Two of the most ambitious religious edifices of the 20th century are the Our Lady of Peace Basilica in the West African country of the Ivory Coast and the Hassan II Mosque in Morocco. Nnamdi Elleh not only provides a substantial architectural and pictorial analysis of the buildings themselves. Using these two buildings as case studies; he also investigates questions of national memory; urban form; architectural styles; concepts of democracy; social hierarchies as well as the elites who make the decisions to build Africas post-independence monuments and capital cities. His book is an exciting synthesis of theoretical and empirical analysis that is bound to stimulate debate about the form and content of post-colonial identities in Africa.
#4018038 in eBooks 2002-12-30 2002-12-30File Name: B000QCQXRG
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. InvaluableBy Marguerite AbaddonaisIf you really love the history of astronomy; (and youre interested in the Greeks) then this book is perfect. It is a collection of what Greek authors ACTUALLY said. All the big names are in here. Even Philolaus is in here. Its just wonderful. There is a little introduction to each astronomer and then its on to what they wrote. I find it invaluable.3 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Astronomy was not the ancient Greeks best subjectBy Alan U. KenningtonHaving been truly astonished by the towering mathematical achievements of the ancient Greeks; as translated in many books by Heath; I was equally astonished by how weak the ancient Greeks were in astronomy. Probably more than half of the extracts from ancient works in this book are pure waffle.It seems that the ancient Greeks; from about 850 to 150 BC; gave the world the first alphabet; mathematical proofs; history; philosophy; democracy; politics; the olympic games; gymnasiums; university education; coins; wages; mercenary armies; jury trials; literacy (about 50%); book-shops; and civilisation itself. What they didnt do well at was astronomy; physics and chemistry; as far as I can tell. But this introductory essay by Heath; and the numerous quotations and fragments; left me scratching my head; trying to think why they could be so weak in a subject which is; on the face of it; amenable to logical; rational analysis.There are some clues in this book to the reasons for the dismal failure of Greek Astronomy. There is a quote on pages 28-29 from Plutarch about Anaxagoras; saying this:"For Anaxagoras; who was the first to put in writing; most clearly and most courageously of all men; the explanation of the moons illumination and darkness; did not belong to ancient times; and even his account was not common property; but was still a secret; current only among a few; and received by them with caution; or simply on trust. For in those days they refused to tolerate the natural philosophers and star-gazers; as they were then called; who presumed to fritter away the deity into unreasoning causes; blind forces; and necessary properties. Thus Protogoras was exiled; and Anaxagoras was imprisoned; and with difficulty saved by Pericles."There are several other quotations which suggest a similar danger in publishing rational astronomy ideas which contradicted religion. Plato; pages 40-42; wrote that knowledge can not be obtained from observation; but must rather be determined by thinking about it. The writings of Aristotle were complete twaddle; and this book contains some prime examples of Aristotles twaddle-thinking. The fact that Aristotles views on astronomy were enforced throughout the Dark Ages until Copernicus; Galileo and others put a stop to it; is the reason why science was held back for more than 1600 years. The Geminus quote on pages 123-125 strongly argues that astronomers should keep their noses out of physics and not try to step into the territory of philosophers.So I can highly recommend this book to see how the ancient Greeks totally failed in astronomy. They didnt even know as much as the earlier Mesopotamians and Egyptians. Luckily the book is short; so the pain is mercifully brief.1 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Quite ordinaryBy Theofrastus NihilusQuite ordinary: skillfully written; but not much more than what can be read from Wikipedia. Late antique is almost totally forgotten and mathematical methods are not mentioned (which is surprising; regarding the vast amount of mathematical translations by author). Good sides: quite long source texts of ancient astronomy (some of which are quite rare) at the end of the book; cheap price.