Society

Coffee shops have been used as gathering places for a long time. During their mid-eighteenth century incarnation, they served as a meeting place for middle class up and comers and political radicals.

As might be surmised from the title, Dr. Johnson's London gives glimpses into the various sights, smells, and practical matters of life in long ago London for criminals, the poor, the middle class, high society and royalty. The author draws largely from original sources.

"Community, Identity, Stability" is the motto of Aldous Huxley's utopian World State. Here everyone consumes daily grams of soma, to fight depression, babies are born in laboratories, and the most popular form of entertainment is a "Feelie," a movie that stimulates the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Though there is no violence and everyone is provided for, Bernard Marx feels something is missing and senses his relationship with a young women has the potential to be much more than the confines of their existence allow. Huxley foreshadowed many of the practices and gadgets we take for granted today--let's hope the sterility and absence of individuality he predicted aren't yet to come. - Amazon.