and life), the images and scenery exquisite, the film's direction simple on the surface, but delicately contrived.

As a geologist, this book answered a lot of questions I've had concerning the cause(s) of the ice ages. I'd known about rumours about the configuration of the continents, Milankovitch's astronomical cycles, variation in sun output, changes in ocean currents, and so on, for some years, but I really needed a detailed analysis of the historical arguments, and the more recent evidence as to why these changes in the earth's climate occur. This book answers just about all I needed to know, as well as being a good study of historical science. It was some time before all the pieces began to fit, and there are still some unexplained aspects, such as why the 100,000 glacial cycle is stronger than the 20,000 and 40,000 year cycles. Also, early arguments revolving around the Biblical flood are enlightening.

This book details all the theories, and the history behind their development. From deep sea radiolarians, to terraced reefs in the equatorial regions, to vegetation studies in Europe, to the level of snow on Ethiopia's mountains, to axis and ellitpical variations in the earth's orbit, to the gravitational effect of the pull on the earth from other planets, to oxygen isotope studies, to graphs of variation in thermal energy, temperature and sea level at different lattitudes-both expected from Milankovitch cycles-and actual from deep sea analysis, this book pretty much covers all you need to know. The only drawback is it has missed a few recent ideas in the 1980s to 1990s, but the story was pretty much over by then. Pretty conclusive evidence is detailed on how regular and episodic variations in the earth's orbit around the sun trigger periodically cooler climates than at present. These have been particularly strong in the last 1.5 million years or so, which is thought to do with the configuration of recent continental geography. In the last 7,000 years the tmeperature has dropped around 2 degrees, and will continue to drop over the next several thousand years at least, albeit very slowly, if it wasn't of course for the already verified greenhouse warming. Unfortunately, being published in the late 1970s, the book has not captured much of the recent data and debate concerning the greenhouse effect, but is nevertheless an intriguing and enlightening expose of earth climate variations.

The other thing which struck me just a little, was the fact that the major ice age periods in the earth's past have been at or around 3 interesting changes or developments in evolutionary history-the Permo-Carboniferous (ie Permian-Triassic extinction), Pre-Cambrian (multicelled organisms), and Quaternary-Recent (hominids). Certianly the hominid succession has been mostly within major changes in the earths climate, including significantly colder periods, and vast ice sheets across northern lattitudes. Maybe coincidental, but something to think about.