Reviews for Dislocations and Plastic Deformations (Monographs in Natural Philosophy)

The average rating for Dislocations and Plastic Deformations (Monographs in Natural Philosophy) based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-02-06 00:00:00 Toby Farmer The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manley P. Hall is fascinating. It is a masterful compendium of esoteric teachings of all time. It is a summation of hidden wisdom from the arcane and mystical teachings of Druidic, Mithraic, Christian, Gnostic, Odinic, Gothic, Eleusinian, Orphic, Bacchic, Dionysian, Platonic, Atlantean, Cabric, Hermetic, Zodiacal, Astrological, Chaldean, Delphic, Orphic, Dodonean, Pythagorean, Numerological, Hiramic, Paracelsian, Mosaic, Qabbalistic, Sephirothic, Rosicrucian, Alchemical, Masonic, Islamic, Native American, Mayan and Neo-Platonic traditions. I learned much from reading this massive work (over 2.5 pounds). But there were four main ideas that I drew from it. First, no philosophy, mythos or religion can stand alone. None came into existence on its own. The later ones evolved from the earlier ones. They all borrowed from or were influenced by the others. Second, none can lay a valid claim to either exclusivity or primacy. Any attempt to do so can only lead to contradiction and confusion. Wisdom is a fabric and all the threads are inseparably woven together. Third, I found there to be a validation of Hamlet's oft quoted observation from Act I, Scene V, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." It is folly to lay claim to a completeness of understanding. There is always much more beyond the cloud of unknowing. Finally, I came away with a greater understanding of the adage, "Those who say, don't know; and those who know, don't say." Understanding has as much to do with the heart as with the head. Much of wisdom has traditionally been hidden, awaiting to be passed on to those who have grown in spiritual preparedness. It seems to be more experiential than cerebral. In the words of Reikichi Kita and Kiichi Nagaya, "To one who has had the experience, there is no need to explain it. To one who has not, there is no way to explain it. What to do but exclaim."

Review # 2 was written on 2013-05-14 00:00:00 Elena Donchenko Extremely fun, extremely interesting, but fundamentally unreliable. Manly wrote this book in his early twenties. He's obviously well read and very intelligent but this book is written with a pretty significant bias toward his own obvious Masonic leanings, and most of the lore he has absorbed due to this association is accepted by him and presented as unsubstantiated fact. I will admit it lends a certain kind of mystique to the yarns he spins. For instance, I would personally love to believe that some inheritor of the egyption mystery schools living today knows the secret location of the original 42 manuscripts authored by the authentic historical Hermes Trismegistus written on papyrus and saved from the vandals of Alexandria, as he asserts. But I don't and he definitely doesn't go out of his way to give any evidence to validate that wacky claim. So all and all impressive work that should be taken with a huge grain of salt.