the month in snapshots

 

the year in books [VII]

The eighth installment of 2021's reading queue is a collection of old authors and new ones. Max Brooks' World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is a great take on the zombie genre. Though I'm no longer as interested in zombies as I used to be (perhaps it was a phase?), I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Next on the list is Stephen King's Insomnia, which (to be honest) I didn't really like. It was slow-moving and weird. We Are Unprepared is a novel from an author I haven't read, and though it was anticlimatic, her characterization was solid. Matterhorn is a work of fiction that takes place during the Vietnam War, and it's honestly one of the best books I've ever read. Seriously: buy this book and read it. John Grisham's Street Lawyer was a moving tale about a high-profile lawyer who gives up the rich and fancy good life to work with the embittered poor in the city's slums, and David Poyer's Onslaught is the first in a six-book series about the third world war. It was an interesting read, and I may continue with the series in the future - but it certainly was no Matterhorn.

the year in books [VI]

The next installment of 2021's Reading Queue is a slew of history books. The first two books take place in the ancient world: a biography of Hannibal (the Carthaginian scourge of Rome, not the cannibal) and a biography of Pliny the Younger. Both were fantastic reads. Moving forward about a thousand years, the next book on the list is Dan Jones' Crusaders, a moving retelling of the Crusades from the Middle Ages. He traces the plethora of crusades, locating them within the political framework of the Middle Ages, and shows how the effects of the Crusades continue to this very day in the constant unrest in the Middle East. The next two books on the list are more sweeping historical works: Simon Jenkins' History of Europe is a quick run-through of European history, and C.S. Lewis' excellent The Discarded Image is an examination of the Medieval worldview. Fast-forward about five hundred years and you get to one of the best histories of The Napoleonic Wars I've read to-date. Not a bad gauntlet of books in the least. 

Dino of the Week: Pulanesaura

Type Species: Pulanesaura eocollum

Classification: Dinosauria - Saurischia - Sauropoda

Time Period: Early Jurassic

Location: South Africa

Diet: Herbivore

The twenty-five-foot-long Pulanesaura lived in the Early Jurassic of South Africa. It’s known from the partial remains of two subadult to adult individuals. Pulanesaura lived among other sauropodomorphs such as Aardonyx, Arcusaurus, and Massospondylus, but it wouldn’t have competed with them for food. This is possible not because Pulanesaura was carnivorous but because of ‘niche partitioning’: in any ecosystem, multiple kinds of animals can live together by exploiting different aspects of the environment. Scientists clued in to Pulanesaura’s role in niche partitioning because of the design of its neck: whereas its fellow sauropodomorphs were ‘high browsers’ (they ate food above ground level), Pulanesaura’s long, flexible neck enabled it to browse at ground level. It could root itself in one spot and sweep its long neck back and forth at ground level, munching on the ferns that sprouted in the arid floodplains of Early Jurassic South Africa. This trait would later be taken up by larger sauropods with much longer necks. 

Dino of the Week: Ledumahadi

Type Species: Ledumahadi mafube

Classification: Dinosauria - Saurischia - Sauropoda - Lessemsauridae

Time Period: Early Jurassic

Location: South Africa

Diet: Herbivore

Ledumahadi’s name means ‘a giant thunderclap at dawn’ in the African Sesotho language. Ledumahadi lived in the Early Jurassic Period, and it’s discovery caused quite a stir in paleontological circles. It was double the size of a large African elephant and likely weighed around twelve tons, nearly equal in weight to the much later sauropod Diplodocus. Its size is remarkable because it dwarfed all its contemporaries: at over fifty feet in length, it was nearly twice the size of early Triassic sauropods, such as Camelotia and Antetonitrus, and it was even bigger than the first ‘true sauropods’ such as Vulcanodon, which came slightly later in the Early Jurassic. At first glance Ledumahadi may look like a ‘true sauropod,’ but it has something unique: its arms and legs were oddly thick, unlike the slender profiles of sauropod legs, and its limbs were flexed rather than columnar. 

#institutes [III]

Select Quotes from John Calvin's 'The Institutes of the Christian Religion'

All quotes below are from Book One: Chapters 11-14

~  Chapter Eleven  ~

Against Idols. 'We see how plainly God declares against all figures, to make us aware that all longing after such visible shapes is rebellion against him. Of the prophets, it will be sufficient to mention Isaiah, who is the most copious on this subjects (Isaiah 40:18; 41:7, 29; 45:9; 46:5), in order to show how the majesty of God is defiled by an absurd and indecorous fiction, when he who is incorporeal is assimilated to corporeal matter; he who is invisible to a visible image; he who is a spirit to an inanimate object; and he who fills all space to a bit of paltry wood, or stone, or gold. Paul, too, reasons in the same way, “Forasmuch, then, as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device,” (Acts 17:29). Hence it is manifest, that whatever statues are set up or pictures painted to represent God, are utterly displeasing to him, as a kind of insults to his majesty.'

Idols Diminish Reverence and Encourage Error. '[The] most memorable passage of all is that which Augustine quotes in another place from Varro, and in which he expressly concurs:—“Those who first introduced images of the gods both took away fear and brought in error.” Were this merely the saying of Varro, it might perhaps be of little weight, though it might well make us ashamed, that a heathen, groping as it were in darkness, should have attained to such a degree of light, as to see that corporeal images are unworthy of the majesty of God, and that, because they diminish reverential fear and encourage error.'

Idolatry Fountains from the Human Heart. 'The human mind, stuffed as it is with presumptuous rashness, dares to imagine a god suited to its own capacity; as it labours under dullness, nay, is sunk in the grossest ignorance, it substitutes vanity and an empty phantom in the place of God. To these evils another is added. The god whom man has thus conceived inwardly he attempts to embody outwardly. The mind, in this way, conceives the idol, and the hand gives it birth.'

~  Chapter Fourteen  ~

Absent Scripture, We Are Enslaved to Imaginations. 'For as an eye, either dimmed by age or weakened by any other cause, sees nothing distinctly without the aid of glasses, so (such is our imbecility) if Scripture does not direct us in our inquiries after God, we immediately turn vain in our imaginations. Those who now indulge their petulance, and refuse to take warning, will learn, when too late, how much better it had been reverently to regard the secret counsels of God, than to belch forth blasphemies which pollute the face of heaven. Justly does Augustine complain that God is insulted whenever any higher reason than his will is demanded.'

Beware Speculation Beyond the Mysteries God Has Revealed. '[Let] us willingly remain hedged in by those boundaries within which God has been pleased to confine our persons, and, as it were, enclose our minds, so as to prevent them from losing themselves by wandering unrestrained.'

The Goodness of God Towards Us in Creation. 'In the very order of events, we ought diligently to ponder on the paternal goodness of God toward the human race, in not creating Adam until he had liberally enriched the earth with all good things. Had he placed him on an earth barren and unfurnished; had he given life before light, he might have seemed to pay little regard to his interest. But now that he has arranged the motions of the sun and stars for man’s use, has replenished the air, earth, and water, with living creatures, and produced all kinds of fruit in abundance for the supply of food, by performing the office of a provident and industrious head of a family, he has shown his wondrous goodness toward us.'

On Guardian Angels. 'Whether or not each believer has a single angel assigned to him for his defence, I dare not positively affirm. When Daniel introduces the angel of the Persian and the angel of the Greeks, he undoubtedly intimates that certain angels are appointed as a kind of presidents over kingdoms and provinces.11 13 Again, when Christ says that the angels of children always behold the face of his Father, he insinuates that there are certain angels to whom their safety has been entrusted. But I know not if it can be inferred from this, that each believer has his own angel. This, indeed, I hold for certain, that each of us is cared for, not by one angel merely, but that all with one consent watch for our safety. For it is said of all the angels collectively, that they rejoice “over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance.” It is also said, that the angels (meaning more than one) carried the soul of Lazarus into Abraham’s bosom. Nor was it to no purpose that Elisha showed his servant the many chariots of fire which were specially allotted him.'

Satan: In Obedience to God. 'With regard to the strife and war which Satan is said to wage with God, it must be understood with this qualification, that Satan cannot possibly do anything against the will and consent of God... Satan is under the power of God, and is so ruled by his authority, that he must yield obedience to it. Moreover, though we say that Satan resists God, and does works at variance with His works, we at the same time maintain that this contrariety and opposition depend on the permission of God. I now speak not of Satan’s will and endeavour, but only of the result. For the disposition of the devil being wicked, he has no inclination whatever to obey the divine will, but, on the contrary, is wholly bent on contumacy and rebellion. This much, therefore, he has of himself, and his own iniquity, that he eagerly, and of set purpose, opposes God, aiming at those things which he deems most contrary to the will of God. But as God holds him bound and fettered by the curb of his power, he executes those things only for which permission has been given him, and thus, however unwilling, obeys his Creator, being forced, whenever he is required, to do Him service.'

Dino of the Week: Antetonitrus

an artist's depiction of two Antetonitrus

Type Species: Antetonitrus ingenipes

Classification: Dinosauria - Saurischia - Sauropoda

Time Period: Late Triassic to Early Jurassic

Location: South Africa

Diet: Herbivore

Antetonitrus lived between the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, one of the few dinosaurs to cross the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. It’s known by one specimen found in the Elliot Formation of South Africa, which records the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in southern Africa. Antetonitrus lived alongside the far more common Massospondylus, also found at the Elliot Formation. Other creatures from Antetonitrus’ habitat include several early ornithischians (bird-hipped dinosaurs) and lots of crocodylomorphs, along with crustaceans, fishes, and turtles. 

Antetonitrus is one of the oldest known sauropods, and it’s remarkable in that it possesses characteristics both of prosauropods and sauropods; because of this, scientists have poured over its remains to decipher clues about sauropod evolution in the Late Triassic. The specimen discovered measured up to thirty feet in length and stood six feet tall at the hips, but because the vertebral neural arches weren’t fused, the remains likely belong to a juvenile so that adults would’ve been much larger. Unlike prosauropods, Antetonitrus was primarily quadrupedal, and its forelimbs were much longer relative to its hind legs than seen with earlier sauropodomorphs. Yet Antetonitrus retained prosauropod characteristics: the first digit of its hand – the thumb – was twisted and flexible, enabling Antetonitrus to use it for grasping. Derived sauropods weren’t able to grasp, and their wrists had thick, robust wrist bones arranged in a manner that locked the hand into a permanent pronated position, which enabled the hands to bear the weight of the limbs. Antetonitrus’ wrist bones were broader and thicker than seen in prosauropods, but it had yet to reach the permanent pronated position of sauropods. Derived sauropods had a sickle-shaped claw on the first toe of their hind feet, and while Antetonitrus had a claw, it wasn’t sickle-shaped. Its femur was slightly S-curved (sigmoidal) in the lateral view, whereas saurppods had straight femurs. This ‘mixed bag’ puts Antetonitrus in the odd stage between strict prosauropods and sauropods. 

#institutes [II]

Select Quotes from John Calvin's 'The Institutes of the Christian Religion'

All quotes below are from Book One: Chapters 6-10

~  Chapter Six  ~

On the Necessity of Revelation for Knowing God. '[It] is not strange that those who are born in darkness become more and more hardened in their stupidity; because the vast majority instead of confining themselves within due bounds by listening with docility to the Word, exult in their own vanity. If true religion is to beam upon us, our principle must be, that it is necessary to begin with heavenly teaching, and that it is impossible for any man to obtain even the minutest portion of right and sound doctrine without being a disciple of Scripture.'

On the Necessity of Revelation for Knowing God (II): '[If] we reflect how prone the human mind is to lapse into forgetfulness of God, how readily inclined to every kind of error, how bent every now and then on devising new and fictitious religions, it will be easy to understand how necessary it was to make such a depository of doctrine as would secure it from either perishing by the neglect, vanishing away amid the errors, or being corrupted by the presumptuous audacity of men.'

~  Chapter Seven  ~ 

A Justification of New Testament Canon. 'Paul testifies that the Church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,” (Eph. 2:20). If the doctrine of the apostles and prophets is the foundation of the Church, the former must have had its certainty before the latter began to exist. Nor is there any room for the cavil, that though the Church derives her first beginning from thence, it still remains doubtful what writings are to be attributed to the apostles and prophets, until her Judgment is interposed.'

How the Spirit is Arbiter of Scriptures' Authenticity. 'Profane men think that religion rests only on opinion, and, therefore, that they may not believe foolishly, or on slight grounds, desire and insist to have it proved by reason that Moses and the prophets were divinely inspired. But I answer, that the testimony of the Spirit is superior to reason. For as God alone can properly bear witness to his own words, so these words will not obtain full credit in the hearts of men, until they are sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit.'

Spiritual Enlightenment as Testimony to Scriptures' Authenticity. 'Some worthy persons feel disconcerted, because, while the wicked murmur with impunity at the Word of God, they have not a clear proof at hand to silence them, forgetting that the Spirit is called an earnest and seal to confirm the faith of the godly, for this very reason, that, until he enlightens their minds, they are tossed to and fro in a sea of doubts... Enlightened by him, we no longer believe, either on our own Judgment or that of others, that the Scriptures are from God; but, in a way superior to human Judgment, feel perfectly assured—as much so as if we beheld the divine image visibly impressed on it—that it came to us, by the instrumentality of men, from the very mouth of God.'

The Living Energy of the Living Word. '[We] have a thorough conviction that, in holding [Scripture], we hold unassailable truth; not like miserable men, whose minds are enslaved by superstition, but because we feel a divine energy living and breathing in it—an energy by which we are drawn and animated to obey it, willingly indeed, and knowingly, but more vividly and effectually than could be done by human will or knowledge. Hence, God most justly exclaims by the mouth of Isaiah, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he,” (Isa. 43:10).'

Spiritual Enlightenment Given Only to the Elect. '[The] only true faith is that which the Spirit of God seals on our hearts. Nay, the modest and teachable reader will find a sufficient reason in the promise contained in Isaiah, that all the children of the renovated Church “shall be taught of the Lord,” (Isaiah 54:13). This singular privilege God bestows on his elect only, whom he separates from the rest of mankind. For what is the beginning of true doctrine but prompt alacrity to hear the Word of God?'

Spiritual Enlightenment is a Gift of God. 'God having been pleased to reserve the treasure of intelligence for his children, no wonder that so much ignorance and stupidity is seen in the generality of mankind. In the generality, I include even those specially chosen, until they are ingrafted into the body of the Church. Isaiah, moreover, while reminding us that the prophetical doctrine would prove incredible not only to strangers, but also to the Jews, who were desirous to be thought of the household of God, subjoins the reason, when he asks, “To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). If at any time, then we are troubled at the small number of those who believe, let us, on the other hand, call to mind, that none comprehend the mysteries of God save those to whom it is given.'

~  Chapter Eight  ~

The Victory of Scripture as Testifying to its Authenticity. 'It' is not to be accounted of no consequence, that, from the first publication of Scripture, so many ages have uniformly concurred in yielding obedience to it, and that, notwithstanding of the many extraordinary attempts which Satan and the whole world have made to oppress and overthrow it, or completely efface it from the memory of men, it has flourished like the palm tree and continued invincible. Though in old times there was scarcely a sophist or orator of any note who did not exert his powers against it, their efforts proved unavailing. The powers of the earth armed themselves for its destruction, but all their attempts vanished into smoke. When thus powerfully assailed on every side, how could it have resisted if it had trusted only to human aid? Nay, its divine origin is more completely established by the fact, that when all human wishes were against it, it advanced by its own energy.'

The Victory of Scripture in Capturing Kingdoms. 'Add that it was not a single city or a single nation that concurred in receiving and embracing it. Its authority was recognised as far and as wide as the world extends—various nations who had nothing else in common entering for this purpose into a holy league.'

The Authenticity of Scripture Verified by Blood. '[With] what confidence does it become us to subscribe to a doctrine attested and confirmed by the blood of so many saints? They, when once they had embraced it, hesitated not boldly and intrepidly, and even with great alacrity, to meet death in its defence. Being transmitted to us with such an earnest, who of us shall not receive it with firm and unshaken conviction? It is therefore no small proof of the authority of Scripture, that it was sealed with the blood of so many witnesses, especially when it is considered that in bearing testimony to the faith, they met death not with fanatical enthusiasm (as erring spirits are sometimes wont to do), but with a firm and constant, yet sober godly zeal.'

The Final Proof of Scripture is the Spirit of God. 'There are other reasons, neither few nor feeble, by which the dignity and majesty of the Scriptures may be not only proved to the pious, but also completely vindicated against the cavils of slanderers. These, however, cannot of themselves produce a firm faith in Scripture until our heavenly Father manifest his presence in it, and thereby secure implicit reverence for it. Then only, therefore, does Scripture suffice to give a saving knowledge of God when its certainty is founded on the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit.'

~  Chapter Ten  ~

The Knowledge of God Prompts Worship, Obedience, and Dependence Upon God. '[The] knowledge of God, which is set before us in the Scriptures, is designed for the same purpose as that which shines in creation—viz. that we may thereby learn to worship him with perfect integrity of heart and unfeigned obedience, and also to depend entirely on his goodness.'

Dino of the Week: Massospondylus

Type Species: Massospondylus carinatus
Classification: Dinosauria - Saurischia - Sauropodomorpha - Prosauropoda
Time Period: Early Jurassic
Location: Africa & North America
Diet: Herbivore

This Lower Jurassic dinosaur has been found in Africa and North America. Stretching to between 15-20 feet, Massospondylus was smaller than many of the larger prosauropods that preceded it by millions of years. This dinosaur had a body kept long and low, and it stood no higher than five feet tall at the hips. Its body may have been smaller than its predecessors, but its neck was longer, made so by its neck vertebrae being four times long as they were wide (the presence of these elongated vertebrae gives the meaning of Massospondylus’ name: “the Longer Vertebrae”). The extra-long neck and long tail served as bookends for its bulky, low-slung body. Rounded, peg-like teeth designed for stripping leaves off trees lined the jaws of its small head. Massospondylus’ forelegs were half the length of the hind limbs, but they were by no means scrawny: the broad upper end of the humerus implies that these fore-arms had strong muscle attachments and could deliver a fatal punch. Such a “killer punch” would’ve been made that much more lethal by the gruesome thumb claw on each large hand. Though it was long thought that Massospondylus was confined to a quadrupedal stance, recent studies have shown that it could walk on two legs if it so desired.

The presence of a few large holes for blood vessels on the surface of the jaw bones implies that it had, like many prosauropods, cheeks (reptiles without cheeks have numerous small blood vessel holes in the jaws rather than a few large ones); these cheeks helped keep food from falling out of the mouth. Some scientists have speculated that Massospondylus may have had a beak, like the ornithischians, but the evidence for this is dubious at best. On the subject of its dietary apparatuses, it seems Massospondylus employed a gastric mill: a specimen from Zimbabwe was found with gastroliths in its gut area, and these particular stones had their origin nearly twelve miles from the gravesite. This specimen had probably ritualistically swallowed gizzard stones only hours or days before its death. 

Like Plateosaurus, Massospondylus possessed small air cavities in some of its bones. Most saurischian dinosaurs had these hollowed-out cavities (called pneumatic foramina) that served as a rudimentary “flow-through ventilation system” similar to that of present-day birds. The neck vertebrae and ribs are hollowed out by the cervical air sack; the upper back vertebrae, by the presence of the lungs; and the lower back and hip vertebrae by the abdominal air sack. Prosauropods are the only major group of saurischian dinosaurs that lack an extensive system of pneumatic foramina, despite some species—such as Massospondylus—possessing the miniscule “building-blocks” that could, one day, blossom into full-blown pneumatic foramina. The presence of air sacs in Massospondylus doesn’t mean that it had a full-blown pneumatic system like that of birds (or even like that of wider saurischian); it does mean that, at the least, we have glimpses of the plodding evolution of such structures. 

The remains of nearly eighty individuals have been unearthed, indicating that Massospondylus may have engaged in gregarious behavior, traveling in herds throughout both Laurasia and Gondwana. Such gregariousness is attested to by marked differences between the skulls of these prosauropods: such minor variations are often symptomatic of sexual dimorphism. Sexual dimorphism—changes in anatomy between males and females—is most prominent in gregarious animals. Furthermore, gregarious animals have a tendency to care for their young, and this is precisely what we see with Massospondylus. In 1976, a clutch of seven 190 million year old Massospondylus eggs were found in South Africa. They were attributed to Massospondylus from the get-go, but detailed examination of the eggs didn’t start until the turn of the century. Scientists were able to examine the actual embryos, making these embryonic dinosaurs the oldest known. More digging uncovered another ten more egg clutches, and each clutch contained up to 34 eggs. Because these egg clutches were found in at least four different time zones in the rock formation, we can deduce that we’ve stumbled across a nesting colony that was revisited on a cyclical basis. Nesting colonies are common among gregarious animals, and detailed studies of the hatchlings (and the track-ways they left behind) tell us that infant Massospondylus were unable to function well on their own. Not only were they ungainly (not optimal for running from predators), but they lacked teeth! It seems parental care may have been a necessity for the Massospondylus line to continue; without such parental care, the babies would starve to death and the species would go extinct.