Questioning the Millennium

Download or read book Questioning the Millennium written by Stephen Jay Gould and published by . This book was released on 2008-04 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Gould applies his wit & erudition to the significance of the millennium. He brings into his essays a wide range of compelling historical & scientific fact, incl. a history of millennial fevers, calendrical traditions & idiosyncrasies from around the world, the story of a 6th-century monk whose errors in chronology plague us even today, & the heroism of a young autistic man who has developed the extraordinary ability to calculate dates deep into the past & future. Ranging over a wide range of phenomena -- from the arbitrary regularities of human calendars to the unpredictability of nature, from the vagaries of pop culture to the birth of Christ -- Gould holds the mirror up to our millennial passion to reveal our foibles, absurdities, & uniqueness. Illus.