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A Little "Light" ReadingAs Freemasons, we are ever encouraged to seek more knowledge or “light.” Indeed, our ritual specifically commends the study of the liberal arts and sciences as a means of self improvement. The big problem for most of us, however, is time. For the busy Mason, I would recommend two books: “The Intellectual Devotional: Revive your mind, complete your education, and roam confidently with the cultured class,” by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim, and “The Book of General Ignorance: Everything you think you know is wrong” by John Lloyd and John Michinson. Both are collections of general knowledge, providing a wide range of interesting, and even amusing, information. “The Intellectual Devotional” is formatted as a daily reader. Moving between seven areas of knowledge - history, literature, visual arts, science, music, philosophy, and religion – this book offers a short, well-researched article for each day of the year. It is really a marvelous book, highly informative, and easy to read systematically or as something to dip in and out of. “The Book of General Ignorance,” on the other hand, takes a different approach. This book evolved from the BBC panel game QI (Quite Interesting). In no particular order, the BGI reveals 230 common misperceptions. Some of the topics include “Who invented champagne?”, “What color were Robin Hood’s tights?”, and “How did Catherine the Great die?” I was personally surprised by how many misperceptions I actually held, though some, I have to say, were trick questions. I hope that those who read these books will find them as enjoyable and “illuminating” as I have. S & F Bro. Robert Blackburn |