Interesting and Entertaining Lectures
352286
These lectures outline the voyages of Columbus, De Gama, Magellan, Bering, Hudson, Cook, and others.  Professor Williams also devotes lectures to the technology of sea voyage and to life at sea.

The search for the Northwest Passage and the mythical great southern continent are explained and put into context.

Most interesting is the assumptions of the explorers at the time.  They all knew, of course, that the world was round, but there was considerable fear that new lands would be terribly exotic and threatenting.  Also, the assumption was that the Atlantic was full of islands that could be used as stations, which seems logical.

The political dimension to the voyages is also fascinating.  Columbus reasoned backward from the assumption that he could get to Asia quickly via the Atlantic route and so used every bit of data available to support the thesis that the world was about 1/3 smaller than it actually is.  There was considerable data showing the opposite, but Columbus ignored it.  Then there was the pressure to tell tall tales to satisfy the popular imagination.  Amerigo Vespucci, a distinctly minor explorer, plays this game.  Hence the continent is named after him instead of Columbus.

Captain Cook's preeminence as a navigator, explorer, and captain is explained in considerable detail, as is his unhappy end.

The lectures do seem to demonstrate the basis for the rise of the Western Europeans at this time:  intense competition over high stakes leading to a series of important technological innnovations and improvements that gave the West a jump start over other cultures.

The lectures are a bit summary; more detail and analysis would have been appreciated.  The "Modern Scholar" series is in some ways a poor cousin to the Teaching Company's works -- the latter seems to have more dynamic speakers who use humor and a more pleasing format.  One advantage of the Modern Scholar series is the use of student questions at the end.

This is a very interesting topic; I recommend it.
1537109
As in their other course offering,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Francis-of-Assisi-CD-Lecture-The-Teaching-Company-The-Great-Courses/dp/156585361X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Francis of Assisi CD Lecture - The Teaching Company (The Great Courses)</a>, Professors Cook and Herzman team up to provide a lively and entertaining presentation.  The nuances and lessons of Dante come through pointed out with enthusiasm by these two great professors.  A well-organized and enjoyably-delivered course that will stimulate your thinking and make Dante's classic more alive for the reader.  Very highly recommended.
255940
It reads like the author is giving a lecture.....at least that is the way it was for me.  I thoroughly enjoyed it !
1829958
The combination of audio CD and written commentary make this a `must have' for the serious student of oratory and contemporary American politics. Writers Dallek and Golway present over 30 speeches (some edited) from one of the finest political orators of the 20th century.

The vast majority of the speeches are probably well known to Kennedy aficionados, but probably only in written form. It is a delight to hear such a diverse range of speeches ranging from early in his campaign - January 1960 thru November 21 1963, the day before his assassination.

The authors give a profile / overview of each speech. By its nature, these have to be brief and do not provide a lot of detail. For those interested in learning more about Kennedy's speech development, read Theodore Sorensen's Counselor, Thurston Clarke's Ask Not and Richard Tofel's Sounding the Trumpet.

Occasions make great speeches. Kennedy was a fine orator who came to power at a time of great tension, achievement and change. The words he spoke when put in this context have become memorable.  Thus Kennedy's address to protestant ministers of the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, his inaugural, the Berlin crisis address and the Cuban missile crisis address are memorable not just because of well crafted words, well delivered, but because they were important narrative about crucial events.

The presidential debates with Richard Nixon feature prominently in the book. Many historians suggest that those listening on radio thought Nixon won the debate. I have never seen statistics to support that point, but Nixon does come across as well as Kennedy on audio although much of the Vice-President's commentary was pretty ironic given what we now know of the only man to resign the presidency.

Kennedy's final speech on November 21st is worthwhile because of its poignant closeness to his assassination one day later.
Overall, this is one of those books / CDs that you will constantly refer back to. Well worth adding to your library.
3824706
A surprisingly sympathetic and insightful set of lectures on Christian figures. It is always a pleasure listening to and learning from Ms. Levine.
3915559
Reading this will give you an idea of why people flocked to hear Ingersoll's lectures. He not only expertly demolishes the claims of religion but does it with a dry wit that had me laughing out loud at the Bible more than once. His wit sometimes rivals Mark Twain (another person who had little use for religion). Of course, some of the science is dated (we hear a lot about "moners," which seems to be an old term for one-celled organisms, for example). And some things have improved since 1880: professors don't get fired for teaching evolution, except at places like Liberty. But (no surprise) the religionists haven't changed much in all this time and are still touting the Bible in the same old ways they did then. The Kindle edition is a great bargain, and you can't beat the price... free!
3244438
I purchased the ecourse from CLUSchoolOfTheSpirit and I greatly enjoy (and benefit from) Charity's lectures. Her instructional approach enhances her father's core teachings in the previouly released "Hear God Through Your Dreams." I look forward to reading more of her books (and taking more of her online courses).
4580182
This was a fun read. I think I am correct in saying that it reads like a lecture - there are some chatty moments. I enjoyed it and learned a great deal.
748558
Although this was intended as a textbook I read it for pleasure and enjoyed it.  The author pulls arguments from a many different philosophers and uses plenty of modern examples.
4059543
Interesting. Encinting. Very good for a holliday lecture.
584480
Interesting venues- I enjoyed watching the series
3832465
The Great Courses series The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World by Robert Garland is a series of lectures focusing on what life was like for different groups of people in various ancient civilizations.
 Lecture 1 is an introduction to the course. Lecture 2 focuses on the Stone Age. Lecture 3 is about ancient Mesopotamia. Lectures 4-8 focus on ancient Egypt. Lectures 9-20 are about daily life in ancient Greece. Lecture 21 talks about ancient Persia, and lecture 22 focuses on Hellenistic Egypt, while lectures 23-34 are about life in ancient Rome. Lectures 35-37 are about daily life in ancient Britain, Lecture 38 is about the ancient Vikings and lecture 39 focuses on the ancient Normans. Lectures 39-47 focuses on the early middle ages, and lecture 48 sums up the course.
 I found it interesting that ancient Egypt, unlike other ancient civilizations, was the first one to be culturally homogenous. When discussing the role of women in ancient Egypt, I was surprised at how many rights women actually had. Particularly surprising to me was the fact that ancient Egyptian women could serve on juries. While I enjoyed this course, I honestly think that it would have been more accurate to call this course Daily Life in the Ancient and Early Medieval Mediterranean World, because 99% of the courses focus on ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, and Prof. Garland would have done well to devote at least six or seven lectures to each of the great ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia---Sumeria, Akkad, Aram, the Hittites, etc---as well as ancient Israel and Persia. He also devoted no lectures to the ancient Far East (India, China, Japan, etc), sub-Saharan Africa, or the Americas. Given this fact, it would have been more accurate for Prof. Garland to have titled this series of lectures The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient Mediterranean World. Thus, I enjoyed this course immensely, despite the narrow focus of the course. He also got it wrong when he described those Jews who cut themselves off from the rest of the community as being related to the Essenes. That is exactly what the Essenes did. Another thing which Prof. Garland gets wrong is that while some Vikings had swords, the vast majority of them would only have axes because only chieftains and other noblemen would own swords since they were expensive to make.
All in all, despite the narrow focus of the course, I would highly recommend this course nonetheless.
616715
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend one of Dr. Suarez's lectures while reading his book. If you do not have the opportunity to attend one of Dr. Suarez's courses, he does a great job of capturing the important lessons from his lectures in Leader of One and illustrating them through entertaining real-life stories.
1401708
This 3-disk DVD set is definitely worth every penny.  The knowledge contained in these disks is not only fascinating, but oftentimes entertaining and awe-inspiring.  I challenge anyone to get through this series without an "ooh" an "ah" or a "WOW".  The footage is gorgeously shot and the special effects beautifully rendered, and though some bits repeat a few times (I believe the animation of the big bang is shown at least once in every episode), none of it really detracts.  In fact, it often gives a bit of breathing room, where you can sit and absorb the new things you've just been shown.  Both the presenter and the professionals he speaks to on the show have a lot of knowledge to offer, and I doubt there are many people who will watch this program without learning at least one thing.

Professor Brian Cox is an excellent presenter.  As many have said before me, he puts everything in language that's easy to understand, without being the least bit condescending.  He's genuinely, contagiously excited about the material he's presenting, almost always with a nearly childlike grin plastered onto his face.  On top of this, he's charismatic, and often quite funny.  This makes the program feel less like a classroom than it does a journey of discovery.

I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the third disk contains Prof. Cox's two HORIZON specials, "What on Earth is Wrong With Gravity?" and "Do You Know What Time It Is?"  Though there are no other special features on the disks (No behind-the scenes or deleted footage to be found), these specials bring the amount of material on the disks to about 7 hours.  I'm definitely not complaining, as this is quite a bit of footage for the price.  (Edit: I had miscalculated, originally.  The specials were marked into 4 scenes each, and as this was not in a separate scene selection menu, I thought the specials were each 4 episodes.  However, each special is about an hour long, and the menu is for the different scenes.)

Put all of this together, and you have a series that's not only valuable in the amount of material in comparison with the price, but in the value of the material itself.
3545202
Excellent course, I don't know whether it has done anything for speeding my read, but the course is very entertaining and has a lot of information that I didn't know about real life events.  I would recommend this to anyone for just the educational purposes alone.
4009998
I was with a class that went to Nepal with Professor Gamow.  Under him, we studied the effects of altitude.  I learned about his invention the Gamow Bag.  He provided us a Nepalese family to live with.  I ate Nepalese food.  I hiked beautiful country.  I explored Kathmandu.  I met inspiring people.  Professor Gamow guided me on an experience I'll remember always.  He is a great professor.  I've have seen his new science tutorials: The Adventures of Mr. Tompkins.  Basically, they are lectures and stories of the lives of scientists together.  Professor Gamow understands the science and personally knew some of the people who studied it.  The learning pace is comfortable.  I enjoyed it because I make connections with the personal stories.  Madame Curie and her husband were quite a pair and they were experimenting with very dangerous materials. Einstein was creative to the core and had a sense of humor.  The Adventures of Mr. Tompkins allows the viewer to dream alongside the greats.
2401853
This book reads like a rather entertaining Economics lecture.  It does a great job in explaining what for me was 2 semesters worth of Economics.  Both Micro and Macro-economics are discussed and how supply and demand and utility are related in those fields.  I found the author very engaging, and he has some good real world examples (he also had a few that were a little out there.)  Don't let the dummy name fool you, there is actually some really good information in the book.  If you in college having some stuggles with your basic economics classes, I would recomend this book as a supplement (but not replacement) for your assigned text book.  If you have never have economics and just want to understand a little better about the worlds current economic situation, this book will help lay down a good foundation.