Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Vey Ingenious Book, Indeed...., February 7, 2006
It is rarely that one comes across a unique book such as this, which stands out as being truly original and in a class of its own for many reasons. It is about a topic that is extremely intriguing to say the least, one which will confound the cleverness of the minds of all those who really think: Kenneth Lipton addresses the mystery of mankind's phenomenal quantum "spurt" of technological development in the 20th century, with a particular emphasis on nuclear technology: electricity, automobiles, aircraft, the Space Age, the Computer Age, medicine.... Now these are things which "normal everyday" Western and other citizens just don't give a second thought about and take for granted in the most unconcious of ways, and yet when we bring scrutiny to bear on this issue, it turns out to be the most mysterious aspect of man's history staring us squarely in the face, defying ALL so-called conventional scholarly explaination. For instance, if one studies civilisation from the ancient Greek time of Alexander the Great (323 B.C) to 1750 A.D - the time of the reign of British monarch George II - one will see that the world and humanity had changed very little technologically speaking: except for the development of clockwork, gunpowder, the printing press and the telescope - all in the 2-3 centuries prior to George's reign, technological abilities had remained absolutely the same over the vast expanse of these two millenia. (Coal had just begun to be used on a large scale around 1700). For instance, a British silver penny or any coin from 1750 compared almost equally in the qualitative sense to a silver Drachma from Alexander's time. British and European sailing vessels compared as equally with ancient Greek vessels and galleys. So did agricultural techniques, pottery, weaving and other arts and articles of life and living. Swords, daggers, bows and arrows, pikes and spears (and shields and armour) were the principal weapons employed over this 2000 year period.
Now, we have been seeing a steady rise in technological advancement since the latter half of the eighteenth century, but the actual development as we know it, all occured during the last century. Now what occasioned this remarkable "spurt" in the 20th century A.D? And why didn't it take place at any other time in history, in the 5th century A.D - or the 1st century B.C - instead? Kenneth is a plumber by profession, and his earthy and ordinary language make his approach and discourse even more remarkable and refreshing. He follows the classic "paleo-civilisations" theme by thinking that mankind had attained technological heights before, and then brought about his ruin each time by misusing these abilities. He quotes the Sodom and Gomorrah story from the Bible, and the Indian holy epic the Mahabharat to substantiate his case. Then he goes on to present evidence for ancient Uranium mines in the US. His theory is that although the previous technological epochs of man are now shrouded in myth and scripture, mankind retained some kind of "genetic memory" of those past achievements, which somehow got reactivated in the 20th century, resulting in the amazing leap from just horse-and-cart in 1900 to supersonic aircraft, Cadillacs and atom bombs by the mid nineteen-forties, and more later on. This is an ingenious conclusion, and although I don't agree with it for various other theoretical reasons, I praise the nature of his insight. It is on the right track indeed. Kenneth thinks that mankind is once again on the brink of technological ruin and reversal, his technological abilities having brought on a Dark Age, instead of the proper use of their immense potential. Once again I agree, but I believe our "end" this time around won't exactly be because of "nuclear" reasons alone... This book is a must to read, and will stimulate immensely the expansion of the mental horizons of the reader.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Makes you rethink all you've been programmed to believe, May 11, 2002
Mr. Lipton did a wonderful job in writing this book. He is a plumber and thus, he has a layman's way of writing which is much better than alot of "professional authors" in my opinion. Plus, he has a refreshing outlook on archeology having found many things in his profession. Mr. Lipton presents a very good case, in that, he produces quite a large amount of evidence which supports his hypothesis. I hope he writes another book as I'll be the first to buy it. He's a great writer and this book is a must read.
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