In Medusa's Gaze and Vampire's Bite, Matt Kaplan sets out to disprove many of the classic "monsters". As I started reading this book I was excited to get to the chapter on zombies and vampires, wanting to be able to explain why they are not real. I have never believed that either actually exist; however, there are many ignorant people at my small-town school that seem to be in full belief of both. Many students even believe that there is an actual zombie disease going around in Africa and that the zombie apocalypse is coming. I absolutely cannot stand when people use no logic and try to argue that this is true so, naturally, I was extremely anxious to disprove them. Once I got to the chapter and read why they are not real, though, I was completely struck with how easily these monsters are explained.
Obviously, neither zombies nor vampires are real; interestingly, though, the origins of both are easy, short explanations. It is shocking to me that they have not been more publicized. I suppose, though, that the explanation of these monsters would take quite a bit of money away from the movie industry. Vampires have never been real; people thinking that they were came from a mix of misunderstandings about postmortem humans and how diseases spread. Though, it was extremely interesting to learn that, in a way, zombies have been real in Haiti. People called "zombie makers" used to mix many different natural ingredients into a sort of poison that completely paralyzed people, making it seem as if they were dead even though they were conscious the entire time. Once the doctors, without the amount of medical technology we have today, would pronounce the person dead, they would be buried. The "zombie makers" would then dig them back up, give them the remedy to the poison, and enslave them to work on a "zombie plantation". Clearly, though, with the technology of today this no longer happens and the half dead, decaying zombies portrayed in movie theatres around the world are not and have never been real. These monsters are easily disproved, yet people still believe; I may never understand why that is, but at least, now, I can logically argue their existence through science.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Monsters and I
Relating to a book about monsters is, for the most part, probably not a good thing. However, it seemed that on almost every page of Matt Kaplan's Medusa's Gaze and Vampire's Bite I found something that related to my life and/or personality. Granted, the entire subject matter of this book correlates to my want to go into archaeology and paleontology. Kaplan uses many archaeological and paleontological research papers and magazine articles to explain each monster; for me, this is absolutely wonderful and further confirms what I would love to be able to do with my life.
However, it was not just the overall subject matter I related to; Kaplan seemed to mention nearly all of my favorite things in life. There is an entire chapter on dinosaurs, that I love, and in which he mentions Australia, one of the top places I want to go to in my lifetime. Furthermore, Kaplan mentions the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park multiple times, both of which I have been to and both of which I absolutely fell in love with. He also talks about elephants, my favorite animal, and geology, another one of my career interests. Finally, in the chapter on dinosaurs, Kaplan explores the idea of being able to rebirth dinosaurs, something that I have an immeasurable interest in. So, to say the least, I can easily relate to this book on monsters and absolutely love it.
However, it was not just the overall subject matter I related to; Kaplan seemed to mention nearly all of my favorite things in life. There is an entire chapter on dinosaurs, that I love, and in which he mentions Australia, one of the top places I want to go to in my lifetime. Furthermore, Kaplan mentions the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park multiple times, both of which I have been to and both of which I absolutely fell in love with. He also talks about elephants, my favorite animal, and geology, another one of my career interests. Finally, in the chapter on dinosaurs, Kaplan explores the idea of being able to rebirth dinosaurs, something that I have an immeasurable interest in. So, to say the least, I can easily relate to this book on monsters and absolutely love it.
The Science of Monsters
Matt Kaplan's Medusa's Gaze and Vampire's Bite is a book exploring, quite literally, the science of monsters. Kaplan uses numerous sources, all of which are real, scientific research, to put together a novel that seems to touch on every monster humans have ever created. This book explains, to the best of Kaplan's ability, the origins of monsters ranging from Chimera to aliens. In my opinion, it is endlessly entertaining and interesting. Matt Kaplan found a perfect balance between scientific facts and his own, hilarious, sarcastic comments to inform readers yet entertain them at the same time.
Throughout the book, Kaplan investigates the relationship between these monsters and humans. As he inspects each monster he always explains how and why humans invented them and the reasons why they are or are not still frightening to the people of the modern day. For me, an extreme lover of science, the stories about the monsters and the reasons behind them were fascinating; I could barely put the book down. What is even better is the way Kaplan concluded the novel. Since it did not actually have a story line he had many options in how to conclude; luckily, he seemed to pick the best. Matt Kaplan explored one last monster: humans. He explained how, over the centuries, it seems as if humans have begun to take on the role of the real monsters until, finally, in the 2009 movie Avatar humans did, in fact, become the true monsters. This left me to ponder the role of humans today and, as any good scientist seems to want to do, left me with many, many questions. Medusa's Gaze and Vampire's Bite was a phenomenal, informative book that, in the end, left you with the question: who are the real monsters in the world?
Throughout the book, Kaplan investigates the relationship between these monsters and humans. As he inspects each monster he always explains how and why humans invented them and the reasons why they are or are not still frightening to the people of the modern day. For me, an extreme lover of science, the stories about the monsters and the reasons behind them were fascinating; I could barely put the book down. What is even better is the way Kaplan concluded the novel. Since it did not actually have a story line he had many options in how to conclude; luckily, he seemed to pick the best. Matt Kaplan explored one last monster: humans. He explained how, over the centuries, it seems as if humans have begun to take on the role of the real monsters until, finally, in the 2009 movie Avatar humans did, in fact, become the true monsters. This left me to ponder the role of humans today and, as any good scientist seems to want to do, left me with many, many questions. Medusa's Gaze and Vampire's Bite was a phenomenal, informative book that, in the end, left you with the question: who are the real monsters in the world?
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