I am way behind on finish a book every month, so I am going to be reading a few kids books in order to catch up. Lame, I know, but this last one was really dense, but really awesome.
A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History by Manuel Delanda
Beyond the use of metaphor which merely scratches the surface of his better points (e.g. people and ideas move in waves, economic hierarchies are like geological strata, etc.) , I really enjoyed the giant step back from time scale in an approach similar to that of the Long Now Foundation. I found Delanda's analysis of material and energy formations over time extremely exciting and full of provocative questions about what the next 100(0) years will look like.
I loved the first two sections, Geological and Biological.Auto-catalytic loops?!? Hierarchy vs. Meshwork? magnifique!
Even the linguistic history chapters got me towards the end.
Though I felt a truly objective approach slipping away at times, I felt that he managed a pretty neutral and factually based standpoint throughout.
The only thing missing in this beautiful work is an INDEX!
next up: Fantastic Mr. Fox
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