Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining as well as informative
Review: Solves all of the riddles from Gilgamish to Abraham, the spread of mankind and makes it enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Opens doors to other answers of ancient myths
Review: After reading this book, one is tempted to contemplate other myths of the ancients. Specifically, Atlantis. Plato reports that Atlantis was an "advanced" country and population that existed before his current history and that of other civilizations before and concurrent with his. Atlantis lay beyond "the Pillars of Heracles," which has been identified as two possibilities--Gilbratar to the west and a similar landmark east. If a civilization of Plato's description existed in the Black Sea area and it was destroyed by water and the people migrated from it, then maybe we're not only talking about "Noah's Flood" but "Atlantis" as well. --Kate Ozbirn, MA, Chapman University, Orange, CA
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting thesis that explains much
Review: I have always been fascinated by the Indo-europeans. Why did they leave their homes to spread all over Europe and western Asia? Now we may know: they had no choice! All scholarship has centered the Indoeuropeans around the Black Sea area, the area of the flood in the authors' view. Also, the "mountains of arrarat" are not too far south of the Black sea. The authors seem to be solid academics. Now their thesis needs to be verified by marine archeology. A good book. The book will not help religionists though.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: By providing scientific evidence for the event, "Noah's Flood" increases the historical value of the Bible but possibility diminishes its spiritual significance since The Flood might now be viewed as a natural act. The intersection of science and religion is something that I find fascinating. Another book that I highly recommend and that treats science and religion in an intelligent way is "The Bible According to Einstein."
Rating:
Summary: The most spellbinding non-fiction book I ever read.
Review: Maybe it is true that all myths and legends grow from a kernel of truth. I routinely pooh-poohed the story of Noah and the Ark but no longer. (Relax fundies, I'm not saying what you hope I'm saying.) This is scientific inquiry (drawing on many disciplines) at its best.I recommend this book to any one who has wondered about our prehistoric past, the nature of "literal truth" found in the Bible and the real way in which human knowledge progresses through science. Outstanding!
Rating:
Summary: A revolutionary theory and fascinating read
Review: This book is riveting when it describes the geological detective work. I found it not as convincing in the analysis of the archeological record which included too many diverse cultures whose only point in common seems to be that they were early farmers who appeared about the same time in the sixth millenium B.C. I wish too that the authors had included more maps showing the extent of the Black Sea during the various geological periods. All in all, a thought provoking and compelling book which could change the way we understand the development of human cultures.
Rating:
Summary: Science answers the universal and ancient questions of men.
Review: In this work some of the oldest mythical and religious mysteries known to man are explained using the tool called science. Two Oceanographers, Walter Pitman and William Ryan, spin a story that is easy to read yet is chock full of data without killing the casual reader with details. I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise as the authors explained some portions of the Epic of Gilgamesh I had read many times but had remained nebulous about. If the topic interests you, you will love this book. I fully expect their next book to prove the existance of life after death. An excellent read! Rob Merrifield 02041999
Rating:
Summary: How diligent scientific exploration discovers the past
Review: A great book for the scientist and layman alike interested in the worlds history. Very well written just as a mystery would be written. We are taken through the triumphs and failures of the scientists in their search for clues of a great flood. This will be a very interesting book for those who wish to tie the story of Noah's Flood with modern exploration techniques and tools. For me, it is the only sensible scientific explaination of Noah's Flood.
Rating:
Summary: An epic adventure within an epic's origins
Review: Near the end of their chronicle of the discovery of the catastrophic Black Sea flood, authors Pitman & Ryan quote another researcher's wonder at the power of the oral tradition. The quote, from Albert Lord's analysis of the Trojan War epic, speaks to Pitman's and Ryan's research and their part in the oral tradition.
In truth, the story of the Black Sea covers more than plate tectonics, glaciation, human evolution or ten cubic miles of water flowing through a narrow channel in less than a day over seven thousand years ago. The neat trick with this book is that the authors have managed to include all that and more.
There are really two stories here. One is about the evolution of the human species from the Pleistocene to the present day, told in scientific language with scientific explanations for the actions & discoveries of the story's scientific participants. The other story is an epic tale of crafty researchers, cooperating scientists, story-tellers, myths and legends, told in skillfully written & documented prose that sweeps the reader along in the current of human successes, failures & terrors.
Beginning with Rawlinson's work in 1835 on a monument in Persia, Pitman & Ryan weave the reader through a fabric of time that is, as Lord is quoted saying, a past "of various times . . . assembled into the present performance." Using this motif, the authors introduce themselves only as two participants in a story of discovery, narrated by a fictive bard who is present only in the words. However the authors' parts in the discovery of the Black Sea flood event deserves respect. Meanwhile they have written a book that shows the respect they have for all who have been part of the story. Most importantly, they also have not forgotten the story itself.
In the final chapters Ryan & Pitman review the Black Sea's effect on history from the geological, genetic, linguistic and archeological evidence. They then compare this evidence with the numerous universal flood legends. Ryan & Pitman show how the power of the historical and geological event that created the Black Sea is the power behind the oral tradition. They then close the last chapter with the final lines of the story of Atrahasis: "I shall sing of the flood to all people! Listen!"
Most intriguing of all the information in this book is a dedication that includes a quote from the Gilgamesh epic. The dedication reveals the epic nature of the science and the mythos involved the Black Sea. It shows the sensitivity that the authors have for a legend and event that made humanity the species smart enough to wonder why and sensitive enough to pursue the wonder of life itself.
Whether you're interested in the science or the myth, Noah's Flood is a marvelous read. Clearly written, scientifically concise, sensitive to the human heritage in the rise of agriculture, language & story, it is worth the time you'll take in reading it. And you'll gain a sense for timeless wonder of the story within the words.
Rating: 
Summary: I Have Not Read this book, but do know how to read Genesis 6
Review: I am quite disgusted not very much at the people who are saying that the Bible declares the flood was global who are not Christians, but the Christians who declare the flood was global! This is just an interpretation that stuck over the years! Josephus , the great Jewish historian, correct me if I'm wrong, hinted that he beleived the flood might have been local. If someone does this with no scientific presupositions, maybe the theory is legit. Second of all, because the bible says all the earth does not mean a thing since the the hebrew word Terra, from which they interpreted earth from can also be translated as land, or a part of the earth that is refered to as a whole. And when it says it covered the mountains, the hebrew for mountains can be translated as foothills or hills. And the phrase "under the whole heavens" is simply a term used to describe what Noah saw. The phrase is used numerous places in the rest of the bible, only refering to a localized area, just being the "World" talked about at the time. For more information why the bible doesn't declare a global flood go to [...]. Now I hope this solves a problem and prevents anyone else from saying the flood was global because the bible says it is. In fact, on the website i gave, there is a complete translation from the same hebrew words that all the the other interpretations came from that completely gives us a localized yet probably universal (I don't doubt very much that the bible says it killed all people except Noah and his family). Thank You. Sorry that this wasn't about the book, but I felt this point needed clarification.
-Mark
|
