return to Archive Menu

- - - - - - - - - -

Welcome to:
THE JAMES BURKE CONNECTION NEWSLETTER 05 - MAY 2002:

This newsletter and previous ones are available on-line as web pages at:
www.fantasticplaces.com/jamesburke/burke_archive.html

Please pass this newsletter along to other James Burke enthusiasts you know about, who may be unaware of its existence.

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this newsletter comes from a wide variety of sources and is selected for publication solely by the newsletter's editor/creator Tom Palmer. Please be advised that James Burke does NOT necessarily endorse or associate himself with the information or organizations mentioned in the James Burke Connection website and periodic e-mail news updates. Likewise, the information contained in this publication does NOT necessarily represent the views and opinions of Mr. Burke.

Welcome to issue 5 of the James Burke Connection news update. I'd like to welcome all of the newsletter recipients who signed up this month and thank the many hard workers who have volunteered to help out on Mr. Burke's Knowledge Web project.

April has been a busy month for both Mr. Burke and myself. We have both been traveling a bit and working hard on our various projects of interest. I know, at least in my case, I have been so busy attending to some personal items, I have not nearly done as much work as I would have liked on my Burke agenda. But that just gives me something to look forward to.

Okay! Let's dig into this month's data!

JBC WEBSITE NEWS

Work on the James Burke Connection is being done in the background at the moment. There are no visible changes to be seen on the site at this time. However, I have enlisted the aid of a web designer, Noelle, who was originally interested in working on the Knowledge Web project, and we are in the beginning stages of planning a new website interface design. (You have to keep in mind that the JBC site was designed right after the release of "The Axemaker's Gift" in 1995 and still maintains it's original format. It's pretty old in terms of "Internet Years".) Being a self-proclaimed "Burke-o-holic" she has also expressed interest in writing an introductory section to the site for visitors who might be learning about Mr. Burke and his world for the first time.

BURKE NEWS

Mr. Burke wrote in with a quick comment about how his projects are progressing:

"Book on schedule (just finished chap 18 of 25; MS due Aug 1). Web moving well, along, too. Best, JB"

---------
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS (UPCOMING & PAST)

Regarding upcoming appearances, it looks as though Mr. Burke will be making a commencement speech in the middle of May.

5/18/02: Virginia Commonwealth University

---------
For the lucky souls who wanted to see Mr. Burke live and in action, James went on a short university speaking tour with stops in North Carolina, Minnesota and Texas. Much to my great dismay, I did not get to attend this time around. However, I did receive e-mails from individuals who did get to see him and one of their reports appears below...

Hi Tom,

In case you are interested, I have a brief review of Mr. Burke's Lecture at U of Minn last Wednesday. I drove over from the Detroit area to attend. I was a bit "out of it" after an entire day of driving, so I did not get 100% out of the experience, but it was fun. Mr. Burke speaks at 90MPH and interjects so much wit, historical reference, and knowledge into his speech, it is difficult to keep up....

Brief review:

The topic was "Innovation & Change". Although much of the discussion dealt with his ever-present concept of connectedness and interrelationships of events, he also returned to some of the big picture relationships and paradigm shifts from his earlier work.

In my personal opinion, although the "pinball effect" type of historical connectedness that has been the thrust of much of his recent work is interesting, it lacks the systems analysis and insight that was so fascinating in the "The Day the Universe Changed".

After laying a foundation via numerous examples and much humor, he put forward the theme that a potential next stage of development in our age of information, perhaps the next wave of innovation and change, could come from the inclusion of an unconnected mass of people and minds. The specialized, western, academic community of knowledge does not have a mechanism to include the multitude of people throughout the world who have not been trained to "think in the box". If this group of ~6 billion disenfranchised people were able to integrate into the process of change and innovation, a new level of knowledge, understanding, and innovation may be achieved.

And in fact, he is developing a mechanism to accomplish just this end. His Knowledge Web project will be a free web site, packed full of multimedia interactivity. It will be a portal into the knowledge base with an emphasis on interconnections between people, history, science, & technology. It will begin with 2200 items and 15,000 connections. His hope is that once this engine, this mechanism, is unleashed, people from all disciplines and cultures across the globe will add their knowledge and connections to it. "It will eventually take over the world", said Mr. Burke. (This comment was made on multiple occasions in jest, and once with a serious connotation). He also gave a brief demonstration of the web site.

One question that I recall from the audience related to "why do all of your 2200 info/knowledge items seem to be western culture based", his reply was that he had to stop somewhere for the first round, and this is the subject area which he knows best (of course!). His ultimate hope is that many other people and other cultures will then submit to and build upon this first set of data.

(Reviews note: Unfortunately, we also need to connect these masses of "out of the box" minds to a PC and reliable internet connection. This may prove to be a challenge far greater than the launch and further development of the web site.)

Sincerely, JL

---------
For information on scheduling James Burke for a future speaking engagement, please contact his lecture agent Royce Carlton.
info@roycecarlton.com
www.roycecarlton.com/speakers/burke.html

---------
The continuing reminder --

Mr. Burke still is looking for help from Graduate Students and Academics in researching biographies for the online "Knowledge Web" project.

If you know anyone who would like to volunteer their time to this amazing project, please contact me (Tom Palmer) and I will pass along their request. e-mail at: info@fantasticplaces.com

Mr. Burke does has an informational website in place now that begins to describe the project. You can visit it at:

www.k-web.org

TV SCHEDULE (UPCOMING)
---------
It keeps on going, and going, and going!!!
The Connections 2 & 3 series continue to be rebroadcast on The (Discovery) Science Channel through May!
science.discovery.com/schedule/series.jsp?series=46

Connections 2 - The Science Channel - Now thru at least June 01, 2002
FYI - series beginning = "Revolutions", series conclusion = "Flexible Response"

Connections 3 - The Science Channel - Now thru at least May 31, 2002
FYI - series beginning = "Feedback" (May. 06 & 22), series conclusion = "In Touch"

Note: I do not know if either Connections series will be played in proper sequence or if the eventual final episodes scheduled will be the actual final episode for each series. Therefore, if you are planning to videotape these programs, don't necessarily wait for the beginning episodes to cycle through.

---------
science.discovery.com

WAYS TO COMMUNICATE

Once again, I still want to remind people about the newsgroup and Yahoo "group" where you can post messages and discuss Mr. Burke.

alt.fan.james-burke

groups.yahoo.com/group/connectionswithjamesburke/

WEBMASTER NEWS

This month, most of my news comes from a recent trip to Chicago.

For those of you who are big into science museums, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago just keeps right on renovating. I used to live in Chicago and about the time I left there I was visiting the MSI at a rate of about 10 times a year. I just loved the place and loved to take people to it. (I also recommend the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and Children's Museum at Navy Pier. OK, the Art Institute, too, for you art lovers.) Anyway, it's been about two years since my last visit and boy was I amazed at all the new, cool exhibits they had installed. Even the high-tech ones that were new four years ago seemed a bit dated by all of the new exhibit designs. It's really worth seeing if you are in the neighborhood. Plan to stay the whole day.

www.msichicago.org/

I have to comment, that I was disappointed, because I specially went to MSI to see an exhibit on communications that, unfortunately, have been taken back by sponsor Ameritech. In this exhibit, there was a mural on the wall that quoted a number of experts over the years who guessed wrongly about the future use of technology. One favorite was a quote by the head of IBM stating that he only foresaw the need for a dozen or so computers worldwide... ever. I was hoping to use these quotes in this newsletter. Perhaps I will be able to track them down at some point.

---------
Another great thing to see in Chicago, and the highlight of my trip, was the Chihuly glass exhibit in the conservatory in Garfield Park. It was just awesome. All of these organic glass masterpieces were nestled in amongst the plant life. For those of you who are art buffs or watch a lot of PBS, you probably know who Chihuly is. If not, visit:

www.chihuly.com
www.chicagoparkdistrict.com

Be sure you attend before May 19th, went the exhibit ends! (Thanks to Maggie Gautier from Rosalini Film Productions in Chicago for this great tourism tip. If you ever need to make a large-format film - IMAX/OMNIMAX - these are your guys!)

---------
A TRIP TO THE BOOKSTORE -- (DISCOVERED LITERATURE)

During my Chicago stay, I went to revisit an amazing bookstore that is devoted completely to architecture. I'm sure that those of you who are architecturally-minded will want to visit it on-line. It's called the Prairie Avenue Bookshop and it can be found at:

www.pabook.com

Also, while in Chicago, my writing buddy, Neil, came up with several book recommendations that he thought James Burke enthusiasts would also like. They are:

(Of course, if you ever need a great advertising copywriter, look up Neil at: www.neiltobin.com)

Back at home, I wandered into a local Borders Books and came across a number of titles I thought would be of interest. Here they are:

To finish, I also found an interesting used book containing short biographies of historical figures called, "Who Did What". This was the 1985 hardcover edition from Gallery Books/Mitchell Beazley Publishers. ISBN 0-8317-9409-7. It contains information on a number of the character James Burke mentions in his books and programs. I imagine that this item could be found at a library or online used-book merchant.

---------
MOTHER'S DAY PROMOTION

Seeing as how it's May, I want to tell you about a wonderful product for mothers I am selling. It's a silver and gold mother's bracelet that features the names of her children. It seems to be quite popular and has very good workmanship. It's certainly a conversation starter for mothers on the go. Why not go have a look at:

www.fantasticplaces.com/products/bracelet.html

---------
TECH SUPPORT REQUEST

While I have you here, one of my clients is having difficulty with his online e-commerce system. I know that several of you out there are web developers. So, I'll put a question to you and hope for a meaningful response. Does anyone out there have any experience working with the Miva Merchant software and/or Authorize.net? If so, give me a buzz at info@fantasticplaces.com. Thanks.

SEARCH ENGINE FINDS (CURRENT)
---------
Regarding search engine searches, I did a couple of major things this month. First I tried a new search engine someone e-mailed me about called "Teoma". With it I simply used the keywords "James Burke" to see what it would come up with. It did better than I expected. Secondly, I used Google and another Burke book title - "James Burke Pinball Effect". This search produced lots of entries, but overall, the sites found by this search were rather bland compared to past searches on Burke I have done. Still, there are things in these pages that might be of interest. I'll let you decide. I think that next issue, I'll take a different approach to keywords, especially now that I have run out of book titles to use.

Overall, I noticed two small trends. First, there are an increasing number of Burke-related pages in Spanish. Secondly, the k-web site is starting to creep up in the search results list. - Alright then, here we go! Please keep in mind that we are not just looking for Burke-centric pages. We are also looking for Burke to lead us to webpages which contain a whole variety of fascinating and useful facts.

---------
GENERAL BURKE ITEMS

unknown search parameters:

a very strange story with JB as a character
www.gweep.net/~jer/Yarn/
www.gweep.net/~jer/Yarn/81.html
www.gweep.net/~jer/Yarn/83.html
www.gweep.net/~jer/Yarn/84.html
www.gweep.net/~jer/Yarn/89.html
www.gweep.net/~jer/Yarn/95.html
www.gweep.net/~jer/Yarn/96.html
www.gweep.net/~jer/Yarn/98.html
www.gweep.net/~jer/Yarn/104.html
www.gweep.net/~jer/Yarn/138.html
(perhaps other pages in this series, as well?)

---------
found with Teoma - Apr. 26, 2002:
www.teoma.com
keywords - "James Burke"
---------
Material from a 1997 ACM lecture
research.microsoft.com/acm97/

A catalog of BBC Factual Programmes videos
www.stevegoodey.com/bbc_factual_programmes.htm

A James Burke page in Spanish
www-sen.upc.es/Personal/Tarrasa/burke1.htm

A review of The Axemaker's Gift in Spanish
www.editoras.com/bertrand/0686.htm

JB mentioned in a page from GoCreate
www.gocreate.com/workouts/wx118.htm

Burke listed on Cori's Pathological Page! (A Yes/Python fan)
www.orangecomputers.cc/corispage/index2.html

Burke comments on a map-related product
www.mapsinminutes.com/section_5/discovery.html

Burke mentioned in Anita's Book of Days
www.anitarowland.com/journal/1999/030499.html

Australian TV notes on After the Warming
www.abc.net.au/lifelong/AFTERTHEWARMING.htm

Jeff's favorite TV shows
www.keegan.org/jeff/tv/index.html

Book review of The Pinball Effect by How Stuff Works
www.howstuffworks.com/book177.htm

Check on Burke's availability at ExpertSpace
www.expertspace.com/speakers/expert_check.html

Burke is a tangent on a history page
www.genealogy.org/~slassey/cotton.htm

Burke mentioned on Underground Railroad page
www.sbis.com/tenfitz/firsttrip.html

Burke mentioned on Autodidactic booklist
www.autodidactic.com/selfnews.htm

Burke on a page about Foundationalism and Hermeneutics
www.friesian.com/hermenut.htm

Burke material appears on the Brain on Stig hacker site
brainofstig.ai/
hackvan.com/pub/stig/etext/inventing-the-future.html

Burke mentioned in a commentary on Learning Organizations
world.std.com/~lo/WhyLO.html

Burke reference on an Egyptian Archaeology page
www.dimensional.com/~janf/wtegypt.html

Burke listed on Bibliography of Technology page
frognet.net/~kinsler/

Burke listed in the How Stuff Works book archive
www.howstuffworks.com/book-archive.htm

Article on Burke at Erik Davis' Figments & Inklings
www.techgnosis.com/

Burke appears on a "weird but true" science page
munshi.sonoma.edu/jamal/weird.html

Circles on the Kosmoi Technology and Engineering page
kosmoi.com/Technology/

---------
found with Google - Apr. 27, 2002:
www.google.com
keywords - "James Burke Pinball Effect"
---------
Review of "The Pinball Effect" by Dr. David Breeden
www.davidbreeden.com/reviews/revpinball.htm

"The Pinball Effect" listed at How Things Work
www.howstuffworks.com/book177.htm

1996 lecture announcement from ACM
www.acm.org/announcements/burke.html

listing of "The Pinball Effect" (TPE) on Science News Books
www.sciencenewsbooks.org/pinballeffect.html

TPE in booklist on Bookmag site
www.bookmag.com/books/science---nature/112.html

TPE Review on Helge's Notebook
www.geocities.com/Athens/1401/sitemapbooksection.html

TPE mentioned in a 1998 USA today article
www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/ccarch/ccb1012.htm

TPE Review from Owen Ink
www.owenink.com/reviews.html

TPE Review by Eric Freed at Boise State University
cispom.boisestate.edu/murli/cps/bookrevs/bookreviewsf98.html
cispom.boisestate.edu/murli/cps/bookrevs/burke.html

TPE review by Digital Cafe
www.digitalcafe.org/Books/pinball.asp

Burke and TPE mentioned in American Physical Society newsletter
www.aps.org/units/SNENG/news/NES-news-spring97.html

TPE mentioned on Netsurf booklist
www.netsurf.com/nsl/br/brcBST00.htm

TPE reviewed on Reason Online
reason.com/9704/april.shtml
reason.com/9704/bk.brian.shtml

Burke books mentioned on Bruce Duncan reading list
www.phys.uconn.edu/~bruce/reading.html

Freedom Party's Burke book page
www.freedomparty.org/bookstor/burke.htm

TPE review on Jim Loy's science book page
www.jimloy.com/science/science.htm

TPE listed on Tom's Science Bookshelf
www.tomdelmundo.com/books/science.html

Burke mentioned in Splorp blog archive
www.splorp.com/blog/archive/2000_07_01_archive.html

TPE listed in BioPortfolio Bio-Bookshop list
www.bioportfolio.com/services/gazetter/ama_scie.htm

TPE on booklist from Law Technology News
www.lawtechnews.com/march02/bookshelf_p36.html

TPE mentioned in Jim Young's Reading List
www.margategroup.com/favorite.htm

Burke mentioned in Randy's log history
members.spinn.net/~randy/logHistory_000304.htm

Burke books mentioned in World History booklist
www.buildingyourself.com/euro10.htm

TPE mentioned in Techno-Philosophy booklist
www.stagetools.com/techbooks.htm

TPE mentioned in Lusty.org reading list
www.lusty.org/read.html

Burke books mentioned in Iroquois High School reading list
www.buffalolib.org/KidsCorner/School.Reading.Lists/Iroquois.High.html

TPE mentioned in Fictional Footnotes and Indices
www.miskatonic.org/footnotes.html

quote from TPE on Spanish history page
www.contenidos.com/educacion/tecysoc/1830.html

TPE in list on a technical writing class page
www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~pwtc/tw/assign/inst4.html

Burke books on iwillfollow booklist page
www.iwillfollow.com/books/review1996.html

TPE in bibliography of Biblical Controversies page
my.ohio.voyager.net/~dionisio/controversies/controversies.html
-- Check out the Lexicon
my.ohio.voyager.net/~dionisio/lexicon.html

TPE on Phil Sprunger"s reading list
srv2.lycoming.edu/~sprunger/newbooks.htm

Burke books mentioned on Kurt Friehauf's home page
www.geo.arizona.edu/researchers/friehauf/

TPE mentioned on Karl's Opinions booklist
www.republic.org/~karlb/opinions/books.html

TPE reviewed on Spanish enredando page
www.enredando.com/cas/en.medi@/ojeando/msg00013.html

Burke books mentioned on History of Science booklist page
www.crimsonbird.com/science/history.htm

RTF doc of organizational transformation booklist
www.glg.net/download/bibliography.rtf

TPE mentioned in Lone Star Librarian comments
www.txsla.org/lsl/0399lsl.htm

Burke books in list at University on Texas
www.gslis.utexas.edu/~l3971rw/resreferences.html

Burke books at Selinsgrove Area High School
www.360graphics.com/sahstsa2000/csp.html

Pinball Effect mentioned in Rand PDF essay
www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR995/MR995.chap5.pdf
www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR995/MR995.bib.pdf

Burke mentioned in "How To Navigate" essay
www.ionet.net/~wrightw/timeline/howto.htm

TPE on somebody's reading list
members.tripod.com/~Azul7/books.html

TPE in a loomis PDF reading list
www.loomis.org/ftpimages/10/download/download_group59_id844.pdf

TPE review from WWII History Catalog
www1.shore.net/~persnav/wwii3.htm
www1.shore.net/~persnav/hist9.htm

Burke (and books) mentioned in Line Zine
www.linezine.com/3.1/features/jhmcul.htm

TPE mentioned in PennState course materials
www.courses.psu.edu/engl/engl030_jth/

TPE mentioned in Limestone High School reading list
limestone.k12.il.us/teachers/tveirs/bookrec.htm

TPE in Innovation-Works reading list
innovationworks.hypermart.net/booklist.htm

TPE in Fulton's Books list from Caltech alumni
www.alumni.caltech.edu/~ckank/books/

Burke mentioned in Industry Standard article
thestandard.net/article/0,1902,22506,00.html

TPE listed in CEO Refresher
www.refresher.com/archives18.html

TPE mentioned in comments on book hyperlinks
lists.canonical.org/pipermail/kragen-discuss/1999-August/000319.html

TPE in Quantum Age Books of Interest page
www.quantumage.org/bksofint.htm

TPE featured in a Kinkaid class assignment page
zorro.kinkaid.org/~hhowe/BookProject/Bookpages/Pinball_Effect/ zorro.kinkaid.org/~hhowe/BookProject/index.html

Burke books in Science & Nature list at Stavar
www.stavar.i.se/bookstore/Sci_His_HoScie.html

TPE mentioned in "Thoughts On Strategy" PDF
www.tonymanning.com/download/collection2.pdf

TPE quoted in a PDF commentary
www.springlea.com/diagnostics/rich4rtf.rtf

Burke mentioned in scientific research essay
www.idrc.ca/oceei/papers/confid_e.cfm

TPE on Paul Dynowski's reading list
www.stormloader.com/dynowski/books.html

Burke mentioned on Senator Bob Bennett page
www.senate.gov/~bennett/lunch_session.html

TPE on Timothy Hopkin's reading list
timothyhopkins.com/readings/default.asp

Burke cited in "History of Goods Transportation" PDF
www.urban.uiuc.edu/Courses/up330/UNESCO/6.40.1.3-Nolan.pdf

Burke mentioned in Glenn Tunney's column
freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~glenntunneycolumn/column143.htm

Burke mentioned in New Zealand Law Librarian's page
www.nzllg.org.nz/events.cfm?folderid=219

TPE reviewed on travel reading page
www.traveltrends.com/traveltrends/ezine/96sum-p0.html

Burke books mentioned in John Bley's reading list
www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~jbley/books.html

TPE in booklist on inventions
einsys.einpgh.org:8888/MARION/@INVENTIONS/594000007200/0

TPE in Marymont School reading list
www.marymount.k12.ny.us/marynet/StudentResources/english/...

TPE on Highland Park Library adult reading list
www.hplibrary.org/find/btm/adultNonFiction.html

TPE used in a Science & Tecnology course
www.southwest.cc.nc.us/bobh/hum110_out2.htm

---------
SITES OF GENERAL INTEREST

The Personality Page (re: Myers-Briggs)
www.personalitypage.com/

Learnativity
www.learnativity.com/

Quantum Age (Dave Higgins) Science Resources
www.quantumage.org/resrcfrm.htm

Go Create
www.gocreate.com/contents.htm
www.gocreate.com/Workouts/index.htm

LectureAgent
www.lectureagent.com/qc.html

The Segway Human Transporter ("IT/GINGER")
www.segway.com/

EBAY LISTINGS (CURRENTLY UP FOR SALE)
As found on eBay Apr. 30, 2002
www.ebay.com
---------
VIDEOS

Connections 2 - 1 copy
Connections 3 - 1 copy

---------
BOOKS

The Day The Universe Changed - 1 copy

---------
AUDIOBOOKS

The Day The Universe Changed - 1 copy

---------
CD-ROM GAMES

Connections: A Mind Game - 4 copies

DVD, VIDEO, BOOK, AUDIOBOOK LIST (ORDER ON-LINE)
---------
DVDS

Connections 1

Connections 2

Connections 3

---------
VIDEOTAPES

Connections

Connections 2

Connections 3

After The Warming

---------
BOOKS

The Axemaker's Gift: Technology's Capture and Control of Our Minds and Culture

Circles: Fifty Round-Trips Through History, Technology, Science, Culture

Connections - (out of print)

The Day the Universe Changed

The Knowlegde Web: From Electronic Agents to Stonehenge and Back--And Other Journeys Through Knowledge

The Pinball Effect: How Renaissance Water Gardens Made the Carburetor Possible and Other Journeys Through Knowledge - (paperback)

The Pinball Effect: How Renaissance Water Gardens Made theCarburetor Possible and Other Journeys Through Knowledge - (hardcover)

Twin Tracks: The Unexpected Origins of the Modern World

---------
AUDIOTAPES

The Axemaker's Gift: A Double -Edged History of Human Culture

Connections

The Day the Universe Changed

The Pinball Effect: Journeys Through Knowledge - The Extraordinary Patterns of Change That Link Past, Present, and Future

---------
DIGITAL AUDIO CLIPS

audible.com

VISIT PALMER'S JAMES BURKE FAN COMPANION WEBSITE
www.fantasticplaces.com/jamesburke

SEND COMMENTS AND NEWS ITEMS TO:
info@fantasticplaces.com

PRODUCED BY PALMER ONLINE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

TAKE CARE UNTIL THE NEXT ISSUE - TOM P.