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Book Cover for: Questioning the Millennium: A Rationalist's Guide to a Precisely Arbitrary Countdown, Stephen Jay Gould

Questioning the Millennium: A Rationalist's Guide to a Precisely Arbitrary Countdown

Stephen Jay Gould

Gould addresses three questions about the millennium with his typical erudition, warmth, and whimsy: What is the concept of a millennium and how has its meaning shifted over time? How did the projection of Christ's 1,000-year reign become a secular measure? And when exactly does the millennium begin--January 1, 2000, or January 2, 2001?

Book Details

  • Publisher: Belknap Press
  • Publish Date: Oct 1st, 2011
  • Pages: 221
  • Language: English
  • Edition: Revised - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.97in - 6.33in - 0.55in - 0.74lb
  • EAN: 9780674061644
  • Categories: TimePhilosophy & Social AspectsWorld - General

About the Author

Gould, Stephen Jay: - Stephen Jay Gould was Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology at Harvard University and Vincent Astor Visiting Professor of Biology at New York University. A MacArthur Prize Fellow, he received innumerable honors and awards and wrote many books, including Ontogeny and Phylogeny and Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle (both from Harvard).

Praise for this book

With a humorous Everyman approach, Gould juggles a mind-boggling array of various calendrical concepts as he explains why creating a reliable calendar was one of man's greatest struggles. Whether nailing down the precise date of the birth of Christ or airing his suspicion that God is a New York Yankees fan, Gould teaches rather than preaches.--Daneet Steffens "Entertainment Weekly "