Scientist views butterflies as flying sculptures

In today’s Toronto Star, science reporter Peter Calamai describes results of investigations into the monarch butterfly’s navigational abilities, published online in periodicals from the Public Library of Science, PloS Biology and PloS ONE. Calamai interviews Dr. Steven Reppert, "the U.S. neurobiologist who led the seven-member research team." According to Calamai, Reppert

"... said studying a butterfly brain is much more physically challenging than studying the mouse, whose brain is pumpkin-sized in proportion to the monarch's. "I love butterflies. I think they're a metaphor for life. I view them as flying sculptures, which appeals to me as a scientist who has artistic leanings."

This quotes resonates with a thread on the Barque: Thomas Moore Forum about appreciating scientific knowledge and the unknowable.

Night terrier, or night terror, not nightmare

Today, Mary Strachan Scriver posts "The Night Terrier", describing a Montana get together hosted by Michael and Linda Sexson in the 1980s, attended by Thomas Moore:

"People were PASSIONATE! Far from cool techies! Thomas Moore was there to explain how computers tapped into our human way of making inanimate objects into something human: ventriloquists’ dummies (the computer as Mortimer Snerd), Pinocchio (the computer as liar), and oracles (futurism). They weren’t tools, they were relationships!"

Then she describes a recent dream in which Moore appeared:

"Thomas Moore would listen to all this very carefully and then begin to ask me to free-associate. He’s from the James Hillman school of thought: nothing is too sacred to reflect upon because all of life is sacred, but sacrality doesn’t necessarily mean institutional dogma."

Publishers Weekly reviews Moore's new book

Publishers Weekly reviews Thomas Moore’s forthcoming book, A Life at Work: The Joy of Discovering What You Were Born to Do, in its December 24, 2007 listing:

"In this slender volume, bestselling spiritual guru Moore (Care of the Soul) says that finding the right work, finding one's vocation, is also part of the care of the soul. Often Moore proves astute; for instance, he urges people to think about having not just one but a variety of callings. His consideration of the pleasures and foibles of friendship in the workplace is especially insightful. Although confident that even the most mundane job can be enjoyable and life-giving, Moore sets the question of vocation in a broader frame, suggesting that it is best addressed as a part of fashioning lives that are organically whole and meaningful. Though still influenced by Jung, Moore draws inspiration from a delightful array of sources, including Yeats, Socrates, and Rapunzel. The book's governing metaphor, alchemy, is often apt; Moore notes that both alchemy and finding a life's work require patience through a long refining process, and both are about the process, not just the end result. Often the comparison works; at other times, it's heavy-handed, and Moore also lapses into clichés ("take the past and own it"). Nonetheless, this will be of use to many people who seek joyful work and integrated lives."

Thomas Moore. Broadway, $24.95 (208p)
ISBN 978-0-7679-2252-4
To be released Feb. 26, 2008.