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Rating: 
Summary: The path toward understanding the universe
Review: I found this book easy to read and understand. It was exciting to follow the line of possessors of the Archimedes file, the events that brought the file to each in succession and the importance of each possessor in bringing us closer to an understanding the structure of the universe. It was quite informative about the attitudes and personalities of so many great scientists.
Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating history of secret scientific discoveries
Review: If modern science has ever put you in mind of what orbital mechanics must have been like before Copernicus, this book is a "must read." Russian scientist Vladimir Ginzburg traces the history of something called The Archimedes File -- a so-far secret compilation of the "best" ideas of history's best scientists... each of whom contributed a small piece to a theory which, now that it is approaching completion, promises to revolutionize our understanding of matter, energy and time. As he follows the File's development over the centuries, Ginzburg explains how it came into the possession of each of its inheritors (Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Faraday being perhaps the best-known), and how each incorporated its general implications into their world-famous equations. More important, however, is what each one DIDN'T tell the world. As Ginzburg relates, the equations we know, while clearly advancing humanity's understanding of such fields as orbital mechanics, sub-atomic particles, cosmology, light and electricity, are only part of the story. The best part is how each of these men -- recognized as giants in their own fields -- realized that their "very best" work represented only a tiny contribution to this theory-to-end-all-theories, and were content to let their contribution remain secret -- waiting for the day when this cosmic theory would reach completion, and could be presented to the world. That day, says Ginzburg, is now at hand. This book is the second of three; the first simply traced the history of the File, while this one introduces and explains the equations that were added to it over the ages. The thinking reader is left with one over-riding question: does this File actually exist, or is it merely a convenient fiction developed to support and help introduce Ginzburg's own work? Ginzburg promises to answer this question in the third book. The only reason for not awarding the book five stars is that English is not Ginzburg's native language; while the text is clear, and the tale absorbingly told, errors in syntax sometimes interfere with the flow. I await the arrival of the third book, and in the meantime urge readers to familiarize themselves with a theory which, if proven true, will rival the discovery of fire in its significance.
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Summary: A unique book about science and history
Review: In this book, a theory of the universe is gradually advanced which is based on a geometric shape; the toroidal spiral. It is called a unification theory because it attempts to describe both the very small and very large.The book is laid out as kind of a pseudo-history; Starting with Archimedes and a discovery of an ever expanding spiral, several great scientists throughout history add to the theory, first using it to describe planetary motion and later to describe atomic motion. As a fan of history, I found this approach very refreshing. The book is worthwhile reading for the historical material alone. I talked to the author, and he said 95% of the historical data is true with 5% conjecture. A bonus is that the book is also a well thought out scientific treatise without the usual hard to read dialog. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes science or history.
Rating:
Summary: Archimedes File as the "mother of all sciences", fascinating
Review: It is one of the most interesting books I've ever read. It combines physics, astronomy, chemistry, philosophy, science history and biography, and is presented in the form of an interesting historical review of the fate of the Archimedes File which seems to be the "Mother of all Sciences". Being fascinated by the Spiral, and being studied the appearance of spiral shapes around us in the micro- and macrocosm I can almost feel the joy of all the prominent scientists who could explain the essence of our existence, both intuitively and intellectually and supported that with research and experiment. The information in the Archimedes File was always one step ahead of its time, and I dear to say that its content being enriched by the scientific efforts will always stay one step ahead.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Subject
Review: This book is for those who care more about substance than style. Dr. Ginzburg's subject-the toroidal spiral field and its study by scientists beginning with Archimedes-is fascinating and its significance hard to overestimate. Dr. Ginzburg clearly believes the toroidal spiral field is the mathematical representation of what can also be called the "universal field," insofar as it constitutes the essence of the structure of the unverse: nothing less. Readers of The Tao of Physics, The Physics of Immortality, The Dancing Wu Li Masters and Wholeness and the Implicate Order will profit from this book. Dr. Ginzburg (who maintains an interesting related web site: Helicola@aol.com) has self-published this work, which suffers from a lack of editorial polish, although this detracts far less than might be feared from the fundamental importance of the work. While much of the book is a fictionalized account of the transmission of the apocryphal "Archimedes File," in which is found the initial discovery of the importance of the toroidal spiral field, the story-telling method employed makes for an entertaining introduction to profound subject matter and incidentally provides a pleasant "tour" of the evolution of the physical sciences through the early Twentieth Century. The book would also have benefitted from footnoting, but given that it is not presented as an academic text, this is easily overlooked as well. What matters here is the message, as Dr. Ginzburg well knows. Dr. Ginzburg has a passion or his subject and is committed to making toroidal spiral field theory beter known. "The scientist... who sees geometry as the divine proportion of created things," wrote Claudio Magris in Danube, describing Kepler, who himself wrote that "[i]t is the geometrician who approaches closest to the design of the Deity." Dr. Ginzburg is seeking to reveal that design-which he believes to be the toroidal spiral field-to his readers, and has written a book which will compel its readers to think long and carefully about what they have read. "The term 'particle' has no physical meaning," Dr. Ginzburg gives as the conclusion of Peter Tait, a Scots physicist who died in 1901. "What we perceive as a particle is actually a toroidal spiral field." If this is true-and this reviewer believes it to be so-,the implications are enormous. It is hard to imagine a more exciting field of inquiry and speculation: physics melding into metaphysics. Dr. Ginzburg hopes to continue his tale of the Archimedes File and its place in the Twentieth Century, in the Twenty Fist, today and tomorrow. It is to be hoped that he does, and that deserved attention is given to his work.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Subject
Review: This book is for those who care more about substance than style. Dr. Ginzburg's subject-the toroidal spiral field and its study by scientists beginning with Archimedes-is fascinating and its significance hard to overestimate. Dr. Ginzburg clearly believes the toroidal spiral field is the mathematical representation of what can also be called the "universal field," insofar as it constitutes the essence of the structure of the unverse: nothing less. Readers of The Tao of Physics, The Physics of Immortality, The Dancing Wu Li Masters and Wholeness and the Implicate Order will profit from this book. Dr. Ginzburg (who maintains an interesting related web site: Helicola@aol.com) has self-published this work, which suffers from a lack of editorial polish, although this detracts far less than might be feared from the fundamental importance of the work. While much of the book is a fictionalized account of the transmission of the apocryphal "Archimedes File," in which is found the initial discovery of the importance of the toroidal spiral field, the story-telling method employed makes for an entertaining introduction to profound subject matter and incidentally provides a pleasant "tour" of the evolution of the physical sciences through the early Twentieth Century. The book would also have benefitted from footnoting, but given that it is not presented as an academic text, this is easily overlooked as well. What matters here is the message, as Dr. Ginzburg well knows. Dr. Ginzburg has a passion or his subject and is committed to making toroidal spiral field theory beter known. "The scientist... who sees geometry as the divine proportion of created things," wrote Claudio Magris in Danube, describing Kepler, who himself wrote that "[i]t is the geometrician who approaches closest to the design of the Deity." Dr. Ginzburg is seeking to reveal that design-which he believes to be the toroidal spiral field-to his readers, and has written a book which will compel its readers to think long and carefully about what they have read. "The term 'particle' has no physical meaning," Dr. Ginzburg gives as the conclusion of Peter Tait, a Scots physicist who died in 1901. "What we perceive as a particle is actually a toroidal spiral field." If this is true-and this reviewer believes it to be so-,the implications are enormous. It is hard to imagine a more exciting field of inquiry and speculation: physics melding into metaphysics. Dr. Ginzburg hopes to continue his tale of the Archimedes File and its place in the Twentieth Century, in the Twenty Fist, today and tomorrow. It is to be hoped that he does, and that deserved attention is given to his work.
Rating:
Summary: Revolutionary and exciting new physics insights.
Review: Unified Spiral Field and Matter. Author: Vladimir B. Ginzburg Publisher: Helicola Press 1999, ISBN: 0-9671432-0-9. Subject: A Story of a Great Discovery. Unified Spiral Field and Matter is an independent continuation and expansion of a previous 1996 publication, Spiral Grain of the Universe, by Dr. Vladimir B. Ginzburg. It is a unique and a brilliant book, for the layman, as well as the learned. Like the 1996 book, the Unified Spiral Filed and Matter presents the reader with a story of a great discovery. This is the discovery of the spiral nature of the material Universe. It presents the reader with a discovery, which accentuates the rotational movements of everything in the observable Universe. From the smallest grains of matter to the galaxies, and the role this plays in its construction. The insight climaxes in the creation of models of the fundamental particles of matter, in the form of spirals, which Dr. Ginzburg classifies as Vortices, Spheruses, Helixes and Toruses and which he then describes graphically and mathematically, explaining their dynamics in the terms of contemporary physics. The book's novel approach in presenting such ideas to the general public is in Dr. Ginzburg's brilliant account of the history of the idea of spirals. This he traces back to Archimedes, and then through the past 2200 years, in the thinking of some of histories profoundest natural philosophers, thinkers, discoverers and physicists. This part of the book is not just a most enjoyable reading for the inquisitive thinker, but thoroughly informative and provocative to the intellect, at the same time as it serves as the accumulative foundation for the groundbreaking discoveries in the theorisations of the Unified Spiral Filed and Matter. Dr. Ginzburg's ideas may prove to be as close to the fundamental truths regarding the construction principles of the material Universe, as anything being currently presented in physics. This in particular when it comes to our understanding of what forces holds the fundamental particles together. The Unified Spiral Field and Matter is a brilliant exposition of fundamental ideas and issues in mathematics, physics and the creation of particle field-concepts. I recommend this reading to anyone interested in the big questions in particle physics and humanities possibilities for the construction of the all important and ultimate Theory of Everything. Paul J. Einarsson.
Rating:
Summary: Revolutionary and exciting new physics insights.
Review: Unified Spiral Field and Matter. Author: Vladimir B. Ginzburg Publisher: Helicola Press 1999, ISBN: 0-9671432-0-9. Subject: A Story of a Great Discovery. Unified Spiral Field and Matter is an independent continuation and expansion of a previous 1996 publication, Spiral Grain of the Universe, by Dr. Vladimir B. Ginzburg. It is a unique and a brilliant book, for the layman, as well as the learned. Like the 1996 book, the Unified Spiral Filed and Matter presents the reader with a story of a great discovery. This is the discovery of the spiral nature of the material Universe. It presents the reader with a discovery, which accentuates the rotational movements of everything in the observable Universe. From the smallest grains of matter to the galaxies, and the role this plays in its construction. The insight climaxes in the creation of models of the fundamental particles of matter, in the form of spirals, which Dr. Ginzburg classifies as Vortices, Spheruses, Helixes and Toruses and which he then describes graphically and mathematically, explaining their dynamics in the terms of contemporary physics. The book's novel approach in presenting such ideas to the general public is in Dr. Ginzburg's brilliant account of the history of the idea of spirals. This he traces back to Archimedes, and then through the past 2200 years, in the thinking of some of histories profoundest natural philosophers, thinkers, discoverers and physicists. This part of the book is not just a most enjoyable reading for the inquisitive thinker, but thoroughly informative and provocative to the intellect, at the same time as it serves as the accumulative foundation for the groundbreaking discoveries in the theorisations of the Unified Spiral Filed and Matter. Dr. Ginzburg's ideas may prove to be as close to the fundamental truths regarding the construction principles of the material Universe, as anything being currently presented in physics. This in particular when it comes to our understanding of what forces holds the fundamental particles together. The Unified Spiral Field and Matter is a brilliant exposition of fundamental ideas and issues in mathematics, physics and the creation of particle field-concepts. I recommend this reading to anyone interested in the big questions in particle physics and humanities possibilities for the construction of the all important and ultimate Theory of Everything. Paul J. Einarsson.
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