The Essential David Bohm

Book Description

There are few scientists of the twentieth century whose life's work has created more excitement and controversy than that of physicist David Bohm (1917-1992). Exploring the philosophical implication of both physics and consciousness, Bohm's penchant for questioning scientific and social orthodoxy was the expression of a rare and maverick intelligence.

For Bohm, the world of matter and the experience of consciousness were two aspects of a more fundamental process he called the implicate order. Without a working sensibility of what this implicate order might be, our conceptions of the various threads of Bohm's work--whether in quantum theory or social dialogue remain incomplete. But with an enhanced understanding of such an order, the wholeness of Bohm's work becomes apparent and accessible.

For the first time in a single volume, The Essential David Bohm offers a comprehensive overview of Bohm's original works from a non-technical perspective. Including three chapters of previously unpublished material, each reading has been selected to highlight some aspect of the implicate order process, and to provide an introduction to one of the most provocative thinkers of our time.

Customer Reviews:

Precisely that: Essential........2007-03-09

Edited by Lee Nichol, this book is the quintessential introduction to the genius that was David Bohm, a Nobel Prize winning physicist who nonetheless lost out to Einstein in terms of popularity. The fervent synthesis of science and philosophy during the latter half of his career did not sit well with the scientific community at the time: As such, his most marvelous accomplishments were relegated to the sidelines of scientific inquiry. However, Bohm did succeed in securing a slew of open-minded followers who have carried his theories through the decades in an undercurrent that has been gaining momentum in recent years. In the last decade alone, hundreds of best-selling books by "New Age" authors have cited his works as substantially contributing to their ideas and postulations. After reading a large selection of these books myself, I thought it was time to go straight to the source and this book fit the bill. Nichol has flawlessly and intelligently compiled a series of articles, essays, dialogues, interviews and correspondence penned by Bohm throughout the years into a logical reading sequence where each chapter builds up our understanding for the next.

The first part of the book covers Bohm's views on "Universal Orders". Here, we are presented with a series of chapters elaborating the relative and unsubstantial nature of human perception and its inadequacies in accessing any form of "truth" through scientific inquiry alone. Science (that hinges on quantifiable and testable hypotheses) without philosophy (that hinges on qualitative analyses) inevitably leads to a misleading mechanistic view of reality that has already been shown to be severely "limited" in lieu of quantum physics on one end of the spectrum and Einstein's theory of relativity on the other. Furthermore, certain inexplicable experimental results (such as "non-local" qualities expressed by entangled particles) in Quantum Physics have underscored the inadequacy of modern science and has thus highlighted the urgent "need" for a new and more open-minded dogma of scientific inquiry. It is here that Bohm proposes his landmark theory of the Implicate Order. Using the "ink spot in the glycerine cylinder" analogy and principles of holography as examples, Bohm demonstrates the idea of an infinite and implicit level of true reality (the Implicate and Super-Implicate Order) that gives rise to our universe (the Explicate Order) in a process of enfoldments and "unfoldments" called the "Holomovement". Here, time, space, thought, consciousness, and matter are all elements that unfold from the implicate order, which may also contain in it other "orders" that ultimately do not manifest in our domain of experience. What does manifest however, are certain patterns of "causality" that we have taken for granted as permanent scientific laws when in fact these laws are nothing more than tiny derivative subsets "abstracted" from a larger cornucopia of non-linear relationships that may exist in the super implicate order (which "informs" the implicate order on what and how to manifest into the explicate.) Bohm also puts to rest the notion of separation between "mind" and "matter" in the treatment of a subject he coins as "Soma-Significance". Here, mind is but a subtle process (or has a "significance" as it were) that arises from lower-level interactions of matter (nerves, pulses, cells, glands, etc.), or "soma". This somatic structure, in turn, is a subtle expression of yet another level of matter/soma (chemicals, cellular structures, organic compounds, molecules, etc.) In this way, matter (also soma, structure, content, or manifest) and meaning (also significance, mind, context, or subtle) comprise the various levels of reality that mutually interact with and modify one another ad infinitum, all of which are enfolded in the implicate order.

The second part of the book stresses on the human Ego. Bohm ventures to explain the structure-process of the ego as nothing more than a mechanical process (once again, from a soma-significant standpoint) that deprives us of a wholesome existence by creating a constant state of crisis, conflict and contradiction. At the core of our psychological conditioning is the "I"-"me" dichotomy that seems to establish our sense of "self" (or ego) as a concrete entity separate from the immediate environment that we perceive. Where as our past, memories, experiences, conditioning, and values compose the content of the "I", the "me" is essentially the interactive process of perception of our present surroundings (as in "this [or that] is happening to me"). As long as the ego-content categorizes these present situations according to past criteria, we will always be in a state of conflict and confusion that does not allow us to "understand" the truth of what we perceive. At the heart of the ego process is what Bohm calls the "Pleasure Principle", a mechanical yearning in our brain's cortex to create thoughts and illusions from our memory banks so as to stimulate the thalamus into producing the emotion of pleasure. This reflex distorts that which we perceive and generates "false" emotions based on what we "think" is happening. If these emotions happen to be undesirable, our cortex goes into a tailspin and generates more illusions to appease our distraught thalamus that was misled by the ego-process of the cortex in the first place! This creates a tangled mess of illusions and false knowledge that prevent us from seeing the "mechanicalness" of our own minds. To understand a present situation in its totality (and hence, true knowledge), we ourselves must be whole, a state of true "individuality" that does not separate the perceiver from the act of perception, the "I" from the "me". We must also be attentive of the fact that "thought" and "emotions" are the same thing: there is no thought without emotion and vice versa. This is yet another division we impose that seems to cause us even more confusion. Furthermore, our sense of ego is continually strengthened by thoughts and illusions that result from incessantly reliving our "memory scratches" in order to artificially simulate pleasure that, in fact, should only come from true perception in the "now".

To dismantle our egos and experience true conflict-free individuality, Bohm suggests that we must engage in a process called "suspension". This is a process by which we must seek to become aware of our thoughts, both explicit and implicit (our immediate value judgments), and the emotions that arise in response to them. It is called suspension precisely because we must allow these sensations to physiologically "play out" without acting upon them or thinking even more thoughts to change or subdue them (which would just be more smoke and mirrors by the ego). Engaging in such an unobtrusive mode of awareness of our mental machinations will automatically deprive it of energy and expose the mechanical nature of it all. Only then, in a true act of "free will", would we be able to respond to actual information, where our possible courses of action are not determined by self-deceiving false knowledge (ignorance) but by what is actually true or false. Bohm also proposes that the "insights" we gain from this act of "preprioception" is a "creative" process by which we "catch a glimpse" of the implicate order. The third part of this book carries the aforementioned principles of the ego-process to a larger context of human societies and demonstrates how the internal conflicts in our minds are but a microcosm of the tragic conditions that plague the human race as a whole (warfare, terrorism, etc.). In accordance to soma-significance, if enough of us can attain indivisibility within our psyches, it would serve as a potent impetus to gradually "solve" the divisions and conflicts confronted by the human race. This can be done through the encouragement of collective dialogue and discourse.

There are two common themes running throughout the course of Bohm's works: The methodical limitations of science as it currently stands (i.e. in the chronic need for experimental results or "pay-offs") and the undivided wholeness of the universe. As such, there is no differentiation of the "I" from the "me", "mind" from "matter", "effect" from "cause", "soma" from "significance", "time" from "space", "past" from "future", "meaning" from "intention", "perceiver" from "perception", and definitely no "relative experience" from "concrete reality". Everything is relative to everything else and all are enfolded in the implicate and super-implicate orders. Furthermore, the implicate order may be considered as the "ultimate" soma and the super-implicate order, the "ultimate" significance. That could possibly imply a self aware and intelligent universe: what many of us call "God" perhaps? The content of this book is beyond review in my opinion. It is like trying to review Shakespeare, whose works have become the backbone of English literature: Any attempt at constructive criticism on my part would be ill-developed or naïve at best. However, what I can review is Lee Nichol's style of compilation, which is superbly executed in its own right and requires no more discussion. What becomes clear upon reading this masterpiece, are the hordes of new age authors that have been eager to "borrow" only relevant portions of Bohm's theories to corroborate and validate their own musings. This has led to much distortion and misrepresentation of Bohm's ideas. If you want to intimately understand David Bohm's awesome theoretical achievements, this would be "the essential" starting point.

The Essential David Bohm.......2007-02-07

This book is a must for any enquiring mind that delights in thinking outside the box. I first found David Bohn when he was in discussion with Krishnmurti on DVD, amassing stuff. Not only have I found his work and writings of tremendous interest but they have also changed my life. I would suggest those not accustomed to quantum dynamics or who still feel a need for "God" in the traditional sense, to start with Anthony De Mello's Book :"Awareness" first as Bohm can be a little heavy for those not used to it.

Meaning in a subjective universe.......2003-11-01

I've read several books by and about physicist David Bohm including "Wholeness and the Implicate Order", but it wasn't until I read "The Essential David Bohm" that I began to comprehend Bohm's philosophy.

If I were to attempt a one-line summary of his philosophy it would be that nature is an undivided whole. This is not a new idea as it has its roots in monistic traditions, but it has always been difficult for me to understand just how we, as individual observers, fit into the wholenss of the universe. How is it, as Einstein himself wondered, that we are able to make the universe comprehensible by doing objective science if we are a part of what we are studying? And if matter and energy scurry around in a cold, purposeless fashion as most modern orthodox physicists proclaim, why do we, as one of the most complex inhabitants of this universe, seem to aspire to creativity and purpose?

The answer according to David Bohm, is that the universe is organized at all levels of complexity according to "meaning", and this includes life itself. If "meaning" is enfolded within all matter and energy, in what Bohm calls the implicate order, then there is no separation of mind and matter. Nor, can objectivity and subjectivity be discrete. If the entire universe is organized according to meaning then the universe is contextual and therefore subjective at all levels. Objectivity becomes a false endeavor.

Yet, it is undeniable that "objective" science has taken us a long way in the twentieth century, from an understanding of the workings of the atom to the marvels of DNA. There is a limit to this kind of approach, however. There is a growing realization in many scientific disciplines that the ultimate building blocks of nature are unattainable. The philosophy of reductionism has by definition a major flaw. The part can never abstract the whole. Therefore, a new holistic aproach must be adapted in which "meaning" is considerd at all levels of complexity.

How is it possible for us to observe nature if all is subjective? Bohm explanation is that "meaning" is self-referential allowing consciousness to observe itself. And contrary to what most of us intuitively believe, the process of observation is not passive. Similar to the scientific method, experimentation between our brain and the environment are constantly taking place in a process of active "attunement".

Such attunement is a skill that requires practive. For example, visual observation requires a subtle unconscious movement of the eyeball itself. When subjects are placed in sensory depravation where practice of these skills cease, perception can completely break down. Taking a Kantian viewpoint, Bohm says that observation allows us only an abstraction of the universe filtered through our senses. We are not creating reality through this continual interplay between our nervous systems and nature. We are only creating an "inner show" which allows us a subjective insight into the universe. Therefore, an abstract comprehension of nature is possible due to the constant interplay between nature and ourselves, and because the universe is subjective and contextual.

The idea of a contextual universe is not such a radical step for two reasons: First, Niels Bohr himself made the position and momentum of particles context dependent by bringing in the measuring device (the observer) as the determining factor for the outcome of the experiment. An "observation" is required in quantum experiments to make the particle determinate. And second, Bohr realized that there could be no division between the classical and quantum worlds. In fact, in his later years Bohr proclaimed: "There is no quantum world." And yet, there seems to be a dichotomy. Classical physics is supposed to be causal, objective, and deterministic, while quantum physics is non-local, acausal, and indeterministic.

For example, two similar processes exemplify one of the most mysterious aspects of quantum theory: The acausal jump of the electron from one orbit to another around the nucleus of an atom, and the acausal process of nuclear decay. Both processes are indeterministic in that there is no cause for an individual electron to make a jump, nor an unstable atom to decay. Only a statistical average can be determined. But if, as Bohm claims, the universe is context driven then "meaning" can be the unifying factor of the quantum and classical worlds. For if we realize that the original source of all cause and effect is "meaning", then both classical and quantum physics would be contextual, and therefore no division would exist.

One of David Bohm's colleagues once said of Bohm's ideas: Some are brilliant, many are obscure, and some are just plain nonsense." In reading this book I discovered much of the brilliance as well as some of the obscurity of David Bohm. And though I found his description of physic's famous double-slit experiment, as well as his "pilot-wave" idea unsatisfying, I would not want to proclaim it "nonsense". This book was truly mind-expanding and I highly recommend it for the contemplative individual.

This book review by David Kreiter, author of "Quantum Reality: A New Philosophical Perspective."

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The Essential David Bohm
LEE NICHOL
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUA54O

Book Description

Homer's famous epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, tell of the Trojan War fought by the Greeks and the Trojans, then the long journey undertaken by Ulysses to try to get back to his island of Ithaca, where Penelope patiently awaited. This book sets off to explore that fascinating universe, untangling the myths, the famous characters, and their trials and tribulations. Based on the actual text written by Homer, it recounts the adventures of Achilles and Ulysses—a journey described in beautiful images and illustrations, an iconography that has influenced culture throughout the ages and across the continents.

The Compact Homer: Iliad and Odyssey (Barron's Educational Series)

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The Compact Homer: Iliad and Odyssey (Barron's Educational Series)

Manufacturer: Barron's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000FNCDJ8

Product Description

From the Barron's Educational Series, this "Compact Homer" is abridged. Several sections of each book are omitted but these omitted sections are summarized by Mildred E. Marcett, the author of the introduction. There is a very nice pronouncing index that includes names of characters and places.

Where Troy Once Stood: The Mystery of Homer's Iliad & Odyssey Revealed

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Wilkens Really Baked My Noodle
anyone with an IQ at all should find this interesting
When you are just interested in the theory itself.
flag fen
Peter Fletcher's Review of Where Troy Once Stood

Where Troy Once Stood: The Mystery of Homer's Iliad & Odyssey Revealed
Iman Wilkens
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

Wilkens Really Baked My Noodle.......2007-04-19

We had just made an international move and were waiting in our new house for our delayed shipping container to arrive with our library. I was quite at loose ends without anything to read when this book arrived in the mail, sent by a friend who knew I was without books. I can tell you that, after reading the cover, if my library had been there, I would never have read it. "Stuff and nonsense!" I snorted! Who was this guy to suggest that Troy was not close to Greece, that all the scholars were wrong?

Well, it's really a good thing I didn't have anything else to read! So many questions answered!

Most people are not aware that not one of forty characteristics of the City of Troy and the Trojan War plain fit the Mediterranean setting. What is astonishing is that the author of the Odyssey does give ALL the information needed to exactly place where Troy Once Stood! For example:

* The Achaeans built 1186 ships for their attack on Troy, they could have travelled the short distance overland far quicker and cheaper if Troy really had been in the Turkish setting.

* Odysseus claimed to have got home by travelling as a passenger on a ship going from Crete to Sidon (present day Saïda in Lebanon), but that is the opposite direction he needed to go in the Mediterranean setting.

* Agamemnon tells us it took him a full month to sail from his kingdom Argos to Ithaca, we know the trip takes less than 24 hours in the Mediterranean setting.

* The mythical location for Troy in Turkey is far too small to accommodate the invading army of about 100,000 men and the long pursuits in horse-drawn chariots.

* The extensively travelled Greek geographer Strabo who lived 2000 years ago (1200 years after the Trojan War) believed that some of the ports of call in the Odyssey should be found in the Atlantic because of the mention of tides that do not really exist in the Mediterranean.

Well, what really baked my noodle was the part about the rivers. Language and how it morphs over time is a particular interest of mine and Wilkens showed that he knew his stuff. The plains near Cambridge and the Gog Magog Hills is a place where more than 12 rivers mentioned in the Iliad can still be recognised by name even today.

Iman Wilkens is not the only one who has suspected that there was something fishy about locating Troy in Turkey. The modern day scholar Professor Sir Moses Finley, emeritus of Ancient History at the University of Cambridge (Fellow of British Academy) after years of study and writing countless renowned books on Greek history, also opined that the weight of evidence made it clear that Troy and the Trojan War did not occur in Greece and Turkey, but some where else. Sir Moses said...

"There has come to be an abundance of empirical evidence that the world Homer wrote about did exist.

"The opinions of later Greeks and 19th Century scholars are irrelevant. We are confronted with this paradox that the more we know, the worse off we are. Homer's Trojan War must be evicted from the history of the Greek Bronze Age..."

In an even older work "Troje lag in Engeland: Odysseus landde in Zeeland" (translated: Troy lay in the United Kingdom: Odysseus landed in the Netherlands) Ernst Gideon followed the work of the 18th and 19th century Belgium authors De Grave and Cailleux, who took pains to show that Troy was located in England and that the Odyssey took place in the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel.

Like Iman Wilkens, Ernst Gideon realized that the ocean Homer wrote about is wide, wild and dangerous, never smooth and sunny, the color was grey and never blue, and such an ocean could not have been the Mediterranean sea.

In short, the weight of the EVIDENCE makes it quite clear that Troy and the Trojan War did not occur in Greece and Turkey (as we know it today), but some where else.

It also raises many unanswered questions that Wilkens does not deal with. For example, we know that the land we now call "Egypt" was never called by that name until the time of the Greeks. It is very possible that a far more ancient Egypt, located elsewhere, was the legendary home of the great mysteries and "spiritual knowledge" referred to in myths and legend. And if that is the case, it turns philosophy on it's head.

The fad for all things "Egyptian" has been with us for a very long time. The fact is, the Egyptian civilization was static and limited. What's more, it caved in on itself, and never managed to produce any significant work of benefit for humanity, as Otto Neugebauer showed conclusively in his "The Exact Sciences in Antiquity".

The open-minded thinker ought to really consider the purported mysteries of Egypt in terms of the fact that they were so ignorant that they devoted a huge amount of energy to their "cult of the dead." The whole Egyptian shtick is focused around preserving dead flesh for future or otherworldly reanimation. The very fact that there are so many of these dead bodies for Egyptologists to dig up is the clearest evidence that the Egyptian beliefs were nonsense.

The whole issue of the excitement over Egyptian civilization is the belief that they had some mysterious powers because they built the pyramids and we can't. And has it never occurred to anybody that the existence of the pyramids in conjunction with the worship of an elite group of human beings, while everybody else was wearing loincloths and sweating in the hot sun, might suggest a relationship between the two? The fact is, the Egyptian civilization seems to have been the chief example of a vast chasm between the haves and the have-nots, and they managed to do it longer than anybody else.

In a very real sense, finding that the original Egypt was in France restores to Western Civilization its true heritage, displacing the unnatural Fascist, Asiatic monotheism brought to us courtesy of Judaism.

Iman Wilkens discusses the Celts and their culture as well. We are taught almost nothing about the Celts in school, though they seem to be considered as the ancestors of most Europeans, thus also Americans. The question we need to be asking is: Why is it that the religion and culture of the Mesopotamian region dominates our lives and our culture when it is, in effect, "foreign"?

Celtic vernacular literature, including myths, stories and poems, in its written form, dates mainly from the Middle Ages. It is based on oral transmission that goes far beyond the Christian Era. It is very difficult to get a clear picture of the pre-Christian Celts from the transmitted texts, not only because of the typical mixture of myth and reality, and the lapse of time, but also because the Roman empire sought to stamp it out starting with Caesar and continuing with the Roman church under the influence of Christianity, daughter of Judaism.

However, studying what is available closely, one gets the impression of a dynamic, somewhat undisciplined people. The Celts were proud, imaginative, artistic, lovers of freedom and adventure, eloquence, poetry, and arts. You can always discern the Celtic influence by the great artistic talents of these peoples.

The Celts were VERY suspicious of any kind of centralized "authority," and this is, in the end, what brought about their downfall. They could not stand against the hierarchical war machine of the Roman empire. In a sense, you could almost say that this is how Hitler nearly conquered Europe, most especially France. Gauls take the principles of liberty and equality VERY seriously - right down to the common man on the street who in no way considers himself inferior to the Prime Minister.

One of the principal historians of the Roman era, Julius Caesar, tells us that the Celts were ruled by the Druids. The druids "held all knowledge." The Druids were charged with ALL intellectual activities, and were not restricted to religion, per se, which suggests to us that "religion" and "knowledge" in a more or less scientific approach, were considered essential to one another - symbiotic.

It is later writers who began to vilify the Celts by accusing them of the usual things that people get accused of when someone wants to demonize them: human sacrifice, homosexuality, and so on. Most of that nonsense goes back to Posidonius, who has been quoted as an "authority" by every other "authority" on the Celts since. Unfortunately, when one checks Posidonius, one finds that he really didn't have a clue and was probably making stuff up to fulfill an agenda.

The lack of written texts by the Celts has been the greatest problem for historians and students of the Celts. A lot of ideas are "supposed" or ancient sources with agendas have been relied on, and some of them even propose that there was a "taboo" by the Celts on putting things into writing.

Iman Wilkens idea of why the Celts didn't write things down is one of the flaws of the book. He suggests that this was how the Druids kept their power.

But, if we look at what Caesar said was that the reason for the ban on writing, we find that it was really quite logical. The Druids were concerned that their pupils should not neglect the training of their memories, i.e. the Frontal Cortex, by relying on written texts.

It is worth noting that, in the nineteenth century, it was observed that the illiterate Yugoslav bards, who were able to recite interminable poems, actually lost their ability to memorize once they had learned to rely on reading and writing.

So, it seems that the Druids were actually concerned more about the accurate transmission of their knowledge than "holding power."

Although the Druids prohibited certain things from being written down, it's clear that they DID write. Celtic writings in Ogamic script have been found on many ancient stones. Caesar tells us that the Celts were using the Greek alphabet when the Romans arrived in Gaul in the first century BC.

The destruction of Celtic culture was so complete that we know very little about their religion. We do know that they celebrated their "rites" in forests and by lakes without erecting any covered temples or statues of divinities. Tacitus tells us:

"They do not think it in keeping with the divine majesty to confine gods within walls, or to portray them in the likeness of any human countenance. Their holy places are woods and groves and they apply the names of deities to that hidden presence which is seen only by the eyes of reverence."

Plato had doubts about the Greek origins of Homer's work because not only do the physical descriptions in his poems not correspond to the Greek world, but also the Homeric philosophy is very different from the mainstream Greek philosophy we know about today.

According to Homer, the philosophy of the ancient world was that there was a third element that linked opposing elements. Between the body and the soul, there is the spirit. Between life and death there is the transformation that is possible to the individual, between father and mother there is the child who takes the characteristics of both father and mother, and between good and evil there is the SPECIFIC SITUATION that determines which is which and what ought to be done.

In other words, there are three simultaneous determinants in any situation that make it impossible to say that any list of things is "good" or "evil" intrinsically, and that the true determinant is the situation.

In any event, the symbol of this philosophy is the triskele, representing three waves joined together.

The simultaneous existence of the third element does not mean that the notion of "good" and "evil" did not exist or was not reflected in the Celtic law. There is no way to make "black or white" laws that must be followed by rote. A people must have wisdom to discern each situation and apply justice, not blindly, but with eyes wide open to the realities of the world and the situation. What was clear was that it was understood that nothing could be "cut and dried" in terms of law, that each situation was unique and the circumstances had to be carefully weighed.

Aristotle considered Gaul to be the "teacher" of Greece and the Druids to be the "inventors of philosophy." The Greeks also considered the Druids to be the world's greatest scholars, and whose mathematical knowledge was the source of Pythagoras` information.

What we can discern from Wilken's work is that there was an ancient and noble civilization associated with the Megaliths that no longer exists and even its high knowledge and nuanced philosophy has been forgotten - except for the Iliad and Odyssey.

It is a fact that the Earth is literally blanketed with megaliths from some ancient civilization. Tens of thousands of them! There are variations in placement and style, but the thing they all have in common is their incredible size and their undeniable antiquity. It is now understood by the experts that the megalithic structures demanded complex architectural planning, and they propose that it was the labor of tens of thousands of men working for centuries.

No one has ever made a systematic count of the megaliths, but the estimate goes beyond 50,000. It is also admitted that this figure represents only a fraction, since many have been destroyed not only by the forces of nature, but also by the wanton destruction of man.

Even though there are megalithic monuments in locations around the world, there is nothing anywhere else like there is in Europe. The megaliths of Europe form an "enormous blanket of stone." Great mounds of green turf or gleaming white quartz pebbles formerly covered many of them. The megalithic mania of ancient Europe is:

"Unparalleled indeed in human history. For there has never been anything like this rage, almost mania, for megalith building, except perhaps during the centuries after AD 1000 when much the same part of Europe was covered with what a monk of the time called a `white mantle of churches.' [...]

"The megaliths, then, were raised by some of the earliest Europeans. The reason that this simple fact took so long to be accepted was the peculiar inferiority complex which western Europeans had about their past. Their religion, their laws, their cultural heritage, their very numerals, all come from the East. The inhabitants, before civilisation came flooding in from the Mediterranean, were illiterate; they kept no records, they built no cities. It was easy to assume that they were simply bands of howling half-naked savages who painted their bodies, put bear-grease on their hair and ate their cousins." (Reader's Digest, The World's Last Mysteries, 1977.)

The interesting thing about the megalith builders is that the peoples who were able to perform these utterly amazing feats of engineering are still, in most circles, considered to be barbarians because they did not build cities, engage in agriculture, develop the wheel, or writing. Yet, they did something that clearly cannot be, and was not, done by "civilized" peoples who did all of those "civilized" things. They had some sort of "power" that we cannot replicate and do not understand.

What is also found in the same areas are many sculptures of female goddesses found in the most ancient archaeological levels.

According to the experts, the discernible idea of the religion of the goddess is that of an infinite bounty of the Great Mother. It is proposed that such peoples didn't engage in agriculture because the idea of "owning land" may have been abhorrent to them. The idea of "forcing" the earth to yield, rather than accepting the natural abundance the Goddess provided was simply not a part of their philosophy. Their Goddess was a Star Being, and she was worshipped in outdoor Temples that were laid out along Celestial Archetypes.

Iman Wilkens restores to us a fragment of True European History and perhaps it is time for us to turn our attention to trying to learn more about it in the proper context. After all, Judao-Christianity has brought the world to the verge of total destruction in less than 2000 years. The Celtic cultures existed for many, many thousands of years, accomplishing great feats of engineering and producing a culture that was pre-eminent throughout the world until they were destroyed by the monotheistic infection - due mainly to the fact that they did not accept a single, monolithic authority.

Iman Wilkens book is filled with rich details and piles of supporting evidence that includes ancient historic writings, accurate geographic and topographic description matching, detailed maps, countless archaeological finds, historic place name matching, cultural and linguistic evidence.

This book is a MUST read for everyone, most particularly people of European and Mediterranean heritage.

anyone with an IQ at all should find this interesting.......2005-12-20

he's glib, but he's thought about this problem of Homer and the Illiad for a long time. sometimes a great deal of thinking can equal a brilliant flash of insight. i think that you'll have to have at least a small background in linguistics... i can't see the average joe understanding Grimm's Law at first sight... and average joe doesn't give something like this a second reading.

any serious scholar reads with a critical eye. there's lots to think about in this account of the possibility that the "Homer" word event we know as "illiad" was an oral event translated for the mediterranian pilgrims.

besides, dutch people rock.

When you are just interested in the theory itself........2005-08-16

Wilkens theory is challenging, in such a way that the first editions have become costly collectors items. When you consider these too expensive you can try to borrow a copy from a library [...] It is time consuming, by example, my personal idea, the geology of the supposed battle field can also suggest another landing site of the fleet, a peninsular on which is nowadays Downham Market?
All this attention can make the first editions even more sought collectors items. [...]

flag fen.......2005-05-28

i very much enjoyed this book as "everything you thought you knew about_________ is wrong" type. i have one question however. could the archaeological site "flag fen" near Petersbourogh, england be the remains of the fortifications the achaeans built to protect their fleet? flag fen ,i believe, has been described as being built of two or three million logs. it seems to me such a work sounds more like a military structure than merely a homesite for marsh-dwellers. remember, "The wash" is likely to have been greatly filled in by sediments over the eons.

Peter Fletcher's Review of Where Troy Once Stood.......2005-03-07

This book does not stand up to interrogation. Iman Wilkens makes just too many errors for his hypothesis to be credible.

Once I was captivated by his writings and travelling thousands of miles and investing hundreds of hours to support him by provide independent validation.

I now know that this book is founded on false arguments.

Anyone interested in my findings is welcome to contact me.

Kind regards

Peter Fletcher

peter@fletchermanagement.co.uk

Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy (Unabridged)

Average customer rating:

Good story, poor reading
this book was bad
I didn't like it

Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy (Unabridged)
Padraic Colum
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B00006ISHN

Customer Reviews:

Good story, poor reading.......2006-01-24

I picked up the book on CD hoping to find if it was something that would interest my kids. I am a fan of Homer and hoped to encourage my kids to enjoy his work as well. Listening to it myself, I did not enjoy listening to the reader. His attempts to read with emotion seemed very labored at times and forced. I loved the way the story is told but not this recording. It is a valuable story that I hope more will discover in the printed form perhaps.

this book was bad.......2004-11-20

This book goes into the hearts and minds of the ancient Greeks led by Odysseus and Achilles, who are guided by their gods. The Trojan War is brewing for the Greeks and thoughts of slaughtering their enemy, The Trojans are very strong. Can the Trojans survive? Will they all live to tell the tale of the Trojan War or will they all be killed? On both sides, it's life or death on their minds. Have you ever heard of the Trojan horse and the victory for Odysseus? This book includes the story of Odysseus and why his son set out to find his father. The journey of the ancient Greeks to the Trojan homeland is included. Will they return or will they lie in the blood stained desert of the Trojan homeland? The book also includes Odysseusis treacherous journey home past a six headed serpent and right across an evil king's door step. Will he survive?
Personally I didn't like the book at all. The way it was written it didn't really pull the reader in very well and the battle sequences are O.K. but not the best. Personally I don't really enjoy some types of myths and legends. I think if you are just about to branch out and read Greek myths you shouldn't read this book first because it really turns you off to Greek myths in general, so don't think all Greek myth's are like this.

I didn't like it .......2004-11-20

Average customer rating:

Wonderfully retold story of Odysseus
Homer for Children Today!
The Children's Homer
A classic brought to life even for children
Most influential book of my childhood

The Children's Homer (Unabridged)
Padraic Colum
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
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ASIN: B0002AYYSM

Product Description

Padraic Colums classic retelling combines the immortal stories from Homers Iliad and Odyssey into one glorious saga of heroism and magical adventure. Come voyage to ancient Greece with Achilles who, guided by the gods, seeks vengeance on the Trojans. And follow Odysseus on his perilous journeythrough the land of the Cyclopes, past Circe the Enchantress, the terrible Charybdis, and the six-headed serpent Scylla.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderfully retold story of Odysseus.......2007-05-10

I read this book to my 7 year old, homeschooled daughter. Her children's choir is singing the story of Odysseus and this book brought the songs to life for her. She never wanted me to put it down. The language is sophisticated but she could follow the story and was entranced by it.

Homer for Children Today!.......2007-03-27

Ho hum--I will never get my 5th grader to read this tome--however moving the story line and imagery. It is too thick to easily add to a history block of Ancient Civilizations around the world. The language is too dated. The narrations dwarfs the action. The standard, for good youth literature today, requires writers to SHOW the meaning and NOT TELL IT.
Thankfully, author Geraldine McCaughrean wrote a wonderfully telling of GILGAMESH, so I turned around and ordered her retelling of Homer's THE ILLIAD and THE ODYSSEY which is titled, ODYSSEUS.

Does anyone want my copy of Padric's version. The cover art is great.

The Children's Homer.......2007-03-22

As a homeschooled child, I read this book when I was eight and thoroughly enjoyed it; now, at fifteen, I have just finished reading the original Iliad and Odyssey for the second time. Reading them made me realize how much The Children's Homer helped me, both in exposing me to the epics and giving me a basic overview of the story. My only complaint was that it lacked the strength and beauty of the original, but that is understandable.
I would also recommend The Greek Way (Edith Hamilton) as an excellent look into ancient Greek philosophy and philosophers. I read this in the same course as The Children's Homer and it has become my favorite history book-children will enjoy it, but parents had best let them read it to themselves; it is unfair for parents to monopolize children's books.
Marion Doak, student

A classic brought to life even for children.......2007-02-27

Three cheers: for Padraic Colum, who was a natural storyteller and interpreter of the ancient myths; for Dover Publications, who offers this reprint and other classics dirt cheap (Dover editions are generally five bucks or less); and for the parent who loves these stories and can read them intelligently to young children.

Parents: there are many, many things in these kinds of stories that will not be self-evident to children if they are not explained: language, relationships, cause and effect, the Greek pantheon, etc. You must, as appropriate, stop and talk things over with your child. It will be a better reading experience for the both of you, and it will do wonders for your child.

My son, knowing that Odysseus was finally going to confront the wooers of this wife Penelope, was besides himself with excitement as the tension mounted. He did not mind at all the side diversions into other stories--by this time he understands that the ancient Greeks told stories within stories within stories (they didn't have TV! or the Internet!). His patience paid off, and Colum's description of the final scene was most satisfying. This, together with Colum's telling of the legend of the Golden Fleece, Jason, and the Argonauts (available in another Dover edition--see my Amazon review), are highly recommended as a superb introduction to these classic tales.

Most influential book of my childhood.......2007-01-29

As a kid, I loved this book.

As a young adult, I've gone to college and become a Classics major. Now I'm reading the Aeneid in Latin, and I've really begun to appreciate what a wonderful book this is!

I have no way of judging this book's suitability for "kids in general." For me, though, this book instilled a love of mythology and history that has stayed with me through my life so far. I strongly suggest it!

Average customer rating:

The Iliad & The Odyssey (Unabridged)
Homer
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000776JJW

Average customer rating:

Fascinating Revisionist View of the Trojan War and the Odyssey

Where Troy Once Stood: The Mystery of Homer's Iliad & Odyssey Revealed

Manufacturer: Gopher Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 9051792085

Product Description

The false assumption that the Trojan War was waged near Hissarlik in Asia Minor dates back to the 8th century BC when the first Greeks settled on Turkeys west coast. They did not know that the Trojans who once lived in that area were migrants, as the collective memory of this fact was lost during the Dark Ages. From 1180 to 1100 B.C., Hissarlik was indeed inhabited by a non-local people, the survivors of the Trojan War in England. The great migrations of the 2nd millennium B.C. brought also Troys enemies, the Achaeans from west Europe to the Mediterranean. With the Achaeans came their gods and oral tradition including the Iliad and Odyssey, which were written down in Greek around 750 B.C. Meanwhile, the newcomers had renamed towns, rivers and mountains after familiar places in their former homelands. The transfer of place-names naturally led to the belief that the events described in the epics took place in Greece and the Mediterranean and that the Achaeans were Greeks. In this way, the origin of the Trojans and Achaeans was forgotten while the reality behind the Iliad and the Odyssey was lost as well. The purpose of this book is to tell that lost story, the story behind Homers epics.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating Revisionist View of the Trojan War and the Odyssey.......2006-11-10

I first came cross a reference to this book in Clive Cussler's `Trojan Odyssey.' At first, I presumed it to be a faux work created by Mr. Cussler, but after a brief search online, I was surprised to find the book does, in fact, exist.

It is Mr. Wilken's contention that neither the Trojan War nor the Odyssey is Greek in origin. Instead, they are events that - wrapped in a somewhat thick coating of legend and allegory - are Celtic tales related to northwest Europe. He states that Homer - in all likelihood an actual person - did not create these two stories out of whole cloth, but rather collected and documented oral histories that were many centuries older. These oral histories were borne to the eastern Mediterranean by a group called the "Sea people' by Mr. Wilkens who were a Celtic subgroup driven out of Europe in a multi-generation Diaspora after their defeat in a war over tin mines in England.

Sound outlandish? It shouldn't because this was the Bronze Age, and bronze is made by alloying copper and tin. And where was the greatest concentration of tin in Europe: England. Other than location, this is the point at which Mr. Wilkens begins his deviation from the Iliad. He believes that the so-called Trojan War was not over Paris running off with Helen, but a banding together of European mainland tribes to destroy the England-based tin cartel. This realpolitik approach does appear more credible than an account of gods helping lovers be together and then choosing sides in a decade long war.

What proof does Mr. Wilkens offer to support his views. It seems that for many hundreds of years there have been questions about the geography in the Izmir area not being similar to the story. The same goes for the weather - described as consistently cool and wet - and the sea - described as having extreme tidal surges. The author catalogues the discrepancies and then presents his theory that the war took place in the Cambridgeshire area of England.

With the Odyssey, Mr. Wilkens is similarly incisive on debunking the idea that 10 years of sailing could occur in the Mediterranean. Again, his view is that the site for the story is the Atlantic ocean as far west as the new world back through the English Channel to the now-Dutch coast. There is, however, a bit of a disclaimer. Mr. Wilken's posits that the story is heavily-allegorical; so much so that I came away with the impression that he was less certain of the volume of truth in the story as compared with the story of the war.

He also strives to support his theories with linguistic comparisons between the Homeric place- and tribal-names and European words. Not being a linguist, I cannot comment on the veracity of his scholarship. Truth be told, I cannot comment on the accuracy of his historic or geographic contentions either. It does seem, however, that the circumstantial evidence is bountiful. The Arthurian legends came to us in the similar manner of oral histories being written down centuries later. And, one only has to briefly come in contact with the Grail legends and their allegorical content to note that what Mr. Wilkens offers is worthy of consideration.

One minor negative note is that it seems to me that English is not the author's first tongue. At times the phrasing is a bit stilted which tends to disrupt the flow of the narrative. A minor point to be sure.

In conclusion, if you are interested in the Trojan War and the Odyssey and found Michael's Wood's `In Search of Troy' at all fascinating, reading this book is a worthwhile proposition.

Oh yes, one more thing: obtaining a copy is a bit of an odyssey in itself. Use an Internet search engine and you will find it. I'm not going to shill for the publisher, so you will have to go for it alone.

Average customer rating:

The tale of Troy, retold in English
Aubrey Stewart
Manufacturer: MacMillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0008D07X4

Average customer rating:

Where Troy Once Stood: The Mystery of Homer's Iliad & Odyssey Revealed
Iman Wilkens
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OT0S0O

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