.. >> next in jeopardy champion ken jennings presents a history of cartography and examines the ways that maps are used today.

this is about 40 minutes. [applause] >> thank you. that is very kind. did you hear me okay? okay. thank you for coming out. i have been in l.a. many times. barry saying. it's a step to get to the bathroom.bos ma through a garage and in some offices. i was like, where are we to reae the middle of capitol hill.e o nice to see you guys.nice i am ken jennings. i think what we will do is talk a little bit about the book andt boen, i don't of this going to go, but i wokant to do an impromptu geography quiz. it's pretty fun when we turnogra this into a game show.game i don't know what the jury to think about that, but will do aw little geography quiz show and see how it goes. aee will do some q&a in the of fun some bucks.nd the hopefully it will be as long as it sounds because when i go took

book signings are elected with the author is airing on the sidh of, you know, giving the home io time. [laughter] a judge second finish? also the map and you guessed not been down. my name is ken. mye book is called map head. it sounds like a close-up thingk i am a fan of maps and all the forms. anybody here a metal head? c-span2 to share my creed?mae -- my name is, your name here withd the initials. the book was sort of born of an experience i had a couple of years ago. ago going through my parents'th garage, which is a huge pile of books. i know everybody's parentsf causes huge pile of boxes, but s my parents draws looks like -- i mean, it is huge.

just one more box mind. i was going to the pilot trying to find is, and right up endednd up in this points up about. timeme capsule of bicycle and my childhood. hig comic books and make states. some of the people will knowic a what that is,nd but mixed state. at the bottom, this big old green world alice.wa there was this weird moment for me. i was like, my gosh.rd it was like finding your belovek stuffed animal at the bottom of the box is something. a very meaningful to have a companion. all my allowance when i was 78 i sauy this. even at thatve time was already like a total lack merit. booking travelers.lo i could read daedaluses for pleasure the way a more normal kid would be reading the big rer dogwood never.g. it was just this amazing moment

of connection to see this again. i realize that i have spent many of the years since then in the closet, as it were, as a map head because you realize very quickly, especially if you getyn older they you are likes you get geography a lot, not with the opposite sex. and then he realized it's often a liability and not an asset.tht people don't talk a lot aboutet. how much they just love looking atot maps.ove as i started writing the book, people would ask you what i was working on and i whens apologetically say it's a book about maps and people who like a maps.t wo doesn't lose justify any kind of advance. it was amazing how many peoplea? alike, obama love maps. many people would be like, likeo there were also aware of the

social cost of being a bit of a card file. but, you know, i remember in college having a maid comingfi into our apartment at the beginning of a new semester and having a new roommate, a geeky canadian guy. b i'm not.am he already had -- the walls were papered. and i had spent much of that wls looking at national geographico maps. i should have been over the at thise is that those like, we are never going to see a single girl here. [laughter] on the plus side it's just became the second, you know, least desirable or attractive person. the very exciting for me. but i was a really true to map said routes as well. not writing this book was a pleasure because i did get to me with a lot of different kinds of people who have these geographically geeky for lack of a word of the. map libraries, get to hang oute. in the map division in the to

boughs of a library of congress which is very cool, like three football fields of map cadmus, 9,000 cabinets. the could just open themab seemingly at random and sikkimra here's a map of a plantation inf virginia.atio george washington drew it. [laughter] the analogy of a cashier's. they're usingps multibillion-dollar satellite staff find stuck or hidden in the woods. the pacific northwest creation. there were in portland. the company's is in fremont now. who of selected to help with?hos the national geographic.with washington, by the way to-onc geographic. amazing. middle school, and when i did a little geography, a couple yeard

ago. and just for fun i give red geography questions and i had i seen on game shows. just smoked meat. she get one run.d to ss bella people to maps of fantasy worlds, the sioux are obsessed with the interstatewor system, systematic travelers, people like to go to every something on earth, everyke peoe starbucks, country, high point. people level lifelong checklists of places they must step one-to-one and then head back to the airport.ne t the thing these people had in bc common that occurred to mek was their modern-day explorers. born too late.urred bornto in the world that forxpl. already beense has explored. we have been everywhere.als. there might be some places left,

but there the blesses the stock. they're is a reason why. and these are people, things that we map now we talk about mapping now we're mapping starse mapping the human genome. these are people that clearlyhee miss the time when you could map something that was surrounding, you.itory, location. so they reinvent exploration of making all places new.einven they had tupperware in city parks endlessly and draw maps o new fantastic places and lose oe themselves in their contours of antique maps. these are sort of the equivalent of modern-day sports and cents. i'm going to read a short segment to be short. this is the part of the readingr when i'm in your chair by ellis said thii s. i'm not going to speed readerhi. anything, but a brief section from chapter four. this is the program paid out of

the library of congress. place names on maps which are always holding a special appeal. i have been an enthusiastic steven the place names.ists maps.place to m could be more sullen and one of those maps i read with only a few oil their sir year's accord drawn on it this makes kids he geography. m g e dow chemical of patience. an acrylic coastline, but personality and the hon to do australia. the great promise cartography agree with me. he leveled his commands our continent. e goantalizing place. no one had been to these nonexistent places.ac but we will leave an entire land

mass this -- suspiciously naked. map labels like they want andli british honduras. i'd never been to these countries come but the names, the school cafeteria or the piano line.l i plan my vacations around places like bland fare pool.e [inaudible] the rapid whirlpool.tape make sure to get my picture taken during my trip to thailan the princess city, hundred 603 letter name. name some have to be long to be memorable.ve to you could spend most of its timl visiting places. scratch the bottom.h in an american road of this, this is a history. cs play, new jersey.

tandon, texas. and most of these places came bg their names on the sleek. thesem a couple that made neighbors skin crawl. ts quake is a corruption of the indian word. ding dong texas was named for of local sign in bell county.or a little too good to be truearrt because they are. to take that 58 letter will are. spillage.el village and i've got to say it again. plain old window until the 1860's when enterprising locald sailor came along with a biggera name. e those desperate american towns and renamed themselves for celebrities. sometimes the contest, thebrits. former ospreys in mexico. still culture think consequences more than 30 years after the game show one of the air. the ill probably be called jim thorpe.ian more often than not, since and

is the headline. halfway organ after only a yearr joe mantegna is just once in a get.r secrn th decided not rushmore. in 2005, the timely -- the timee it took her share does,000 come. but notoriety. for every ton taking big checks to-computer lab, this above whole road.la told the daily mail that was ato big job for him when he first moved there. moved he could not believe theco previous owners arriving about. skeptical delivery drivers, buss loads of tourists posing for pictures in for a communal rain barrel.

located. but history didn't matter.in b in 2009 the city changed the name to the much less009 distinctive arches way. it's odd for americans toe arch. understand the patriotism. we are young country. so accustomed in our cockeyed cowboy fashion to everything fans revolving around this. the fact that the gulf of mexico is a called the gulf of america. according to a library of congress mapof librarian that is an issue of one free could complainer. geoap if america announced a march issue is changing her first into canada we would be okay.ives the important policy of thethe e worse the of japan blacktops. the name east sea was and led the love. greece got so angry about thew. republic of macedonia because istoric macedonia was a region of greece.engree

the hottest rhetoric has come out of a run after the 24rhetor iran after the national geographic atlas of the loralf added, is smaller label reading arabian gulf. the iranians as the conspiracy analysts under the influence of the u.s. lobby in the ovalahe i dollars of seven arab governments the society has distorted and undeniable historical reality. all national geographictocal populations as journalists were banned from a runt.m reason russell bennett users send national geographic dozens of the rails, hundreds of angry amazon reviews and even to obama the phrase iranian gulf. the top where result is now a oe mock air page reading the gulfea you were looking for does notg exist. try persian gulf. national geographic finally. issued a correction. still running high.e gulfre runi created in national persian gulf every april to celebrate thesia nomenclature, cancel the 2010ay islamic solidarity games.ec

they have even threatened to ban any airline that doesn't use thv right name on its display board. the closest american equivalent to this kind of pride is the way we use names for converting. statusnhattan tourist two avenue of the americas. the official many assets at reng current. pronounced the city in texas. in my neck of the woods, on top of washington's largest. suburb to the largest state and the retirement mecca on the olympic peninsula. to pronounce the names like sequent brand themselves the clueless tourist or california transplant. i could tell you the real pronunciation but under washington state law i would have to kill you. the pronunciation and gave away by doing it out loud. you have to imagine that.

one thing that struck me is the headlines you hear about geography are scary ones about how a percentage of college students can't find canada on a map or can't find their but with both hands. the fact those guidelines exist is a sign that some part of our culture believes geographic knowledge is important. it is an important part of cultural literacy. this vast untapped good will towards the geography. i like to think they are slides we are living may be in a new golden age for maps. maybe in the age of google earth and real time mapping of traffic and weather and smart phones showing you where your friends are and all the amazing mapping innovations of the last ten years, mapping has been around for centuries but this will create a new golden age where maps miraculously appear to be as exciting and sexy to the average person as for whatever reason they always appeared to

me. that is my hope. that is the hope of "maphead". should we do a geography quiz? here is my plan. i have my magic bag a copy of "maphead" to give away. and the ken jennings bobblehead. extremely rare. the other lack of demand for them. people say they're not exist in girlfriend from canada. this was made in canada as a promotional item for the trivia game and no one wanted them but me but i have a garage full. for anyone who answered the question right i asked my wife what candy we should have and she said nerds. that is very sweet.

thank you. so i think my plan in so far as i have one. i have done this before and it works pretty well. if you don't answer shout it out. if you are quick, i hope your quick because if nerds are heading at your head. this is not a part of the event this week. i was talking about visions from kentucky. this is a time you have to be alert. after we do a short number of these we will meet for our most gifted geographically -- people have been in the preliminaries and a few finalist to delay final round. for example i would read a question like this and you yell out the answer. might be something like in what state is lake okechobee? over here first. in the front row. don't try out my arm. don't answer in the form of a question.

you are already stepping "jeopardy!" tonight. nobody is really missing it. "jeopardy!" had stories about alex trebek showing up at a signing in barnes and noble around this time and outrage, why are you here? who is hosting "jeopardy!"? everything is under control. what country's longest river is the whar. i heard over here. your neighbors are out there. which canadian province is wild road country? over here somewhere. what was it? beard? thanks for the cooperation. until 1995 what was the english name of india's most populous city? i heard bombay and calcutta.

it is actually bomb bay. the current mumbai -- very early adopter of bombay. right here. thank you for not getting ahead. don't know what the liability issues are. in what country -- as soon as you know it yell it out. they larue, barack, bali? somewhere. front row. very nice. if you scale of 3,000 ft. of capital and what national park? over here somewhere? british airways. traveled to north from anywhere in texas what state do you enter first? you in the red shirt. this is going very well. what is europe's tallest volcano? anyone want to try? where was it?

over here? right here. i didn't miss that. that is impressive. the judges are keeping an eye on you. what country's most important export is austria? here you go. nice to see you. thanks for coming out. that was sort of tough. separate not gender specific, which is the nation of the former yugoslavia is a member of the e you? >> romania! >> right here. very nice. where are ellsworthland and -- somewhere -- way in the back.

one row. what city has sugarloaf? front row. very nice. that was a terrible throw. that is not an error. cleveland, which of the great lakes? somebody here was quick to. you again, sir. you don't want to be in front of him. i feel your pain. what canadian territory is named our land? right over here. someone first. there's a rebellion over here. the dardanelles connect the mediterranean with what other -- right here? the four large islands of japan

which is farthest north? we are "jeopardy!" co-conspirators. seattle's best "jeopardy!" -- the best "jeopardy!" contestants on the house tonight. how are you doing? [applause] >> we are playing for money instead of nerd you are playing very well. the fix might be in. the lesser antilles or abc island. somebody said aruba. a better throw than last time and almost killed the person behind you. what did the romans called hibernia? i heard it first.

tom. the guy next to tom. you two fight over it. the world's largest desert is not the sarah. and arctic as somebody said. technically speaking, that guy will be eating nerds all night. the definition of a desert scientifically nothing but the amount of precipitation and it is too cold. what densely populated island is due south -- hong kong is there somewhere. will you pass that back to hong kong? i am getting a good sense of who our final five are. what country's most visited tourist attraction is the city of petra? aaron brown. one of my friends who i found out after writing the book was a

map nerd. thanks for coming. until a few months ago what was the largest country by area in africa? sedan. that might have been tom. last question. what specific country's largest island is the key level? somebody said fiji. i think our finalist has got to be right here. probably right there. may be right here. got two. come on. i skipped a few people. you did very good. there were many -- come on up. [applause] i guess this mike doesn't move. tell me your name starting on the end.

where are you from? and now living in the area. you didn't come all the way just for this from spokane? right from residents. thanks for coming. you drove all the way up for this. i am sure these guys are excited about the book coming out. i thought you might. a guy from mountain view who answers map questions like he has seen the answers. may have that on his smart phone right now. i am going to read the questions slowly. say your name. establish who is first and give the answer. we will do ten questions. first question. early explorers also called the platte river by the name --

>> in nebraska. >> the answer is nebraska. but the name of what u.s. state? very nice. you just lucked out. one point in the middle for frank. what country's largest cities are conception? >> chilly. >> i don't think -- i am impressed. did you think i would say your name? zero 20. what u.s. state has a capital city with a three word name? it is the right answer. and frank. you don't work for microsoft. you are trying to do that. it didn't work. what name is shared by the

tallest mountain in cyprus and alex trebek -- and greece? nice timing. chris on the board. it may be over. which was the only one of the 13 original u.s. states not to touch the atlantic? pennsylvania. good. you are on the board. still anybody's game at the half. which african country administers the enclave of cabinda? >> barack. >> it is not. you don't get one -- >> algeria. >> and goal. just north of an goal. the island of know via zambia is the northernmost extent of what mountain?

chris is in first. what mountain range? sorry. thank you, ladies and gentlemen. this is an exhibition i say to you. keep the answer to yourself. am i thinking about this right? question 7? the bears no correct answer -- i don't want to question your mouth. you two can talk at this point. answer every remaining question. which is this point? i have granted this before. which is the span of central asia is surrounded -- i think you were first. it was not answered by john. you were next. that is correct. you are still in it. please keep your answers to

yourself. what is the sea of cortez? >> the gulf of california. >> 3-4-1. it all comes down to that. how many oil nations have the word guinea in their name? >> two. >> correct. >> three. >> three is not correct. is four. [applause] >> i will give you the rest of the nerds but there's only one left. only one more question. in what city is the at the river? frank. i tried to help you. let's give these guys a big hand. [applause]

very impressive. we will do -- does anybody have any questions? what are the four guineas? guinea, guinea-bissau, editorial guinea, apple and new guinea. they are all the hard ones. any questions not about countries? >> how is your favorite dog? >> sort of famous mentioned in the jacket copy. i have a labrador retriever who could not be with us tonight but is getting more stable with age. the same -- pretty awesome in our dog. any other questions? >> tell us about your explanation. >> my education? i sort of screw up a lot in school. that is not what you want to hear. i was originally from seattle

and moved overseas when i was 7 or 8. my dad got a job in a law firm and korea so i went to international school there and attended university of washington and utah. i have a degree in english and computer science. a very happy english major who decided it would be nice to pay the bills from time to time. what is the difference between a large pizza and an english major? the pizza can feed a family of four. i majored computer science and working as a programmer when i got the call to be on jeopardy and thanks to "jeopardy!" i am a writer and it has been great. >> did you know the answer to the last question or just tired of being on "jeopardy!"? >> i got to say it is the worst conspiracy theory ever.

you ever quit a job where you are getting 60 k and our or something? very high retention. if you were going to tell me, spend some time. i have heard it. they are all easy if you know the man never easy for you don't. no matter what is a. i promise i didn't. lee harvey act alone. i did not throw "jeopardy!". too much respect for alex trebek to ever do that. any other questions? i do live in the area. i am local. >> e.u. -- [inaudible] >> i did see who asked. it is one to a customer.

you get one loss. i got a and fairly nice chance anyway. i got to go back last year when ibm had the supercomputer. is possible at some future point that google will teach me how to play "jeopardy!" and i will be back. >> good recommendations for a good nonfiction story? >> i have been working on a little something. that was going to be the second reading. your the first ever to mention flash fiction on c-span. >> i will make you offend some people. to you use map quest for google maps? >> i don't see bumper stickers--who would be offended if i don't use a big as a verb? all these map technologies are

great. i all lead use google. >> what tips do you have for retaining the most knowledge possible? >> tips for knowledge retention for a knowledgeable team member. >> when people ask how i know all that stuff i feel like i don't have a good answer. i don't have a system or a tie in book that i can direct them to. most "jeopardy!" people would say they got on the show not through a system weekend of cramming but a lifetime of being a curious person. very aware of the world and omnivorous. not just most people where we could easily remember the stuff we are into the the other stuff goes in one ear and out the other. whatever the secret is make them interested in everything. i don't know. if by some miracle you become a person interested in everything and always have something to

connect it to. you will want to know it and probably like having it in your head to tie on to. it won't fall through the cracks. a couple more questions. >> gender question. i understand the geography nationals is predominately boys as opposed to the spelling bee which is predominantly girls. any observation? >> the possibility of a gender gap in geography knowledge and map reading. if you ever heard any stand-up comedian you know this is fodder for monologue for decades. the women can't read maps and to can't ask for directions. national geographic is more concerned than some crappy stand up. they commissioned research because there is a big gap in the finals. the year i went there there were two girls and 50 boys. it is not ideal for the market.

they would like to think geography can appeal to anyone. the least popular states, alaska and wyoming were the two girls. they commissioned research and found they were hoping to find an explanation like the questions are biased toward the girls get more nervous. there is a measurable back. for whatever reason geography knowledge between boys and girls, not sure why that is. a doesn't mean the brains are wired differently though that is possible. brain chemistry might be different. there is a good academic research to show we treat boys and girls differently from birth. even as babies we toss the boys around and they experience locations more at a very young age. takes for more. in a million ways we might be sending key is that boys are interested in exploring places and looking at maps and girls are not. tried to get more girls interested in geography in

general. that is the state of the research right now. in the back. >> i could be wrong but it seems to me in schools nowadays geography just doesn't have the same as it did 30 years ago when i was in school. i don't know if you are aware of what can be done to correct that. i think you said 40% of college students didn't know where canada was. >> things like that happen all the time. he is asking about geography education taking a hit in recent years. is it 1,000 degrees in here? the answer is yes for a couple reasons. the main reason especially in primary and secondary education

is the social studies movement happened were different social sciences thought why don't grade school kids get our stuff? they could have economics or civics or whatever social -- the final tradition of teaching geography in front of the plaster which is associated with old-time became that because -- the u. s is the only country in the developed world where a kid can go from preschool to graduating with a master's and never cracked a geography textbook. obviously there are good things out of this revolution and some costs. when we stack up against other countries in geographic literacy we're next to last and national geographic tests. no developed nations do great. they're surprisingly bad with --

in sweden they can't find the pacific ocean but it is higher than you would like but the u.s. is worse off than japan or most of the european countries in the developed world. gps might make it worse. we don't even open a map anymore. a talking box tells us where to turn and occasionally you see people turning into rivers or on the railroad tracks. we always believe the box. time for a couple more questions. one more question. better than all the other questions put together. who is still confident? you are confident. >> other than going through the library of congress are you able to go through any of the other ancient maps of other countries? >> did i go through ancient maps? i did go through the london map fair which is the leading place to buy and sell antique maps.

good geographical society which is where all the great explorers of the age came back to show their stuff. they financed surge edmund hillary's expedition and robert scott's expedition to the pole and stanley livingston. that was very cool and beautiful maps obviously. another favorite place is the back gallery in the vatican in rome. i don't know if you have been for the vatican. beautiful mural and enormous maps of every region of italy lining the wall. this is where the pope would wait for the audience to see him and the idea is they would be intimidated by the extent of his earthly realm and heavenly influence. i am a sucker for old maps. new maps are beautiful but to look at a map and be reminded

how many people sacrifice or lost their lives over this coastline to be drawn more accurately is a powerful thing. thank you for coming out tonight. i will sign books as long as there are books to be signed. i appreciate you coming. [applause] >> my attempt to answer a question that i was asked very briefly -- frequently when i was talking about climate change below particularly after i had written the book in 2005. surviving this shifting climate that is looming the we're

causing. and the only way i can think of to add to that question was to really go back to the scientific fundamentals, to go back to the process that created less than a planet and, of course, look at the intersection between our species and this thing that we call planet earth because it is at that intersection that the insured sustainability arises, and i could not think a better way really have decided to litigate the issue that to go back to the work of that man there. that is charles darwin, his tombstone and was mr. abbey, the sacred house for all of the great man of the british people. it is also something that he was very in the church, the great house. but nothing is said on his tombstone of his achievements spirited is pretty unique among

all the monuments and the abbey. you would not guess what he was there. obviously what he had done and written about with the theory of evolution did not -- was not kind to looked upon by his own church the reason i wanted to start with darwin was because he is the man who really explain to us the process that made bus and the process that made our earth. his idea, his great idea was an extremely simple one. it was simply that in every generation there is a variation between individuals, and that some of those individuals are more likely to survive and reproduce the others and that over the vast this of time that people were just becoming aware of the history of the air if in the mid-19th century and that must still on and her ability, those which have on the ship was

disease as a whole, as he put it to be so very, very simple idea. time when being a very wise man, and very perceptive person decided to seek upon that idea for 20 years it was only when i went to don winehouse and can that i really understood a little bit more about why he waited so long before he announced this fundamental ideas that changed our view of the world. just outside his house he built low thing that he called the san walk, and that is it there. actually a pebble walk. i don't know why, the sand walk, but great man can do other things. and every day of his life he would walk for several hours around the san lock, and people of wondered why he did it to read what was he thinking about?

was he doing? that is just a loop from the forest. scientists have speculated that he was protecting his arguments were constructing and is said to be a full paragraphs that characterize his written words. bud these children suggests something very different. they left memoirs were the talk about what they knew of the father. they would play in the forest and often interrupt him as there were doing so. he always seemed glad of the interruption and would sometimes turn their games, whenever they were doing. not the actions, i would say, of a man who is deeply engaged in very complex and critical thought. i think what tarlow was doing as he wandered the said walk was metaphorically thing during. he was thinking about the implication of his theory for religious belief in this country , for the shape of civil

society and other. i guess that base was he was worried about was that if he destroyed faith by showing that we were not in the creation of a loving and caring got but instead we are the results of an amoral and utterly cruel process , by destroying fate he might destroy hope and charity as well and have a very adverse impact upon society. he may never have published his theory if it had not been for this man here. in 1858, 20 years after dahlin for stumbled on the ndf of how we and every other species on the planet was made, this man here, alford also wallace was working in indonesia. a man 20 years under. he was a working-class land,

self-made, went to the tropics to collect biological specimens. well he was there he had been malarial attack. as a result he was highly favored. an idea came to him that perhaps pieces were created by a sector the same mechanism that there would head a chance to upon 20 years earlier. when he brick covered enough to write he wrote a note in great excitement allen and his theory. he asked, and if you would not mind turns minutes one of the journals to be published. he was horrified. could not have made a better summary of my work if he had had my notes in front of them. he thought to perhaps, that his work was about to be stolen by this working-class let. as it was, he appealed to his friends, particularly those who

looked after internal publications and so forth. and as a result of their intervention both pieces of work were co published in july 1858. dahlin and wallace. it is extraordinary how similar they are. the theory is presented in completeness in both accounts, but for all of that it was like a split going of the british society. the man who was in charge of publishing the journal, professor bell who was an expert wrote in his summary that there had been no significant scientific discoveries published in the journal, nothing that would revolutionize the department of science. of course, he could not have been more wrong, and that was shown the following year in

$18,591 published his book on the origin of species. and then, as stalin, perhaps, feared the theory was unleashed upon his society. everything began to change. within five years and harassment had coined the term the survival of the fittest. social darwinism have been born. dahlin did not really help his own cause in the suddenly picked for the book which included the line on the preservation of favored races. i could imagine going into a book shop in 1859. the average englishmen pick up this book and on the preservation of favored races, i would not be thinking about worms that were slightly better at being warns. you would be thinking about british empire builders as a flight that. and so there was this social impact. over time i think what we saw

was a very, very deep impact on our society. these darwinian ideas. everything from national socialism to dysgenics, neoclassical economics have borne some in prince of darwinian thinking. particularly as mediated to the likes of response to. so as i was beginning to look at the process that created this, then we would die when and began to despair that perhaps we were selfish, shortsighted, ruthless entities forced by an amoral and utterly cruel process, but it was this man here that really gave me hope that that may not necessarily be the case. alfred russel wallace lived a

very normal and full life dying at the age of 90. the age of 80 he was still riding. i would argue his most important work was published in 1900 for. that is the title page of it there. man's place in the universe, the study of the result of scientific research in relation to the unity of a plurality. a very, very strange title. but what this book really is is wallaces understanding the but the evolutionary mechanisms had created. he wasn't like darwin. he wasn't interested in drilling down with reduction of science ever more finely in terms of understanding the evolutionary mechanisms. he had done that in 1858. what he wanted to know was being a holistic think you're, his field of endeavor was the entire planet. the foundation stone of the

science of esther biology. compares world's, and the theory that this planet is the only living planet. the others, whether they be in the universe are all dead. it is also the forerunner but. he talks in the book above the atmosphere, the way the atmosphere works, the with the dust which is often created, regulating this claman's to read it is an extraordinary lucida precede work that underpins many aspects of science, particularly holistic science. there will we learn from wallace and his work is that evolutions legacy is not nasty british, not

the survival of the fittest. instead, the screw in a mall mechanisms have led to a world of the extraordinary intimacy, interconnectedness incorporation i just want to run through a few examples of that corporation. this slide just shows mitochondria, the small organelles that exist and all of our cells. it has been realized in the last 30 years are so that these mitochondria actually have nothing to do with us in terms of their origin. they originated in this freezing bacteria a billion years ago in an action function, and they tend to cohabit the soles of orebodies much the way they kill have a on a coral reef. they have become so closely tied in with their cells, so intricate that they can exist

without the cells of a buddy. now probably sells cannot survive without them. and that's the beginning of the complexity of the thing we call the human being. >> you can watch this and other programs of booktv.org. >> what qualities would incentivize voters to hire or fire? >> it is not exactly the way i approach the question in the book because it's really up to the voters. voters have a variety of different characteristics that they consider important and the characteristic that the voters find most important, the primary determinant about choice. the second characteristic and in congressional elections in his prior experience hon. so when will it give voter behavior, those are the two factors that voters consider most strongly when deciding.

>> if your book you compare competitive elections with the structure of a corporation. when an employee is not performing the should be fired. what is the disconnect between competitive elections and that system that you discuss in your book? >> the disconnect is there are a lot of different definitions of a competitive election. one of the things i talk about in the book is the fact that there are conflicting definitions of what a competitive election as. for example, too closely associated definitions of the congressional election or elections in which the final vote tallies for the candidates are in question. they are related, but different definitions. so if we talk about uncertainty, what does that mean? well, if an election is a way to hire or fire somebody and you have an incumbent running for office, essentially what is happening is there is a -- there

is an employee his contract is up to begin we renew that employee's contract to act that is literally what an election with an incumbent is to read it a competitive election is an election about which we are uncertain and there is some sort of random elements, essentially a competitive election is tossing a coin to decide whether or not to fire an employee. the seige idea. if you want a strong company what you do is retain the employees to a doing a good job and by the employees are doing a bad job. what you don't do this book point. that is what a competitive election is if we go over the definition of uncertainty. the basic issue is if you think about elections as employment mechanisms, most of the definitions for a competitive election don't really make a lot of sense.

>> what suggestions steelmaking your book to approve the system? >> essentially the argument in the book is that if you want a healthy company what you do it is put a credible threat to fire employees who do not do a good job. the purpose of deterring that is to get employees an incentive to do a good job. as a result they don't get fired. you still have to fire people. the argument i make in the buck is that elections should operate in no way says that there is a determinist a threat to fire incumbents to do a bad job and that threat causes them to behave in such a way as to avoid being fired. that is so i think the systems to operate. what that does is avoid most definitions of the competitive election because if that happens in the elections that are below the margin. you want to observe a lot of turnover. we have not seen this

definitions. the important thing that i argue in the book is a credible threat, but as always the case, you have to carry out the threat. >> how these suggest that we pose a credible threat to the candid to keep the election process more seriously or at least the political performance? >> well, responsibility. nothing we can do to force others to oppose the cult that. we can play around with election law to some degree, but ultimately the voters and not willing to pose that threat there is nothing that we can do. force voters to pose that threat. it is the responsibility of voters and the responsibility of employers to pose that threat to employees. if employers do not pose that threat there is nothing you can do structurally to create that threat. >> so the audience that you would like to read your book? >> there are couple.