The Difference Engine

Amazon.com

A collaborative novel from the premier cyberpunk authors, William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Part detective story, part historical thriller, The Difference Engine takes us not forward but back, to an imagined 1885: the Industrial Revolution is in full and inexorable swing, powered by steam-driven, cybernetic engines. Charles Babbage perfects his Analytical Engine, and the computer age arrives a century ahead of its time.

Customer Reviews:

What the!?.......2007-09-06

Just finished TDE, and I'm at a loss what to make of it. The writing's terrific, the research behind it impressive. It's pretty ponderous going, though -- a veritable suffocation of language and imagery. TDE is pseudo-historical fiction of a uniquely ambitious and overblown sort. Despite the conceit of a Victorian England run on Babbage engines, TDE never quite convincingly depicts the world that might have been. The concept at the core of TDE is interesting, to be sure, but its execution leaves much to be desired.

A book that could have been, about a world that could have been.......2007-08-17

This is an alternative history book whose basic premise is: what if Charles Babbage's Engines, instead of being intriguing concepts but technical failures, had come to fruition? What could England have been with computerization, albeit steam-powered, by the mid-19th century?

This is a fascinating premise, but the book (despite its authors' well-deserved reputations) doesn't come through. It is a mostly-disconnected series of five stories (or "iterations;" how cute) with some overlapping characters. We see familiar names in unfamiliar positions, but except for two - what happened to the Duke of Wellington toward the end of his life and a brief comment about Byron by his widow in an epilogue - with no explanation, rhyme or reason. Within each story, characters move from one random event to another. There are too many Deus Ex Machinas: when some key characters are being fired upon, there just happens to be a pile of cotton bales to hide behind, and so on.

The book is also interrupted by one of the worst sex scenes I have ever had the misfortune to read. When the woman says "You'll come again, then?" as the man prepares to leave, you wonder when and how she'll return to the story later on to justify your having slogged through its 10+ pages (that's the whole episode, not just the sex proper) - but she doesn't. It's as if someone had told the authors "hey, guys, gotta have a sex scene" so they put one in, nearly at random, with no connection to anything else before or after.

Then there's a box of punched cards which everyone seems to want, but we don't know exactly why - and we don't particularly care, either. For that matter, while most of the main characters are reasonably likable, we don't really care that much about any of them either.

Finally, the prose is, charitably, often at the ninth-grade level. Try this: "This is no light matter, gentlemen! No lark for amateurs. This is dire work! We shall be taking the law, and our lives, and our honor, into our own hands. If it is to be done at all, it must be done in the strictest and most permanent secrecy." Believe it or not, this Tom Swiftian oration was put in the mouth of a 19th-century London policeman. Sorry. I don't think so. It's not that I don't like steampunk, but there is no rule that requires it to be badly written!

If you're a huge Gibson and/or Sterling and/or steampunk fan and can't sleep unless you've read everything else in that category, read this, but not for any other reason. If you're an alternative history buff, read all of Harry Turtledove's (and a few other folks') books first. If you're not any of those, save your time.

Just Awful.......2007-05-24

I'll give this book 2 stars only because of the premise, which was tantalizing. What science fiction or cyberpunk fan wouldn't want to read about an alternate history where the computer was invented 100 years before it should have been, turning London into the center of world power (complete with rampant pollution and dystopian overtones)?

Unfortunately, this book never truly delivers on that promise. Instead, we get a thoroughly confusing, monumentally boring walk through Victorian London, where all of the touchy-feelies of the day managed to worm their way into power.

As many people mentioned, I, too, had to force myself to finish this book. Oh, how it was painful. So slow, so badly written. Ugh. And again, as many people stated - I wanted to love it. I really did! In fact, every few years I'll pull out the book and read the last 2 pages (the ones that take place in 1991) just to see if my mind will grab something new. But it only continues to mystify and disappoint.

Resist the temptation to read this book. You'll get as much sci-fi from a 3 paragraph review on Amazon as you will in this 400+ page snooze-fest. And the reviews are more interesting to read.

Okay read, recommended for Steampunk fans........2007-01-21

The Difference Engine is a poster-child of Steampunk, and Steampunk is a visually rich sub-genre. Anime and film capture, for example, the armored, steam-powered vehicles with their puffing and chugging, all-a-clacking with gears and pistons a la Miyazaki Hayao (Laputa, Nausicaä), The City of the Lost Children, or Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire. The comic medium does a great job with the juxtaposition of Victorian finery and industrial dystopia as well (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a great example). It's a visually rich subgenre, and The Difference Engine is an album of verbal photographs set in a noiresque thriller. It captures the spirit of steampunk well in all of its sooty, rusty, riveted glory.

The world of The Difference Engine can be thought of as a historical freethinker's wet dream. Lord Byron is prime minister, having successfully championed a meritocratic revolution that pushes science, rationalism and industry to the forefront. Charles Babbage, Charles Darwin, and Thomas Huxley are all members of the House of Lords and Ada Lovelace (the world's first programmer) is the darling of this early information revolution powered by house-sized difference engines and littered with stacks of punch cards. In some ways, The Difference Engine is a big experimental playground in which the authors could drop their favorite authors and scientists into government and see what kind of society it produced.

That said, The Difference Engine is true to the '-punk' aspect. It is dystopic and gritty, in contrast with the positivist and high-mindedness (if all too Anglo- and male-centric) of most of its Victorian characters.

I was a little disappointed with the MacGuffinish character of the main object of attention in the story, but all in all, it was a good read. I recommend it to any fans of William Gibson and to anyone who gets excited at the mention of Jacquard looms, Babbage engines and kinetoscopes.

Count Me Among the Disappointed.......2006-10-26

How could you go wrong with a plot based on the What If of Charles Babbage's difference engine actually being built, working, and changing the course of human innovation by bringing about the computer age as a realized steampunk past? How could you go wrong with a team of the most talented cyberpunk writers, William Gibson and Bruce Sterling?

Well, it went wrong. I forced myself through it, I had to get to the end regardless how many other things I'd rather be doing at the time. The characters didn't engage my interest for the most part and in the rare case that one did get into a bit of interesting tiff, the authors shortchanged me by going away to a different and less interesting storyline. There were so many starts and stops that I just lost track of who was doing what, where, and why should I care.

It could have been so much more, but it wasn't.

- CV Rick

The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer

Average customer rating:

One of the great accomplishments of the 19th century
Wonderful Engines
Doron Swade's Quest to Build a Difference Engine
History - What a story
Hard to follow

The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer
Doron Swade
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142001449

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

What a difference a century makes. Doron Swade, technology historian and assistant director of London's Science Museum, investigates the troubles that plagued 19th-century knowledge engineers in The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer.

The author is in a unique position to appreciate the technical difficulties of the time, as he led a team that built a working model of a Difference Engine, using contemporary materials, in time for Babbage's 1991 bicentenary. The meat of the book is comprised of the story of the first computing machine design as gathered from the technical notes and drawings curated by Swade. Though Babbage certainly had problems translating his ideas into brass, the reader also comes to understand his fruitless, drawn-out arguments with his funders. Swade had it comparatively easy, though his depictions of the frustrating search for money and then working out how best to build the enormous machine in the late 1980s are delightful.

It is difficult--maybe impossible--to draw a clear, unbroken line of influence from Babbage to any modern computer researchers, but his importance both as the first pioneer and as a symbol of the joys and sorrows of computing is unquestioned. Swade clearly respects his subject deeply, all the more so for having tried to bring the great old man's ideas to life. The Difference Engine is lovingly comprehensive and will thrill readers looking for a more technical examination of Babbage's career. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

In 1821 an inventor and mathematician named Charles Babbage was reviewing a set of mathematical tables. After finding an excess of errors in the results, he exclaimed, "I wish to God these calculations had been executed by steam." Thus began Babbage's lifelong enterprise to design and build a mechanical calculating engine-the world's first computer. Drawing on Babbage's original notes and designs, Doron Swade recounts both Babbage's nineteenth-century quest to build a calculating machine-the Difference Engine-and Swade's own successful attempt to build a replica for the bicentennial of Babbage's birth. Set against the tantalizing background of Victorian science and politics with a colorful cast of characters, The Difference Engine is a saga of ingenuity and will-and the dawning of a new age.

Customer Reviews:

One of the great accomplishments of the 19th century.......2005-08-01

Charles Babbage and John Herschel, the astronomer, were preparing tables for the astronomical society. They needed to check the work of computations by humans, by different computers. The need for tables was particulary important for navigators. The source of error in the tables was clear, human fallibility. The manual production of tables, calculation, transcription, typesetting, and proofreading created opportunities for error. The engine of change in 1821 was the steam engine. Charles Babbage wanted to produce a machine to produce error-free tables.

Babbage entered Trinity in 1810. He studied on his own the work of the French mathematicians. His father was a well-to-do London banker. Charles married and received from his father an allowance of three hundred pounds. In London he established himself in scientific circles. By the spring of 1822 he had a small working model of his first design. Computing devices of the time required manipulation and were limited as to the size of the numbers the devices could handle. Babbit first used the method of differences, addition, in his design. He sent a brief announcement to the Astronomical Society about his invention. He received a mandate from the government and was prepared to build a new machine. He hired Joseph Clement for precision engineering work. Clement and Babbage devised new tools and modified machines. There was a need to produce large numbers of similar parts. Babbage conceived of his machine when manufacturing was in transition. By 1826 Babbage was wholly absorbed in the design of his Difference Engine. The machine was eight feet by seven feet by three feet.

In 1826 Babbage published a book on life assurance. While traveling in Europe following the death of his wife, he learned of his election as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. He never resided in Cambridge and gave no lectures. Babbage expressed a view on the decline of science In England. Undoubtedly science was more professional in Prussia and France. Babbage's position alienated some of his supporters. In 1832 part of the engine was put on display in his drawing room. Clement was to leave the project. Work was not resumed. The Treasury Department spent more than seventeen thousand pounds on it.

There is a curious affinity between mathematics, mind, and computing. After the break with Clement, Babbage moved from the Difference Engine to the Analytical Engine. He devised the first automatic mechanisms for multiplication and division. He had in fact designed a general purpose four function calculator. In 1836 he opted for punch cards to control the engine. The Analytical Engine was never built. Babbage worked in isolation. With the Analytical Engine Babbage was seduced by the intellectual quest.

After twenty years the Treasury axed the Difference Engine and wrote off the expense. Between 1846 and 1849 Babbage designed Difference Engine No. 2. Maurice Wilkins believed the Analytical Engine was one of the great accomplishments of the 19th century. The Science Museum in Britain built a version of the Difference Engine No. 2 for an exhibit on Babbage.

Wonderful Engines.......2002-09-16

This book has 2 basic parts. First, is the discussion of Babbage's life and his computing engines. Second, is the author's modern-day story of attempting to complete Babbage's Difference Engine, a feat which Babbage himself was unable to do. I picked up this book for the first part. I wanted to learn about Babbage and how his engines worked. While the author gives a wonderful account of Babbage's life and methodology, he does not clearly describe HOW these engines function. I realize that the engines are extremely complex, but a chapter on the functioning of the Difference Engine trial piece and some diagrams on its operations would have been much appreciated. Unfortunately, as were Babbage's contemporaries, we are left mainly in dark as to how simply turning a crank can produce the necessary additions. The author also never fully explains the "method of finite differences" upon which the function of the difference engine is based.

The most amazing part of the book is the overview of Babbage's design for the Analytical Engine- the first programmable computer. It is amazingly similar in concept to today's modern computers, but it uses motion through metal gears and cams, instead of electricity through logic gates and wires. I expected to be bored by the modern-day story, but I actually was interested in the process of reconstructing this 19th century machine. It was enlightening to see how the same problems Babbage faced 150 years before troubled engineers today.

Overall, I recommend this book for those curious about Babbage and his engines. However, the writing seems jerky and unorganized in parts, and there is little technical description of the engines' functionality.

Doron Swade's Quest to Build a Difference Engine.......2002-09-13

This is the first book I've read on Charles Babbage, but I imagine that there are others that are better. First, this book seems to assume you've already read a book or two about Babbage before. It almost has an apologetic tone and seems to be an answer to what, I assume, have been slights against Babbage and his work. Second, this book is as much about the author and his quest to build a Difference Engine as it is about Babbage himself. If you want to hear about dealing with office politics in an British museum, you may find this interesting.

All in all, this is a fairly dry read. It was interesting at points, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it for your first book on Babbage.

History - What a story.......2002-05-15

I enjoyed this book very much. It was refreshing to step away from the technical library and read more about the people, machines, trials, and triumphs that occured as far back as the early 1800's.

Though it all you learn about a man who had such vision. His execution could be faulted for many reasons. But in the end the machine works! I can not wait to see the Difference Engine myself someday.

Hard to follow.......2002-05-11

I bought this book hoping to gain a better knowledge of Charles Babbage and of course entertainment. The knowledge part was delivered but I found this book a very hard read. Do not expect to laugh occasionally because the story is very dry. The book also assumes that the reader is very familiar with British history, which I am not. From a factual standpoint it does deliver but its layout and the storyline make it an awful reference resource.

Glory and Failure: The Difference Engines of Johann Müller, Charles Babbage, and Georg and Edvard Sheutz (History of Computing)

Average customer rating:

another failure, alongside Babbage and Lovelace
A glorius story about two almost unknown swedish inventors

Glory and Failure: The Difference Engines of Johann Müller, Charles Babbage, and Georg and Edvard Sheutz (History of Computing)
Michael Lindgren
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0262121468

Book Description

The first attempts to mechanize the production of numerical tables were remarkable in conception coming at a time when a "computer" was in fact a person rather than a machine. This book is the first to provide a unified picture of the difference engines that were the mechanical predecessors of today's digital computer, to emphasize them as part of the history of numerical tables, and to give equal weight to the technical and social aspects of their creation.

Lindgren analyzes the difference engines of Müller and Babbage and the mathematical principles on which they are based, tells the story of how Georg and Edvard Scheutz learned about Babbage's engine, discusses the design and operation of the Scheutzs' machine, and tells why Babbage failed technically and the Scheutzes failed commercially. The often detailed technical descriptions bring to light the inventors' own ways of thinking as work on the engines progressed

Michael Lindgren is Curator at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm.

Customer Reviews:

another failure, alongside Babbage and Lovelace.......2006-07-04

So it wasn't just Babbage. He is now belatedly well known. Considered to have built the first computer. Though it was never fully functional. But what Lindgren has uncovered is that around the same time, Muller and the Sheutzs in Sweden were trying roughly the same approach, independently of Babbage.

Both sides hit upon the idea of replacing a human with automated machinery, in a programmable fashion. The Swedes also seemed to have within themselves the equivalent talent of Ada Lovelace, in being able to devise software.

But both groups failed within their lifetimes. A bridge too far. At best, their efforts were seen as intellectual curiosities by their contemporaries. If anything, this research by Lindgren reinforces a common conclusion about Babbage's work. The Swedes' efforts can be seen roughly as a parallel experiment to Babbage. His failure is considered by us [20th-21st centuries] to be due to the primitive technology that he had to start with. The failure of the Swedes to commercialise their work suggests that it wasn't Babbage's fault that he failed. Or theirs that they failed.

It would be 90 years later, before economically viable machines could be made.

A glorius story about two almost unknown swedish inventors.......2001-09-03

The story of Georg and Edvard Scheutz is a well written and entertaining scientific book. A young schoolboy, Edvard Scheutz, succeeds in his kitchen to construct a difference engine that works better then that of the famous Charles Babbage. The story of how father and son struggle together to make their difference engine a profitable invention is incredibly interesteting both in a technical and economical aspect but also in a social aspect. Interesting is of course also why a genious invention like theirs becomes such a financial failure.
This is a book to read both for those who have a general interest in history of techology and for those who have a particular interest in swedish history and inventors.

Ada, the Enchantress of Numbers: A Selection from the Letters of Lord Byron's Daughter and Her Description of the First Computer (The Pickering Masters)

Average customer rating:

A great book

Ada, the Enchantress of Numbers: A Selection from the Letters of Lord Byron's Daughter and Her Description of the First Computer (The Pickering Masters)

Manufacturer: Critical Connection
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0912647094

Customer Reviews:

A great book.......2000-06-12

A very pleasant biography in an original format, allowing for a good understanding of the main character. Typical american biography, where few details are untold, and where the author remains "transparent". We have to assume that B.A.Toole likes Ada, since she wrote a book about her, but we can't figure out why: was it beause she was Byron's daughter, or because she was Babbage's assistant, or because she lived an interesting life, or because she worked on early computers, or for any other reason... It might be a quality of good biographers, but as a French guy, I like to feel a greater intimacy between the autobiographer and the central character. A small disappointment: the lack of details regarding Ada's program for computing Bernouilli's numbers. Having computed some of those by myself, I know what an advantage it is to have at one's disposal a good algorithm to shorten fastidious calculations. In Toole's book, those numbers are barely mentioned, and the chapter 12, even though revised by an US Army colonel,doesn't explain why the Dept of Defense has chosen the ADA language. This having ben said, I took a great pleasure in reading a book which taught me a lot, even if Toole is too discreet on "an affair" that young Ada had when she was 17 years old with one of her preceptors (the great Turner?). Again the French side in me would have liked more details on that topic... Iconography is nice and all graphics are useful. All in all, a very good book to be read by all those who feel interested by an extraordinary woman who remains too little known by the general public.

Finite Difference Methods in Heat Transfer

Average customer rating:

An authoritative text on FDM in heat transfer

Finite Difference Methods in Heat Transfer
Necati Ozisik
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0849324912

Book Description

Finite Difference Methods in Heat Transfer presents a clear, step-by-step delineation of finite difference methods for solving engineering problems governed by ordinary and partial differential equations, with emphasis on heat transfer applications. The finite difference techniques presented apply to the numerical solution of problems governed by similar differential equations encountered in many other fields. Fundamental concepts are introduced in an easy-to-follow manner. Representative examples illustrate the application of a variety of powerful and widely used finite difference techniques. The physical situations considered include the steady state and transient heat conduction, phase-change involving melting and solidification, steady and transient forced convection inside ducts, free convection over a flat plate, hyperbolic heat conduction, nonlinear diffusion, numerical grid generation techniques, and hybrid numerical-analytic solutions.

Customer Reviews:

An authoritative text on FDM in heat transfer.......2007-06-17

An engineer is constantly engaged in a battle where he tries to balance having enough books on his desk in order to appear well-read, yet not so many as to dilute his collection of "good books." Finite Difference Methods in Heat Transfer is one of those books an engineer cannot be without. It presents the content with an emphasis on solving partial differential equations, i.e. the Poisson and Laplace equations of heat and mass transport, by numerical means, which is ultimately the topic of interest to the practicing engineer.

The book is organized by chapter into methods for solving PDEs of the elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic type; in 1, 2, and 3 dimensions. Each is given a thorough treatment, and the author's knowledge of the the FDM shines as he concisely links the physical meaning of various transport phenomena to its respective term in the PDE. By delineating an otherwise obscure parabolic differential equation into its unsteady, convection, diffusion and source terms, the author imparts an understanding of differential equations that goes beyond a purely mathematical treatment.

The first chapter delves heavily into developing a conceptual understanding of the problem (PDE's), but the book takes off from there. The computational methods described in the book are first-rate, and many of them can be implimented in Excel. With that said, I am confident the reader could be setting up grids and making finite difference approximations the first day of owning this book. The "computational molecule" approach the book takes lends itself well to grid generation in a spreadsheet, although it is not explicity mentioned by the author. The book also includes Fortran code for a Thomas algorithm and domain decomposition algorithms, among others, in the appendices.

All in all, I can't tell you what an outstanding reference this is. I know it's one of the most expensive books on transport phenomena out there, but let me be the first to say it's worth every penny!

Average customer rating:

Difference Engine
William And Gibson; Bruce Sterling
Manufacturer: BANTAM
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OKAI1W

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The Difference Engine
William & STERLING, Bruce GIBSON
Manufacturer: SOLD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OOZTD0

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The Difference Engine : Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer
Doron Swade
Manufacturer: Viking Penguin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OLWDP0

The Difference Engine written with Bruce Sterling.

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The Difference Engine written with Bruce Sterling.

Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I804FK

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The Difference Engine.
William & Sterling, Bruce. Gibson
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NXLXG4

Average customer rating:

A good experience

Very unique but difficult book

Great Author, illuminating book

How Typical

Great Book!

Earth's Earliest Ages
G. H. Pember
Manufacturer: Kregel Academic & Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Invisible War, The

The Days of Noah

Another Time...Another Place...Another Man: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View of Creation

Revelation

Devils and Demons and the Return of the Nephilim

ASIN: 0825435331

Book Description

(Foreword by G. H. Lang) A study of Genesis 1 to 6, plus an extended discussion of Eastern religions and the occult.

Customer Reviews:

A good experience.......2007-05-09

This is a wonderful read. An author before his time. Spirit lead and right up there with Tozer.

Very unique but difficult book.......2006-10-12

G.H. Pember lived from 1837-1910. As a result, this book's language can be quite difficult for the modern reader to follow. However, it is worth it. To begin with, Pember ably reconciles the 6000 year history of man from Adam to the present age with the scientific findings that the earth is much older than 6000 years of age. He also discusses some of the finer points of the book of Genesis, including the time of Noah, and the evil that was taking place upon the earth that was so bad that God felt he had to start over.

Probably the most controversial chapter in the book is the last - "As It Was in the Days of Noah" - which talks about the current age being the last. Pember lays out seven trends that prove that these (in his case, the late 19th century) are the end times. This is where he really gets mocked on various websites I have visited, but he does have some points that are undeniable if you give them some thought.

First Pember says that man has come to regard God - if he regards him at all - as Creator and Benefactor, not as a God that must deal with sinners. In other words the common view among people today is that "God is Love" with no regard for justice, and that somehow nearly all, with the exception of the worst criminals, will escape God's judgement.

Second, Pember quotes "An undue prominence of the female sex, and a disregard for the primal law of marriage." He doesn't discuss much about the first part of this sentence, but the second part he discusses at length as man's willingness to see marriage as a contract that can be ended at any time. This has clearly come to pass.

Third, Pember notes "A rapid progress in the mechanical arts ...Also a proficiency in the fine arts". Here, Pember is noting that the industrial revolution, which had already occurred at the time he wrote this, made life so much easier that man could disregard God due to the mitigation of the original curse put on man at the time of Adam. Pember argues that the fine arts "induce an entire oblivion of God" because entertainment tends to distract man from God. If this was true in 1900, it is so much more true today! In the U.S. people are becoming more and more obese because the world of entertainment and an easy life are killing them physically as well as spiritually as they hardly need to get off of their couches to perform any task or fulfill any desire. Not that anyone would want to go back to carrying water from earthen wells, but the effect of man's reliance on automation for so many things coupled with the ability to fill the resulting leisure time with custom-built entertainment of every kind imaginable undoubtedly makes it easy to ignor God.

Pember's fourth trend is "an alliance between the nominal church and the World". Here Pember is basically saying that the nominal church and the World wed by subverting spiritual things and making their gatherings more of a show devoid of God and His desires. Again, this is still seen in the present age.

The fifth trend is "a vast increase in population". Here, he never really makes a case as to why this is a bad trend, at least in my opinion.

The sixth trend is "the rejection of the preaching of Enoch and Noah". Pember is talking about the rejection of calls to repentence, and the fact that the Lord is tarrying in returning is causing many to mock the preaching ones. At the time Pember wrote this, he mentions a revival that had been going on fifty years. Add another century, and look around, and you can see that getting anyone to take you seriously when you say the end times are here is indeed a problem. However,Pember notes it was 120 years from the time God decided to flood the earth until it actually happened.

The seventh and final trend is "The appearance upon earth of the Principalities of the Air and their unlawful union with the human race." This was something mentioned in the book of Genesis and discussed at length in Pember's book about the times of Noah, although even Pember doesn't make a strong argument for this currently happening.

In summary, even though it is over 100 years old, I really recommend this book. It is hard to read due to the antiquity of the 19th century writing style, but it discusses matters you won't find in any other book. Also, if you think long and hard about what Pember is saying, you'll see that he has many points to make that are relevant to today's believers and the world condition. Of course, if you are not a Christian, you will probably be totally unconvinced by this book, since it is not a beginning book of evangelism.

Great Author, illuminating book.......2006-02-10

Especially the first chapter leaves you with greater appreciation of the greatness and omnipotence of the all-wise Creator God, and puts man in his right place, that of a creature in need of His light and supernatual protection.

The person who mentioned the "putting down of woman" doesn't know Scripture and doesn't know the ways of God at all. It is simply Gods current way of governing the earth; it is a dispensational matter. In every dispensation God treats humanity differently. The woman is also a type of the Church in her servitude to Christ. It has nothing to do with "trampling down" on woman; in fact, if a man doesn't treat his wife with the greatest care and tenderness, his prayers may go unanswered ... today unbelieving woman leave their God-given position and assert themselves more and more, and it doesn't become them. God has different but eaqually important tasks for her, suited to her nature.

How Typical.......2005-07-14

Interesting book. However typical of nineteen century man this book presents clear prejudice towards women and womanhood diminishing her role by putting her in subjective, submissive role. I do not think that the writer was illuminated by Spirit of God as one reviewer puts it, as I do not thik that any writer is when aside from providing the reader with strictly scholarly work he is bending the words of scriptures to his own prejudices adding his own views. Do not recommend reading unless the reader is interested in the way the mind of a nineteen century man presents itself.

Great Book!.......2004-03-31

I highly recommend this book for the serious Bible student. Be prepared to read slowly and carefully, as this book was written in the 19th century. The grammar and word usage reflects that era, and to me made it a little difficult to read. The subject matter, though, is well thought out and presented. You need this one for your library!

Earth's Earliest Ages - And Their Connection with Modern Spiritualism, Theosophy and Buddhism

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Classic, Necessary reading for Everyone

Earth's Earliest Ages - And Their Connection with Modern Spiritualism, Theosophy and Buddhism

Manufacturer: Kregel Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Spiritualism | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0825435080

Product Description

The author discusses some of the problems of faith in creation, particularly the existence of death, suffering, and sin upon the earth prior to creation of man and his fall. The second coming of the Lord Jesus and the heading up of error and false doctrines are ably presented. The author finds in Spirtualism, Theosophy, and Buddhism one kindred thrust: to set aside the salvation of the Lord Jesus, to substitute a doctrine that sin must be gradually worn away by our own works or sufferings, either in a spirit world or in a series of reincarnations upon earth.

Customer Reviews:

Classic, Necessary reading for Everyone.......2007-04-03

I prefer the original (without additions by GH Lang) of this book [otherwise I would give 5 stars] but each person has their own taste. Main thing is you read Earth's Earliest Ages once in your lifetime. Pember's insights, writing style and information is unmatched by any book I have ever read. At 400pps+, this treatment of Genesis through Revelation, touching on forbidden subjects such as demonology, spiritual movements in the world today, non-Biblical theologies and their impact on life and prophecy [incredible fulfillment has taken place of Pember's insights since he wrote this book 150 years ago] is a must read for every inquisitive, thinking person. I cannot imagine anyone not being influenced in their thinking after reading this book. No other book, other than Dake's Bible notes, has come close to matching Pember's information, and at 400+ pages, you have a goldmine of all you need on this subject in one volume. You won't regret it.

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Earth's Earliest Ages
G. H. Pember
Manufacturer: Fleming h. Revell company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LG59BI

Average customer rating:

Earth's Earliest Ages
g pember
Manufacturer: Fleming H. Revell Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000REZ43W

Earth's Earliest Ages And Their Connection With Modern Spiritualism And Theosophy

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Earth's Earliest Ages And Their Connection With Modern Spiritualism And Theosophy
G.H. PEMBER
Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KFV086

Earth's Earliest Ages: A Study of Vital Questions

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Earth's Earliest Ages: A Study of Vital Questions
G.H. Pmber
Manufacturer: Fleming H. Revell Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000JCWIEA

Product Description

This soft cover appears to be published in the 1970's. From the back cover "The author discusses some of the problems of creation, particularly the existence of death and suffering and sin upon this earth prior to the creation of man, his fall and the consequences, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, and the heading up of error and false doctrines."

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Earth's earliest ages: And their connection with modern spiritualism and theosophy
G. H Pember
Manufacturer: Pickering & Inglis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Spiritualism | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00087GNS8

The Failure of Geological Attempts Made by the Greeks: From The Earliest Ages Down To The Epoch of Alexander

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The Failure of Geological Attempts Made by the Greeks: From The Earliest Ages Down To The Epoch of Alexander
Julius Schvarcz
Manufacturer: Martino Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1578984696

Book Description

Reprint of the 1868. Oversized Octavo. London : Trübner, 1868. Revised and enlarged edition. xx, 153 p. The early Greeks were the first civilization to practice a form of Geography that was more than mere map making or cartography. Greek philosophers and scientist were interested in learning about spatial nature of human and physical features found on the Earth. One of the first Greek geographers was Herodotus (circa 484 - 425 BC). Herodotus wrote a number of volumes that described the Human and Physical Geography of the various regions of the Persian Empire. The ancient Greeks were also interested in the form, size, and geometry of the Earth. Aristotle (circa 384 - 322 BC) hypothesized and scientifically demonstrated that the Earth had a spherical shape. Evidence for this idea came from observations of lunar eclipses when the Earth casts its circular shadow on to the moon's surface. The Greek geographer Eratosthenes (circa 276 - 194 BC) was the first who accurately calculated the equatorialcircumference of the Earth to be 40233 kilometers using simple geometric relationships. His intelligent but primitive method was unusually accurate. The equatorial circumference of the Earth using modern satellite technology provides a value of 40072 kilometers. The author has undertaken to collect and submit to a critical review all those treatises and passages in classical literature that make reference to geological observation. For some reason, this work is extremely rare, with only 11 institutional holdings on OLCL.

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Earth's Earliest Ages
M.A. G. H. Pember
Manufacturer: Fleming H. Revell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000V9EMFE

Average customer rating:

Earth's Earliest Ages and Their Connection with Modern Spiritualism and Theosophy
G. H. Pember
Manufacturer: Fleming H. Revell Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QXTCTQ

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