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The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet
 
 
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The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet (Hardcover)

by M Wertheim (Author) "Halfway along the journey of his life, the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri set out on what has become the most famous journey of the Middle..." (more)
3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.; illustrated edition edition (14 April 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 039304694X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0393046946
  • Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.9 x 3.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 986,152 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #50 in  Books > Science & Nature > Astronomy & Cosmology > Space & Computer Technology

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Product Description

Product Description
In this day and age, cyberspace may seem an unlikely gateway for the soul. But, as science commentator Margaret Wertheim argues in this volume, cyberspace has become more and more a repository for immense spiritual yearning. Wertheim explores the underpinnings of this mapping of spiritual desire onto digitized space and suggests that the modem today has become a metaphysical escape-hatch from a materialism that many people find increasingly unsatisfying. In a journey through the history of space, Wertheim traces the combined story of physical space and spiritual space from the Middle Ages to the present, and shows how reality has come to be defined as the exclusive domain of the physical world. It is against this profoundly materialistic world that Wertheim persuades us of the appeal and ultimate failure of cyberspace to satisfy spiritual needs.
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First Sentence
Halfway along the journey of his life, the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri set out on what has become the most famous journey of the Middle Ages: a trip to the end of the universe and back. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent exploration of possibilities, 14 May 1999
By A Customer
Margaret Wertheim has an uncanny ability to weave art, science, religion and literature into a solid analysis of culture and it's impact on how we interpret our reality. Her account of the history of our perception of space is fascinating on it's own, exploring as it does the struggle between the physical and the spiritual. However, I thought the final chapters, which examined reasons for the Net's popularity, the possibilities that people claim for it and the limitations of the virtual world were extremely insightful and well worth a read.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This is an amazing book, 3 May 1999
By A Customer
Forget the title - the real story here is in the subtitle "A History of Space from Dante to the Internet". That's what attracted me, and it lives up to the promise. In less than 200 pages Wertheim gives us the story of space from the middle ages to today. The medieval space of the afterlife, Renaissance perspective space, Copernicus' discovery of astronomical space, Einstein's relativistic space, and todays theories of cyberspace -- Wertheim connects the dots as if she is solving a complex historical puzzle. Even if you don't give a damn about cyberspace this is an amazing book. After reading this you will never take the word "space" for granted again. As Wertheim shows, there is a never-ending morphing of this quintessiential concept.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting new way of thinking..., 5 April 1999
By A Customer
This book is really divided into 3 parts: history of expression of space through paintings, history of physics, and Wertheim's views on cyberspace. The first two sections are top notch research articles, comprehensive, easy to follow, and very accurate. These two sections alone could have be made into a book. The last section, however, is quite subjective. It basically states that cyberspace will replace the Christian heaven, becoming New Jerusalem, where all will be good, and none shall die. It is where our bodily restraints shall be no more, and we can live with a new image, created through our likings. This is all well in theory, but there are too many problems with utopians created by man. There is also mention of downloading our souls into cyberspace, where we can live after our bodies die. Quite far fetched, and it presents problems as well. Nothing is wrong with new ideas being presented, but wishes for the impossible will never be granted. Living human beings belong to the physical world, and without a body one cannot really be called human...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A mind-expanding exploration of the spaces that surround us.
I have always wanted to read a cultural history of space, something that would help me understand how humans have conceived and poeticized the nature of the dimensions that... Read more
Published on 14 May 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Wertheim's critisism of cyber-religiosity is clear/concise
What a great book, Wertheim's critisism of cyber-religiosity is clear, concise and eviserating of cyber-gurus and those who would take cyberspace as a new home for the... Read more
Published on 27 April 1999

1.0 out of 5 stars The Grand Delusion
A better title for this book would be "The Grand Delusion". I can't believe someone would even write this. Read more
Published on 20 April 1999

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