Conversations About the End of Time

Stephen Jay Gould; Umberto Eco; Jean-Claude Carriere; Jean Delumeau

ISBN 10: 0880642173 / ISBN 13: 9780880642170

Published by Fromm Intl, 2000

Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0880642173I3N00

Synopsis:

Four intellectuals and scientists--Stephen Jay Gould, Umberto Eco, Jean-Claude CarriFre, and Jean Delumeau--share their reflections on millennial conciousness, probing the origins of apocalyptic fascination, prehistoric cataclysms like the extinction of the dinosaurs, and religious views on the subject.

Review: This discussion of some millennial themes consists of interviews with the principals followed by a certain amount of mutual comment and some final conclusions. Gould does his standard act about the arbitrariness of the millennium and the importance of the growth of awareness of deep time--a sense of the vast age of the world and the universe is important to that perspective which might help us behave decently to each other. Carriere, a Christian intellectual, discussed the hopeful side of the Book of Revelations and the need for loving kindness. Delumeau talks about the end of the Kali Yuga and the balance of the role of Shiva and Vishnu in Hinduism and worries about the disappearance of tenses and moods in French--arguing that something is seriously lost if we can no longer think in the subjunctive Future Perfect. Eco is the star here, and says wonderfully phrased, paradoxical, but not especially memorable, things about how right all the others are; if anyone wants to know what the brightest and best think about the millennium, this is not a bad place to start--the stress on kindness as an ultimate human value cannot but be attractive. --Roz Kaveney

Bibliographic Details

Title: Conversations About the End of Time
Publisher: Fromm Intl
Publication Date: 2000
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket