Day 35 – 52 Books in 52 Weeks

I made it through chapter 4 of Mein Kampf last night. Hitler is going over his time in Munich. He spends his time comparing the supremacy of Munich to Vienna. Then goes into a tirade about the triad alliance with Germany, Austria and Italy… postulating what could have been done (or in his mind, what should have been done).

It doesn’t take long and you can tell he’s read Darwin’s The Origin of Species. In talking about the problem of population control. He says, on page 131, “(Nature) by exposing them to hard trials and deprivations with the result that all those who are less strong and less healthy are forced back into the womb of the eternal unknown. Those whom she permits to survive..keeps the race and species strong, in fact, raises them to the highest accomplishments.”

Then it’s back to other issues of state that caused Germany to ally itself with Austria, while on the sidelines both bashing and complementing England at the same time. Mostly bashing. Here his discussing the economics of state. He makes an interesting quote on 150 he describes the “state” as, “… the organization of a community of physically and psychologically similar living beings for the better facilitation of the maintenance of their species.”

And by the end of the chapter he is once again at the throat of the Jews – blaming them for everything, only now he’s beginning to use the Aryan vs Jew theme that he will ride to the domination of Germany’s darkest era.

On another part of the globe, between the Sumatra and Java islands, we see Krakatoa. Simon Winchester continues in chapter three with building more of background of the volcano. Specifically he discusses, in layman’s terms, how the theories of continental drift, plate tectonics came to be proven which led to understanding more about how volcanoes are formed.

In the early part of the chapter, he talks about Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin. Wallace was referred to as Darwin’s Moon. When Wallace was returning from the Amazon with specimens… the boat he was on caught fire and sank in the mid-Atlantic. Wallace was picked up near Bermuda and wrote two books about his Amazonian experiences. Darwin say, “Not enough facts.”

Anyone who read my posts on Darwin’s The Origin of Species will remember that was my major complaint. There was no documentation whatsoever. Just his opinion and telling people they have to trust him. No facts whatsoever.

Anyway, there were only a couple of pages where I had to deal with my old friend Darwin (the guys shows up everywhere) before getting back to some basic geology classes. I’ve read textbooks on geology and volcanology and they can be pretty boring things. But the stories that Winchester weaves through the growth of scientific knowledge are entertaining, not just educational.

As I continue to work my way through Mein Kampf and Krakatoa, I’m deciding what to start next. Something requiring less thinking, I hope!

Happy reading!