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REVIEWS BOOKS ancestors, and at how dry land became forested only after symbioses of algae and fungi evolved into plants. As one of her stu- dents once appropriately quipped: "Gaia is simply symbiosis as seen from space." In reaffirming how all of Earth's living things participate in a symbiotic union, Margulis demonstrates great respect and awe at nature's self-regulating laboratory. Her book may well change how you think about the living world on all levels. mail to Europe; £22.10 airmail elsewhere Available: UK—Floris Books, 15 Harrison Gardens, Edinburgh EH11 1SH, tel +44 0131 337 2372, fax 0131 346 7516 here has been considerable speculation as to whether Jesus travelled far beyond the boundaries of Palestine before he com- menced his ministry proper. In this book, Jesus the Master Builder, author Gordon Strachan considers the evidence for Jesus having visited the British Isles with Joseph of Arimathea, and the attempts by early his- torians with vested interests to eradicate it. According to Strachan, Jesus the Nazarene, being an architect and a Master Craftsman, was steeped in various mystery traditions including the secrets of sacred geometry. Such knowledge was shared between the Judaic and Hellenic schools as well as with the northern Druids, which is perhaps why Jesus would have ventured to Britain. Strachan points to evidence for the exis- tence of a far northern Hyperborean mystery school that influenced the southern schools. He discovered myths surrounding the Great Bear constellation and the aurora borealis phenomenon that suggest shamanic begin- nings to all the traditions, whether Altean, Druidic or Mediterranean. Gordon Strachan is an Edinburgh-based architecture lecturer and also a Presbyterian minister. He's uncovered some surprising connections between megalithic Israel and the British Isles which suggest a shared legacy across the ancient world—one that pre-dates the so-called Pythagorean number symbologies that link these ancient sites. Strachan draws conclusions based on the available information, but he does get some of his leads in the form of intuitive leaps that extend the prevailing parameters. THE SYMBIOTIC PLANET by Lynn Margulis Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998 ISBN: 0-297-81740-X (146pp hc) Price: AUD$35.00; NZD$49.95; £12.99; USD$21.00 Available: Aust—Allen & Unwin, tel (02) 8425 0100; NZ—Hodder Moa Beckett, tel (09) 478 1000; UK—Orion Publishing, tel 01903 721596; USA—Basic Books/ HarperCollins, tel 1800 331 3761 ymbiosis is even more crucial than sex when it comes to the evolution of life, whether you're talking about micro-organ- isms or the Earth as a living entity, accord- ing to scientist Lynn Margulis in her latest book, The Symbiotic Planet. Symbiosis is a natural, common phenome- non. We live in a symbiotic world where symbiogenesis brings together unlike indi- viduals to make larger, more complex enti- ties. Our bodies are universes of symbiotic interractions between micro-organisms. To Margulis, symbiosis as a source of evolu- tionary novelty or innovation can help to explain discontinuities in the fossil record and the origin of organisms and species that Darwin conveniently side-stepped. Margulis is regarded as one of the vision- aries of modern biology, best known for her work on the bacterial origins of cell organelles and for her collaboration with James Lovelock on his Gaia theory. In this book she looks at the role of chemical scum in combining to create life, at how sex and death arose when failed attempts at canni- balism led to mergers of some of our tiniest JESUS THE MASTER BUILDER: Druid Mysteries & the Dawn of Christianity by Gordon Strachan Publisher: Floris, Edinburgh, UK, 1998 ISBN: 0-86315-275-9 (302pp hc) Price: £18.69 inc. p&h in UK; £19.53 air- Jesus the Master Builder Dru Mysteries AnD THE Dawes oF CHeESTIANITY Deuio Mysteries AnD THE Dawn oF CHRISTIANITY 76 = NEXUS APRIL — MAY 1999