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The Pinball Effect: Journeys through Knowledge
Follow the bouncing ball, James Burke-style: spice trading in the Middle Ages leads to the European tea-drinking craze, which helps instigate the development of the science of natural history, which in turns inspires the creation of the coal miner's safety lamp, which is somehow related to the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack. From there we go to North Carolina cotton industry, Thomas Edison's very first electric power station, air conditioning, glass manufacturing, and laser beams. The end result? The smart bombs used during the Gulf War. Burke, who wrote Connections (the book and the television show), revels--or better, wallows--in the accidental nature of the march of discovery. Despite a penchant for playing it loose and free with scientific and historical accuracy, Burke has compiled a fascinating look at the great matrix of change and transformation that humans have created for themselves.
3 pages, Audio Cassette
First published July 15, 1996
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About the author
James Burke
22 books272 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
James Burke is a Northern Irish science historian, author and television producer best known for his documentary television series called Connections, focusing on the history of science and technology leavened with a sense of humour.
James Burke is a Northern Irish science historian, author and television producer best known for his documentary television series called Connections, focusing on the history of science and technology leavened with a sense of humour.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
June 17, 2013
I think I might have enjoyed this a little more had I not just read Connections. This book is more or less a remix of that book, the companion to the wonderful TV series. It expands on some of the connections, showing how innovation is a web of advances rather than just a linear series of connections.
November 9, 2021
Segunda parte del mítico Connections, que se editó a la vez que la serie del mismo nombre. En esta serie, por cierto, está una de las tomas con mejor timing de la historia, en la que solo hay una posibilidad de éxito, y lo clavan (clic para ir al vídeo):
El libro entero nos va contando cómo un descubrimiento lleva a otro, y cómo al final todo está interconectado. Es una lectura maravillosa, que nos transporta a lo largo y ancho, casi literalmente, de la Historia. Absolutamente recomendable.
El libro entero nos va contando cómo un descubrimiento lleva a otro, y cómo al final todo está interconectado. Es una lectura maravillosa, que nos transporta a lo largo y ancho, casi literalmente, de la Historia. Absolutamente recomendable.
August 30, 2007
I have loved James Burke's method of teaching history ever since I saw my first episode of Connections on PBS all those years ago. I had a chance to hear this brilliant man speak in person at the Arlene Schnitzer concert hall in Portland, OR. He is no less amazing in person as he is on his well thought out television program.
This book is a wonderful collection of more of those interesting historical connections, told by a man who understands dry humor. This is another in a series of books written in this fashion, such as Circles, and The Knowledge Web. James Burke takes the reader on a fascinating journey to show how everyday modern inventions came to being through a series of seemingly random historical events.
I wish I had had a teacher like James Burke when I was in school. History teachers take note: This is how you teach history and make it interesting for everyone!
This book is a wonderful collection of more of those interesting historical connections, told by a man who understands dry humor. This is another in a series of books written in this fashion, such as Circles, and The Knowledge Web. James Burke takes the reader on a fascinating journey to show how everyday modern inventions came to being through a series of seemingly random historical events.
I wish I had had a teacher like James Burke when I was in school. History teachers take note: This is how you teach history and make it interesting for everyone!
November 21, 2019
An interesting collection of stories and factoids and their connections to show how knowledge has the pinball effect: that is it leads to unpredictable outcomes. For instance, someone invented a technique to dip wires in molten zinc to protect and strengthen it (to galvanize); later on it’s used to protect food in cans from getting black over time. It is quite broad in range in that it’s likely to contain a lot of little new stories/factoids even to a reader who reads a lot of non-fiction.
But don’t expect some sudden enlightenment about how things are connected. In fact I have to pick a bone: sometimes the connection is just way too forced. And the twisted narrative actually impedes understanding as there is just too many twists and characters. Try this:
In one chapter, you’re promised a story of something insignificant (bottle cap) leading to cosmic significance (how Hubble changed our view of universe). But the connection is not causal at all and quit often far fetched: A guy (WP) invented bottle cap to keep frizz in frizzy drinks; guy told his employee (Gillet): the secret of success is to make things people throw away. Gillet listened and invented razor. (So far so good). Razor is made of steel. A steel maker (BH) invented some steel making techniques. The steel maker happens to be a clock maker too. Another clock maker (JH) made far better clocks. Clock is vitally important to sea navigation. Sea farers need light houses. When two lighthouses were destroyed, local merchants found some guy (JS) to repair. Guy happens to have invented a boring machine. 4 years later another guy (JW) invented a better boring machine, which makes canon making easier. (Still with me?) Now Napoleon is involved because he used a lot of canons made by JW. When Napoleon is done fighting some war, people were killed leaving homeless kids. Guy (JHP) decides to educate them. Another guy (JFH) liked his methods of education. JFH moved to a university where he met another guy (EW). EW has a pupil GTF. One of GTF’s interests was measure star luminosity. We finally reach some cosmic significance. 🤯
But don’t expect some sudden enlightenment about how things are connected. In fact I have to pick a bone: sometimes the connection is just way too forced. And the twisted narrative actually impedes understanding as there is just too many twists and characters. Try this:
In one chapter, you’re promised a story of something insignificant (bottle cap) leading to cosmic significance (how Hubble changed our view of universe). But the connection is not causal at all and quit often far fetched: A guy (WP) invented bottle cap to keep frizz in frizzy drinks; guy told his employee (Gillet): the secret of success is to make things people throw away. Gillet listened and invented razor. (So far so good). Razor is made of steel. A steel maker (BH) invented some steel making techniques. The steel maker happens to be a clock maker too. Another clock maker (JH) made far better clocks. Clock is vitally important to sea navigation. Sea farers need light houses. When two lighthouses were destroyed, local merchants found some guy (JS) to repair. Guy happens to have invented a boring machine. 4 years later another guy (JW) invented a better boring machine, which makes canon making easier. (Still with me?) Now Napoleon is involved because he used a lot of canons made by JW. When Napoleon is done fighting some war, people were killed leaving homeless kids. Guy (JHP) decides to educate them. Another guy (JFH) liked his methods of education. JFH moved to a university where he met another guy (EW). EW has a pupil GTF. One of GTF’s interests was measure star luminosity. We finally reach some cosmic significance. 🤯
July 18, 2020
This book presents several "journeys through knowledge" as pretext of demonstrating how all discoveries are interconnected in the "web of change" (book is from the 1990s). Most of the facts are interesting on their own but the sheer amount of facts, each mentioned for a brief paragraph and then tossed to move on to the next one, is overwhelming. The connections are often flimsy, and some descriptions are just tedious and it's clear that these are better suited for a tv documentary, for which Burke was famous. On the bright side, the book presents several "gateways", or references to other parts of the book where the discovery or person discussed can be found again to establish a new connection. This is fun and more practical than scanning the reference index at the end of the book. Font is uncomfortably small.
August 10, 2015
Interesting, but uses often tenuous links as "effects". Reads like the wiki game (or just how I browse Wikipedia in general)—short attention span per in-depth topic. Some really interesting tidbits, though.
November 28, 2016
Lights your interest for world and science and all interconnections in life !
May 7, 2015
It's really two and half due to its creative alternative paths in which it can be read.
February 3, 2018
I wrote about my ongoing love affair with James Burkes' Connections and The Day the Universe Changed. I can't be as enthusiastic about The Pinball Effect.
This is still James Burke showing how this led to that and the information is still first rate. The writing, however, seemed tired to me, as if Burke was thinking "I'm so sick of this connections crap but it's what I'm known for, it's what people want and I have a mortgage to pay, so..." while writing, as if his enthusiasm for his subject was no longer there (a pity).
There's also an attempt to make the book hypertexty with margin notes to where else in the book you'll find links between this and that.
This is (I'm sure) a great book for people unfamiliar with Burke's Connections and The Day the Universe Changed and probably a good read for those less finicky than I.
But if you're like me (heaven forbid!), it's probably not for you.
This is still James Burke showing how this led to that and the information is still first rate. The writing, however, seemed tired to me, as if Burke was thinking "I'm so sick of this connections crap but it's what I'm known for, it's what people want and I have a mortgage to pay, so..." while writing, as if his enthusiasm for his subject was no longer there (a pity).
There's also an attempt to make the book hypertexty with margin notes to where else in the book you'll find links between this and that.
This is (I'm sure) a great book for people unfamiliar with Burke's Connections and The Day the Universe Changed and probably a good read for those less finicky than I.
But if you're like me (heaven forbid!), it's probably not for you.
May 26, 2020
I loved the idea of this book but was less impressed by the book itself. I started it a couple of years ago and gave up after a few chapters. This year I started it again and took only a month to finish it, but in large part just so I could mark it as finished. I am very interested in both science and history, and found lots of the info in the book interesting, but a lot of it is trivia more than an explanation of how ideas developed and spread. (I like trivia too, but not a book-length collection of it.) Some of the connections really do explain things, but few of them are given enough space to really get a feel for how things happened. Some of the connections are not "this led to that" but "this person know that person" or "this person shared an interest with that person," connections which could be causal but other times did not appear to be, or if they were it was not explained clearly. Still, I did learn some things, such as the roots of the Romantic movement, which I do not recall reading about previously.
August 10, 2023
This is a valuable book, but it's a bit crammed with information and the writing style makes the reading pace very quick. It often felt quite disorienting and hard to absorb. I wish he wrote at least two books in which he would explain some things at greater length and slower pace. Also, more images and ilustrations would have been helpful, since archaic technology is very hard to describe in a couple of sentences, or one small passage. I'd like to know if all of the information he gives is true. I've noticed a couple of slightly wrong or missing details which fall into my area of expertise..
A couple of times a thought occured to me that this kind of text is better suited for TV, where you bombard people with a lot of fun but in the end they don't actually remember or learn almost anything, only to find out afterwards that there was a televison series based on his previous book, and that this book resembles that series..I was only surprised that my own almost subconscious thoughts were so close to home..
A couple of times a thought occured to me that this kind of text is better suited for TV, where you bombard people with a lot of fun but in the end they don't actually remember or learn almost anything, only to find out afterwards that there was a televison series based on his previous book, and that this book resembles that series..I was only surprised that my own almost subconscious thoughts were so close to home..
September 18, 2019
I guess this book may deserve a better rating, given that the author seems to really know a lot of things. But, I found the whole book totally un-readable, with too many unnecessary details leading nowhere and too many things that only confuse me. I guess one of the reviews is great in saying that this book is kind of a wipidepia. No. I would rather browse randomly on wiki. Instead, this book tries to "create" various things into a chapter to prove a very simple idea "everything in the world is interconnected to each other, i.e we live in a web."
I kind of read it page for page from page 1 to pager 120. Then I totally lose my interest in reading any details of this book, so I chose to browse it and finish it (strictly, not really reading the whole book), finish the rest 150 pages in a 3-hour flight from BJ to SZ. Honestly, I also managed to watch a movie on this flight (goodbye richard), which i guess is much better use of my time than reading this book.
I kind of read it page for page from page 1 to pager 120. Then I totally lose my interest in reading any details of this book, so I chose to browse it and finish it (strictly, not really reading the whole book), finish the rest 150 pages in a 3-hour flight from BJ to SZ. Honestly, I also managed to watch a movie on this flight (goodbye richard), which i guess is much better use of my time than reading this book.
May 1, 2020
This book was supremely interesting, but readers need pay very close attention, since the subject matter quickly pings around like the titular pinball.
One of the most disappointing aspects of this book, however, was that it was around page 200 before any women were mentioned as having any impact on historical events (and they were not mentioned by name: “...by a number of women mathematicians.”, followed closely by “where John Mauchly was then teaching (one of the mathematicians married him.”)
Perhaps it’s just the lens through which I view the world but I found it to be a one-sided, patriarchal (albeit interesting) representation of world events. I just wish more women were mentioned by name along with their achievements, rather than only being referred to as some guy’s wife.
One of the most disappointing aspects of this book, however, was that it was around page 200 before any women were mentioned as having any impact on historical events (and they were not mentioned by name: “...by a number of women mathematicians.”, followed closely by “where John Mauchly was then teaching (one of the mathematicians married him.”)
Perhaps it’s just the lens through which I view the world but I found it to be a one-sided, patriarchal (albeit interesting) representation of world events. I just wish more women were mentioned by name along with their achievements, rather than only being referred to as some guy’s wife.
October 19, 2021
This book is interesting with a lot of exciting yet kinda trivial historical events. I can understand why many people like this book because of its approach to how everything is linked. However, this book just doesn't do the same for me. It feels like a "bombardment" of information, which I barely take any away from reading it. The events that are linked together feel loosely connected to me, and all of them are written in such trivial ways that none sticks to my mind once I'm at the end of a chapter. The gateway (hypertext) system doesn't help me at all, which causes even more confusion. This is a DNF for me. I got to chapter 14 and just gave up. Unless you know every single historical events mentioned in the book, it's basically impossible to follow.
January 19, 2023
Much better than his connections program.
Just a tad dated "Carburettor."
Of course, everyone knows before we start this book that everything is connected in several ways to everything else. The real skill is in finding these connections and interestingly telling about them. Well James Burke as an editor, does this with great skill. I first read the book straight through. Then I came back and read the hyperlinks. Sure enough, you get different perspectives. Then you add the links that he did not think of. I am ready for the next book.
By the way, James Burke was not the first to think this way. You should read "The Ascent of Man" by Jacob Bronowski. It was used as a Humanities course in a local joiner college.
Just a tad dated "Carburettor."
Of course, everyone knows before we start this book that everything is connected in several ways to everything else. The real skill is in finding these connections and interestingly telling about them. Well James Burke as an editor, does this with great skill. I first read the book straight through. Then I came back and read the hyperlinks. Sure enough, you get different perspectives. Then you add the links that he did not think of. I am ready for the next book.
By the way, James Burke was not the first to think this way. You should read "The Ascent of Man" by Jacob Bronowski. It was used as a Humanities course in a local joiner college.
February 17, 2019
Actually a DNF after maybe three chapters. It wasn't terrible, but aside from being adorably out of date (Oh, 1996...), I didn't care for the way it jumped around. I get that that's the selling point of this book, but it didn't spend a lot of time on anything, even things that could or should have been discussed in more depth. Also, it would start with a fact, then jump back in time, then back again, then forward, then back, then forward twice, then to the side...and then never quite connected back to the beginning. Maybe if it had just gone in one direction I would have read more, but as it stood...there are more interesting things to read.
January 15, 2018
This is one of the required reading texts for those who want to understand more about the world and how we got to this point with all the inventions and discoveries of history. (Also great overview if you're going to be on Jeopardy!) It details the accidents of invention, and how so much is interconnected: how one discovery in one field sparks a creation elsewhere, which itself sparks more creations, and so on. A delightful exploration of science and technology, so well written that laymen can fully grasp it. Enjoyable and edifying read, highly recommended.
September 14, 2020
The idea of depicting the network of history in a less-linear-than-usual way is certainly interesting and the book basically does what it says on the tin (which is why I'm giving it two stars instead of one), but for me personally it was barely readable because it bounced around so much (like a pinball, as it were) that it was hard to follow any thread and there was such a density of surface-level information that I came out of a chapter not really knowing much more than when I went into it. I think I'm going to stick to more traditional narratives.
June 14, 2024
3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the interconnectivity of these discovery pathways. It does definitely show its age, though, and I think there are areas where we could get more/different details. It's a very Eurocentric depiction of science, with most focus on British and some American work, with a bit less of Dutch, French, and German, and then little of anything else.
June 8, 2019
Как будто читаешь Википедию на большой скорости и с неоднозначными аналогиями и переходами.
Было бы интересно прочитать такую историю изобретений, но более связно и последовательно. Удачные примеры: цикл статей "История инноваций" от Юрия Аммосова или книга "Краткая история почти всего на свете"
Было бы интересно прочитать такую историю изобретений, но более связно и последовательно. Удачные примеры: цикл статей "История инноваций" от Юрия Аммосова или книга "Краткая история почти всего на свете"
September 27, 2022
Awesome compendium of historical progress in the sciences and humanities, that is shown to rely on interactions between (mostly Western world) people from many cultures, along with luck and accident. Very entertaining, but sometimes too hectic.
January 5, 2018
While I have liked other books by James Burke, this one is extremely chaotic and as a result I just gave up about half way through.
April 26, 2020
Книга крутая, очень приятная типографика и оформление.
Тем не менее, ее немного сложно читать из-за обилия пересекающихся фактов и событий.
Тем не менее, ее немного сложно читать из-за обилия пересекающихся фактов и событий.
October 12, 2020
People familiar with James Burke's, "Connections" and, "The Day the Universe Changed" will enjoy this.
June 15, 2021
The TV show Connections2 was based on this book.
January 14, 2022
Немного сумбурно написано, но в целом интересно.
January 17, 2022
How does one discovery impact the next ? Interesting read, delightfully written!
March 9, 2016
Один мой хороший друг Денис Ш. ну очень не любит юмориста Михаила Задорнова. Каждый раз, когда я ненароком что-нибудь из него цитирую, он мне так укоризненно: "И зачем вы его слушаете? У него же ничего своего нет, он всё из Интернета берёт".
...и вот этот самый Денис Ш. подкидывает мне для прочтения "отличную" (по его словам :)) книгу Джеймса Бёрка "Пинбол-эффект". Которая есть ни что иное как слегка олитературенная "Википедия".
Впрочем, в "Предисловии" автор весьма убедительно пишет о том, что мы живем в эпоху информационного взрыва. Огромные объёмы информации + возрастающая скорость её производства = необходимость новых навыков работы с информацией. Бёрк предлагает учить молодое поколение быстро "сканировать паутину знаний", отыскивая неожиданные пересечения в событиях, местах, идеях, людях и т.п. Идея, кстати, очень неплоха, хотя её авторство принадлежит явно не Бёрку, а философам-посмодернистам (Леви-Строссу с его "бриколажем"). Хотя при чтении книги у меня лично создалось впечатление, что она больше соответствует делёзовскому бриколажу как "способу производства шизофренического производителя" :))). Так как местами авторский вики-сёрфинг ну очень уж поверхностный и произвольный.
Из "плюсов": читать было интересно. Я смаковал эту книгу несколько месяцев, читая её маленькими кусочками, т.к. многие факты и идеи требовали времени для осмысления, а "глотать их по-быстрому" просто не хотелось.
Научпоп получился довольно занятный именно благодаря тому, что в тексте "смешались люди, кони" и т.д. :)). Автор сплел воедино и политику, и религию, и технику, и науку, и культуру - а такие междисциплинарные связки всегда очень интересны.
В книге множество классных фактов об истории научных открытий и технических изобретений, которые в своё время были прорывными для развития цивилизации. Много занимательного о научном творчестве, о случайностях и нелепых ошибках, без которых великие инновации не свершились бы.
Лично для меня книга была полезна тем, что я хоть как-то ориентируюсь в гуманитарной истории (т.е. в том, что касается развития искусства, науки, религии и проч.), но совершенно не знаю историю техники. А в книге довольно много именно о технических изобретениях.
Из "минусов": 1) Отвратительно много опечаток :( ...мда, и это издательство Артемия Лебедева :((
2) Отвратительно многабукофф :((. Вот только не подумайте, что я надорвался от прочтения четырёхсот с небольшим страниц. Но просто автор что-то там толкует про нарастание скорости обработки информации, а на всю книгу лишь жалких пять гравюр. И ни одной тебе инфографики, схемы, карты и т.п. :(
3) Автор так увлёкся вики-сёрфингом, что не удосужился проверить даты, цифры, фамилии и прочий фактуарий. Или это снова халтура артемиевских первопечатников. Вообще, достоверность приведенных автором событий и фактов под очень большим вопросом.
Ради "красивости" и динамизма повествования автор всё упрощает. Есть очень много неод��означных событий, которые допускают различные репрезентации и толкования. Историк-учёный привёл бы разные версии, привёл бы аргументы "за" и "против". Автор же выдёргивает какую-то одну версию, при этом никак не обозначает степень её достоверности - то ли это исторический анекдот, то ли это подтверждённый учёными (какими?) факт. В общем, GIGO :((
4) Раз автор англичанин, то, разумеется, "Британия - родина слонов". Книга англоцентрична. Всё лучшее в мире создано / открыто / изобретено англичанами и американцами. На да, в книге периодически мелькают всякие там европейцы, и даже немного китайцы с арабами, но всё в роли каких-то малозначимых статистов.
5) Знаете, что больше всего убило в книге?! Автор искренне верит (и неоднократно это подчеркивает), что современная цивилизация развилась благодаря случайным совпадениям, благодаря игре человеческих страстей и предприимчивости одиночек. Похоже, он просто скромно решил, что пинбол в его голове - это и есть законы развития человечества :)).
Я не отрицаю роль случая и роль личности в истории. Но, похоже, автор никогда не слышал словосочетания вроде "системное мышление", "законы общественного развития" и т.п. :((. Книга учит скользить по фактам (слегка фиксируя внимание на наиболее забавных), но не учит связывать их в единое целое с учётом контекста.
6) Книга написана аккуратно и политкорректно. А мне вот было жутко даже от простого перечисления фактов, которые легли в основу прекрасной современной цивилизации. Уничтоженные индейцы Северной Америки и почти уничтоженные Южной. Вырубленные леса, вымершие виды животных. Разрушение чужих культур и стран (начиная ещё с опиумных войн) ради того, что хорошо продаётся. И самое главное, что все эти "прелести прогресса" никуда не делись, они стали только лицемернее и страшнее по долгосрочным последствиям :((.
...а книга да - такой бодренький образчик западнизма (в терминологии А.Зиновьева).
Резюме: несмотря на все погрешности, читать было интересно и полезно для общей ерундиции :))
...и вот этот самый Денис Ш. подкидывает мне для прочтения "отличную" (по его словам :)) книгу Джеймса Бёрка "Пинбол-эффект". Которая есть ни что иное как слегка олитературенная "Википедия".
Впрочем, в "Предисловии" автор весьма убедительно пишет о том, что мы живем в эпоху информационного взрыва. Огромные объёмы информации + возрастающая скорость её производства = необходимость новых навыков работы с информацией. Бёрк предлагает учить молодое поколение быстро "сканировать паутину знаний", отыскивая неожиданные пересечения в событиях, местах, идеях, людях и т.п. Идея, кстати, очень неплоха, хотя её авторство принадлежит явно не Бёрку, а философам-посмодернистам (Леви-Строссу с его "бриколажем"). Хотя при чтении книги у меня лично создалось впечатление, что она больше соответствует делёзовскому бриколажу как "способу производства шизофренического производителя" :))). Так как местами авторский вики-сёрфинг ну очень уж поверхностный и произвольный.
Из "плюсов": читать было интересно. Я смаковал эту книгу несколько месяцев, читая её маленькими кусочками, т.к. многие факты и идеи требовали времени для осмысления, а "глотать их по-быстрому" просто не хотелось.
Научпоп получился довольно занятный именно благодаря тому, что в тексте "смешались люди, кони" и т.д. :)). Автор сплел воедино и политику, и религию, и технику, и науку, и культуру - а такие междисциплинарные связки всегда очень интересны.
В книге множество классных фактов об истории научных открытий и технических изобретений, которые в своё время были прорывными для развития цивилизации. Много занимательного о научном творчестве, о случайностях и нелепых ошибках, без которых великие инновации не свершились бы.
Лично для меня книга была полезна тем, что я хоть как-то ориентируюсь в гуманитарной истории (т.е. в том, что касается развития искусства, науки, религии и проч.), но совершенно не знаю историю техники. А в книге довольно много именно о технических изобретениях.
Из "минусов": 1) Отвратительно много опечаток :( ...мда, и это издательство Артемия Лебедева :((
2) Отвратительно многабукофф :((. Вот только не подумайте, что я надорвался от прочтения четырёхсот с небольшим страниц. Но просто автор что-то там толкует про нарастание скорости обработки информации, а на всю книгу лишь жалких пять гравюр. И ни одной тебе инфографики, схемы, карты и т.п. :(
3) Автор так увлёкся вики-сёрфингом, что не удосужился проверить даты, цифры, фамилии и прочий фактуарий. Или это снова халтура артемиевских первопечатников. Вообще, достоверность приведенных автором событий и фактов под очень большим вопросом.
Ради "красивости" и динамизма повествования автор всё упрощает. Есть очень много неод��означных событий, которые допускают различные репрезентации и толкования. Историк-учёный привёл бы разные версии, привёл бы аргументы "за" и "против". Автор же выдёргивает какую-то одну версию, при этом никак не обозначает степень её достоверности - то ли это исторический анекдот, то ли это подтверждённый учёными (какими?) факт. В общем, GIGO :((
4) Раз автор англичанин, то, разумеется, "Британия - родина слонов". Книга англоцентрична. Всё лучшее в мире создано / открыто / изобретено англичанами и американцами. На да, в книге периодически мелькают всякие там европейцы, и даже немного китайцы с арабами, но всё в роли каких-то малозначимых статистов.
5) Знаете, что больше всего убило в книге?! Автор искренне верит (и неоднократно это подчеркивает), что современная цивилизация развилась благодаря случайным совпадениям, благодаря игре человеческих страстей и предприимчивости одиночек. Похоже, он просто скромно решил, что пинбол в его голове - это и есть законы развития человечества :)).
Я не отрицаю роль случая и роль личности в истории. Но, похоже, автор никогда не слышал словосочетания вроде "системное мышление", "законы общественного развития" и т.п. :((. Книга учит скользить по фактам (слегка фиксируя внимание на наиболее забавных), но не учит связывать их в единое целое с учётом контекста.
6) Книга написана аккуратно и политкорректно. А мне вот было жутко даже от простого перечисления фактов, которые легли в основу прекрасной современной цивилизации. Уничтоженные индейцы Северной Америки и почти уничтоженные Южной. Вырубленные леса, вымершие виды животных. Разрушение чужих культур и стран (начиная ещё с опиумных войн) ради того, что хорошо продаётся. И самое главное, что все эти "прелести прогресса" никуда не делись, они стали только лицемернее и страшнее по долгосрочным последствиям :((.
...а книга да - такой бодренький образчик западнизма (в терминологии А.Зиновьева).
Резюме: несмотря на все погрешности, читать было интересно и полезно для общей ерундиции :))
October 1, 2011
This book employs a very neat mechanism to demonstrate a host of connections between people, inventions, and events across the world and through history. Burke’s basic premise is that history is non-linear, with closer resemblance to a spider web. So every chapter is chock full of names and terms with superscripts and “gates” in the adjacent margins. A gate indexes you to another place in the book where that subject appears. The result is a non-fiction “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure.” Depending how much the reader skips around, there are many ways to read this book besides cover-to-cover. I developed my own method to ensure that I made full use of the gates yet read the entire text. Marking the book up with a pencil was mandatory to avoid “Wait, did I already read this?” moments. Taking lots of gates keeps the reader engaged and actively involved with absorbing the material. That said, a feeling of chaos and disorganization is hard to shake. But you actually encounter that even by reading straight through. For example, two paragraphs on Mr. A, who developed C, and he was buddies with Mr. B, the founder of D, and after a paragraph on the history of D we’re onto Miss E who occasionally washed the socks of Mr. B, etc. Everything is a series of snippets and it’s challenging to envision the larger context, which personally makes it more difficult to retain the wealth of information in this book. Additionally, the underlying claim that thing C is surprisingly related to thing Z because of all these intermediate steps is a bit ridiculous. To suggest causation, even indirect causation, is misguided. Miss E probably would have invented the F-matic regardless of Mr. A. But it provides an excellent reminder that genius and innovation do not occur in isolation- we’re all standing on shoulders and looking back to advance forward. It is a fun, dizzying and ricocheting ride through history.
September 24, 2017
In 1923 American astronomer Edwin Hubble calculated that Andromeda was located outside of the Milky Way. Since the Milky Way was the edge of the universe at that time, Hubble’s discovery resulted in the doubling of the known universe. The events leading up to the math and technology that allowed Hubble to draw his conclusions are but one example of the serendipity and conjugation of science. The path to Hubble’s discovery includes the invention of bottle caps, razor blades, more accurate clocks for navigation, a machine to bore cannon barrels, and the beginnings of experimental psychology.
Seemingly eclectic assortments of achievements are the fabric of The Pinball Effect, How Renaissance Water Gardens made the Carburetor Possible, written by James Burke (Little, Brown, 1996). Each chapter of the book begins with an early-day technological or mathematic advancement and tracks the changes it wrought, until Burke has explained how our modern world benefits from those developments. Along the way he introduces the personalities and circumstances that delayed or accelerated the evolution of an idea, a tool, or a perception that ultimately lead us to where we are today. The book continues the style Burke applied several years ago in his Connections series on PBS television.
The book presents some fascinating facts and chaos theory-like linkages in a manner which is sometimes tedious and occasionally confusing, but generally understandable. To emphasize the pinball-like bounces of scientific advancement, Burke uses a marginal notation system that allows the reader to jump to other boinks from the same bumper (event), or follow the history at hand. In other words, reading the book can be a sequential front-to-back experience, or a series of leaps through the serendipity of science across the ages.
Seemingly eclectic assortments of achievements are the fabric of The Pinball Effect, How Renaissance Water Gardens made the Carburetor Possible, written by James Burke (Little, Brown, 1996). Each chapter of the book begins with an early-day technological or mathematic advancement and tracks the changes it wrought, until Burke has explained how our modern world benefits from those developments. Along the way he introduces the personalities and circumstances that delayed or accelerated the evolution of an idea, a tool, or a perception that ultimately lead us to where we are today. The book continues the style Burke applied several years ago in his Connections series on PBS television.
The book presents some fascinating facts and chaos theory-like linkages in a manner which is sometimes tedious and occasionally confusing, but generally understandable. To emphasize the pinball-like bounces of scientific advancement, Burke uses a marginal notation system that allows the reader to jump to other boinks from the same bumper (event), or follow the history at hand. In other words, reading the book can be a sequential front-to-back experience, or a series of leaps through the serendipity of science across the ages.
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