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Getting the Message
Getting the Message is a unique and engaging exploration of the fascinating history of communications, starting with ancient civilisations, the Greeks and Romans, then leading through the development of the electric telegraph, and up to the present day with email and smartphones. The technology is explained in a particularly simple and accessible way, and themes from politics, economics, and society weave in and out of the scientific ideas. The book concludes with a look at the possible future of communications, the new developments to come, and the implications these will have for our everyday lives. Lavishly illustrated, and including many original illustrations that show just how these new developments were received in their time, the book presents an informative and highly entertaining introduction to the field of communications. This revised second edition looks at the new developments in communications over the two decades since the first edition's release.
Soviet Potpourri
This book has been written for those who know already a lot about what happened in the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1991. It is at times controversial, at times humorous, and, I hope, constantly provocative. My aim is for readers to say or at least think, "Yes, I can now see things more clearly." The principal events of Soviet history are discussed. The central thesis is that the Soviet Union was far from unique, that its ideology bore nearly exclusively the marks of a religion and most of its functioning was derived from the French Revolution, from Nazi Germany, and from Imperial Russia. There is a lot written about the purges, a prediction made in 1984 about the demise of the Soviet Union and a short play about the unsuccessful coup against Gorbachev. The book ends with a light touch--jokes about the Soviet system.
Three Scientists of the Ancient World
These plays cover one thousand years of the ancient world from the golden age of Athens to 5th century Alexandria. The protagonists are Anaxagoras, Archimedes and Hypatia, scientists, mathematicians, philosophers. All three of them came into conflict with the prevalent views of the time. Anaxagoras maintained that the sun was a big burning rock of the size of the Peleponnesus. He was condemned to death on the charge of impiety. Archimedes, the first example of the efficacy of technology combined with science, built fortifications that could withstand the might of the Roman Army. His popular fame rests on him shouting Eureka and jumping naked out of his bath when he discovered the laws of Hydrostatics. He is also known by his statement: give me a fixed point and I shall move the Earth. Hypatia was a philosopher and mathematician, a believer in the old faith. She was hacked to death by a bunch of monks at the instigation of Cyril, a Saint of the Christian Church.
Past, Present and Future
The present book is about history, written through the satirical eyes of a Hungarian refugee in the early 1960s, a few years after he settled in England. The title "Past, Present and Future," together with the subtitle "An Irreverent Treatment of History," explains beautifully what the book is about. Brief but profound historical judgments are made about everything that matters: socialism, capitalism, communism, Nazism, colonialism, revolution, science, religion, war and peace, and stability and anarchy. The common factor is power. Everything is explained by the love of power by individuals, groups, social classes, dictators, and nations--by people who are high up and by people who are low down.
The Rhineland War: 1936
It is a what if historical play. It considers what might have happened if Britain and France had reacted to Hitlers rearming of the Rhineland in 1936 with military power rather than ineffectual protests. Would this have prevented the Second World War? The play also shows the power of the media in guiding public opinion and raises some more general questions like: Preventative wars do they ever achieve anything? Can democracies ever win against fanatics? How far should a democratic government go in accommodating dictators? The scenario painted within the play is plausible. The views and acts of the various characters are in line with what they could have been expected to say and do at the time, and what we now know from various historical sources, e.g. Lansbury statement about disarmament, Lloyd Georges account of his meeting with Hitler, the French Prime Ministers speech on the day the Germans moved into the Rhineland and reminiscences from Churchills war memoirs including his visit to Germany in 1932.
The Portrait of a Genius
Geniuses are few and far between. Most of them will have honors and prizes showered upon them. But there will be exceptions, numerous exceptions: We dont know how many because they never make it; they fall by the wayside. They believe themselves to be alone in a hostile world, unable to adapt, unable to bring their ideas to fruition. They detest their inferiors and detest even more their superiors. One such genius, a historian with acute observations about the past and the future, was immortalized by Ibsen in his play Hedda Gabler. The Portrait of a Genius tells a similar story. Dramatis personae are the following: Helen Gascoigne, young, beautiful, uncompromising; Leslie Brock, the dean of the faculty who wants to bed her; George Turner, Helens devoted husband, a scientist not burdened with great leaps of imagination; Esmund, the reckless genius who invents an entirely new kind of computer; and finally, Rosalind, girlfriend and admirer of Esmund.
The Passenger Plane Shot Down by the Russians
The novel is set in the Soviet Union. It describes a well known episode in the Cold War when Soviet fighters shot down a Korean passenger plane on the 1st September 1983. The story is based on the official Soviet statements, issued on the 2nd, 3rd and 6th September. Only the third one admitted that their fighters had brought down the plane. Behind this succession of contradictory versions lies a debate. What went on behind the scenes? The main character is Nikolai Taranenko in charge of the Electronics Laboratory of the Soviet Armed Forces. He is brilliant in his job, greatly respected by the authorities. After destroying the plane the Soviet leadership realised that it was a blunder. The KGB arrested Taranenko blaming him for the lack of a device that could have recognised the plane as being a passenger plane. But then Taranenko turns the tables
Getting the Message
The past century has seen developments in communications technology probably unrivalled in any other field of human activity. Significant advances are made every year, and both our work and leisure activities are critically influenced by these developments. Getting the message explores thefascinating history of communications, starting with ancient civilisations, the Greeks and Romans, then leading through the development of the electric telegraph, and up to the present day with email and cellular phones. The technology is explained in a particularly simple and accessible way, andthemes from politics, economics, and society weave in and out of the scientific ideas. The book concludes with a look at the possible future of communications, the new developments to come, and the implications these will have for our everyday lives. Lavishly illustrated, and including manyoriginal illustrations that show just how these new developments were received in their time, the book presents an informative and highly entertaining introduction to the field of communications.
Anatomy of Assassinations
Assassination of prominent people occurred in all countries at all times over the history of mankind. They are not random events in the sense that there is always a motive behind them. In our analysis we shall more or less adhere to the following criteria: (i) The victim must be a public personage, (ii) The assassination must be premeditated, (iii) It must be done by stealth, (iv) There must be a motive and (v) The assassin aims only at the death of the person selected. In Part I we give a chronology of all major assassinations from biblical times onward. The number of assassinations in any particular year may often be seen to bear some strong correlation with the historical events unfolding...
