In vitro fertilisation

In vitro fertilisation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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In vitro fertilisation[1] (IVF) is a technique in which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the woman’s womb, in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed. The process involves hormonally controlling the ovulatory process, removing ova (eggs) from the woman’s ovaries and letting sperm fertilise them in a fluid medium. The fertilised egg (zygote) is then transferred to the patient’s uterus with the intent to establish a successful pregnancy.



Oocyte with surrounding granulosa cells



“In vitro”

Main article: In vitro

The term in vitro, from the Latin root meaning in glass, is used, because early biological experiments involving cultivation of tissues outside the living organism from which they came, were carried out in glass containers such as beakers, test tubes, or petri dishes. Today, the term in vitro is used to refer to any biological procedure that is performed outside the organism it would normally be occurring in, to distinguish it from an in vivo procedure, where the tissue remains inside the living organism within which it is normally found. A colloquial term for babies conceived as the result of IVF, test tube babies, refers to the tube-shaped containers of glass or plastic resin, called test tubes, that are commonly used in chemistry labs and biology labs. However in vitro fertilisation is usually performed in the shallower containers called petri dishes. (Petri-dishes may also be made of plastic resins.) However, the IVF method of Autologous Endometrial Coculture is actually performed on organic material, but is yet called in vitro.



History

On the basis of the findings of Min Chueh Chang‘s application of in vitro fertilization to animals, the technique was developed for humans in the United Kingdom by Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards. The first “test-tube baby”, Louise Brown, was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, as a result on July 25, 1978 amid intense controversy over the safety and morality of the procedure.[2]

Subhash Mukhopadhyay became the first physician in India, and the second in the world after Steptoe and Edwards, to perform the procedure and produce the test tube baby “Durga” (alias Kanupriya Agarwal) on October 3, 1978. Facing social ostracism, bureaucratic negligence, reprimand and insult instead of recognition from the Marxist West Bengal government and refusal of the Government of India to allow him to attend international conferences, Mukhopadhyay committed suicide in his Calcutta residence in 1981.

Major pioneering developments in IVF also occurred in Australia under the leadership of Carl Wood, Alan Trounson and Ian Johnston.[3][4] The world’s third IVF baby, Candice Reed was born on June 23, 1980 in Melbourne, Australia.

The first successful IVF treatment in the USA (producing Elizabeth Jordan Carr) took place in 1981 under the direction of Doctors Howard Jones and Georgeanna Seegar Jones in Norfolk, Virginia. Since then IVF has exploded in popularity, with as many as 1% of all births now being conceived in-vitro, with over 115,000 born in the USA to date. At present, the percentage of children born after IVF (including with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)) has been up to 4% of all babies born in Denmark.

Jane Mohr of Manhattan Beach California, gave birth to the nation’s first set of triplets born 21 months apart due to in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and long-term embryo storage. Jane gave birth November 29, 1988 to two daughters, Mollie McKenna and Hannah Christina Mohr, nearly two years after the birth of her son, Cooper Patrick Mohr.



Indications

Initially IVF was developed to overcome infertility due to problems of the fallopian tube, but it turned out that it was successful in many other infertility situations as well. The introduction of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) addresses the problem of male infertility to a large extent.

Thus, for IVF to be successful it may be easier to say that it requires healthy ova, sperm that can fertilise, and a uterus that can maintain a pregnancy. Cost considerations generally place IVF as a treatment when other less expensive options have failed.

This means that IVF can be used for females who have already gone through pregnancy. The donated oocyte can be fertilised in a crucible. If the fertilisation is successful, the fertilised egg will be transferred into the uterus, within which it will develop into an embryo.



Method



Ovarian stimulation

Treatment cycles are typically started on the third day of menstruation and consist of a regimen of fertility medications to stimulate the development of multiple follicles of the ovaries. In most patients injectable gonadotropins (usually FSH analogues) are used under close monitoring. Such monitoring frequently checks the estradiol level and, by means of gynecologic ultrasonography, follicular growth. Typically approximately 10 days of injections will be necessary. Spontanenous ovulation during the cycle is prevented by the use of GnRH agonists or GnRH antagonists, which block the natural surge of luteinizing hormone (LH).



Oocyte retrieval

Main article: Transvaginal oocyte retrieval

When follicular maturation is judged to be adequate, human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) is given. This agent, which acts as an analogue of luteinizing hormone, would cause ovulation about 36 hours after injection, but a retrieval procedure takes place just prior to that, in order to recover the egg cells from the ovary. The eggs are retrieved from the patient using a transvaginal technique involving an ultrasound-guided needle piercing the vaginal wall to reach the ovaries. Through this needle follicles can be aspirated, and the follicular fluid is handed to the IVF laboratory to identify ova. The retrieval procedure takes about 20 minutes and is usually done under conscious sedation or general anesthesia.



Oocyte is injected during ICSI



Fertilisation

In the laboratory , the identified eggs are stripped of surrounding cells and prepared for fertilisation. In the meantime, semen is prepared for fertilisation by removing inactive cells and seminal fluid. If semen is being provided by a sperm donor, it will usually have been prepared for treatment before being frozen and quarantined, and it will be thawed ready for use. The sperm and the egg are incubated together (at a ratio of about 75,000:1) in the culture media for about 18 hours. By that time fertilisation should have taken place and the fertilised egg would show two pronuclei. In situations where the sperm count is low, a single sperm is injected directly into the egg using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The fertilised egg is passed to a special growth medium and left for about 48 hours until the egg has reached the 6-8 cell stage.



8-cell embryo for transfer



Selection

Laboratories have developed grading methods to judge oocyte and embryo quality. Typically, embryos that have reached the 6-8 cell stage are transferred three days after retrieval. In many American and Australian programmes[citation needed], however, embryos are placed into an extended culture system with a transfer done at the blastocyst stage, especially if many good-quality day-3 embryos are available. Blastocyst stage transfers have been shown to result in higher pregnancy rates.[5]. In Europe, day-2 transfers are common.[citation needed]



Embryo transfer

Main article: Embryo transfer

Embryos are graded by the embryologist based on the number of cells, evenness of growth and degree of fragmentation. The number to be transferred depends on the number available, the age of the woman and other health and diagnostic factors. In countries such as the UK, Australia and New Zealand, a maximum of two embryos are transferred except in unusual circumstances. For instance, a woman over 35 may have up to three embryos transferred. This is to limit the number of multiple pregnancies. The embryos judged to be the “best” are transferred to the patient’s uterus through a thin, plastic catheter, which goes through her vagina and cervix. Several embryos may be passed into the uterus to improve chances of implantation and pregnancy.



Blastocyst for transfer



Success rates

While the overall live birth rate via IVF in the U.S. is about 27% per cycle (33% pregnancy rate), the chances of a successful pregnancy via IVF vary widely based on the age of the woman (or, more precisely, on the age of the eggs involved). [2] Where the woman’s own eggs are used as opposed to those of a donor, for women under 35, the pregnancy rate is commonly approximately 43% per cycle (36.5% live birth), while for women over 40, the rate falls drastically – to only 4% for women over 42. [3] Other factors that determine success rates include the quality of the eggs and sperm, the duration of the infertility, the health of the uterus, and the medical expertise. It is a common practice for IVF programmes to boost the pregnancy rate by placing multiple embryos during embryo transfer. A flip side of this practice is a higher risk of multiple pregnancy, itself associated with obstetric complications.

A recent technique is to bathe an embryo in a culture of nutrients for five days until it reaches a developmental landmark known as the blastocyst stage. The doctors then determine which embryos are most likely to thrive long term. The best quality of these are transferred into a woman’s uterus. In this way it is possible to enable pregnancy without the risk of multiple pregnancy. This technique is relatively new and has yet to be well tested.

IVF programmes generally publish their pregnancy rates. However, comparisons between clinics are difficult as many variables determine outcome. Furthermore, these statistics depend strongly on the type of patients selected.

There are many reasons why pregnancy may not occur following IVF and embryo transfer, including

The timing of ovulation may be misjudged, or ovulation may not be able to be predicted or may not occur

Attempts to obtain eggs that develop during the monitored cycle may be unsuccessful

The eggs obtained may be abnormal or may have been damaged during the retrieval process

A semen specimen may not be able to be provided

Fertilisation of eggs to form embryos may not occur

Cleavage or cell division of the fertilised eggs may not take place

The embryo may not develop normally

Implantation may not occur

Equipment failure, infection and/or human error or other unforeseen and uncontrollable factors, which may result in the loss of or damage to the eggs, the semen sample and/or the embryos[6]

According to a 2005 Swedish study published in the Oxford Journal ‘Human Reproduction’ 166 women were monitored starting one month before their IVF cycles and the results showed no significant correlation between psychological stress and their IVF outcomes. The study concluded with the recommendation to clinics that it might be possible to reduce the stress experienced by IVF patients during the treatment procedure by informing them of those findings. While psychological stress experienced during a cycle might not influence an IVF outcome, it is possible that the experience of IVF can result in stress that leads to depression. The financial consequences alone of IVF can influence anxiety and become overwhelming. However, for many couples, the alternative is infertility, and the experience of infertility itself can also cause extreme stress and depression.



Complications

The major complication of IVF is the risk of multiple births.[4] This is directly related to the practice of transferring multiple embryos at embryo transfer. Multiple births are related to increased risk of pregnancy loss, obstetrical complications, prematurity, and neonatal morbidity with the potential for long term damage. Strict limits on the number of embryos that may be transferred have been enacted in some countries (e.g., England) to reduce the risk of high-order multiples (triplets or more), but are not universally followed or accepted. Spontaneous splitting of embryos in the womb after transfer can occur, but this is rare and would lead to identical twins. A double blind, randomised study followed IVF pregnancies that resulted in 73 infants (33 boys and 40 girls) and reported that 8.7% of singeton infants and 54.2% of twins had a birth weight of [7]. However recent evidence suggest that singleton offspring after IVF is at higher risk for lower birth weight for unknown reasons.

Another risk of ovarian stimulation is the development of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

If the underlying infertility is related to abnormalities in spermatogenesis, it is plausible, but too early to examine that male offspring is at higher risk for sperm abnormalities.



Birth defects

The issue of birth defects remains a controversial topic in IVF. A majority of studies do not show a significant increase after use of IVF. Some studies suggest higher rates for ICSI , while others do not support this finding.[8] Hansen et al. conducted a systematic review of published studies (including ICSI) and found a 30-40% increase risk of birth defects associated with assisted reproductive technology when compared to children born after spontaneous conception.[9] Possible explanations offered were the underlying cause of the infertility, factors associated with IVF/ICSI, culture conditions, and medications, however, the actual cause is not known. Some believe that in vitro fertilization lacks the theory of “survival of the fittest” between contending sperm that occurs inside the uterus which may lead to the possibility of birth defects.



Cryopreservation

Main article: Cryopreservation



Embryo cryopreservation

If multiple embryos are generated, patients may choose to freeze embryos that are not transferred. Those embryos are placed in liquid nitrogen and can be preserved for a long time. There are currently 500,000 frozen embryos in the United States.[5] The advantage is that patients who fail to conceive may become pregnant using such embryos without having to go through a full IVF cycle. Or, if pregnancy occurred, they could return later for another pregnancy. Spare embryos resulting from fertility treatments may be donated to another woman or couple, and embryos may be created, frozen and stored specifically for transfer and donation by using donor eggs and sperm.



Oocyte cryopreservation

Cryopreservation of unfertilised mature oocytes has been successfully accomplished, e.g. in women who are likely to lose their ovarian reserve due to undergoing chemotherapy.[10]



Ovarian tissue cryopreservation

Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is of interest to women who want to preserve their reproductive function beyond the natural limit, or whose reproductive potential is threatened by cancer therapy. Research on this issue is promising.



Adjunctive interventions

There are several variations or improvements of IVF, such as ICSI, ZIFT, GIFT and PGD. An increasing number of fertility specialists and centers offer acupuncture as a part of their IVF protocol, or maintain a list of acupuncturists specialising in infertility.



ICSI

Main article: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a more recent development associated with IVF which allows the sperm to be directly injected in to the egg using micromanipulation. This is used where sperm have difficulty penetrating the egg and in these cases the partner’s or a donor’s sperm may be used. ICSI is also used when sperm numbers are very low. ICSI results in success rates equal to IVF fertilisation.



ZIFT

Main article: Zygote intrafallopian transfer

In Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) eggs are removed from the woman, fertilised and then placed in the woman’s fallopian tubes rather than the uterus.



GIFT

Main article: Gamete intrafallopian transfer

In gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) eggs are removed from the woman, and placed in one of the fallopian tubes, along with the man’s sperm. This allows fertilisation to take place inside the woman’s body. Therefore, this variation is actually an in vivo fertilisation, and not an in vitro fertilisation.



PGD

Main article: Preimplantation genetic diagnosis

PGD can be performed on embryos prior to the embryo transfer. A similar, but more general test has been developed called Preimplantation Genetic Haplotyping (PGH).



Acupuncture

An increasing number of fertility specialists and centers recognise the benefits of acupuncture and offer acupuncture as a part of their IVF protocol. Limited but supportive[11] evidence from clinical trials and case series suggests that acupuncture may improve the success rate of IVF and the quality of life[11] of patients undergoing IVF and that it is a safe[11] adjunct therapy.



Mechanism of acupuncture

Scientific literature lists four[11] mechanisms of how acupuncture can improve IVF outcomes ; these include

Neuroendicrinological modulations

Increased blood flow to uterus and ovaries

Modulation in cytokines

Reducing stress, anxiety and depression



[edit] Studies

Summarizing four acupuncture trials published in peer reviewed scientific journal Fertility and sterility, involving a total of just under 800 women, the results clearly showed a pregnancy was twice as likely to occur in the acupuncture group compared to the control group[6]. Many fertility specialists recognise the positive role of acupuncture, although there are some methodological issues to be taken into account when assessing non-pharmacological studies, furthermore there are issues when assessing effectiveness of acupuncture, as the treatment is performed in person and is very difficult to fake acupuncture. Even the fake needles used in acupuncture trials as a placebo are considered to be able to produce a therapeutic effect through acupressure, making the research even more difficult.

Following are examples of individual studies. According to a report published in Fertility and Sterility, if done correctly, Acupuncture significantly improves IVF success rate[7].

Researchers in Adelaide has evaluated the effect of acupuncture on women undergoing IVF, and couldn’t exclude a smaller treatment effect. However, there was no (statistically) significant difference compared to a control group of women not getting acupuncture[12]

A randomised, prospective study [13]showed that acupuncture significantly (p[14], and by another scientist that positive impact of acupuncture on IVF success rates is not definitive. [15]. However, assessments of nonpharmacological treatments must take into consideration additional methodological issues. This criticism is possibly arising from lack of understanding of methodological differences in clinical trials evaluating nonpharmacological and pharmacological treatments[16] and in particular methodological issues in trials of acupuncture [17].



[edit] Electro-acupuncture in oocyte retrieval for IVF

Electro-acupuncture has a proven analgesic effect in oocyte retrieval for IVF[citation needed].



[edit] Complementary medicines

Infertility patients commonly use complementary medicines. Health-care practitioners and fertility specialists need to be proactive in acquiring and documenting the use of these practices. There is a need to provide further information to patients on the use of CMs and therapies. Further research examining the reasons for use of CMs and therapies is needed.[8]



[edit] Hypnosis

A study of hypnotherapy suggests a higher success rate when integrated with treatment [9]. However, this study is not without criticism. Experts say the study failed to take into account key differences between the groups compared in the study. These differences would have had a major influence on their chances of conceiving [18].



[edit] Ethics



[edit] Issues

See also: Beginning of pregnancy controversy



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The IVF process requires sperm, eggs and a uterus. To achieve a pregnancy any of these requirements can be provided by a third person: third party reproduction. This has created additional ethical and legal concerns.[citation needed]

In a few cases laboratory mix-ups (misidentified gametes, transfer of wrong embryos) have occurred leading to legal action against the IVF provider and complex paternity suits. An example is the case of a woman in California who received the embryo of another couple and was notified of this mistake after the birth of her son.[19]



[edit] Pregnancy past menopause

While menopause has set a natural barrier to further conception, IVF has allowed women to be pregnant in their fifties and sixties. Women whose uteruses have been appropriately prepared receive embryos that originated from an egg of an egg donor. Therefore, although these women do not have a genetic link with the child, they have an emotional link through pregnancy and childbirth. In many cases the genetic father of the child is the woman’s partner. Even after menopause the uterus is fully capable to carry out its function.[20]



[edit] Religious objections

The Roman Catholic Church is opposed to most kinds of in vitro fertilisation (although GIFT is accepted at certain conditions because fertilisation takes place inside the body and not inside a Petri dish [10]) and advocates that infertility is a call from God to adopt children. According to the Catholic Church, it “infringe[s] the child’s right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by marriage.”[21] Also, embryos are sometimes discarded in the process, resulting in their demise. Catholics and many people of other faiths or none see embryos as human lives with the same rights as all others and, therefore, view the destruction of embryos as unacceptable.



[edit] Coping with IVF

Due to the emotional and financial aspects of infertility treatment, many feel isolated and sometimes become depressed. Online support forums and message boards have become a popular way for sufferers to exchange both information and support. Popular forums include Fertiliy Friends, IVFConnections, IVF.ca, Ivf-Infertility.com, INCIID, and IVF World.



[edit] See also

Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi in Montreal, November 2007
Background information
Origin
New Jersey, United States
Genre(s)
Hard rock, glam metal
Years active
1983–Present
Label(s)
Island, Mercury
Website
BonJovi.com
Members
Jon Bon JoviRichie SamboraDavid BryanTico Torres
Former members
Alec John Such
Bon Jovi is a hard rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Fronted by lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi, the group originally achieved large-scale success in the 1980s. Over the past 25 years, Bon Jovi has sold over 120 million albums worldwide, [1] including 34 million in the United States alone. [2]
Bon Jovi formed in 1983 with lead singer Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, bassist Alec John Such, and drummer Tico Torres. Other than the departure of Alec John Such in 1994 (which pared the lineup down to a quartet), the lineup has remained the same for the past 25 years. After two moderately successful albums in 1984 and 1985, the band scored big with Slippery When Wet (1986) and New Jersey (1988), which sold a combined 19 million copies in the U.S. alone, charted eight Top Ten hits (including four number one hits), and launched the band into global super stardom. After non-stop touring, the band went on hiatus after the New Jersey Tour in 1990, during which time Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora both released successful solo albums. In 1992, the band returned with the double platinum Keep the Faith and has since created a string of platinum albums throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
In 2006, the band won a Grammy for best Country Collaboration for “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” with Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland and also became the first rock band to reach #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart with the same song. The band has also received multiple Grammy nominations for music from the albums Crush, Bounce, and Lost Highway. Throughout their career, the band has released ten studio albums, of which nine have gone platinum. In addition, the band has charted 19 singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, four of which reached #1 (“You Give Love a Bad Name“, “Livin’ on a Prayer“, “Bad Medicine“, and “I’ll Be There for You“). The band also holds the record for the most weeks for a hard rock album at #1 on the Billboard 200 with Slippery When Wet, as well as the most Top 10 singles from a hard rock album, with New Jersey, which charted five such singles.

Formation

Jon Bon Jovi
Founding member Jon Bon Jovi began to play piano and guitar at thirteen with his first band, called Raze. He was enrolled in an all-boys Catholic school, St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey, but left to attend public school at Sayreville War Memorial High School.[3] At sixteen, Bon Jovi met David Bryan (born David Bryan Rashbaum) and formed a 12-piece cover band named Atlantic City Expressway after the New Jersey highway. They played at New Jersey clubs, even though they were minors. Still in his teens, Bon Jovi played in the band John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones, playing local clubs like “The Fast Lane” and opening for known acts in the area.
By mid-1982, out of school and working part-time in a women’s shoe store, Bon Jovi took a job at the Power Station Studios, a Manhattan recording facility where his cousin, Tony Bongiovi, was a co-owner. Bon Jovi made several demos (including one produced by Billy Squier) and sent them out to many record companies, but failed to make an impact.
In 1983, Bon Jovi visited the local radio station WAPP 103.5FM “The Apple” in Lake Success, New York. He spoke directly to the D.J., Chip Hobart, who suggested Bon Jovi let WAPP include the song “Runaway” on a compilation album of local homegrown talent. Bon Jovi was reluctant but eventually gave them the song on which Bon Jovi had used studio musicians to play on the track “Runaway” (originally written in 1980). The studio musicians who helped record “Runaway” were known as The All Star Review. They were: guitarists Dave Sabo and Tim Pierce, keyboardist Roy Bittan, drummer Frankie LaRocka and bassist Hugh McDonald.
The song began to get airplay in the New York area, then other sister stations in major markets picked up the song. In March 1983 Bon Jovi called David Bryan, who in turn called bassist Alec John Such and an experienced drummer named Tico Torres.

Richie Sambora in Dublin May 2006
Tapped to play lead guitar was Bon Jovi’s neighbor, Dave Sabo (a.k.a. The Snake), who later formed the group Skid Row.
Richie Sambora became the band’s lead guitarist.
Before joining the group, Sambora had toured with Joe Cocker, played with a group called Mercy and had been called up to audition for Kiss. He also played on the album Lessons with the band Message, which was re-released on CD through Long Island Records in 1995. Message was originally signed to Led Zeppelin‘s Swan Song Records label, although the album was never released.
Drummer Tico Torres was also an experienced musician, having recorded and played live with Phantom’s Opera, The Marvelettes, and Chuck Berry. He appeared on 26 records and had recently recorded with Frankie and the Knockouts, a Jersey band with hit singles during the early 1980s.
David Bryan had quit the band he and Bon Jovi founded in order to study medicine. While in college, he realized he wanted to pursue music full-time and was accepted to Juilliard School, the New York music school. When Bon Jovi called his friend and said he was putting together a band and a record deal looked likely, Bryan followed Bon Jovi’s lead and gave up his studies.
The Bon Jovi lineup, which remained stable for a decade, was:
Jon Bon Jovi (lead vocals, rhythm guitar)
Richie Sambora (lead guitar, backing vocals)
David Bryan (keyboard, backing vocals)
Tico Torres (drums, percussion)
Alec John Such (bass guitar, backing vocals)

1980s
Once the band began playing showcases and opening for local talent, they caught the attention of record executive Derek Shulman, who signed them to Mercury Records, part of the PolyGram company. Because Jon Bon Jovi wanted a group name, Jerry Jaffe, head of A&R at PolyGram, came up with Bon Jovi.
With the help of their new manager Doc McGhee, the band’s debut album, Bon Jovi, was released on January 21, 1984. The album went gold in the U.S. (sales of over 500,000)[citation needed] and was also released in the UK. The group found themselves opening for ZZ Top at Madison Square Garden (before their first album had been released), and for Scorpions and Kiss in Europe. They also made an appearance on the popular television program American Bandstand.
In 1985, Bon Jovi’s second album 7800° Fahrenheit was released. While embarking on a tour opening up for Ratt, the album received a poor response by critics. The leading British metal magazine Kerrang!, which had been very positive about the debut record, called the album “a pale imitation of the Bon Jovi we have got to know and learned to love.” Jon Bon Jovi himself later said it could have and should have been better.
They brought in songwriter Desmond Child for their third album, Slippery When Wet. With Child co-writing many of their hits, the band shot to super-stardom around the world with songs “You Give Love a Bad Name“, “Livin’ On A Prayer“, and “Wanted Dead or Alive“. Bon Jovi has said the album was named after the ubiquitous highway warning signs, but Bryan has said the following about the album’s title:
“During the recording of the record we frequently wound up in a striptease club where incredibly good looking girls were putting water and soap on each other. They became so slippery because of that, that you couldn’t hold on to them even if you wanted to really bad. ‘Slippery when wet!’ one of us yelled out and the rest of us immediately knew: that had to be the title of the new album! Originally we were going to put a picture of some huge breasts, the really big ones, on the cover; but when the PMRC [a moral board chaired by Tipper Gore, wife of future Vice President Al Gore ] found out, we were in big trouble. So we made it into a very decent cover.”
The album has sold in excess of 26 million copies worldwide since its release in late 1986. In 1987, the band headlined England’s “Monsters of Rock” festival with Dio, Metallica, W.A.S.P., Anthrax, and Cinderella. The tour took its toll on singer Jon Bon Jovi when he began having vocal difficulties. The extremely high notes and unrelenting schedule threatened to damage his voice permanently. With the help of a vocal coach, he made it through the tour. Bon Jovi has tended to sing slightly lower pitches since then.
The next album was 1988’s New Jersey. The album was recorded shortly after the tour for Slippery. The resulting album was a commercial success, with hit songs “Bad Medicine“, “Lay Your Hands on Me” and “I’ll Be There for You“, which are still in their live repertoire. New Jersey was a commercial hit and became the first hard rock album to spawn five Top Ten singles. “Bad Medicine” and “I’ll Be There for You” both hit number one, and “Born to Be My Baby” (#3), “Lay Your Hands on Me” (#7), and “Living in Sin” (#9) rounded out the list.
New Jersey was supported by video releases such as New Jersey: The Videos and Access All Areas, as well as a massive 18-month tour, originally billed as The Jersey Syndicate Tour. In 1989, the band headlined the Moscow Music Peace Festival along with the Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, and Skid Row.

1990s
Between 1990 and 1992, the band members went their separate ways for a while to refocus before writing and recording their next album. This time off also helped them determine where Bon Jovi would fit within the rapidly changing music scene upon their return. Jon Bon Jovi recorded a solo album, a soundtrack to the movie Young Guns II, more commonly known as Blaze of Glory, (in which he had an extremely brief cameo). Released in 1990, the album featured high profile guests such as Elton John, Little Richard, and Jeff Beck. The album fared well commercially, received positive reviews and quickly achieved platinum status. The title track, “Blaze of Glory“, hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Jon an Academy Award nomination for Best Song. “Blaze of Glory” was awarded a Golden Globe.
Sambora, with the help of Tico Torres and David Bryan, released a solo album entitled Stranger In This Town, in 1991. The album featured Eric Clapton on the song “Mr. Bluesman”. David Bryan recorded a soundtrack for the horror movie The Netherworld, which was the brighter part of that year after he was hospitalized with an illness caused by a South American parasite.
In 1992, the band returned with the album Keep the Faith. Produced by Bob Rock, it featured more a mature sound and lyrical content. Singles “Bed of Roses“, “Keep the Faith” and “In These Arms“, all hit the Top 40 in the U.S. Other songs on the album were released as singles internationally, mainly “Dry County“, “I Believe”, and “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.”
In 1994, Bon Jovi released a greatest hits album titled Cross Road, with two new tracks: the hit singles “Always” and “Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night”, as well as an updated rendition of “Livin’ on a Prayer” entitled “Prayer ’94”, available only on the U.S. version. “Always” was originally written for a soundtrack to the film Romeo Is Bleeding, but after seeing (and disliking) the movie, the band decided not to lend the song to the producers and instead released it on “Cross Road”[citation needed]. The video for “Always” featured Carla Gugino, an actress known for her roles in several TV shows’ and films such as Son In Law and actor Jack Noseworthy, best known for his role in the 2000 film U-571. “Always” spent thirty-two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of Bon Jovi’s biggest hits. The song peaked at #4 on the US charts and at #1 in countries across Europe, Asia and in Australia. The single sold very well, going platinum in the U.S.[citation needed]
That same year, bassist Alec John Such left the band, the first lineup change since Bon Jovi began. Hugh McDonald, who was the bassist on “Runaway”, unofficially replaced Such as bassist, with rumors that he had also recorded bass on previous albums. Jon Bon Jovi said, regarding the departure of Such: “Of course it hurts. But I learned to accept and respect it. The fact that I’m a workaholic, studio in, studio out, stage on, stage off, want to be dealing with music day and night, doesn’t mean everyone else has to adjust to that pace. Alec wanted to quit for a while now, so it didn’t come as a complete surprise.”
The 1995 album These Days went platinum in the U.S. and topped the UK charts. It spun off one hit single in the U.S., “This Ain’t A Love Song”. Other tracks proved to be popular European singles, including “Hey God”, “Something for the Pain”, “Lie to Me”, and the title track.
At the end of the These Days Tour, the band once again decided to take a break and pursue other interests. Tico used the opportunity further pursue his painting while David started writing and composing various musicals. In 1998, Richie released his second solo outing called Undiscovered Soul.
Jon had also been bitten by the acting bug. He landed lead roles in movies Little City and The Leading Man, and supporting roles in Moonlight and Valentino, Homegrown, and U-571, among others. While he was free between filming different movies, Jon wrote what would become his second solo album, 1997’s Destination Anywhere. The album received positive reviews and was a success across Europe. A short movie of the same name was recorded around the record’s release, based entirely on the songs from the record and starring Jon Bon Jovi, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon and Whoopi Goldberg. Dave Stewart of Eurythmics played guitar on the record, and produced some of the tracks.
Bon Jovi reunited in 1999 to record the song “Real Life” for the movie EdTV. David Bryan didn’t make it to the filming of the video for the song because of a hand injury sustained in a home improvement mishap, so the band used a cardboard cutout of him for the shoot.

2000s
After a nearly three-year hiatus, during which several band members worked on independent projects, Bon Jovi regrouped in 1999 to begin work on their next studio album. Their 2000 release, Crush, enjoyed success both in the U.S. and overseas, thanks in part to the smash-hit single “It’s My Life“, co-written by Swedish producer Max Martin. Crush, which also produced such hits as “Say It Isn’t So” and “Thank You For Loving Me“, soon became the band’s most successful studio album since Keep the Faith, and helped introduce them to a new, younger fan base.
The Crush Tour, which began that summer, originally encompassed only 60 or so shows and was extended because of demand, with the band remaining on tour through mid-2001. While on tour, Bon Jovi released a collection of live performances from throughout their career in an album entitled, One Wild Night: Live 1985-2001. The Crush tour was notable in that the European 2000 leg included the band headlining two nights at Wembley Stadium. These were the final shows at the venue before it was demolished. Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the band performed as part of the star-studded The Concert for New York City benefit for victims and their families. They performed an acoustic medley of “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “Wanted Dead or Alive” with a stirring finale of “It’s My Life“.
In late 2002, Bounce hit stores. It produced hit singles “Everyday” and the title track. The band went on the U.S. Bounce Tour for this album, during which they made history as the last band to play Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia before it was torn down. The band also released a promotional album through Target, featuring eight demo and live tracks.

Bon Jovi in Dublin, Ireland May, 2006
Following the end of the Bounce Tour in August 2003, Bon Jovi embarked on a project; originally intending to produce an album consisting of live acoustic performances, the band ended up rewriting, re-recording and reinventing 12 of their biggest hits in a new and much different light. This Left Feels Right was released in November 2003.
The following year the band released a box set entitled 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong, the title being an homage to Elvis Presley’s 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong. The set consisted of four CDs packed with 38 unreleased and 12 rare tracks, as well as a DVD. The box set marked the sales of 100 million Bon Jovi albums and also commemorated the 20th anniversary of the release of the band’s first record in 1984.
In November 2004, Bon Jovi was honored with the Award for Merit at the American Music Awards, where they performed a sneak preview of an unfinished song, “Have a Nice Day“. Bon Jovi also participated in Live 8 on July 2, 2005, where they debuted the full, final version of “Have a Nice Day”, alongside “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “It’s My Life”. On August 20, 2005, the band headlined Miller Brewing Co.’s Big Brew-Ha, celebrating its 150th anniversary. The free stadium concert at Miller Park in Milwaukee included one preview song from the band’s forthcoming album.
Bon Jovi’s ninth studio album, Have a Nice Day, was released in September 2005. The album topped the charts around the world, giving Bon Jovi its career-best first week sales of over 202,000 albums. “Have A Nice Day” was the first single off the new album, and debuted at radio worldwide on July 18, 2005. The second single, “Who Says You Can’t Go Home“, was released in the U.S. in early 2006, although internationally it was the third single release after “Welcome to Wherever You Are“. In the U.S. a duet version of “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” with country singer Jennifer Nettles of the band Sugarland was released, and in May 2006, Bon Jovi became the first Rock & Roll Band to have a #1 hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Chart[citation needed]. On February 11, 2007, Bon Jovi also won the Grammy Award, for “Best Country Collaboration with Vocals” for “Who Says You Can’t Go Home“.

Bon Jovi live in Dublin, May 20, 2006
Soon after the release of Have A Nice Day, the band started gearing up for the new 2005-2006 worldwide Have A Nice Day Tour. This tour, being shorter than previous ones with only seventy-five shows originally planned, took the band to numerous stages and arenas throughout the world. During the tour, Bon Jovi performed as the headlining act at Nascar’s Daytona 500 on February 19, 2006. Originally it was planned for them to be the first act to perform at the new Wembley Stadium in London, but the stadium’s rebuilding project was delayed until 2007. The concerts were therefore moved to the Milton Keynes National Bowl and Hull, KC Stadium with the same performance dates.[4] Following dates in Japan and Europe, Bon Jovi extended the tour and returned to the U.S. in 2006 for a few stadium shows, including 3 sold-out shows in the band’s native New Jersey at Giants Stadium. On February 7, 2006, a promotional album, Live from the Have a Nice Day Tour, was released through Wal-Mart, which contained six live tracks recorded in December 2005 in Boston. Three of these tracks were released in the U.K. in June 2006 as B-sides on the single “Who Says You Can’t Go Home“.
On November 14, 2006, Bon Jovi were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame alongside James Brown and Led Zeppelin, joining music legends such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, U2, Madonna and Elvis Presley. They will not be eligible for the U.S. equivalent until 2009.
With the end of the Have A Nice Day Tour, Bon Jovi began to throw around ideas for their next project. Among the potential offerings were going to Nashville to record with country stars (following the success of “Who Says You Can’t Go Home“), a second greatest hits CD, a new studio album, and even new movies.
In June 2007, Bon Jovi released their tenth studio album, Lost Highway. The album debuted at number #1 on the Billboard charts, the first time that Bon Jovi have had a number one album on the U.S. charts since the release of New Jersey in 1988. The album sold 292,000 copies in its first week on sale in the U.S., and became Bon Jovi’s third US number one album. The first single from the new album was “(You Want to) Make a Memory“, which debuted (and peaked) at #27 in the Billboard Hot 100, Bon Jovi’s highest ever debut in the U.S. charts. The album reached Number #1 in Japan, Canada, Australia and Europe, and reached number #2 in the UK.
To promote the new album, Bon Jovi made several television appearances, including the 6th annual CMT Awards in Nashville, American Idol, and MTV Unplugged, as well as playing at the Live Earth concert at Giants Stadium[1]. They also performed ten promotional gigs in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Japan. As part of the ‘tour’, Bon Jovi were the first group to perform at London’s new O2 Arena (formerly the Millennium Dome) when it opened to the public on June 24, 2007. The 23,000-seater stadium sold out within 30 minutes of tickets being released.[5]
On June 6, 2007, Richie Sambora checked himself into a rehabilitation facility[6]. This meant that he missed a concert in Puerto Rico as well as several television appearances, with backup guitarist Bobby Bandiera taking his place. He checked out on June 13, and was present for Bon Jovi’s remaining summer concerts.[7]
When questioned on American Idol, Jon Bon Jovi stated that the band would embark on a tour beginning in January, after playing ten dates in New Jersey in the fall. According to Richie Sambora this tour would be a greatest hits tour, so it would not be in direct support of Lost Highway. However, in October 2007 the band announced the Lost Highway Tour. Starting with the New Jersey gigs, the band are touring Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the U.S. and then Europe, finishing in the summer. In early December 2007 the band took time off from their Canadian tour to become the first ever American band to headline the Royal Variety Performance in Liverpool, England, performing in front of the Queen herself.[8] The U.S. leg of the tour began February 18, 2008 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Band members

Current members
Jon Bon Jovi – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica (1983-present)
Richie Sambora – guitar, vocals, talk box (1983-present)
David Bryan – keyboards, vocals (1983-present)
Tico Torres – drums, percussion (1983-present)
with
Hugh McDonald – bass guitar, vocals (1994-present)
Bobby Bandiera – guitar (2003-present) (occasional touring member)
Lorenza Ponce – violin, fiddle (2006-present) (touring member)
Kurt Johnston – lap steel guitar (2006-present) (touring member)

Former members
Alec John Such – bass guitar, vocals (1983-1994)

Discography
Main article: Bon Jovi discography

Tours
Slippery When Wet Tour
New Jersey Syndicate Tour
Stranger in this Town Tour (Richie Sambora Solo Tour featuring Tico Torres and David Bryan)
Keep the Faith Tour
Crossroads Tour
These Days Tour
Destination Anywhere (Jon Bon Jovi Solo Tour)
Undiscovered Soul (Richie Sambora Solo Tour)
Crush Tour
One Wild Night Tour
Bounce Tour
Have a Nice Day Tour
Lost Highway Tour

Awards
1987: MTV Video Music Awards: Best Stage Performance.
1988: American Music Award: Favorite Pop/Rock Band, Duo or Group
1991: MTV Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award
1995: World Music Awards: Best Selling Rock Band Of The Year.
1995: MTV Europe Music Awards: Best Rock
1996: BRIT Awards: Best International Band
2001: My VH1 Music Awards: Video Of The Year “It’s My Life“
2002: My VH1 Music Awards: Hottest Live Show
2004: American Music Award: Award Of Merit
2005: Chopard Diamond Award at the World Music Awards for selling 100 million albums.
2006: UK Music Hall of Fame
2006: CMT Music Awards: Best Collaborative Video “Who Says You Can’t Go Home“
2007: People’s Choice Awards: Best Rock Song for “Who Says You Can’t Go Home“
2007: Grammy Awards: Best Country Collaboration for “Who Says You Can’t Go Home“
2008: CMT Music Awards: Collaborative Video of the Year “Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore”

Religion in ancient Rome

Religion in ancient Rome
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roman polytheism was the religion of the Etruscans, Romans, and most of their subjects. The Romans originally followed a rural animistic tradition, in which many spirits were each responsible for specific, limited aspects of the cosmos and human activities, such as ploughing.
The early Romans referred to these as numina. Another aspect of this animistic belief was ancestor, or genius, worship, with each family honoring their own dead by their own rites. Rome had a strong belief in gods. When they took over Greece, they inherited the Greek gods but fused them with their Roman counterparts.
Based heavily in Greek and Etruscan mythology, Roman religion came to encompass and absorb hundreds of other religions, developing a rich and complex mythology. In addition, an Imperial cult supplemented the pantheon with Julius Caesar and some of the emperors.
Eventually, Christianity came to replace the older pantheon as the state religion of Rome, and the original Roman religion faded, though many aspects of its hierarchy remain ingrained in Christian ritual and in Western traditions.

Changes under the Roman Empire
Under the Empire, religion in Rome evolved in many ways. Numerous foreign cults grew popular, such as the worship of the Egyptian Isis and the Persian Mithras. The importance of the imperial cult grew steadily, reaching its peak during the Crisis of the Third Century. Also, Christianity began to spread in the Empire, gaining momentum in the second century. Despite persecutions, it steadily gained converts. It became an officially supported religion in the Roman state under Constantine I. All cults except Christianity were prohibited in 391 by an edict of Emperor Theodosius I. However, even in the fourth and fifth century Roman paganism kept its vitality. Temples were still frequently visited, ancient beliefs and practices continued.

Imperial cult
Main article: Imperial cult (Ancient Rome)
The divinity of the emperor and the cult surrounding him were a very important part of religion in the Roman Empire. In an effort to enhance political loyalty among the populace, they called subjects to participate in the cult and revere the emperors as gods. The emperors Augustus, Claudius, Vespasian, and Titus were deified; after the reign of Marcus Cocceius Nerva, few emperors failed to receive this distinction.
The Roman religion in the empire tended more and more to center on the imperial house. Especially in the eastern half of the empire imperial cults grew very popular, and the cult complex became one of the focal points of life in the Roman cities. As such it was one of the major agents of romanization. The central elements of the cult complex were next to a temple; a theatre or amphitheatre for gladiator displays and other games and a public bath complex. Sometimes the imperial cult was added to the cults of an existing temple or celebrated in a special hall in the bath complex.
Evidence for the importance of the imperial cult include the “Achievements of the Divine Augustus” (Res Gestae Divi Augusti), written upon two large bronze pillars once located in Rome, Roman coins where the Emperor is portrayed with a halo or nimbus, and temple inscriptions such as “Divine Augustus Caesar, son of a god, imperator of land and sea…” (Roman Temple Inscription in Myra, Lycia).

Absorption of foreign cults
As the Roman Empire expanded, and included people from a variety of cultures, more and more gods were incorporated into the Roman religion. The legions brought home cults originating from Egypt, Britain, Iberia, Germany, India and Persia. The cults of Cybele, Isis, Mithras, and Sol Invictus were particularly important. Some of those were initiatory religions of intense personal significance, similar to Christianity in those respects.

Spread of Christianity
St. Peter and St. Paul introduced Christianity to the Romans, after Jesus was believed to have died sometime between c. 30-33 AD.[1] Christian missionaries traveled across the empire, steadily winning converts and establishing Christian communities. After the Great Fire of Rome in July 64, Emperor Nero (56-68) accused the Christians as convenient scapegoats who were later persecuted and martyred. From that point on, Roman official policy towards Christianity tended towards persecution. The Roman authorities suspected Christians of disloyalty to the Emperor and of committing various crimes against humanity and nature. Persecution recurred especially at times of civic tensions and reach their worst under Diocletian (284 to 305). Constantine I (324–337) ended the persecutions by establishing religious freedom through the Edict of Milan in 313. He later convened the historic First Council of Nicaea in 325, a year after ending the civil war of 324 and emerging as the victor in the war of succession. This First Council of Nicaea was formed to oppose Arius who had challenged the deity of Jesus Christ. The result was the branding of Arianism as a heresy. Christianity, as opposed to other religious groups, became the official state religion of the Roman empire on February 27, 380 through an edict issued by Emperor Theodosius I in Thessalonica and published in Constantinople. All cults, save Christianity, were prohibited in 391 by another edict of Theodosius I. Destruction of temples began immediately. When the Western Roman Empire ended with the abdication of Emperor Romulus Augustus in 476, Christianity survived it, with the Bishop of Rome as the dominant religious figure, but see also Pentarchy.
See also: History of Christianity
See also: Persecution of religion in ancient Rome

Decline of Graeco-Roman polytheism
Main article: Decline of Graeco-Roman polytheism
When Constantine became the sole Roman Emperor in 324, Christianity became the leading religion of the empire. After the death of Constantine in 337, two of his sons, Constantius II and Constans took over the leadership of the empire. Constans, ruler of the western provinces, was, like his father, a Christian. In 341, he decreed that all pre-Christian Graeco Roman worship and sacrifice should cease; warning those who still persisted in practicing ancient Graeco-Roman polytheism with the threat of the death penalty.
Lay Christians took advantage of new anti-Graeco-Roman polytheism laws by destroying and plundering the temples. Temples that survived were converted into Christian churches: the Pantheon is the most notable example, having once been a temple to all the gods and later becoming a church in honor of all the saints. Many of the buildings in the Roman Forum were similarly converted, preserving the structures if not their original intent.
Later on, the emperor Julian the Apostate attempted to reverse the process of Christianization and bring back the native forms of polytheism, but his death in Persia caused the empire to once again fall under the power of Christian control, this time permanently.

Intellectual trends
The distinctions among philosophy, religion, cult and superstition that would be made by an educated Roman of the 1st century BC can be read in Lucretius, a philosopher following Epicurus. Most educated Romans were Stoic in the outlook on life. The transference of the anthropomorphic qualities of Greek gods to Roman ones, and perhaps even more, the prevalence of Greek philosophy among well-educated Romans, brought about an increasing neglect of the old rites, and in the 1st century BC the religious importance of the old priestly offices declined rapidly, though their civic importance remained. Many men whose patrician birth called them to these duties had no belief in the rites, except perhaps as a political necessity.[citation needed] Nevertheless, the positions of pontifex maximus and augur remained coveted political posts. Julius Caesar used his election to the position of pontifex maximus to influence the membership of the priestly groups.
Neoplatonism

Religious practice
Before the rise of Christianity in most cults orthopraxy (doing the right things), was more important than orthodoxy (believing the right things). This is the case in Roman religion too. Daily life was impregnated with religious practice.
Sacrifice/banquets
Annual priesthoods
Processions
Oracles
Votive inscriptions
calendar

Festivals
The Roman religious calendar reflected Rome’s hospitality to the cults and deities of conquered territories. Roman religious festivals known from ancient times were few in number. Some of the oldest, however, survived to the very end of the pagan empire, preserving the memory of the fertility and propitiatory rites of a primitive agricultural people. New festivals were introduced, however, to mark the naturalization of new gods. So many festivals were adopted eventually that the work days on the calendar were outnumbered. Among the more important of the Roman religious festivals were the Saturnalia, the Lupercalia, the Equiria, and the Secular games.
Under the empire, the Saturnalia were celebrated for seven days, from December 17 to December 23, during the period in which the winter solstice occurred. All business was suspended, slaves were given temporary freedom, gifts were exchanged, and merriment prevailed. The Lupercalia was an ancient festival originally honoring Lupercus, a pastoral god of the Italians. The festival was celebrated on February 15 at the cave of the Lupercal on the Palatine Hill, where the legendary founders of Rome, the twins Romulus and Remus, were supposed to have been nursed by a wolf. Among the Roman legends connected with them is that of Faustulus, a shepherd who was supposed to have discovered the twins in the wolf’s den and to have taken them to his home, in which they were brought up by his wife, Acca Larentia. See founding of Rome.
The Equiria, a festival in honor of Mars, was celebrated on February 27 and March 14, traditionally the time of year when new military campaigns were prepared. Horse races in the Campus Martius notably marked the celebration.
The Secular games, which included both athletic spectacles and sacrifices, were held at irregular intervals, traditionally once only in about every century, to mark the beginning of a new saeculum, or “era”. They were supposed to be held when the last person who had witnessed the previous Secular games died, marking the beginning of a new era. The tradition, often neglected, was revived as a spectacle by Augustus and honoured by the poet Horace with a series of odes.

See also
Religion in ancient Greece
Sibylline Oracles
Dii Consentes
Nova Roma

Confucianism

Confucianism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Confucian temple in Wuwei, People’s Republic of China.
Confucianism (Chinese: 儒家; pinyin: Rújiā) is an ancient Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the early Chinese philosopher Confucius (Kong Fuzi/K’ung-fu-tzu, lit. “Master Kung”). It focuses on human morality and good deeds. Confucianism is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia. Some consider it to be the state religion of East Asian countries because of governmental promotion of Confucian values.
The cultures most strongly influenced by Confucianism include those of China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, and Vietnam, as well as various territories settled predominantly by Chinese people.

History
Confucianism was chosen by Han Wudi (141 B.C. – 86 B. C.) for use as a political system to govern the Chinese state. Despite its loss of influence during the Tang Dynasty, Confucian doctrine remained a mainstream Chinese orthodoxy for two millennia until the 20th century, when it was attacked by radical Chinese thinkers as a vanguard of a pre-modern system and an obstacle to China’s modernization, eventually culminating in its repression during the Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China. Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, Confucianism has been revived in mainland China, and both interest in and debate about Confucianism have surged.
Confucianism as passed down to the 19th and 20th centuries derives primarily from the school of the Neo-Confucians, led by Zhu Xi, who gave Confucianism renewed vigor in the Song and later dynasties. Neo-Confucianism combined Taoist and Buddhist ideas with existing Confucian ideas to create a more complete metaphysics than had ever existed before. At the same time, many forms of Confucianism have historically declared themselves opposed to the Buddhist and Taoist belief systems.
Confucius (551 BCE – 479 BCE) was a sage and social philosopher of China whose teachings have deeply influenced East Asia, including China, Korea, and Japan for two thousand five hundred years. The relationship between Confucianism and Confucius himself, however, is tenuous. Confucius’ ideas were not accepted during his lifetime and he frequently bemoaned the fact that he remained unemployed by any of the feudal lords.
As with many other prominent figures such as Jesus, Socrates, and Buddha, Confucius did not leave any writings to put forward his ideas. Instead, only texts with recollections by his disciples and their students are available. This factor is further complicated by the “Burning of the Books and Burying of the Scholars“, a massive suppression of dissenting thought during the Qin Dynasty, more than two centuries after Confucius’ death.
However, we can sketch out Confucius’ ideas from the fragments that remain. Confucius was a man of letters who worried about the troubled times in which he lived. He went from place to place trying to spread his political ideas and influence to the many kings contending for supremacy in China.
In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (772 BCE–221 BCE), the reigning king of the Zhou gradually became a mere figurehead. In this power vacuum, the rulers of small states began to vie with one another for military and political dominance. Deeply persuaded of the need for his mission — “If right principles prevailed through the empire, there would be no need for me to change its state” Analects XVIII, 6 — Confucius tirelessly promoted the virtues of ancient illustrious sages such as the Duke of Zhou. Confucius tried to amass sufficient political power to found a new dynasty, as when he planned to accept an invitation from a rebel to “make a Zhou dynasty in the East” (Analects XV, 5). As the common saying that Confucius was a “king without a crown” indicates, however, he never gained the opportunity to apply his ideas. He was expelled from states many times and eventually returned to his homeland to spend the last part of his life teaching. The Analects of Confucius, the closest primary source we have for his thoughts, relates his sayings and discussions with rulers and disciples in short passages. There is considerable debate over how to interpret the Analects.
Unlike most European and American philosophers, Confucius did not rely on deductive reasoning to convince his listeners. Instead, he used figures of rhetoric such as analogy and aphorism to explain his ideas. Most of the time these techniques were highly contextualized. For these reasons, European and American readers might find his philosophy muddled or unclear. However, Confucius claimed that he sought “a unity all pervading” (Analects XV, 3) and that there was “one single thread binding my way together.” ([op. cit. IV, 15]). The first occurrences of a real Confucian system may have been created by his disciples or by their disciples. During the philosophically fertile period of the Hundred Schools of Thought, great early figures of Confucianism such as Mencius and Xun Zi (not to be confused with Sun Zi) developed Confucianism into an ethical and political doctrine. Both had to fight contemporary ideas and gain the ruler’s confidence through argumentation and reasoning. Mencius gave Confucianism a fuller explanation of human nature, of what is needed for good government, of what morality is, and founded his idealist doctrine on the claim that human nature is good. Xun Zi opposed many of Mencius’ ideas, and built a structured system upon the idea that human nature is bad and had to be educated and exposed to the rites, before being able to express their goodness for the people. Some of Xun Zi’s disciples, such as Han Feizi and Li Si, became Legalists (a kind of law-based early totalitarianism, quite distant from virtue-based Confucianism) and conceived the state system that allowed Qin Shi Huang to unify China under the strong state control of every human activity. The culmination of Confucius’ dream of unification and peace in China can therefore be argued to have come from Legalism, a school of thought almost diametrically opposed to his reliance on rites and virtue.

The spread of Confucianism

Statue of Confucius on Chongming Island in Shanghai
Confucianism survived its suppression during the Qin Dynasty partly thanks to the discovery of a trove of Confucian classics hidden in the walls of a scholar’s house. After the Qin, the new Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) approved of Confucian doctrine and sponsored Confucian scholars, eventually making Confucianism the official state philosophy (see Emperor Wu of Han). Study of the Confucian classics became the basis of the government examination system and the core of the educational curriculum. No serious attempt to replace Confucianism arose until it was ejected from schools by government after the Republic of China was founded in 1912 and afterwards there were debates on it for about 15 years until the Nationalist Government was established in Nanking.
After its reformulation as Neo-Confucianism by Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming and the other Neo-Confucians, Confucianism also became accepted as state philosophies in Korea. Korea of the Joseon Dynasty has been termed a “Confucian state.” [1]
Under the Chinese domination, Confucianism had yet to gain a position in the Vietnamese society [2]. However, Confucianism permeated Vietnamese life after Vietnam gained independence from China in 939 [3]. As in China, an intellectual elite developed, and the principles of obedience and respect for education and authority were instilled throughout society.
In Hanoi in 1070, the establishment of the Van Mieu, a temple of learning dedicated to Confucius, marked the emergence of Confucianism as a cult. Like China, Confucianism in Vietnam reached a peak during the 15th century. Due to the need of constructing a unified nation, a centralized administration and a social order, Confucianism took the place of Buddhism to become the leading philosophy under the Le Dynasty. Confucianism took root deep into the social and political structure, the system of education and examinations and the circle of Confucian scholars gradually dominated social and moral life.

Rites
“Lead the people with administrative injunctions and put them in their place with penal law, and they will avoid punishments but will be without a sense of shame. Lead them with excellence and put them in their place through roles and ritual practices, and in addition to developing a sense of shame, they will order themselves harmoniously.” (Analects II, 3)
The above explains an essential difference between legalism and ritualism and points to a key difference between European / American and East Asian societies. Confucius argues that under law, external authorities administer punishments after illegal actions, so people generally behave well without understanding reasons why they should; where as with ritual, patterns of behavior are internalized and exert their influence before actions are taken, so people behave properly because they fear shame and want to avoid losing face. In this sense, “rite” (Chinese: 禮; pinyin: lǐ) is an ideal form of social norm.
“Rite” stands here for a complex set of ideas that is difficult to render in European languages. The Chinese character for “rites” previously had the religious meaning of “sacrifice”. Its Confucian meaning ranges from politeness and propriety to the understanding of each person’s correct place in society. Externally, ritual is used to distinguish between people; their usage allows people to know at all times who is the younger and who the elder, who is the guest and who the host and so forth. Internally, they indicate to people their duty amongst others and what to expect from them.
Internalization is the main process in ritual. Formalized behavior becomes progressively internalized, desires are channeled and personal cultivation becomes the mark of social correctness. Though this idea conflicts with the common saying that “the cowl does not make the monk”, in Confucianism sincerity is what enables behavior to be absorbed by individuals. Obeying ritual with sincerity makes ritual the most powerful way to cultivate oneself. Thus,
“Respectfulness, without the Rites, becomes laborious bustle; carefulness, without the Rites, become timidity; boldness, without the Rites, becomes insubordination; straightforwardness, without the Rites, becomes rudeness” (Analects VIII, 2).
Ritual can be seen as a means to find the balance between opposing qualities that might otherwise lead to conflict.
Ritual divides people into categories and builds hierarchical relationships through protocols and ceremonies, assigning everyone a place in society and a form of behavior. Music that seems to have played a significant role in Confucius’ life is given as an exception as it transcends such boundaries, ‘unifying the hearts’.
Although the Analects promotes ritual heavily, Confucius himself often behaved otherwise; for example, when he cried at his preferred disciple’s death, or when he met a fiendish princess (VI, 28). Later more rigid ritualisms who forgot that ritual is “more than presents of jade and silk” (XVII, 12) strayed from their master’s position.

Governance

Confucian temple in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China
“To govern by virtue, let us compare it to the North Star: it stays in its place, while the myriad stars wait upon it.” (Analects II, 1)
Another key Confucian concept is that in order to govern others one must first govern oneself. When developed sufficiently, the king’s personal virtue spreads beneficent influence throughout the kingdom. This idea is developed further in the Great Learning and is tightly linked with the Taoist concept of wu wei (traditional Chinese: 無為; simplified Chinese: 无为; pinyin: wú wèi): the less the king does, the more that is done. By being the “calm centre” around which the kingdom turns, the king allows everything to function smoothly and avoids having to tamper with the individual parts of the whole.
This idea may be traced back to early shamanistic beliefs, such as that the king (Chinese: 王; pinyin: wáng) being the axle between the sky, human beings and the Earth. The character itself shows the three levels of the universe, united by a single line. Another complementary view is that this idea may have been used by ministers and counsellors to deter aristocratic whims that would otherwise be to the detriment of the population.

Meritocracy
“In teaching, there should be no distinction of classes.”(Analects XV, 39)
Although Confucius claimed that he never invented anything but was only transmitting ancient knowledge (see Analects VII, 1), he did produce a number of new ideas. Many European and American admirers such as Voltaire and H. G. Creel point to the (then) revolutionary idea of replacing the nobility of blood with one of virtue. Jūnzǐ (君子), which had meant “noble man” before Confucius’ work, slowly assumed a new connotation in the course of his writings, rather as “gentleman” did in English. A virtuous plebeian who cultivates his qualities can be a “gentleman”, while a shameless son of the king is only a “small man”. That he allowed students of different classes to be his disciples is a clear demonstration that he fought against the feudal structures in Chinese society.
Another new idea, that of meritocracy, led to the introduction of the Imperial examination system in China. This system allowed anyone who passed an examination to become a government officer, a position which would bring wealth and honor to the whole family. The Chinese examination system seems to have been started in 165 BCE, when certain candidates for public office were called to the Chinese capital for examination of their moral excellence by the emperor. Over the following centuries the system grew until finally almost anyone who wished to become an official had to prove his worth by passing written government examinations.
Confucius praised those kings who left their kingdoms to those apparently most qualified rather than to their elder sons. His achievement was the setting up of a school that produced statesmen with a strong sense of state and duty, known as 儒家 (Chinese: 儒家; pinyin: Rújiā). During the Warring States Period and the early Han dynasty, China grew greatly and the need for a solid and centralized corporation of government officers able to read and write administrative papers arose. As a result, Confucianism was promoted and the men it produced became an effective counter to the remaining landowner aristocrats otherwise threatening the unity of the state.
Since then Confucianism has been used as a kind of “state religion“, with authoritarianism, legitimism, paternalism, and submission to authority used as political tools to rule China. Most emperors used a mix of legalism and Confucianism as their ruling doctrine, often with the latter embellishing the former.

Themes in Confucian thought
A simple way to appreciate Confucian thought is to consider it as being based on varying levels of honesty. In practice, the elements of Confucianism accumulated over time and matured into the following forms:

Ritual
In Confucianism the term “ritual” was soon extended to include secular ceremonial behavior before being used to refer to the propriety or politeness which colors everyday life. Rituals were codified and treated as a comprehensive system of norms. Confucius himself tried to revive the etiquette of earlier dynasties. After his death, people regarded him as a great authority on ritual behaviors.
It is important to note that “ritual” has a different meaning in the context of Confucianism, especially today, from its context in many religions. In Confucianism, the acts that people tend to carry out in every day life are considered ritual. Rituals are not necessarily regimented or arbitrary practices, but the routines that people often undergo knowingly or unknowingly through out their lives. Shaping the rituals in a way that leads to a content and healthy society, and to content and healthy people, is one purpose of Confucian philosophy.

Relationships
One theme central to Confucianism is that of relationships, and the differing duties arising from the different status one held in relation to others. Individuals are held to simultaneously stand in different degrees of relationship with different people, namely, as a junior in relation to their parents and elders, and as a senior in relation to their younger siblings, students, and others. While juniors are considered in Confucianism to owe strong duties of reverence and service to their seniors, seniors also have duties of benevolence and concern toward juniors. This theme consistently manifests itself in many aspects of East Asian cultures even to this day, with extensive filial duties on the part of children toward parents and elders, and great concern of parents toward their children.
Social harmony — the great goal of Confucianism — thus results partly from every individual knowing his or her place in the social order and playing his or her part well. When Duke Jing of Qi asked about government, by which he meant proper administration so as to bring social harmony, Confucius replied,
“There is government, when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister; when the father is father, and the son is son.” (Analects XII, 11, tr. Legge).

Filial piety
“Filial piety” (Chinese: 孝; pinyin: xiào) is considered among the greatest of virtues and must be shown towards both the living and the dead (ancestors). The term “filial”, meaning “of a child”, denotes the respect that a child, originally a son, should show to his parents. This relationship was extended by analogy to a series of five relationships (Chinese: 五倫; pinyin: wǔlún)[1]:
Sovereign to subject
Parent to child
Husband to wife
Elder to younger sibling
Friend to friend (The members of this relationship are equal to one another)
Specific duties were prescribed to each of the participants in these sets of relationships. Such duties were also extended to the dead, where the living stood as sons to their deceased family. This led to the veneration of ancestors.
In time filial piety was also built into the Chinese legal system: a criminal would be punished more harshly if the culprit had committed the crime against a parent, while fathers often exercised enormous power over their children. Much the same was true of other unequal relationships.
The main source of our knowledge of the importance of filial piety is The Book of Filial Piety, a work attributed to Confucius and his son but almost certainly written in the third century BCE. Filial piety has continued to play a central role in Confucian thinking to the present day.

Loyalty
Loyalty (Chinese: 忠; pinyin: zhōng) is the equivalent of filial piety on a different plane. It was particularly relevant for the social class, to which most of Confucius’ students belonged, because the only way for an ambitious young scholar to make his way in the Confucian Chinese world was to enter a ruler’s civil service. Like filial piety, however, loyalty was often subverted by the autocratic regimes of China. Confucius had advocated a sensitivity to the realpolitik of the class relations that existed in his time; he did not propose that “might makes right”, but that a superior who had received the “Mandate of Heaven” (see below) should be obeyed because of his moral rectitude.
In later ages, however, emphasis was placed more on the obligations of the ruled to the ruler, and less on the ruler’s obligations to the ruled.
Loyalty was also an extension of one’s duties to friends, family, and spouse. Loyalty to one’s leader came first, then to one’s family, then to one’s spouse, and lastly to one’s friends. Loyalty was considered one of the greater human virtues.

Humanity
Confucius was concerned with people’s individual development, which he maintained took place within the context of human relationships. Ritual and filial piety are the ways in which one should act towards others from an underlying attitude of humaneness. Confucius’ concept of humaneness (Chinese: 仁; pinyin: rén) is probably best expressed in the Confucian version of the (Ethic of reciprocity) Golden Rule: “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others;”.
Rén also has a political dimension. If the ruler lacks rén, Confucianism holds, it will be difficult if not impossible for his subjects to behave humanely. Rén is the basis of Confucian political theory: it presupposes an autocratic ruler, exhorted to refrain from acting inhumanely towards his subjects. An inhumane ruler runs the risk of losing the “Mandate of Heaven”, the right to rule. Such a mandateless ruler need not be obeyed. But a ruler who reigns humanely and takes care of the people is to be obeyed strictly, for the benevolence of his dominion shows that he has been mandated by heaven. Confucius himself had little to say on the will of the people, but his leading follower Mencius did state on one occasion that the people’s opinion on certain weighty matters should be polled.

The gentleman
The term “Jūnzǐ” (Chinese: 君子; literally “nobleman”) is crucial to classical Confucianism. The ideal of a “gentleman” or “perfect man” is that for which Confucianism exhorts all people to strive. A succinct description of the “perfect man” is one who “combines the qualities of saint, scholar, and gentleman” (CE). In modern times the masculine translation in English is also traditional and is still frequently used. A hereditary elitism was bound up with the concept, and gentlemen were expected to act as moral guides to the rest of society.

They were to:
cultivate themselves morally;
show filial piety and loyalty where these are due;
cultivate humanity, or benevolence.

The great exemplar of the perfect gentleman is Confucius himself. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of his life was that he was never awarded the high official position which he desired, from which he wished to demonstrate the general well-being that would ensue if humane persons ruled and administered the state.
The opposite of the Jūnzǐ was the Xiǎorén (Chinese: 小人; pinyin: xiǎorén; literally “small person”). The character 小 in this context means petty in mind and heart, narrowly self-interested, greedy, superficial, or materialistic.

Debates

Promotion of corruption
Like some other political philosophies, Confucianism is reluctant to employ laws. In a society where relationships are considered more important than the laws themselves, if no other power forces government officers to take the common interest into consideration, corruption and nepotism may arise. As government officers’ salary was often far lower than the minimum required to raise a family, Chinese society was frequently affected by those problems. Even if some means to control and reduce corruption and nepotism have been successfully used in China, Confucianism is criticized for not providing such a means itself.
This contradicts to what was stated above about the Imperial Examination System and the good salaries of government employees: Another new idea, that of meritocracy, led to the introduction of the Imperial examination system in China. This system allowed anyone who passed an examination to become a government officer, a position which would bring wealth and honor to the whole family.

Was there a Confucianism?
One of the many problems in discussing the history of Confucianism is the question of what Confucianism is. Confucianism can be understood roughly as “the stream of individuals, claiming Master Kong to be the Greatest Master”. It also represents “the social group following moral, political, and philosophical doctrine of what was considered, at a given time, as the orthodox understanding of Confucius”. In this definition, this “group” can be identified during specific dynastic periods when self-declared Confucians debated with others supporting different doctrines, such as during the Han and Tang dynasties. During periods of Confucian hegemony, such as the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, it can be identified roughly with the social class of government officials.
However, the reality of these groupings is questioned by some. In his book, Manufacturing Confucianism, Lionel Jensen claims that our modern image of Confucius and Confucianism, which is that of a wise symbol of learning and a state-sponsored quasi-religion, did not exist in China from time immemorial, but was manufactured by European Jesuits, as a “translation” of the ancient indigenous traditions, known as “Ru Jia”, in order to portray Chinese society to Europeans. The notion of Confucianism was then borrowed back by the Chinese, who used it for their own purposes.
Therefore, we could define Confucianism as “any system of thinking that has, at its foundations, the works that are regarded as the ‘Confucian classics‘, which was the corpus used in the Imperial examination system”. Even this definition runs into problems because this corpus was subject to changes and additions. Neo-Confucianism, for instance, valorized the Great Learning and the Zhong Yong in this corpus, because their themes are close to those of Taoism and Buddhism.

Is Confucianism a “religion?”
Most religions can be defined as having a set God or group of gods, an organized priesthood, a belief in a life after death, and organized traditions, thus it is debatable whether Confucianism should be called a true “religion“. While it prescribes a great deal of ritual, little of it could be construed as worship or meditation in a formal sense. However, Tian is sacred to many Confucians. Confucius occasionally made statements about the existence of other-worldly beings that sound distinctly agnostic and humanistic to European and American ears. Thus, Confucianism is often considered a secular ethical tradition and not a “religion.” It is best described as a philosophy with special rituals and beliefs.
Its effect on Chinese and other East Asian societies and cultures has been immense and parallels the effects of religious movements, seen in other cultures. Those who follow the teachings of Confucius say that they are comforted by it. It includes a great deal of ritual and, in its Neo-Confucian formulation, gives a comprehensive explanation of the world, of human nature, etc. Moreover, religions in Chinese culture are not mutually exclusive entities — each tradition is free to find its specific niche, its field of specialization. One can practice religions such as Taoism, Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, Jainism, Islam, Shinto, Buddhism, or Zoroastrianism and still profess Confucian beliefs.
Although Confucianism may include ancestor worship, sacrifice to ancestral spirits and an abstract celestial deity, and the deification of ancient kings and even Confucius himself, all these features can be traced back to non-Confucian Chinese beliefs established long before Confucius and, in this respect, make it difficult to claim that such rituals make Confucianism a religion.
Generally speaking, Confucianism is not considered a religion by Chinese or other East Asian people. Part of this attitude may be explained by the stigma placed on many “religions” as being superstitious, illogical, or unable to deal with modernity. Many Buddhists state that Buddhism is not a religion, but a philosophy, and this is partially a reaction to negative popular views of religion. Similarly, Confucians maintain that Confucianism is not a religion, but rather a moral code or philosophic world view. Many “religions” practiced in East Asia such as Buddhism and Taoism can be considered as “not religions.” There is a much more blurred line between religion and philosophy in non-Western thought. Most of the Western distinction is in fact a relatively recent phenomenon resulting from the Enlightenment period unique to Western Europe. Therefore, much of the confusion is primarily due to the conventional Western definition of religion centered around Judeo-Christian-Muslim traditions. Most scholarly, comprehensive definitions of religion account for this cultural difference. Therefore, it could be said that while Confusism is not a religion by Western standards (even according to Asian adherents), it is a religion in the East Asian sense of the word.
The question of whether Confucianism is a religion, or otherwise, is ultimately a definitional problem. If the definition used is worship of supernatural entities, the answer may be that Confucianism is not a religion. If, on the other hand, a religion is defined as (for example) a belief system that includes moral stances, guides for daily life, systematic views of humanity and its place in the universe, etc., then Confucianism most definitely qualifies. As with many such important concepts, the definition of religion is quite contentious. Herbert Fingarette’s Confucius: The Secular as Sacred is a well-known treatment of this issue.

Names for Confucianism
Several names for Confucianism exist in Chinese.
“School of the scholars” (Chinese: 儒家; pinyin: Rújiā)
“Teaching of the scholars” (Chinese: 儒教; pinyin: Rújiào)
“Study of the scholars” (traditional Chinese: 儒學; simplified Chinese: 儒学; pinyin: Rúxué)
“Teaching of Confucius” (Chinese: 孔教; pinyin: Kǒngjiào)
Three of these four use the Chinese character Rú, meaning “scholar”. These names do not use the name “Confucius” at all, but instead center on the figure/ideal of the Confucian scholar. However, the suffixes of jiā, jiào, and xué carry different implications as to the nature of Confucianism itself.
Rújiā contains the character jiā, which literally means “house” or “family”. In this context, it is more readily construed as meaning “school of thought”, since it is also used to construct the names of philosophical schools contemporary to Confucianism: for example, the Chinese names for Legalism and Mohism end in jiā.
Rújiào and Kǒngjiào contain the Chinese character jiào, the noun “teach”, used in such as terms as “education” or “educator”. The term, however, is notably used to construct the names of religions in Chinese: the terms for Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Shintō and other religions in Chinese all end with jiào.
Rúxué contains xué, meaning literally “study”. The term is parallel to “-ology” in English, being used to construct the names of academic fields: the Chinese names of fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, political science, economics, and sociology all end in xué.

Quotes
General
The Master said, “I have been the whole day without eating, and the whole night without sleeping — occupied with thinking. It was of no use. The better plan is to learn.” (Analects XV. 30. tr. Legge)
On Spirits
Zilu (an impetuous disciple of Confucius) asked how one should serve ghosts and spirits. The Master said, “Til you have learnt to serve men, how can you serve ghosts?” Zilu then ventured upon a question about the dead. The Master said, “Till you know about the living, how are you to know about the dead?” (Analects XI. 11. tr. Waley)
“Show respect to the spirits and deities, then keep away from them.” (Confucius is said to have refused to discuss the subject of magic, devils, hell, and Heaven).
The Master said, “For a man to sacrifice to a spirit which does not belong to him is flattery.” (Analects II. 24.)
Examples of Ritual – from Book 10 of Analects
He [Confucius] hastened forward, with his arms like the wings of a bird.
When he entered the palace gate, he seemed to bend his body, as if it were not sufficient to admit him.
He ascended the reception hall, holding up his robe with both his hands, and his body bent; holding in his breath also, as if he dared not breathe.
When he was carrying the scepter of his ruler, he seemed to bend his body, as if he were not able to bear its weight. He did not hold it higher than the position of the hands in making a bow, nor lower than their position in giving anything to another. His countenance seemed to change, and look apprehensive, and he dragged his feet along as if they were held by something to the ground.
The superior man did not use a deep purple, or a puce color, in the ornaments of his dress.
He did not eat meat which was not cut properly, nor what was served without its proper sauce.
He did not partake of wine and dried meat bought in the market.
When eating, he did not converse. When in bed, he did not speak.
Taoist addition within the Analects
The Master said, “The Fang bird does not come; the river sends forth no map: it is all over with me! (Analects IX. 8.)

A Brief History of Time

A Brief History of Time
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Brief History of Time
Author: Stephen Hawking
Language : English
Genre(s) : Popular science
Publisher : tam Books
Publication date: 88

A Brief History of Time is a popular science book written by Stephen Hawking and first published in 1988. It rapidly became a best-seller, and had sold 9 million copies by 2002.[citation needed] It was also on the London Sunday Times best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks.[citation needed]
There is also a documentary by the same name, directed by Errol Morris and released in 1991. Unlike the book, the documentary is primarily a biography of Stephen Hawking.

Book contents
A Brief History of Time attempts to explain a range of subjects in cosmology, including the Big Bang, black holes, light cones and superstring theory, to the nonspecialist reader. Its main goal is to give an overview of the subject but, unusual for a popular science book, it also attempts to explain some complex mathematics. The author notes that an editor warned him that for every equation in the book the readership would be halved, hence it includes only a single equation: E = mc². In addition to Hawking’s abstinence from equations, the book also simplifies matters by means of illustrations throughout the text, depicting complex models and diagrams.
The book is considered by many to be an “unread bestseller”[1] which is a book many people own but few have finished.

Editions
1988. First Edition. This edition included a foreword or introduction by Carl Sagan that tells the following story: Sagan was in London in 1974 (presumably for a SETI conference), and between sessions wandered into a different room, where a larger meeting was taking place. “At the front of the room, a young man in a wheelchair was signing his name very slowly in a very large book, which bore on an earlier page the name of Isaac Newton. I realised that I was watching an ancient ceremony: the induction of a new Fellow into the Royal Society.” The young man was, of course, Hawking, already famous in his field but not famous worldwide until the publication of this improbable bestseller by this improbable author. (The foreword disappeared after the first edition, or perhaps the first printing. It was copyrighted by Sagan, rather than by Hawking or the publisher, and the publisher did not have the right to reprint it forever. Hawking wrote his own introduction for later editions.)
1996—Illustrated, updated and expanded edition. This hardbound edition contained full colour illustrations and photographs to help further explain the text, as well as the addition of topics that were not included in the original book.
1998—The Tenth Anniversary Edition—Is the same text as the one published in 1996, but was also released in paperback and has only a few diagrams included.
September of 2005 saw the release of A Briefer History of Time (a collaboration with Leonard Mlodinow), which is an abridged version of the original book. It was updated again to address new issues that have arisen due to further scientific development.

Film
Main article: A Brief History of Time (film)
In 1991, Errol Morris directed a documentary film about Hawking, but although they share a title, the film is a biographical study of Hawking, not a filmed version of the book.

In pop culture
This book has made its mark on American pop culture. In the film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Ian Brown (lead singer of the Stone Roses) is seen sitting in the Leaky Cauldron reading this book, a reference to the time travel employed later in the film. The book makes an appearance in the film Donnie Darko when Donnie’s teacher shows him the book during a conversation about time travel. In the 2001 comedy film Legally Blonde, starring Reese Witherspoon, one of the Harvard students on Elle Woods’ first day claims, “It has been suggested that Stephen Hawking stole his Brief History of Time from my fourth-grade paper.”
MC Hawking, a nerdcore hip hop artist who parodies Stephen, named his album A Brief History of Rhyme.
This book is featured in and is part of the mythology of the T.V. show Lost.
In the episode What We Did On Our Summer Vacation of the TV show The Adventures of Pete & Pete, the character Ellen is seen reading the book.
In the film Addams Family Values, Joel Glicker is briefly shown holding it after stating why he is in the Harmony Hut.
In “Weird Al” Yankovic‘s music clip of his song “White & Nerdy“, where “Weird Al” claims that he has Stephen Hawking in his library, while holding this book.
In “Weird Al” Yankovic‘s American Library Association Celebrity “READ” Poster.
In the episode “Not in Portland” of the TV show Lost, one of the Others is seen reading the book while on guard duty. Additionally, the book was seen on Ben Linus‘s kitchen table in The Man from Tallahassee.
In an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy Billy was assigned to write a report according to a book called “A Not So Brief History of Time” which he confused with a horror story.
In John Safran vs. God, John Safran comments on the book being an “unread bestseller,” saying that readers left their “bookmarks exactly where they [had] left it nine years ago, on page 3.”
The book has been featured in the Megadeth Documentary, by Frederic Wallace, in a poster in Dave Mustaine’s Living Room
The book is frequently cited by Oskar Schell, the nine-year-old protagonist in Jonathan Safran Foer‘s novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
In the movie Phenomenon, starring John Travolta, in which the character George Malley gains incredible intelligence, Malley owns this book as part of his everyday reading.
In The Simpsons episode Treehouse of Horror VI, upon seeing the dimension he accidentally entered begin to destroy itself, Homer says “Oh, there’s so much I don’t know about astrophysics. I wish I’d read that book by that wheelchair guy.”, an allusion to A Brief History of Time.
In Futurama: Bender’s Big Score, one of the naked aliens is seen reading a book called “A Brief History of Time Travel”, a parody of A Brief History of Time.
In the movie Donnie Darko, Donnie has in his possession a copy of Hawking’s book, this is implied to be the source of Donnie’s time travel knowledge in the film.