Reviews for Hypnotism: Hocus Pocus or Science? - Vivian Kirby - Library Binding

The average rating for Hypnotism: Hocus Pocus or Science? - Vivian Kirby - Library Binding based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-11-14 00:00:00 Johnny Mastri A reflective and pondering rumination on a not-very-well-known backroom political drama which took place in Britain during WWII. It intrigues because it is at one-and-the-same-time, so obscure --and also so influential in its having determined the course of modern life. C.P. Snow is an unusual author --himself, a government figure also in the war --and a man of keen, discriminating acumen. You may mark him well --and with enjoyment --for the clear, lucid language with which he conveys his ideas and analysis. The real-life episode he treats here, gave him much material for his later works of fiction (I'm not acquainted with his skills in that realm). But this nonfiction exercise of his, is a small gem of thoughtfulness and ethics; and illustrates a side of history infrequently-presented in either literature or cinema. The subject of the book is: bureaucracy. Snow patiently examines how the forces of science and the forces of government combine to produce the major --often unpleasant --changes in society. The ugly truth is this: big decisions about how to run the world are often made by small, mean, grubby men. If you wish to know exactly how the globe often seems to get itself into such a dreadful muddle, this book is for you. The setting of these incident covered in the narrative is WWII, but --it may surprise you to know --this is still how things are done. An acquired taste --slightly dry --but if you are interested in this kind of thing it is cogent and provocative. And of course the writing. It's a glimpse into a world of the past where language ruled.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-11-06 00:00:00 Jean-S�bastien Dalcourt An interesting lecture and history lesson on what can happen when there is too much reliance on one person for scientific advice. Snow wants to point out the dangers of too much reliance from non-scientist policy makers on a single scientist, and, in general, how secret decisions are made by governments inevitably by a small number of people. Snow uses a parable of Sir Henry Tizard and Lord Cherwell (Lindemann), where Tizard showed good instincts and judgments on how to allocate resources during WWII and Lindemann generally did not. The parable works fairly well, and is an interesting story in itself. It focuses on radar and strategic bombing. Snow then explains the lessons, which are modest but I think the best that can be taken. Don't put too much faith in one expert. He also points out that because of science's increasing importance for policy decisions, it would be better to have more scientists or at the very least scientifically literate people in the government. This always sounds good in theory, but I am never as sure scientists would generally be good at policy, but Snow puts in the proper caveat that having more scientists would not necessarily lead to improvement, just that it may lead to more long-term thinking. Again, I'd agree that more scientific literacy is good, but I think it always just comes down to personalities and individual abilities. Indeed, this is another conclusion that Snow makes. This was a good, quick read that lays out the problem for consideration and then examines some tentative answers. I'd recommend it to anyone who thinks about the proper relationship between government and science on policy, with especial regard to its handling of secret ("closed politics") research decisions.