History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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Scientific, religious, and political revolution
Copernicus Ubermensch
Good, but Banville will do better in later novels
Early Banville
Could Life Really Have Been So Difficult?

Doctor Copernicus
John Banville
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Irish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0330372343

Book Description

When Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) proved that the earth was not the center of the universe, man's conception of his cosmos and his God broke down. That shattering situation, with the great astronomer at its hub, and the toll it took on him, his church, and his world, is what John Banville skillfully reveals in this novel.

Set in a fascinating, remote world, DOCTOR COPERNICUS transcends its context, making it at once an historical and a very modern novel.

"Banville is superb...There are not many historical novels of which it can be said that they illuminate both the time that forms their subject matter and the time in which they are read: DOCTOR COPERNICUS is among the very best." (The Economist)

Customer Reviews:

Scientific, religious, and political revolution.......2007-08-05

This is the third Banville novel I have read and I find his writing exceptional and challenging. I first read The Sea and then Kepler. Doctor Copernicus, while less poetic than The Sea, is my favorite of the three.

I think it is significant that Banville in his Acknowledgments mentions Thomas S. Kuhn's The Copernican Revolution as a major source. This becomes evident in the second half of the book where Banville does an exceptional job of integrating into novel form Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolution into the narrative structure of the novel. Yet, like the works of Iris Murdoch, the philosophy and science are woven seemlessly into the novel structure, never overpowering. John Banville will win the Nobel Prize for literature one day - mark my word.

There are several strenghts in this novel that I would point out.

First, Banville captured a medieval world of turmoil, disease, filth, ignorance, and death. Yet he also captures how exceptional intelligence may be embedded in this world, rise above squalor, develop an intellectual social network for passage of ideas, and produce a product that will communicate to the future ages. And yet, Banville's genius is also to negate these concepts by revealing that exceptional intelligence is still unable to grasp the thing in itself, the nature of reality. That human squalor is a reality in all times and that Copernicus distances himself from the human condition at a price. Copernicus is also a medical physician who is powerless against the horror of syphilis. Banville also allows us no illusion that science is a process of progress marching toward truth, but he has his character Copernicus recognize that his hypotheses in fact would soon be replaced by new truth systems and these new truth systems were only a micron closer to any final reality. Thus we are presented with a picture of human genius which is shown to be limited by the short life span of humans, our inability to focus and concentrate, the wild distractions of everyday life and the pain of the human condition.

The life of Copernicus takes place during a theological revolution with political ramifications. Copernicus lives in Ermland, a Germanic state ruled primarily by his uncle, the Bishop Lucas. This tiny state falls between the Prussian and Germanic Lutheran forces and those of the Teutonic Knights and the Polish Catholic king. Thus Banville has his Copernicus experience the terrors of a theological revolution, as expressed when Copernicus must list the names of the over 2000 victims of the struggle between the Germanic states and Poland for the tiny Baltic states that lay between them. Whereas Copernicus, a Canon of the Catholic Church, no longer believes in the Medieval construction of God, neither Catholic nor Lutheran, he does cling to the rituals of Catholicism and believes that some human truth resides in these ritualistic acts that are independent of the current theology but may be linked to an ultimate reality beyond human comprehension. Thus he knows the process of revolution and he knows the revolution that his work will stimulate and he knows the costs of revolution.

Banville creates a coldly calculating Copernicus, who uses the bright but egotistical Rheticus, to move his publications forward with strategic publications and timing. That this process was supported by Catholic Bishops would indicate that there is a sub-plot in the novel of subversion of the Lutheran faith and Germanic states by taking the manuscript deep into Lutheran territory for publication and distribution. Copernicus's theories were known and discounted by Martin Luther.

The form of the novel was marvelously post-modern, using a distant all seeing narrator in the early chapters, letters and correspondence in later chapters, the acount of the angry Rheticus in the third quarter of the book, and Copernicus' death bed hallucinations as the final chapter.

The character of Copernicus is dry yet we see how this orphaned boy, reared by the cold calculating Bishop Lucas, tortured by his hedonistic brother, and finally rejecting love that he feels for young Italian physician, prepare his cold soul for the distanced work of abstracting and producing his vision of a sun centered system of planetary motion. It is his angry rejected disciple Rheticus who tells us that the world has been fooled and that the Copernican model in fact does not place the sun at the center of the universe but only offers a model for planetary motion and that the sun now becomes a smaller force in a universe without a center. Thus the Biblical world becomes completely unhinged.

The character of Rheticus is wonderfully written for he is bright but egotistical and this leads to his downfall and his being used as the method by which Copernicus could publish in a politically treacherous time. The conversations between Rheticus and Copernicus reveal that Copernicus grasped the nature of scientific revolution and thus was able to see his own work as launching a coneptual revolution with wide ramifications which one day would be overthrown also.

This is an exceptionally well written novel, complex and rewarding.

Copernicus Ubermensch.......2006-12-20

Yes, I thoroughly agree with the other reviewers, this book is not Banville at his best. But, having said that, I must remind readers that Banville at his worst is a step above other writers at the top of their form. One might say, as a way of placing the book in Banville's oeuvre that this is Banville post-Nietzsche and pre-Proust. That is, this is Banville after he discovered Nietzsche (who, according to Wikipedia anyway, Banville regards as the greatest philosopher of our time) and before he discovered Proust, whose presence is so apparent in all of Banville's mature novels.

But what does this all mean for his representation of Doctor Copernicus herein? It means that Doctor Copernicus is a Nietzschean Ubermensch or Overman. He is, as one character herein explains, straight out of Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra, like a hawk gazing down at all the ignorant sheep of this world.

What this lends to the novel, in general terms, is a bleak, nihilistic view of the world, or, sticking with the German, Weltanschauung. Banville's Copernicus, like Nietzsche, doesn't believe that there is any absolute reality, even in his own seminal, mathematically elegant view of the world. There is no "thing in itself". There is only the creator, the Overman, and whatever values he posits on this bleak world.

And what do I think of it? Well, this view is contestable, perhaps a bit absurd, when it comes to empirical science and mathematics. But the world in which Copernicus lived was, to the modern reader, almost inconceivably bleak. It was headed toward the bleakest period in German history until the past century, the Thirty Years War, one of the most pointless and barbarous conflicts in human history. It left Germany a wasteland. The prose isn't up to the nuanced Proustian reveries of the mature Banville, but it can still sing. - But, again, what sticks with one after reading it, is a nihilistic, bleak picture of the world and of human endeavour, unredeemed by a delicious, oceanic remembrance of things past. It's not exactly a pick-me-upper.

I'll leave at that except to briefly point out that, early on in the tale, the young Copernicus is confronted with a logic problem by his teacher. The solution is not given in the book. For any compulsive puzzle-solver, like myself, this was a delight. It took me about 20 minutes to work out. Copernicus, young Ubermensch that he was, solved it, of course, instantly.

Good, but Banville will do better in later novels.......2006-01-08

By now, I think I can recognize Banville's method. I've read all but "The Sea" and his first two novels; I tried "Birchwood" but found its Gothic gloom too dim. How does DC rank among his other novels? I found it matches "Kepler" not only in the obvious ways of scientific exploration within a dismal and largely uncomprehending society that lags considerably behind the driven pace that propels its restive intellectual misfits. In the use of exchanges of letters, of another perspective by a rival, and in the evocative opening and closing sections, the muddled middle is balanced by the clarity of the book's start and finish.

As with my reviews of his other novels, I will offer a sample of his prose style and his power of characterization. He introduces an early teacher of Copernicus: "his life was a constant state of vast profound annoyance. The ravages wrought by the unending war between his wilfulness and a recalcitrant world were written in nerveknots on the grey map of his face, and his little eyes, cold and still above the nose thick as a hammerhead, were those of the lean sentinel that crouched within the fleshy carapace of his bulk. He did not like things as they were, but luckily for things he had not decided finally how they should be. It was said that he had never in his life been known to laugh." (12-13)

Copernicus is another in Banville's long parade of unlikeable protagonists. The author seems more mired in the details that he brings into the Prussian/Polish/Italian/Teutonic Knights/papal power struggles that accompany first Columbus and then Luther's challenges to the status quo. That is, Banville in this rather early attempt at a historically grounded examination of one man's conceit and compulsion to expand upon and capture the visions in his mind more often than in his later novels gets too bogged down in minutiae. However factual the sources he consulted and adapted are, many of the diplomatic details, the sinister hangers-on, and the high-minded conversations only intermittently soar into the type of prose that, in the novel's beginning and end, remind you of the shifts that open Joyce's "Portrait" as well as a more accessible (barely at times) Beckettian attitude, one largely of contempt by the protagonist for his puny rivals.

This hubris, characteristic of a Banville figure, will bring Dr. C. down, and for a man who feels old at 28, the long slide does not make for a sympathetic or particularly engaging character study. Too much of the central part of the novel is taken up with languid descriptions and an air of lassitude. Less clearly even than in "Kepler," which is saying something, what Copernicus battled to present on paper remains too elusive. While this "failure to communicate" may be understandable in Banville's design to present the failure as well as the intermittent (and barely felt here) success of Copernicus, it does not make for much of a plot that pulls you in, much less a protagonist of interest to the reader.

The rival Rheticus comes to grouse and narrate for a time, as if Banville senses the doldrums, and the pace picks up considerably in the last two sections to match the opening's sense of wonder with a now dismal sensation of defeat in how one man tries to take on the whole universe and force it into his new conception of the nature of things. By no means a bad novel, and in portions rewarding, but not an equal to his later fictions of other bold failures and how they try to redeem themselves. And few novelists can match Banville's amazing ability to pull together in the last pages of his novels all of the themes and characters and poignancy that caps, it seems, his protagonists' declines and falls.

Early Banville.......2006-01-03

I decided to read this book because I very much enjoyed Mr. Banville's latest novel, The Sea, and I wanted to read some of his other work. As a physicist, I was immediately attracted to his three titles on some of the great scientists: Copernicus, Kepler and Newton. As Doctor Copernicus is the first book in the sequence, I started with it and found that I enjoyed it very much.

Of course, this book is very different from The Sea. Doctor Copernicus is one of Banville's early novels and it shows. It is a young man's book. His confidence as a writer is not as evident, his vocabulary is not so wide and the prose does not have the beauty and smoothness that it will come to have. On the other hand, this is a book that believably evokes the time period--the squalor even of the rich, the plagues & poxes, the political & religious intrigues. It is fascinating to submerge oneself into this world.

Mr. Banville also creates a number of excellent characters in this novel: Copernicus' brother, Andreas, and his uncle, the Bishop Lucas are two of the best though my favorite section is the one narrated by Rheticus, a fascinating man who had great influence on Copernicus' life and work. My only complaint is the character of Copernicus himself. Perhaps it is my own extensive experience with scientific history and biography, but the Copernicus Banville creates doesn't quite match up with the Copernicus I see in my head.

Still, how could I expect it to? This didn't stop me from enjoying the novel. I recommend it.

Could Life Really Have Been So Difficult?.......2003-04-22

Perhaps, the most salient quality of Mr. Baneville's novel is the medieval context in which it placed. This is a world where syphilis is a terminal and disfiguring disease, where bandits and brigands roam the countryside raping and looting at will. It is a world still lost in the dark caves of superstition and ignorance humanity retreats into when the lights of science and reason have been lost. Baneville's focus and adroit recreation of the perilous setting of late medieval Europe highlights the ultimate importance of Copernicus's astronomical theories and why they were so much more than some abstract academic exercise.

Doctor Copernicus.(Brief Article): An article from: The Review of Contemporary Fiction

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Doctor Copernicus.(Brief Article): An article from: The Review of Contemporary Fiction
Brian Evenson
Manufacturer: Review of Contemporary Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Review of Contemporary Fiction, published by Review of Contemporary Fiction on June 22, 1994. The length of the article is 436 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Doctor Copernicus.(Brief Article)
Author: Brian Evenson
Publication: The Review of Contemporary Fiction (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1994
Publisher: Review of Contemporary Fiction
Volume: v14 Issue: n2 Page: p206(2)

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Doctor Copernicus : A Novel
John Banville
Manufacturer: Random House of Canada, Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000N511G4

Reeducating the reader: Fictional critiques of poststructuralism in Banville's Dr. Copernicus, Coetzee's Foe, and Byatt's Possession (Gothenburg studies in English)

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Reeducating the reader: Fictional critiques of poststructuralism in Banville's Dr. Copernicus, Coetzee's Foe, and Byatt's Possession (Gothenburg studies in English)
Bo Lunden
Manufacturer: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Customer Reviews:

Yawn.......2006-02-03

FBI Agents, Michael Mulcahy and Libby Crowne Vandermark are asked to work undercover as a married couple to observe a spa center that may be guilty of a "sex ring". Michael the hero comes from a long line of NYC cops. Libby, the heroine is a former debutante from the Upper East side. As a result, Michael feels that she is all wrong for him. However, he cannot help his attraction to her. He even instructs his department head not to partner them up on assignments.

Libby on the other hand, thinks that Michael absolutely hates her because she was responsible for reporting his former partner for gambling. She is also very skeptical of men like Michael. She comes form a household with a dominant father and three chauvinistic brothers.

Nevertheless, they have been forced to work together. Therefore, Michael, the silent, strong type develops his own agenda - to seduce Libby so that he can get her out of his system. He still thinks she is not right for him, in terms of marriage - but he is convinced, that after one time with her, his attraction will be over. In order to get Libby to submit, Michael comes up with a silly theory claiming that it is only natural for them to be attracted to each other as they are in close quarters, sleeping on the same bed...etc.

Libby is surprised at first...not only at Michaels interest, but at her reaction. She desperately struggles to tame her desires. However, the "therapy" sessions at the spa center, and Michael's insistence turns her struggle to torture....till she finally succumbs to what is the beginning of quite a tumultuous affair.

My critic: This book was dry and predictable. It reminded me of a Blaze Series romance. Not at all what I was expecting from Ellora's Cave. Even the passion was dull.

It is just an "OK" read. If you are looking for something to pass the time on a plane trip, perhaps this book will suffice.

The plot took me back to the old days of Mills and Boons. The book followed that good old distinct pattern:
Hero and Heroine hate each other in the beginning -->
Hero tries to seduce Heroine who falls for it because she cannot control her desires -->
Then some form of conflict/misunderstanding -->
At the end of the book they clear up their misunderstanding and declare their undying love for each other....
All we were missing were the exclamation marks.

I was not expecting this from DuBois...I usually do enjoy her novels. Very disappointing to say the least.

This book left me feeling parched. I had to immediately pick up another author to quench my thirst.

Perfectly Incompatible.......2005-03-15

This book was great! It's about 2 FBI agents who are put together on a mission (even though they don't like each other)and the sexual tension is high!
Terez

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