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Book Review, © Copyright 2000, Jim Loy
James Burke is famous for his BBC/PBS television series Connections, Connections², Connections³, and The Day the Universe Changed. The Pinball Effect is one of the most amazing books ever written. It is a super-expanded version of Connections. It is a history of science and technology (and the rest of the world), with notations linking most of the ideas with other ideas which were connected in some way (one idea leading to another or one idea combining with another to produce some other discovery or technology). You can read this book straight through (I have not finished yet), or you can follow the links. If you follow the links, there are many millions of orders in which you can read this book, and each way would be interesting and educational. It is a truly amazing book.
"Pinball" is an analogy which describes Mr. Burke's style of historical writing, as he bounces from one idea to another, and from one historical event to another. Mr. Burke is also the author of The Knowledge Web (similar to The Pinball Effect, but smaller), and the Axemaker's Gift (a history of the tools of the human race, and how they have changed our thinking).
To order this book from Amazon.com (goes directly to the book that you click on).