Cleopatra's Nose: Essays on the Unexpected

Rating:
Summary: Essays On Science And History
Review: Cleopatra's Nose by Daniel Boorstin is a very good collection of forwards, introductions, lectures, and articles that Boorstin wrote in the '90s. The collection seems to be loosely held together by two themes: science in today's world thrives on the unexpected and discovering the limits of our knowledge [the more we know, the more we know that we don't know] and that the United States is a different kind of country and that's what makes it such a great country. If you are looking to read a book by Boorstin with one theme, then this is not the book for you. For those readers, I'd recommend The Discoverers, The Creators, and The Seekers. If you are a reader of essays or you are looking for smaller samples of Boorstin's writing, then this could be the book for you. I read it straight through, and despite the repetition of material between some of the essays, I found it to be a quick and thought provoking read.

Rating:
Summary: Cleopatra's Nose
Review: I'll admit that I'm not totally finished with this book yet-but that in itself speaks to how difficult I'm finding reading it to be. (in my oppinion, of course) This book is NOT insightful. For a remarkable lot of what Boorstin writes I find myslef mentally shouting "duh!". This happened during the entire chapter devoted to explaining the difference between creative thinkers and discoverers. It's irratating how he speaks of such blatant concepts with a professor-like, "sage"-like tone. Much of the book also has an aggrivating "so what?" factor. As in, "so what, do you have anything surpring or substantial to say, or are you going to waste the rest of this paragraph stating how important the compass was. Oh. You are". I'm a high school student and I found the paragraph structure and clarity of ideas to be poor. The initial lure of the title, "Cleopatra's Nose" and the implied idea about arbitrary turning points in history, turns out to be a term and concept of Pascal's. But Boorstin "shows us how" this man's idea is so.

Rating:
Summary: Cleopatra's Nose
Review: I'll admit that I'm not totally finished with this book yet-but that in itself speaks to how difficult I'm finding reading it to be. (in my oppinion, of course) This book is NOT insightful. For a remarkable lot of what Boorstin writes I find myslef mentally shouting "duh!". This happened during the entire chapter devoted to explaining the difference between creative thinkers and discoverers. It's irratating how he speaks of such blatant concepts with a professor-like, "sage"-like tone. Much of the book also has an aggrivating "so what?" factor. As in, "so what, do you have anything surpring or substantial to say, or are you going to waste the rest of this paragraph stating how important the compass was. Oh. You are". I'm a high school student and I found the paragraph structure and clarity of ideas to be poor. The initial lure of the title, "Cleopatra's Nose" and the implied idea about arbitrary turning points in history, turns out to be a term and concept of Pascal's. But Boorstin "shows us how" this man's idea is so.

Rating:
Summary: Great Information and History but...
Review: This is one of those strange books. The history and insight is very good. However, I have two major problems with the test. First is the disjointedness of the topics. It is hard to look at the book at see much relation between the major topics (although the sub-topics are very concise at interesting). The second is the most annoying. After reading the book what do I have? General (trivia) knowledge of American history, General thoughts on scientific thoughts, and other miscellaneous facts. Nothing to apply. No deep thoughts on the past. No emotion. Interesting reading but nothing special.