Tomáš G. Masaryk a Scholar and a Statesman. The Philosophical Background of His Political Views

Although subject to some revisionism since the end of the Cold War (when he was considered one of the "Champions of Liberty"1), the importance of the political thought of Tomáš G. Masaryk (1850–1937), the first president of Czechoslovakia, has been based on two considerations. One was his image as the principal shaper of the democratic culture in inter-war Czechoslovakia, which was unique in East-Central Europe. The other image was as a model of political prudence and sagacity, not only for East-Central Europe but one recognized universally (like that of Václav Havel at the turn of the twentieth century). In the period between World Wars I and II, two leading European intellectuals–Thomas Mann and George Bernard Shaw–were asked on separate occasions, whom they would suggest as the first president of the United States of Europe. Both responded unequivocally that the best candidate was Masaryk. The importance of the political thought of Thomas G. Masaryk (1850−1937), the first president of Czechoslovakia, has been based on two considerations. One was his image as the principal shaper of the democratic culture in inter-war Czechoslovakia. The other image was as a model of political prudence and sagacity not only for East-Central Europe, but one recognized universally. He was called by his contemporaries "the wisest European of today" and "the greatest man in Europe." John MacCormac, writing in the New York Times in 1930, saw in Masaryk a personage of the same caliber as Washington, Lincoln, and Wilson. Masaryk brought to his political activity the assets of profound background in scholarship, as well as a religious flavor. A leitmotif of Masaryk's intellectual search was his desire to establish a religious dimension to the human experience. Unable to accept his native Catholicism, whether traditional or liberal, he turned to the two modernizing trends in German Lutheranism that had jettisoned traditional dogma and liturgy. Zdenĕk V. David's main interest is to probe the mind of the man as revealed through his writings on philosophy and religion, and to map out his position in relation to the principal Austrian, British, French, and German - to some extent also American and Russian - thinkers with whom he dealt in his philosophical and religious writings. He focuses on the ideas behind Masaryk's political pronouncements and activities.

This challenging collection of problems is organized into seven carefully crafted, thoughtful chapters on the Sun and the nature of the solar system; the motion of the planets; the Sun, Earth, and Moon; the sky as observed from the rotating, revolving Earth; other planets, their satellites, their rings; asteroids, comets, and meteoroids; and the radiations and telescopes. From question 1, "List characteristics of the solar system that are major clues in devising a hypothesis of its origin and evolution, " through question 924, "Give a brief list of the contributions of radio and radar technologies in lunar and planetary astronomy, " the problems range in difficulty from ones requiring only simple knowledge to ones requiring significant understanding and analysis. Many of the answers, in turn, illuminate the questions by providing basic explanations of the concepts involved.

Pioneer 10 and 11 are now halfway to the edge of the solar system. All beginning and advanced students of astronomy and their instructors as well as all dedicated amateurs can join James Van Allen on this journey by exploring the questions and answers in this stimulating book.