Experimental Blog #10

Comments on 2 books:
"Ages in Chaos - James Hutton and the Discovery of Deep Time" by Stephen Baxter and
"The Man Who Found Time - James Hutton and the Discovery of the Earth's Antiquity" by Jack Repcheck

Recently I became more aware that I had a serious gap in my education in the science and history of geology. I could not decide which of the above 2 books to read, so I decided it would be better to read the longer one first. Of course, James Hutton was never called a scientist, since all such people were called Natural Philosophers back then.
Stephen Baxter, author of the longer book above, is British, and is described as primarily a writer of science fiction. His book seems to include more discussion of English politics and European philosophy, and he refers to such people as Rene Descartes, Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and even Karl Marx. He also mentions the beheading of the famous scientist, or Natural Philosopher, Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, during the "Terror" of the French Revolution.
The shorter book is by an American, Jack Repcheck. Both books are very interesting, well written, and complement each other very well. Repcheck goes back as far as ancient Rome, and writes about the religious chronologies of Bishop Eusebius, Flavius Josephus, Julius Africanus, and others too, even in Medieval times. Of course, both authors write about the Bible, and the well known religious chronology of James Ussher; who was the established authority at the end of the 18th century, when James Hutton lived.
Repcheck also writes more and very interestingly about the "Scottish Enlightenment," and those famous people associated with it, such as; David Hume, Adam Smith, and others less famous. He also writes very descriptively about the city of Edinburgh and the environments of Scotland and England.


And another book, "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" - The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss

I counted 22 recomendations, or positive comments, on the cover, or inside this book. I learned{I hope}many much needed lessons, not only about all kinds of punctuation marks, but about the proper, or improper, use of some words and other points of grammar. For one thing, it seems I use too many commas, but it was very interesting to find out what radically different opinions some famous authors, other writers, and editors have about punctuation.
Thanks to this book, I will make more effort to use punctuation correctly; so as to write more clearly and accurately.