Gordon Eldridge

Fascinating, 23 Mar 2014

Pearson begins with a history of archaeological thought in America. This part of the book is not as coherent as the rest. It is somewhat repetitive and not always logically sequenced. Personally I would also have liked to see more about the thinking beyond America. Though European schools of thought are touched on, they are not explored in detail. The main section of the book is an extremely well argued investigation of the evidence suggesting that shamanism and the hallucinogenic substances often associated with shamanistic practices played a role in the creation of ancient rock art. The evidence is drawn from multiple sources, including examinations of and comparisons of bodies of rock… Read more

Some useful strategies, 16 Mar 2014

The book is built around the theory that there are three kinds of knowledge - declarative knowledge of facts and concepts (knowing that), procedural knowledge ( knowing how) and structural knowledge of the relationships between facts and concepts, which the authors believe mediates between declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge. In other words, if we are to be able to use our declarative knowledge to solve problems we need to also have structural knowledge ( knowing why).

The book contains 23 different strategies for representing/assessing, conveying and learning structural knowledge. The strategies are organised around the purpose they are best used for. The procedure… Read more

A ripping yarn, 9 Mar 2014

A good novelist creates ongoing plot complications and then feeds you just the right amount of information to get you turning the pages as quickly as you can to find out what happens next. Gawley does a pretty good job of this. The plot is varied and interesting. I had thought at first that the novel was set in ancient Rome, but discovered fairly quickly that while borrowing enough cultural traits from the Romans to give the novel the flavour of ancient Rome, Gawley has constructed an independent story which does not depend on any particular episode of Roman history.

Beyond the plot, Primus, the main character is intriguing and complex, the language is rich and evocative and the… Read more