Customer Reviews

A Little Book of Coincidence (Wooden Books)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been collecting this Walkers series and I have to say was not expecting anything like this little diamond. At face value it is a small guide to the solar system. But in fact my guess is that nothing even remotely like this book has ever appeared in print before. I predict people will look back on A Little Book of Coincidence as a defining moment in the story of man's understanding of what he is, what conscious life is, and where it appears in the universe.

The images are done in the style of old engravings, and indeed, as you enter the world as John Martineau presents it you feel as if you are reading some long lost magical text - each page is rich, precious, extraordinary and challenging. It becomes clear that Earth is much more special than simply being the right distance from the Sun. Martineau shows the Moon, Venus, Mars and Mercury as all manifesting simple relationships in time and space. These have all stayed with me and won't go away.

This is really a book about the ancient vision of the Harmony of the Spheres, and yet it is terrifyingly modern, bold, original and impossible to dismiss (as I keep trying to). It haunts one, initiates the reader and I still can't quite believe it actually exists!

An all time planet earth classic. How Plato or Kepler would have enjoyed this read.

Quite why there isn't more of a storm breaking over this elegant little book I can't work out. Brief, beautiful and to-the-point, it's been my top gift-book of 2004. Good original science wrapped up as magic, I'm still not sure where Martineau is exactly coming from, but there's no arguing with his data (which I have checked). A pity there is no statistical background to the findings he presents, but then this is not the kind of book for that anyway. For what it's worth I think he's probably right (although we won't know for another 100 years) - these kind of patterns may well be a signature of conscious life. I would kind of expect other solar systems with conscious life to also display phi and fibonacci-based relations around their primary 'conscious' planets. We know that liquid water takes an icosahedral structure. Martineau's ideas seem the next logical step. Ahead of its time. Recommended.

I don't know what the previous reviewer was going on about - personally I found the planet-centred pictures fascinating (in particular those involving the small planetoid Chiron which turns out to be highly harmonic/resonant with its neighbours). If I had one criticism of this book it would be that the author does not in fact go into resonance as the likely explanation for many of the coincidences he describes, but hey, since most scientists don't seem to talk about it either (they haven't quite cracked it yet), I can see why he goes for the Harry Potter style instead. This is a great book, leave it by the toilet, read a little every day, and have your brain fundamentally rewired. Why has nobody noticed all this stuff before? Astophysicists, this is your wake-up call!

I found the statements on the ratios of planet diameters and orbits to be well presented and pretty straightforward but the "spirograph" images representing the relative motion of the planets in their orbits and the epicycles, which the author calls "kisses", left me a bit confused. The representation of epicycles on page 7 is clear and makes sense but from there the leap to the sort of creative rendition on page 23 appears to be pure artistry with only the smallest connection to observed reality.

Many comments are simply made with little or no explanation at all, e.g. on p.26, "Mercury also displays a harmonious calendar as its day is 2 of its years, a musical octave". OK. And about 365 earth days is one of its years, which probably isn't an octave. So what? Page after page had comments like this that simply left me wanting a more meaningful discussion.

Many of the "coincidences" presented were very intriguing indeed but I would caution the readers who are awestruck by this book to also read, "Numerology, or, What Pythagoras Wrought", by Dudley, Underwood for an enlightening evaluation of numerical 'coincidences'.

This is a really great little book, a work of art. I like the way John Martineau leaves it to you, the reader, to make up your own mind over what these amazing coincidences mean. The pictures are beautiful. What an incredible place our solar system is. Why dont teachers teach us these things in school??

I very much like the fact that this book isn't trying to state these coincidences are all part of a grander scheme. It lets us pose that question for ourselves.

The Spiro-graphic orbits - especially that of Venus / Earth are incredible. I must say though, a few of these coincidences are a stretch. Adding and subtracting whole numbers from phi allow many of these to occur, and I cannot see how this can be rationalized. Maybe I didn't understand it correctly, or I'm looking to deep into it.

This book is simple, and poses no views. In my opinion, look at it as interesting cosmic relations and planetary art - but don't look into it much further.

Great, Great book. Truly enlightening. This book very clearly explains how the movements of all of the bodies of the solar system have very precise mathematical and geometrical relationships with respect to their orbits, revolutions, conjunctions, size, and more.

very, very interesting from the perspective of ancient cultures' esoteric knowledge of sacred geometry and fascination with astronomy/astrology.

highly recommended to anyone who is interested in the music of the spheres, there is literally music being made by these bodies...these can be expressed by familiar musical terms like octaves, intervals, harmonics and more.

highly recommended!

If your life is in chaos and you wonder what it is all about and are desperate for some harmony and balance then read this book. It clearly shows you that the support system called life is a very ordered affair and chaos is just a temporary transition between ordered states.

This book is small and concise and loaded with clear illustrations. Brilliantly done!!!!

Martineau does a great job introducing us to the "coincidences" that surround Earth, and in fact let us exist. However, he wrongly states, "No modern theory exists to explain the miracle of conscious life nor the cosmic coincidences that surround our planet." This is untrue, Intelligent Design Theory (IDT) does just that. (Martineau even asks "Is this design?" on p. 2.)

For more on IDT see books like "The Creator and the Cosmos" by Hugh Ross who has been documenting the cosmic "coincidences" for 20 years. See also Dembski's "Intelligent Design" & "Signs of Intelligence."

There are other great books in this Wooden Book series: "Sacred Geometry," "Stonehenge" and "Sun, Moon & Earth"

This book is very clever. John Martineau is a genius and my biggest hero. I hope to meet him some day. He understands the universe. I would like him to show me how to become a world famous geometer too!