Bullying Beyond The Schoolyard Book

This book dies in the arse a bit - the end really isn't nearly as interesting as the start, but the start is really, really interesting.

Story time - a long time ago I became increasingly interested in time and how it related to space. If you understand what I'm about to say it ought to make your head feel a bit funny - so if your head doesn't feel funny in a second you might not have quite understood what I've said. Space expands into time.

I always wanted to stand on the edge of the universe - well, given that the edge of the universe is that bit that is furthest away from the Big Bang, the edge of the universe is right here and right now.

So, if the universe is expanding into time, what the hell is time that space can expand into it? I still don't know the answer to this question - but this book didn't really set out to answer that question.

This book explains the history of the notions of space and how they have changed over time. Dante's space (with Heaven above and Hell below and each in various levels) had a real impact on how he saw the world, but also how it was represented in art generally. Paintings had figures in proportion to their significance - so God is shown as huge and people as tiny. Space meant something quite different then, as it was imbued with a spiritual significance that was much more important than its literal significance.

Margaret would make a good Hegalian - she argues that cyberspace is again a way for us (after the seeming triumph of rationalism) to leave our earthly bodies behind and again returning to a more spiritual space. I think this conclusion is a bit iffy, but how she gets here is well worth the journey.