Notes Ancient & Modern

Gilles Bransbourg, "All Roads Lead to (Ancient) Rome," Daily Beast, 6 November, argues that Roman Europe and the European Common Market had a single currency. Why the difference?

Chris Campbell, "The China Rule & Cult of Confucius," Genealogy of Religion, 6 November, suggests that if you test your favorite generalization against ancient or modern China's example, it's likely to fail.

Peter Monaghan, "Galileo's Art of Thinking," CHE, 30 October, reviews Mark A. Peterson's Galileo's Muse: Renaissance Mathematics and the Arts. Do yourself a favor and also have a look at Thony C's "The blatherings of Mr Wrong," The Renaissance Mathematicus, 22 January.

Gershom Gorenberg, "The Mystery of 1948," Slate, 7 November. The first of three excerpts Slate will publish from his new book, The Unmaking of Israel, considers whether Israel planned to expel most of resident Arabs in 1948. Hillel Halkin, "The Line Between Bold and Reckless," WSJ, 5 November, reviews Shimon Peres's Ben-Gurion: A Political Life and Gilad Sharon's Sharon: The Life of a Leader.