This reviewer, as a graduate student of Philosophy, would observe with dismay the look of poorly concealed incomprehension upon revealing my field of study to others.  Arnold Hermann has produced a magnificent reply to those who wonder to what value does one espouse Philosophy as a way of understanding.  This book uses over 300 illustrations to provide a living, vibrant context for seeing Philosophy as an underlying, legitimatizing foundation for clear reasoning about not simply the world we sense, but about the process of thought itself.  Hermann’s gift to the reader is a concise re-examination of the role of reasoning and how the ingredients of that process led to the scientific method which has brought the planet such incredible breakthroughs in medicine, engineering, energy, and communications.  Think:  viral vaccines, elegant suspension bridges, hydrogen vehicles, computer chips.  Without some of the principles of logic that Parmenides advanced, steps such as verification, testing, elimination, and other key principles of consistency would not allow for scientific replication in the material world.  Even many legal rules that we rely upon today, such as evidentiary proofs, come not from the oft-credited Magna Carta, but from his formulations for his native city of Elea.  The author explores these concepts and credits in his Chapter V (page 152-161).

This beautifully illustrated book, measuring 10” x 8” is a reader’s delight because it is so carefully laid-out to balance text with photos and reproductions.  Chapter VIII is a fine example of the author’s understanding of his subject and his ability to communicate.  This section contains the 12 Provisos or theorems that any thoughtful person will recognize as essential for clear thinking.  Parmenides was living at a time when often brute force was in clear conflict with the desire of many for methods of governance that would enable social organization that was sensible and reasonable (his dates were 515-450 B.C.).  His philosophical predecessor, Pythagoras, managed to mark some progress, but he and his students and followers were still dealing with supernatural and pre-Historic ideas that owed more to mysticism than to identifiable powers of reason.  In that worldview, our sense experiences produced some degree of reliability about how humans functioned, but trying to establish how thinking, much less matter might function in the Universe needed ways to separate what Hermann refers to as the wheat form the chaff.  It might better be termed, imprecision had to be replaced by greater exactitude which could lead to reliable duplication and likeness.  Only then can any order be reproduced with some certainty.  How is this relevant today?  Many ways; an educated consumer can distinguish between unscrupulous bait-and-switch and “like-to-like” comparisons.  The list of laws and principles we owe to Parmenides is what Hermann stresses in his fine work.

The volume has a handsome cover, sewn binding, and quality paper which highlights the illustrations.  It is divided into 11 chapters, 8 pages of notes, an 8 pages bibliography, and a short but specific index.  The book can be marketed at our checkout counter easily because of its abundant color and enticing title.  It also belongs in Law, Ancient History, and of course, Philosophy.