Author: Nicholas M. Ball

LibriVox volunteers bring you 17 recordings of Karawane by Hugo Ball. This was the Weekly Poetry project for December 5th, 2010.<br><br>Ball wrote his poem "Karawane," which is a German poem consisting of nonsensical words. The meaning however resides in its meaninglessness, reflecting the chief principle behind Dadaism.<br><br>Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zürich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922.[1] The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a rejection of the prevailing standards in art through anti-art cultural works. Its purpose was to ridicule what its participants considered to be the meaninglessness of the modern world. In addition to being anti-war, dada was also anti-bourgeois and anarchistic in nature.(summary from Wikipedia)

2Simultan Krippenspiel (Concert bruitiste)

By Hugo Ball

Dies ist ein ungewöhnliches dadaistisches Krippenspiel, wobei die Weihnachtsgeschichte fast nur mit Hilfe von Lauten und Geräuschen erzählt wird. Hugo Ball, ein deutscher Autor, gilt as einer der Begründer der Dada-Bewegung und Pionier der Lautgedichte. (Zusammenfassung von Availle)<br><br> This is a dadaistic Christmas play by Hugo Ball, where mainly sounds are used to convey the story. <br><br> <b>Die Rollen:</b><br> Erzaehler: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/5055">Karlsson</a><br> Der Wind: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7138">CaprishaPage</a><br> Ton der heiligen Nacht, Lichtapparat und Glöckchen der Elefanten/Glöckchen/Glocken: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3885">Elli</a><br> Die Hirten, Schaf/Lamm und Flöte: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/5424">Julia Niedermaier</a><br> Esel und Geräusch der Litanei: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/5409">Christa</a><br> Öchslein: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3470">Jason Mills</a><br> Josef und Nageln: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2911">David Lawrence</a><br> Maria, Stilisiertes Lachen und Ankunft: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7315">Charlotte Duckett</a><br> Der Stern: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2825">Ernst Pattynama</a><br> Der Engel: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1259">Elizabeth Klett</a><br> Die Karawane der drei Könige, die drei Könige, Schnauben und Wiehern der Pferde und Kacken der Kamele: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7603">Wupperhippo</a><br> Trompete: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1492">mb</a><br> Jesus und Zurufen der Knechte: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/7848">bala</a><br> <b>Andere Nebengeräusche und Schnitt: Karlsson</b>

3Fifty Years in Chains; or The Life of an American Slave

By Charles Ball

This is the story of Charles Ball, an American slave who was born in 1780 and remained a slave for fifty years thereafter. Ball told his story to a lawyer who turned it into this written work. (Summary by Tom Causby)

This is a history of mathematics from antiquity to the turn of the 20th century. (Summary by Paul King)

5Great Astronomers

By Robert Stawell Ball

Of all the natural sciences there is not one which offers such sublime objects to the attention of the inquirer as does the science of astronomy. From the earliest ages the study of the stars has exercised the same fascination as it possesses at the present day. Among the most primitive peoples, the movements of the sun, the moon, and the stars commanded attention from their supposed influence on human affairs. <br><br>From the days of Hipparchus down to the present hour the science of astronomy has steadily grown. One great observer after another has appeared from time to time, to reveal some new phenomenon with regard to the celestial bodies or their movements, while from time to time one commanding intellect after another has arisen to explain the true import of the facts of observations. The history of astronomy thus becomes inseparable from the history of the great men to whose labours its development is due. In the ensuing chapters we have endeavoured to sketch the lives and the work of the great philosophers, by whose labours the science of astronomy has been created. (from the Introduction)

Der Auf- und Untergang eines Sterns am Züricher Varieté-Himmel, nämlich der von Max Flametti, wird hier beschrieben. Charmant-unverblümt widerspiegelt der Roman das Kolorit dieser Szene samt Artisten, "illustren" Publikums, Freudenmädchen und Polizei. Frisch, gewitzt und überaus sprachgewandt umreißt Hugo Ball eine riesige Fülle von Äußerlichkeiten seiner Charaktere und lässt damit den Leser tief blicken. Er verarbeitet hier auch eigene Züricher Varieté-Erfahrungen. - Summary by Eva K.

7Andreas Vesalius, The Reformer of Anatomy

By James Moores Ball

Vesalius (born in Brussels, 1514-1564) is one of the foundation stones of modern medicine. Forsaking the study of anatomy by reading the ancients, he instead dissected bodies and drew detailed illustrations of his observations. He was enormously influential in the development of modern medicine. This 1910 biography opens up his life admirably. The printed book contains many illustrations taken from his works. The listener will want to be aware that modern historians of medicine are much more positive about the contributions of medieval Arabic medical teachers than the author of this book. - Summary by David Wales

8Chemical Constituents of the Active Principle of the Ava Root

By Alice A. Ball

The Chemical Constituents of Piper Methysticum or The Chemical Constituents of the Active Principle of The Ava Root is the text of a Master’s Degree thesis presented in June 1915 by Alice A. Ball. Ms. Ball was the first woman and African American to receive a Master’s Degree from the University of Hawaii. Her thesis includes some history of the use of the ava (kava) root in the South Pacific islands along with the isolation and analysis of the extracts of the kava root and some preliminary observations of its effects when administered to animals. - Summary by J. M. Smallheer