Posts

Stephen Jay Gould - A perspective on Darwinism

It is a cloudy and windy evening here in Salt Lake City. I returned from work at 5.30, took a swim, ordered in a Pizza from a local Pizzeria called the "Big Daddy", pulled up a couple of pillows behind me and continued my reading of a wonderful book of essays by Stephen Jay Gould - an evolutionary biologist. Dr Gould is arguably the best known and widely read scientist of our generation. A Paleont ologist by profession, but is widely recognized for his path breaking views on Darwinian theory of evolution and the articulate essays that he regularly wrote for the "The Natural History" magazine for a period of thirty odd years till his death in 2002. All his known essays have been collected in individual volumes edited by and prefaced by Gould himself. Since the time Darwin published his seminal work “Origin of species" in 1850, scientific thinking, buttressed by religious authority has been vociferously advocating, establishing and pontificating on an anthropoce

Will and Ariel Durant - A personal tribute and remembrance

Will and Ariel Durant - A personal tribute and remembrance Mel Gibson’s great and controversial movie “Apocalyptic”, released in 2006, fictionalized the decline and fall of the famed Mayan civilization: it begins with the following graphical quote: ‘A great civilization is not conquered from without, until it has destroyed itself within’. These are the words of Will Durant, written nearly  fifty years ago in the hallowed pages of his epic work “The story of civilization” in eleven volumes. In nearly thirteen thousand pages of immaculate writing, poetic audacity, delectable idioms and sweeping generalizations; both Will and his wife Ariel Durant spans the lifetime of human civilization in all its principal aspects with a finesse, grace and erudition that has never before been attempted , and In my opinion , can never be bettered in its execution. The work took them fifty years to plan and complete, and during that period, the husband and wife traveled the globe a dozen times, saw and r

Irving stone , the novelist - a Tribute from a lover of Literature

One of the authors that I have loved and grown up reading is Irving Stone, the author of several wonderfully researched and exquisitely written Biographical novels that have helped bring to life the complex, tortured inner lives of many a genius. Books like "Lust for life"; that chronicles the maniacal and suicidal creativity of the great impressionist Painter Vincent van gough, or "The agony and  the ecstasy" - again the life and work of arguably that most complete artist Michelangelo, or the "The president's lady" - which unveils the complex relationship between President Andrew Jackson and his controversial wife Rachel, or "The passions of the mind", an intimate novel that delves into the mind of Sigmund Freud as he postulates the principles of Psychoanalysis , or "the Origins" - the superb chronicle of the astute and dedicated brain of Charles Darwin as he travels and observes aboard the ship "The beagle" to formulate

One and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg

America prepares to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg and also remember with pride and choking emotion the prophetic, poignant and arguably one of the greatest speeches delivered by President Abraham Lincoln upon conclusion of the battle. There are few moments in History when the words of a single inspired individual raises the collective consciousness of an entire nation to a new level of awareness and action. Nehru's - "tryst with Destiny";Marin Luther king's - "I have a dream", JFK's "Ask not what the country can do for you...." - all of them were spoken with a passion and conviction that comes with a deep sense of understand and power. The very same words spoken by lesser individuals may not have had the same impact or resonance amongst people; but uttered from the mouths of these stalwarts, the words pierces through the stultified intellect of the masses and nonchalantly touches a chord that lies deeply buried

"The Revolutionary road" – An insight into the American Dream

"The Revolutionary road" – An insight into the American Dream - A work of literary fiction by Richard Yates - A sensitive film by Sam Mendes The “American Dream” is both a gift and a curse. A gift: primarily because it propels individuals to tenaciously pursue their vocation and keep striving for more without the restraints of tradition, education, creed or opportunities; a Curse: because it leaves men and women in a perpetual state of discontent, an inner void that defies fulfillment and a perpetual need for change, more often than not leading their lives to shambles. It is this friction in American society that lubricates its material growth,and ironically fuels its quest for that elusive state of Psychological balance (Intentionally, I avoid using the phrase “spiritual balance”) and creates the aura and myth that entices the entire world to partake of the American Dream. Richard Yates, the author of “The Revolutionary road”, is in many ways an unlucky writer. He lived and

Listening to the “The doors” on my flight from Atlanta

Miracle, moment by moment, of naked existence – The doors of perception: Listening to the “The doors” on my flight from Atlanta Aldous Huxley experimented with mescaline, a psychedelic drug in May 0f Nineteen fifty three to gain an insight into what he called as ‘expanded consciousness’. He wrote about the transformation in sensory perceptions during the few hours following the intake of the drug, in his wonderful and controversial book titled “The doors of perception”. I remember reading this short book (probably the shortest among Huxley’s literary works), in college, at a time, when I was first beginning to experience the light heartedness and an instinctual surety, that a single glass of Beer could bring. Huxley’s immaculate and flowery prose bought to life a certain cantankerous sense of adventure in living dangerously. He talked about the lowering of habitual intellectual defenses, a wholesomeness of living that went beyond the dictates of reason and an absolute certainty that c

A walk downtown in Portsmouth, New hampshire

I took a walk around downtown today. Portsmouth is a dainty township of hardly thirty thousand people. A historic place that traces its history way back to the sixteenth century. Its inhabitants even today proudly call it the " jewel of New England". Within a couple of square miles, there were about hundred odd eating establishments (not the Franchisee's that we see all around the United states),  but original family owned restaurants and pubs that have been around for a long time. It has an astonishingly high density of pubs and a large number of microbreweries for a small city. The people of Portsmouth obviously love their alcohol. As i walked along the frosted pavements of Downtown, literally every pub was brimming with activity and sounds of garrulous merry making echoed and ricocheted off the ancient brick walls : a lasting testament to the antiquity of the place . I believe, there is an University close by, and one could see young ,confident boys and girls, walking