The Trouble with Goats and Sheep

While this is an astronomy blog, from time to time I write book reviews:

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep:

What a strange name for a book, and one that right away causes association with steak. The reference becomes clear on page 117, and it's from the Gospel of Matthew actually, a parable about Jesus differentiating between goats and sheep. The sheep helped him and the goats didn't. In the Gospel it's a simple differentiation between good and bad, but in the book the division is slightly different and not so dichotomous. In the English language sometimes the epithet ‘goat’ is used for someone falsely accused (scapegoat) while sheep are those who keep in a herd. In the Gemara (Shabbat folio 77 [= in Hebrew gematria ‘goat’] page B) a distinction between sheep and goats can be found as well. Rabbi Zeira asks why when there is a mixed herd of goats and sheep, goats go first, and he receives answers regarding the difference between goats and sheep. Once you arrive at the allegory and apply it to the book, the book's title becomes much clearer. Mrs. Creasy has disappeared and everyone in the gray, sleepy English avenue's homes just talk about it but do nothing about it. Those who are trying to do something are Grace and Tilly, two young girls who decide to look for Mrs. Creasy, but in a development reminiscent of Descartes they come to the conclusion that in order to find her one first needs to find God.

The story is set deeply in the milieu of the Seventies – with which I had no problem, I'm familiar with the songs and bands mentioned – but it is set deep in the England of the Seventies and in that regard it was more problematic for me. Names of unfamiliar people, TV shows and foods made for some difficulty reading the book (the author released the first chapter on her website in English and I attempted to start reading there). The translation overcomes all these problems with great finesse. At the end of the book there's a sweets catalog of all the foods that appear in the book. The names of songs, bands and other English things were not translated but rather transliterated and even sometimes left in the original English. A brilliant decision of the translator, Shai Sendik! The reading flowed easily and despite the fact that in my day they used to translate the names of foreign songs and bands into Hebrew on the radio, I would have been seriously bummed if they'd had translated the title of “Save Your Kisses For Me” into Hebrew.

I'm already used to books published by Sendik being good and interesting, and so is this book, but every time I get another surprise. The surprise this time is the publication date of the book, the same day the book is offered at stores abroad. Here is a chance for once for the Israeli literature lover to read a book when it is just published and not only to join the trend of a successful book, but to be part of causing the trend that makes the book successful. And how did they knew at Sendik about this book? By good ole' word of mouth. Another author (Carys Bray) whose book was published by Sendik saw the manuscript, became enthusiastic, and recommended it. The result is in front of you.

The choice of the Seventies is not accidental and main plot is at the time of the great drought of 1976. As an Israeli I did not attach much importance to this date, and the temperatures in England at the time were those that occur in Israel already in April; but in Britain this heatwave was accompanied by dozens of days without rain, with a prohibition on watering lawns, with desiccation of rivers and by a necessity of water discipline for the first time in memory there, causing people to “go crazy and lose it.” As a psychiatrist by profession, Cannon knows what causes people to “lose it” and what they can do while in that state. In this way, the heat wave functions as a backdrop for the book. And the people of The Avenue indeed go crazy – because of the heat as well but mostly because of the disappearance of Mrs. Creasy. Grace and Tilly conduct an extensive, naive investigation; however with their innocent questions, they manage to open Pandora's box, revealing dark, difficult secrets in The Avenue and create a storyline paralleling the present-axis moving forward with the past-axis moving backward. The police are investigating the disappearance as well, and the neighbors are worried that the police might decide to investigate a decade-old case that everybody just wants to forget about. From conversations between the neighbors we learn that Mrs. Creasy would talk with everyone and had heard all kinds of things from everyone. The neighbors are worried. What does she know? And even worse – who is she going to tell?

As the “investigation” progresses, we find it difficult to decide who is a sheep and who is a goat, a conclusion reached by the girls themselves as well. This is actually the “trouble” that appears in the book's title. We tend to mostly divide the world into sheep and wolves, where distinguishing between the two might be easier; but distinguishing between goats and sheep is a more difficult problem. The book is loaded with Christian symbolism. Indeed, the girls get their first piece of advice from the priest. The search for God is always a religious matter (and reminiscent of the previous book published by Sendik – “A Song for Issy Bradley"), and the girls have a naive faith, the innocence of sheep – or do they? Tilly is certainly a sheep; her character is rather flat, the innocent good girl, always agreeing, always saying yes, always convince-able, always wanting to please, always doing what Grace suggests. No wonder she's the one who finds Jesus, because she's sort of like his reincarnation . But what about Grace? Here we already have a dilemma, since her character develops in the narrative as she's a girl on the verge of adolescence. Sometimes she is pleased to be the older one, the leader, the one whose words Tilly thirstily drinks up, and sometimes Tilly seems to her a little too young and childish, and she looks admiringly at neighboring sixteen year old Lisa, who in turn barely favors her with a glance. There are additional symbolic names and themes. I'm not even sure they all are meant and possibly exist only in my imagination. And what about the adults? Who among them is a goat and who's a sheep? This you'll have to find out yourself while reading, and the answers are ambiguous.

There is a dark side to the book, but there is also joie de vivre and childhood innocence and a lot of humor. A particularly surreal chapter describes the transition of an Indian family, the Kapoor family, into the neighborhood and their cool reception by the residents who aren't “racist” God-forbid, but in fact they are. The name of the woman of the new family is Manish and I immediately thought of the British mirror artist of Indian origin Anish Kapoor. His mirrors are works of art that show us ordinary things in a different way. A mirror of his is installed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and on a partly cloudy day you can circle it for hours. The book's Kapoor family is also used in the book as a mirror that reveals the racism inherent in people.

The book is left open-ended. I felt slightly like something is missing. The reader expects something to happen, everything leads to it but that something doesn't happen. Cannon leaves the ending to the reader's imagination. One can imagine an ending of “and they all lived happily ever after”, but it wouldn't be right. Things will certainly not go back to the way they were before. Forgotten secrets came up again, old sediments were formed anew and we leave The Avenue's residents to deal with their fate, which won't necessarily be pleasant.

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep

Joanna Cannon
Harper Collins - 2016


Thanks to Shai Sendik who translated the original review from English and was kind enough to allow me to publish it.

London bookshops

Every time that I am in London (Which doesn't happen often enough) I spent some time at London's bookshops. There are plenty of bookshops in London with huge variety, on many subjects. Books exist on any subjects but I look first for interesting second hand astronomy books in bargain prices.

The largest shop in London (and maybe in the entire world) is Foyles located at the center of London and open till 22:00 or eve 23:00. There are books on any subject, but there are only new books there so the prices are high. I came there mostly to look.

Some of the astronomy book at Foyles

A huge bookshop with lots of second hands and bargain books is Waterstone. There are many small brancehs, but you need to go to the main branch at Gower street. You can spend some hours there browsing between new books, bargain books and second hand books

Astronomy shelves at Waterstone

In my last visit I stayed at Bloomsbury area which has many fine bookshops. most of them will give additional discount to students. Skoob is a great shop (which holds just a bit of the stock) with the books are arranged more or less by subjects, and like many second hand bookshops you need to check them one by one. I got there with some great books such as Spring it Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time which deals with the daylight saving time.

Not very far is Judd Books which does not have a huge selection of science book and yet I found Earthrise which deals with the first photos of Earth from space. Of course, the famous British library is nearby at Euston street. Seven floors with undergrounds warehouses and 14 Million books. Must visit. Just opposite it two interesting bookshops. In the first the maximum price is 2 pounds and the second has many other cheap books.

This is a very small selection. The Guardian newspaper has an article with a longer list, you would like to print it for your next trip to London. Enjoy your reading.

The Sleepwalkers By Arthur Koestler

The sleepwalkers by Arthur Koestler deals with the life of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler and their scientific findings. As the book name implies, these great man where searching in the dark without seeing or knowing what they are after.

My Father In-laws recommended this book to me and I bought a second hand copy at my favorite online book shop: BetterWorld.

I was a little surprised to see that the book was written more than fifty years ago! But my in-laws told me that Kepler's life has not changed much in fifty years. Fair enough.

The book tells the story of cosmology from ancient times to Newton. Description of ancient theories developed concentrating on how the ancients almost reached the correct theory and discusses at length what had happened to the theory and why it was abandoned in favor of the geocentric concept. Of course, all these theories were based on thought alone. The first theory was based on Ptolemy, a theory that allowed predictions therefore became popular even though it was very complicated to use.

The book shatters many myths.Copernicus revolution was not really a revolution. Copernicus was not renewed almost nothing, and his famous  "On the Revolutions of the heavenly orbs" De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium is too complicated to read and mainly contains allegations without proof and without a set of rules. A few years ago out of a book "book nobody read"  Which is named after a sub chapter in our book.

The use of the Copernican system is even more complicated than those of Ptolemy. With all the changes Copernicus did he would not touch the last sacred cow of the ancient cosmology which is that the paths of the planets are perfect circles.

Perhaps Hebrew translation is justified because most of the book deals with Johannes Kepler who was the first to establish a scientific method, he found physical rules and formulas that allowed to predict the location of each planet in the sky (other simply ignored errors in their predictions). The author shows great sympathy for Kepler, which is the true hero in the affair, Kepler was a decent, loving science, and did not hesitate to retract his initial theory which tracks the movement of planets version is in accordance with perfect three-dimensional bodies. Kepler was open self-criticism, who collaborated with other scientists (although they did not pay him back and did not share their data with him) and his purpose was to reach the truth although the personal price of giving up glory and fame. From this perspective the book is doing a historical justice with Kepler. The book is full of quotations from letters and writings of Kepler which show his criticism of himself and how he admits he made mistakes. Modesty is not characteristic of other scientists at the time, even tough they knew they were wrong, but stood proudly behind their mistakes of other arguments against the request.

Just Such was Galileo. Galileo did not say the sentence "And yet it still move" Eppur si Muove but it was written on his tombstone. His trial court was quite staged, when he denies all the allegations against him and both he and the judges know he was lying, he was not tortured and didn't sat in jail even one day. Galileo was not fair because he completely ignored Kepler's laws which  were based and insisted on the incorrect teachings of Copernicus. Moreover, Galileo made his reputation by telescope observations in his book "Starry Messenger" Sidereus Nuncius. Even his own  the data were ignored and observations prove and show him that the teachings of Copernicus is wrong. Soon as Galileo insisted and insisted he wrote his book "Dialogues" with false evidence that was completely Otadtianio - "only fools can not see the truth identified. the church could not ignore his actions (although it is very probably that they want to ignore).

The book ends with a very brief discussion bout Newton and the unification of the theories he did. Kepler gave a set of rules for the movements of the objects in the sky while Galileo gave a system of dynamic traffic laws for objects on the ground (the subject is mentioned briefly and without detail in the book). Newton joined the two, how exactly did Newton? It's a matter of other books.

The book appears at the end of a long epilogue that is a manifest philosophy of science. Inside the book appears many citations with historical details about the families of Copernicus and Kepler, including full details of how Kepler chose his second wife out of 11 candidates. The book contains dozens of quotations footnotes, some of the most interesting (The full preface by
Osinaider to Copernicus book and the full sentence in Galileo).


Explore the Galaxy in Glorious 3D from your PC

How I killed Pluto - Mike Brown

If you are older than 15, you probably learned at school that the solar system includes 9 planets. This was not always the case. In ancient times there were only seven. Seven is a good number. It is a meaningful number as there are seven days in a week. Earth was the center of the world and did not count while the Sun and the Moon did. During and after the Copernican revolution the number changed quite often. Earth become a planet but the sun and moon were deleted from the list. Then came William Herschel and discovered Uranus, then came Adams, Leverrier and Galle predicting and finding Neptune. Meanwhile more large objects were found in what's now called "The Asteroids' belt" (Ceres, Palas, Juno, Vesta) and for some time they were also counted as planets and finally Clyde Tombaugh found Pluto in 1930 making a nice (but meaningless) number of 9 Planets. Then come Mike Brown and on his pursuit to find  the tenth planet actually killed the ninth.

Mike Brown's story is detailed in his book "How I killed Pluto and why it had it coming". Well Pluto is not to blame for anything. It is just there, but Mike managed to write a story which is a great mix of: history, biography, science, philosophy and even a thriller. A thriller you might ask? Yes, chapter nine is written as a thriller and describes how private observational data was exposed on the Internet and might have been used by other researchers to get first credit for Mike's discovery (I can't resist to compare this case to James Watson and  Francis Crick who used Rosalind Franklin's data without her knowing about it to get the breakthrough they needed in their DNA research). In this chapter you will also read Mike's philosophical thoughts about science, why and when some observations must be kept secret, and why others must not.
The story reaches its climax when the International Astronomical Union (IAU), in 2006, decided what is a planet (and thus deciding if Mike discovered new planets or the opposite, reduced the number of planets by removing Pluto), and although Mike had much more to gain as a planet discoverer, he strongly felt that Pluto should not be a planet. If you need someone to blame for Pluto's fate, Mike is a good choice, and occasionally he gets a number of complaints on this issue. However, even though Pluto is not a planet, it is still important, as the rest of the distant objects out there, since their existence requires new theories about the creation of the solar system itself and Mike relates to this subject throughout the book.

As you read, you will enjoy the story, as it goes from Mike's early childhood to that of his daughter, Lilah. You do not have to be an astronomer to enjoy the book (although it helps). However, as an amateur astronomer I liked the fact that Mike is also an observer. Mike isn't just a researcher, looking through telescopes (and the biggest ones - Keck and Hubble)  and at thousands of pictures of the sky to find new planets (sorry, not planets but "dwarf planets"!). Throughout the book Mike shows us what it is to observe, he describes how much he loves to watch the moon and the planets. The book ends with Mike describing the conjunction of Venus Jupiter and the moon. It happens from time to time and I remember hosting a star party to share this experience with people from my community. Also, Mike gives a good explanation about naming the new objects he finds, and although the meaning of Haumea, Makemake, Eris and Sedna is known and written in many places, the reasoning behind giving these names is detailed in the book.

Mike's Internet site

Mike's video lecture about how he killed Pluto 

How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

Books about The Transit of Venus

There are several books which deals promptly with the Transit of Venus since its first observation in 1639 and till our days. I will recommend several books about the transit. While the topic is covered in short in many astronomy books, reading a book which is dedicated to the phenomena is more satisfying.

	The transit of Venus by Wiliam Sheehan deals with the scientifc importance of the transits. In this unique and fascinating history of science, acclaimed popular science writer William Sheehan and award-winning geographer John Westfall take us back through the centuries to chronicle the intrepid explorations of scientists and adventurers who studied the transits of Venus in the quest for scientific understanding. In exquisite prose, the authors begin their true tale with the first telescopically observable transit in 1639, when Copernicus's vision of the solar system was just gaining acceptance. This "Earth-shattering" observation was of monumental importance, because it helped confirm that the planets, including Earth, revolved around the Sun, and not the reverse as had heretofore been believed. Sheehan and Westfall take us on a journey through time vividly evoking the excitement and adventures of explorers and scientists who braved the elements, wars, and disease to follow the transits of the past. Some succumbed to an early grave. Others were victorious in capturing those precious, fleeting moments when Venus cast its shadow on the Sun. From the courageous voyage of Captain James Cook through later breath-taking adventures to the upcoming 2012 transit (the book includes information about the upcoming 2004 transit which is long past for us), this uniquely invaluable tome will provide a history and a guide for the future on the unparalleled beauty and meaning of experiencing a transit of Venus. Complete with maps showing both historical and contemporary observation points, plus tables of visibility conditions for major cities, this eloquent story of a timeless phenomenon will enchant readers of all ages.
	The transit of Venus by Peter Aughton deals with the life of Jeremiah Horrocks which was an early English astronomer, and never really got the fame he is deserves. Horrocks was the first to observe a Venus transit, so viewing the Venus transit 2012, will actually means to continue his way! There is a missing chapter in the history of astronomy--between the work of Galileo and Newton--and it is a chapter that belongs to England. In the period before the English Civil War, Horrocks was the greatest astronomer in the kingdom. He knew the positions and motions of the planets more accurately than any person of his time, and was the first to appreciate the true scale of the solar system and formulate a valid theory for the wanderings of the moon. Yet he was not an elderly grey-bearded sage, but a young man living in provincial obscurity, who on his death had barely come of age but who left a great scientific legacy.
	Peter Adds approach to the subject is slightly different and he discussed the influence of the transit, the fact that the Venus transits in the 18th centuries were simultaneously observed to measure our distance from the sun, and actually revealing once more how large is the universe. Going beyond the science of astronomy, this study looks at the history of Venus' rare passings across the face of the sun which have affected the exploration, colonization, and science of our planet for thousands of years. In response to Venus' 2004 transit, the first in 121 years, the scientists and historians in this study look at the extraordinary impact these astronomical events have had on our culture throughout history, and look ahead to the next transit in 2012.