Bøger af Peter Watson

A virtuoso tour through the cultural history of German ideas and influence, from 1750 to the present

Los engaños y conspiraciones que crearon el arma más letal de la historia. Peter Watson, el gran historiador intelectual del siglo XX, nos muestra cómo surgió, y cómo fue desechada por los científicos, la idea de construir un arma nuclear y cómo un pequeño grupo de conspiradores, asentados en el poder, tomó por su cuenta, tal como lo revelan los documentos desclasificados en estos últimos años, la decisión de construir y emplear la bomba atómica, que nadie quería realmente y que no era necesaria, contra lo que se dice, para acabar la segunda guerra mundial. El libro de Watson, escrito con su habitual garra narrativa, no sólo desvela un pasado desconocido, sino que ilumina un presente sujeto todavía a la amenaza nuclear.ENGLISH DESCRIPTION The justification for the atomic bomb was simple: it would defeat Hitler and end the Second World War faster, saving lives. The reality was different. Fallout dismantles the conventional story of why the atom bomb was built. Peter Watson has found new documents showing that long before the Allied bomb was operational, it was clear that Germany had no atomic weapons of its own and was not likely to. The British knew this, but didn't share their knowledge with the Americans, who in turn deceived the British about the extent to which the Soviets had penetrated their plans to build and deploy the bomb. The dark secret was that the bomb was dropped not to decisively end the war in the Pacific but to warn off Stalin's Russia, still in principle a military ally of the US and Britain. It did not bring a hot war to an abrupt end; instead it set up the terms for a Cold one to begin. Moreover, none of the scientists recruited to build the bomb had any idea that the purpose of the bomb had been secretly changed and that Russian deterrence was its new objective. Fallout vividly reveals the story of the unnecessary building of the atomic bomb, the most destructive weapon in the world, and the long-term consequences that are still playing out to this day.

Latin is a classical language, which belongs to the family of Indo-European languages. Initially, it was spoken in Latium, but with time it dominated the Italian region and eventually spread across the whole Roman Empire. This language was exported across the globe through the combined efforts of the Christian Church and Roman Empire. Later, it emerged as the language of romance in the form of Spanish, French, Romanian, Portuguese, and Italian. From this time until the eighteenth century, classical Latin started to emerge as the language of learning primarily due to its use by philosophers, humanists, and theologians. Latin terminology was also developed systematically for botanical descriptions, such as biological taxonomy. Furthermore, the language has been prominently used in the fields of medicine, zoology, anthropology, and chemistry. It is considered to be the universal language for scientific description and taxonomy, making it a language of learning and science. This book outlines a historical overview of the Latin language as well as its role in science and learning. It will provide comprehensive knowledge to the readers.

Latin is a classical language, which belongs to the family of Indo-European languages. Initially, it was spoken in Latium, but with time it dominated the Italian region and eventually spread across the whole Roman Empire. This language was exported across the globe through the combined efforts of the Christian Church and Roman Empire. Later, it emerged as the language of romance in the form of Spanish, French, Romanian, Portuguese, and Italian. From this time until the eighteenth century, classical Latin started to emerge as the language of learning primarily due to its use by philosophers, humanists, and theologians. Latin terminology was also developed systematically for botanical descriptions, such as biological taxonomy. Furthermore, the language has been prominently used in the fields of medicine, zoology, anthropology, and chemistry. It is considered to be the universal language for scientific description and taxonomy, making it a language of learning and science. This book outlines a historical overview of the Latin language as well as its role in science and learning. It will provide comprehensive knowledge to the readers.

Latin is a classical language, which belongs to the family of Indo-European languages. Initially, it was spoken in Latium, but with time it dominated the Italian region and eventually spread across the whole Roman Empire. This language was exported across the globe through the combined efforts of the Christian Church and Roman Empire. Later, it emerged as the language of romance in the form of Spanish, French, Romanian, Portuguese, and Italian. From this time until the eighteenth century, classical Latin started to emerge as the language of learning primarily due to its use by philosophers, humanists, and theologians. Latin terminology was also developed systematically for botanical descriptions, such as biological taxonomy. Furthermore, the language has been prominently used in the fields of medicine, zoology, anthropology, and chemistry. It is considered to be the universal language for scientific description and taxonomy, making it a language of learning and science. This book outlines a historical overview of the Latin language as well as its role in science and learning. It will provide comprehensive knowledge to the readers.

Exploring the development of humankindbetween the Old World and the New—from15,000 BC to AD 1500—the acclaimed authorof Ideas and The German Genius offers agroundbreaking new understandingof human history.Why did Asia and Europe develop far earlierthan the Americas? What were thefactors that accelerated—or impeded—development? How did the experiences of OldWorld inhabitants differ from their New Worldcounterparts—and what factors influenced thosedifferences?In this fascinating and erudite history, PeterWatson ponders these questions central to thehuman story. By 15,000 BC, humans had migratedfrom northeastern Asia across the frozen Beringland bridge to the Americas. When the worldwarmed up and the last Ice Age came to an end,the Bering Strait refilled with water, dividingAmerica from Eurasia. This division—with twogreat populations on Earth, each unaware of theother—continued until Christopher Columbusvoyaged to the New World in the fifteenth century.The Great Divide compares the developmentof humankind in the Old World and the Newbetween 15,000 BC and AD 1500. Watson identifiesthree major differences between the twoworlds—climate, domesticable mammals, andhallucinogenic plants—that combined to producevery different trajectories of civilization in thetwo hemispheres. Combining the most up-to-dateknowledge in archaeology, anthropology, geology,meteorology, cosmology, and mythology, thisunprecedented, masterful study offers uniquelyrevealing insight into what it means to be human.

“Those seeking a grand overview of science’s greatest hits over the past century will find it here” (The Washington Post). Peter Watson’s bold history of science offers a powerful argument—that the many disparate scientific branches are converging on the same truths.Convergence is a history of modern science with an original and significant twist. Various scientific disciplines, despite their very different beginnings, have been coming together over the years, converging and coalescing. Intimate connections have been discovered between physics and chemistry, psychology and biology, genetics and linguistics. In this groundbreaking book, Peter Watson identifies one extraordinary master narrative, capturing how the sciences are slowly resolving into one overwhelming, interlocking story about the universe. Watson begins his narrative in the 1850s, the decade when, he argues, the convergence of the sciences began. The idea of the conservation of energy was introduced in this decade, as was Darwin’s theory of evolution—both of which rocketed the sciences forward and revealed unimagined interconnections and overlaps between disciplines. Decade after decade, the story captures every major scientific advance en route to the present, proceeding like a cosmic detective story, or the world’s most massive code-breaking effort. “Fascinating…Highly recommended…Watson treats biology, chemistry, and physics as entangled plotlines, and readers’ excitement will build as more connections are made” (Library Journal, starred review). Told through the eyes of the scientists themselves, charting each discovery and breakthrough, Convergence is a “massive tour de force” (Publishers Weekly) and a gripping way to learn what we now know about the universe and where our inquiries are heading.

Explores the way atheism has evolved, deepened, matured, and gained unprecedented resonance and popularity as it has sought to replace an unknowable God in the afterlife with the voluptuous detail and warmth of this life, woven into art, philosophy, science, and a rational, secular morality.

Peter Watson's hugely ambitious and stimulating history of ideas from deep antiquity to the present day—from the invention of writing, mathematics, science, and philosophy to the rise of such concepts as the law, sacrifice, democracy, and the soul—offers an illuminated path to a greater understanding of our world and ourselves.

From Freud to Babbitt, from Animal Farm to Sartre to the Great Society, from the Theory of Relativity to counterculture to Kosovo, The Modern Mind is encyclopedic, covering the major writers, artists, scientists, and philosophers who produced the ideas by which we live. Peter Watson has produced a fluent and engaging narrative of the intellectual tradition of the twentieth century, and the men and women who created it.

Since the problems of race relations are worldwide, the international origins and perspectives of this excellent and timely book are especially advantageous

Since the problems of race relations are worldwide, the international origins and perspectives of this excellent and timely book are especially advantageous

The story reunites Ian McLean with Jack Doyle, the estate locater, who has been asked by two brothers to find their step-brother. Ian''s trail takes him to the Northumberland area of England where he meets a beautiful Armenian girl.The motive of the two brothers becomes suspect, and as events play out there are more questions than answers. Who, for example, is Molly? The story also delves into the subject of Diaspora communities, and how they reflect and influence their host country''s interests. Comparisons are made between the Jacobite cause and modern nationalist and religious movements.

Can Jimmy escape the brutality of The Home?Jimmy McGuire's misdiagnosis led to him being placed in The Home, where he is subjected to sub-human brutality. No sooner does he escape than he is a suspect in an attack of a woman who has befriended him. Can Jimmy's friends help him overcome the odds and emerge as a whole person? This is a heartwarming story of the triumph of the human condition.

Why does the coma victim have a concentration camp number?A Canadian estate locator is asked by a client's niece to determine the identity of a coma victim in an English hospital, where she is a nurse. The only clue is a number tattooed on his arm. The search leads to France and the identity of a woman who was deported to Auschwitz in 1944. A romance develops between the locator and the nurse. The story correspondingly follows the progress of a young Englishman who converts to Judaism and the consequences for him and his family. The novel examines attitudes toward outsiders, by those whom they wish to join, and the views of those who consider anyone who turns their back on the tribe to be a defector. The two stories connect toward the end, when the power of the various relationships is revealed.

This scintillating narrative of spies and science shows how the atomic bomb was the unnecessary product of mistrust and deceit between America and Britain--resulting in a threat of nuclear war that still haunts us today.

How the division of the Americas from the rest of the world affected human history.

A sweeping tour of French history from the 17th century to the present day from the highly acclaimed author of The German Genius

A dazzling investigation into psychology, art and religion; the demise of capitalism; and the beginning of a new era from the author of IDEAS.

A highly ambitious and lucid history of ideas from the very earliest times to the present day.

A history of the twentieth century which covers all the ideas, people, great events, literary and artistic movements, scientific discoveries which have shaped the twentieth century.