Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Transformation Scene

In the first transformation scene there where both similarity’s and differences between the movie, novella, and picture. In all three it showed how he took the poison and the side affects, but the side affects and the way the poison persevered itself where all different. For example, the movie portrays the poison as having Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as one person just with two different personalities and desires. In the novella it is seen as if Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde become to different people and while in the picture it is seen almost as if Mr. Hyde is a spirit that came out of Dr. Jekyll, a ghost per say.

Devil in the White City: The World’s Fair

The  documentary  of The World’s Fair helped to bring the novel Devil in the White City alive. It helped to visualize the World’s fair as a whole and it helped to give more background as to places where Devil in the White City took place. I feel that watching the documentary helped to father my understanding of the novel, it explained some of the things I wanted to know more about. What i found to be the most interesting was how things for the fair where made. Exp. how the Ferris Wheel and how things would go wrong, I found this part to be the most wroth watching.

Master and Commander

“Master and Commander” is a movie about the sea war between France and England. It shows things such as life on a ship, ideas of warfare, science in the military, relationships and such things like that. It shows that how people can once be friends and then cross sides. The captains of the two ships where once friends and then took different sides during battle.  The enlish were attacked by the french and the ship destroyed. The ehnglish goes back and attacks the french ships by useing tricky. But, I also feel that the movie was quite slow at pionts and long.

Industrial Revolution in Victorian England

This chip showed the life of the middle class in the days of Victorian England and the Industrial Revolution. It shows how the Industrial Recolution made the middle class poorer while making the rest of England as a whole richer. As this time in England, everyone had to work so that the family could stay afloat.  Also, most children didn’t go to school but worked in the cotton mills. Children under that age of ten had some of the most dangerous jobs, such as removing small objects from under running machinery. This cahgned only after efforts by such reformers as Elizabeth Gascoll one of queen Victoria’s sisters.

Years of Rice and Salt: Book 10 (Extra Credit)

In Book Ten: The First Years of “The years of Rice and Salt” written by Kim Stanley Robison the main Character is Busho who used to be a Japanese Samurai. In this book we learn about the discovering of the “new land” but in this last chapter instead of it being discovered by England how it happens in real time history it is discovered by China. In this book there is Busho and he was forced to leave his home land in Japan do to an invasion by the Muslims. Busho then goes on to the Americans where he saves a Native American tribe from the Sioux tribe. While then living with the American tribe for a while Busho is nominated to be the chief of what they call “The eight nations of Native Americans”. Busho accepts the position of chief; while chief he revels quite a bit of himself and his background to everyone. He tells of people from his “home world” and how they had once tried to set up a territory in the Americas but where only invaded by the Chinese. What Busho does to help the tribe is to propose they build stronger alliances with the other American tribes so that they can build up the defense of their “new world” to keep other outside were they belong: out.

Years of Rice and Salt: Book 4

In Book Four: The Alchemist of “The years of Rice and Salt” written by Kim Stanley Robinson I found that not all to much was really different the how it really happened us the names and places changed. In the book everything happened in China (the east) instead of Europe (the west). Also many of the Charters related to real life human players in the role of history. Iwang was just like Galileo while Khalid was just like Newton. Iwang found gravity just like Galileo and Khalid practiced Alchemy just like Newton did.

Overall, I found the book to be alright it flowed history to closely for my likening. I found the books where the differ form history more greatly to be much more interesting.

Newton’s Dark Sercrets

In this documentary, you find out about Newton’s ‘secrets’. What I didn’t know and found to be pretty interesting was  that Newton practiced Alchemy and was trying to find the legendary “Philosopher’s Stone”, which is a kind of mythical catalyst that can transform one element into another. Newton was convinced that ancient alchemical legends where indeed real, and put tons of effort into trying to uncover how to transform one element into another.

Overall, I found this documentary to be very interesting and wanted to know some more so I therefore did a search and came upon this.

The Hound of the Baskervilles: Blog Paper: Edited

            In the novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Doyle examines the conflict between the supernatural and scientific reasoning. At the time that Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles there was an ongoing conflict in England that was revealed, which clearly influenced Doyle’s novel. Doyle believed that facts and scientific reasoning were superior to superstition; this is clearly seen in The Hound of the Baskervilles. When first reading the story you believe that the supernatural will conquer scientific fact, but as you get further along, you began to question, will scientific fact conquer in the end or will the supernatural be confirmed with the death of Sir Henry?

In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Dr. Mortimer goes to see Holmes after the passing of Sir Charles Baskerville. He claims that his main problem is whether or not to take Sir Hendry Baskerville back to Baskerville Hall.   Dr. Mortimer tells Holmes and Watson about the ‘Baskerville curse’ and how he believes Sir Charles death was more than just natural and has something to do with the ‘curse’.

There are many different opinions on how Sir Charles really died. The Baskerville curse is well known in Devonshire, so many of the residents of the moor believe Sir Charles’ death wasn’t an accident. But, by first glance of the place where Sir Charles died, it would be said that he died of natural causes. He seemed to have no scratches, bruises, and/or cuts on his body. But is that really what happened? Did something trigger his death? (Doyle, 28)

Dr. Mortimer arrives with a manuscript given to him by Sir Charles. The manuscript tells of everything related to the ‘Baskerville curse’ and how it is seen to have begun. In the last sentence of the manuscript: ” To that Providence, my sons, I hereby commend you, and I counsel you by the way of caution to forbear from crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted” (Doyle, 14) This is a warning to future Baskervilles from the writer of the manuscript. This can hereby be said that this warning, and the material contained within the manuscript, would be why Dr. Mortimer believes that Sir Charles’s death was caused by something super natural.

Furthermore, from here you can see how Dr. Mortimer, even though described by Holmes as being a “trained man of science”, constantly disagrees with Holmes on whether Sir Charles death was based on scientific fact or  by super natural means. Dr. Mortimer admits to having a belief that Sir Charles death was caused by super natural forces: “My motive for withholding it from the coroner’s inquiry is that a man of science shrinks from placing himself in the public position of seeming to endorse popular superstition” (Doyle, 17).  It is clearly seen that Dr. Mortimer believes that conveying any belief in the unexplained would only arise more doubt in the outside world. The conflict between Holmes and Dr. Mortimer on the subject of scientific reasoning versus the supernatural is again seen when Holmes takes a condescending tone towards Dr. Mortimer by saying that if the supernatural hound was in fact the work of the devil, it wouldn’t matter where a Baskerville was and the whole line of Baskervilles would have been long obsolete. (Doyle, 23)

When Watson goes back to Baskerville hall with Sir Henry to keep an eye on him, we are introduced to Stapleton. At first glance, Stapleton is seen as not believing in the hound story.  He believes that Sir Charles’s death was indeed natural. (Doyle, 82) His theory to how Sir Charles dies is that “His nerves were so worked up that the appearance of any dog might have had fatal effect upon this death.” Basically, stating that Sir Charles’s imagination caught up with him. (Doyle, 85)

Later in the story we find out that Stapleton is the real mastermind behind Sir Charles death, and it was indeed, scientific and not supernatural. Stapleton wanted to kill Sir Charles so he could inherit his fortune. (Doyle, 157) Stapleton had masterfully plotted out each detail of Sir Charles death and Sir Hendry’s downfall, for instance, when he tells the cab driver in London that his name is Mr. Sherlock Holmes. (Doyle, 64) Holmes explains this fact furthermore, by stating that Stapleton could hide the noises of his hound but he couldn’t hush its voice which is why the “cries which even in daylight were not pleasant to hear.” Holmes then continues to explain that “this paste in the tin is no doubt the luminous mixture with which the creature was daubed. It was suggested, of course, by the story of the family hell-hound and by the desire to frighten old Sir Charles to death” (Doyle, 157)

It could be said that “Doyle has Stapleton play the culprit to show that it was common in the Victorian age for people’s belief in superstition to interfere with the investigation of real crimes and for criminals to use this to their advantage.” (Wagner, 28-29)

Though out the novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes’s scientific method is challenged by the supernatural. However, in the end, Holmes’s theory of scientific reasoning prevails. Evermore, your question, about what force will supersede the other is answered. Sir Charles’s real life human mastermind is found and Sir Henry continues to live in Baskerville hall.

       Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles. New York, NY: Modern Library, 2002.

       Wagner, E.J. The Science of Sherlock Holmes. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2006.

The Hound of the Baskervilles – Continued

It this story we  futher see the relationship between Holmes and Watson.

The Hound of Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles, was by far the most interesting Holmes story I ever read, I couldn’t stop reading. The story held my attention for a long time. The case that is set before Sherlock Holmes in this story is undoubtedly an interesting one. A man by the name of Dr.Mortimer comes to Sherlock because of his reputation of solving crimes. The case he presents to Holmes and Watson is a very superstitious one. But the very fact that this case presents itself as unnatural, makes Sherlock want to dive into it a very fast pace. The first five chapters basically lay out the details of the case. Every detail or thought that arises from the situation seems to take a turn for the unexpected.