Ah, the question that has puzzled many a seeker of the truth:  IS THE LOCH NESS MONSTER REAL? This topic has captured the imaginations of people around the world, from curious tourists to seasoned researchers. Now, there's no real way to know for sure if it's real or not. Some people believe that there really is a creature living in the depths of the loch, while others think the sightings are just hoaxes or mistaken identity. But what would a philosopher have to say about this mysterious creature? Let's take one of the world's most well know philosophers Plato  THE PERFECT CHAIR Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher (around 400 BCE) thought knowledge was a mix of senses and reason. Many consider him to be the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy. His philosophy covered a wide range of topics, from metaphysics and epistemology to ethics and politics. One of the central ideas in Plato's philosophy was his theory of Forms. According to this theory,...

Bibliophiles who love a good mystery, or conspiracy, should be familiar with the Voynich Manuscript. In the article that follows I’ll take you through a quick overview on this mystery and then provide you with some links for further reading. Enjoy! The mysterious Voynich Manuscript has been hanging around for almost 500 years, most of that time it was lost among a private collection but is now the focus of intense of scrutiny. It is famous for being written in an unknown language or code which, so far, has yet to been deciphered. The Voynich manuscript, or Beinecke Ms. 408, is thought to be the only medieval document on the planet in that category. This handwritten codex famous for its indecipherable language also contains drawings of strange plants, Zodiac star charts, and what looks like women bathing in green water.

"In all the course of my life I never slept worse my dear wife and I than I did last night - what with the hard ground, spiders, ants and every vermin that you can think of crawling over me.  I was glad when morning came" The above is a quote from the book 1788.  It in turn is a quote from the pages of Lieutenant Ralph Clark's journal in Feburary 1788.  This was written over 200  years ago and yet how apt is it now? For all intents and purposes it could be a page out of one of my camping journals as I was able to relate to this man's discomfort.  In some ways Australia hasn't changed a bit.   Every time I go out into the bush I have 'every vermin that you can think of crawling over me' and this happens in my house sometimes as well.

Subtitle: An Englishman's Year I'm one who prefers fiction (sci-fi or fantasy) but this book sparked my interest when I read the back cover. And it didn't disappoint me either I was quite fascinated by all the information gleaned from England 1000 years ago. It was remarkable to see the similarities between 21st century man and 11th century man. The same human issues they dealt with back then are the ones we are still dealing with now... especially the commotion over the 'end of the world' when the calendar turned over to 1000. Definitely worth the read. Liked what you read? Why not... Then head over to my Facebook page  The BistroMath to join the conversation. You can also follow me on Twitter or YouTube. To do so click on the images below.