1. Forum
  2. Usenet
  3. SOC.HISTORY.MEDIEVAL

  • Book Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and t

    From a425couple@21:1/5 to All on Fri May 27 16:25:23 2022
    I got an interesting book,

    The Amazon site

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BLKXV68/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

    Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and
    the Military (Astrophysics for People in a Hurry Series)
    by Neil de Grasse Tyson (Author), Avis Lang (Author) 2018 book

    And actually, he spends a fair hunk of pages on
    both Ancient and Medieval scientific / geographical
    / navigational discoveries.

    Looks like you can currently get the big heavy hardcover
    delivered to your door for a total of just $5.25 !

    "An exploration of the age-old complicity between skywatchers and
    warfighters, from the best-selling author of Astrophysics for People in
    a Hurry.

    In this fascinating foray into the centuries-old relationship between
    science and military power, acclaimed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson
    and writer-researcher Avis Lang examine how the methods and tools of astrophysics have been enlisted in the service of war. "The overlap is
    strong, and the knowledge flows in both directions," say the authors,
    because astrophysicists and military planners care about many of the
    same things: multi-spectral detection, ranging, tracking, imaging, high
    ground, nuclear fusion, and access to space. Tyson and Lang call it a "curiously complicit" alliance. "The universe is both the ultimate
    frontier and the highest of high grounds," they write. "Shared by both
    space scientists and space warriors, it’s a laboratory for one and a battlefield for the other. The explorer wants to understand it; the
    soldier wants to dominate it. But without the right technology—which is
    more or less the same technology for both parties—nobody can get to it, operate in it, scrutinize it, dominate it, or use it to their advantage
    and someone else’s disadvantage."

    Spanning early celestial navigation to satellite-enabled warfare,
    Accessory to War is a richly researched and provocative examination of
    the intersection of science, technology, industry, and power that will introduce Tyson’s millions of fans to yet another dimension of how the universe has shaped our lives and our world.

    Reviews say
    ― Joshua Sokol, Washington Post
    "Through ample research and nimble storytelling, Tyson and [Lang] trace
    the long and tangled relationship between state power and
    astronomy....Deep and eloquent."

    ― Jennifer Carson, New York Times Book Review
    "Extraordinary....A feast of history, an expert tour through thousands
    of years of war and conquest....Condenses multiple bodies of work into
    one important, comprehensive and coherent story of the symbiotic
    developments of astrophysics and war....The lesson is not merely a
    wake-up call for astrophysicists, but for all of us, for anyone with the misapprehension that science somehow marches on separate from the rest
    of culture"

    Customer reviews give it a 4.7 out of 5

    The Goodreads site is at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44157732-accessory-to-war

    Hmmm, their readers rate it a 3.60 ???

    An interesting paragraph
    "Economic constraints decide on the research priorities. And the
    entire annual budget for astrophysics is enough to cover the
    defense budget for a few days in most states. Given a choice,
    many researchers will opt for a pact with the military. Better
    to research with martial focus, than not at all. And the
    technologies, machines and research priorities are identical to
    some extent. From there onwards, either telescopes or missile
    launchers will be installed

    Here is a 6 minute video interview of Neil on the book --

    https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-dcola-068&ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs-068&hspart=dcola&param1=1&param2=cat%3Dweb%26sesid%3D9e7649d7d76d422b88b0f289e019c58a%26ip%3D71.227.211.204%26b%3DChrome%26bv%3D101.0.4951.64%26os%3DWindows-10%26os_ver%3D10.0%
    26pa%3Dgencoll84%26sid%3D5774e91fcb248f3949db66e3f6cace0f%26abid%3D%26abg%3D%26a%3Dgsp_wfd468acegsyomqwpvfc_00_00_--x1-AB2222--%26sdk_ver%3D%26cd%3D%26cr%3D%26uid%3D%26uref%3D&p=Accessory+to+War+de+Grasse+Tyson&type=gsp_wfd468acegsyomqwpvfc_00_00_--x1-
    AB2222--#id=1&vid=2c62e54e6d3511f410538f7cf7efae46&action=click

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From a425couple@21:1/5 to All on Sat May 28 19:37:21 2022
    On 5/27/2022 4:25 PM, a425couple wrote:
    I got an interesting book,
    ---
    Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and
    the Military (Astrophysics for People in a Hurry Series)
    by Neil de Grasse Tyson  (Author), Avis Lang  (Author) 2018 book

    And actually, he spends a fair hunk of pages on
    both Ancient and Medieval scientific / geographical
    / navigational discoveries.

    An interesting & influential medieval book:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mandeville

    Sir John Mandeville is the supposed author of The Travels of
    Sir John Mandeville, a travel memoir which first circulated
    between 1357 and 1371. The earliest-surviving text is in French.

    By aid of translations into many other languages, the work
    acquired extraordinary popularity. Despite the extremely unreliable
    and often fantastical nature of the travels it describes, it was
    used as a work of reference: Christopher Columbus, for example,
    was heavily influenced by both this work and Marco Polo's
    earlier Travels.

    also tied in:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odoric_of_Pordenone
    Further information: Europeans in Medieval China
    "Seventy-three manuscripts of Odoric's narrative are known to exist
    in Latin, French and Italian: of these the chief, of about 1350, is
    in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)