which human beings play little and play no essential role. i think that gives us a better understanding of our place in the scheme of things and it helps to free us of some of the superstitions that have deviled the human race. >> such as? >> i don't want to insult anyone but the historian roper said it was the scientific revolution of the 17th century that led to a sharp decline in burning witches in the 18th century. i think that today large parts of the world are obsessed with religious fanaticism and i think the example of scientific knowledge which is so difficult

to win about which we are always tentative is a good counterexample to the employees. >> you use trance -- trancendental, what does that mean? >> i don't think so. i think i mean something like emersonment that affects us deeply that goes to the root of our feelings that is not directed at getting and spending . >> professor weinberg you have what einstein wug -- was wrong

about. what was einstein wrote about? >> even the -- we recognized that even the greatest of us and einstein was certainly the greatest scientist of the 20th century and greatest of all times could be wrong on some things and it's not einstein's work is not a sacred text which were forbidden to depart from. he was wrong in rejecting one of his own ideas. it's a modification that's equivalent to says that space is filled with an energy for gravitational everywhere in the

universe, the way the university isics up and downing or not expanding and he introduced it actually as a means of preventing the collapse of matter under its own gravitation . there's no need of modification and he decided it was the biggest mistake of his life. the mistake was thinking it was a mistake and one of the articles is about the dark energy and discovered in 1998 and einstein would have been

better to -- make his modification and sit back and wait for events. >> book tv tapes hundreds of author programs around the country all year long. here is a look at some of the events we are covering this week. wednesday at the common wealth club of california in san francisco, the founder and chairman of csi capital management lelan argues that wall street financial firms have unduly exposed their clients to high levels of risks and only interested in increasing bottom line. thursday in minneapolis martin reports on the new generation of american who is reject traditional concepts of success like 9:00 to 5:00 jobs and home ownership in terms of redefining the american dream. on friday historian talks about the union army's escape slave refugee camps and their effect on the future of emancipation. that same evening in columbus,

ohio, john hopkins university professor argues that running colleges and universities as businesses has increased the cost of higher education. next sunday the daily shows noa remembers upbringing in south africa as part of kick off to this year's miami book fair at miami-dade college. that's a look at some of the author programs book tv is covering this week, many of the events are open to the public and you can look for them to hear in the near future on book tv on c-span2. >> as the nation elects a new president on tuesday, will america have its first foreign born lady or will we have our first president as gentleman. learn more about the influence of america's presidential spouses from c-span's first ladies now available in paperback, first ladies give readers a look in into the personal lives and impact of every first lady in american history.

first ladies is a companion to c-span well regarded biography series and interviews with the nation's historians and each chapter offers brief biographies of 25 presidential spouses. first ladies in paperback published by public affairs is now available at your favorite book seller and also as an e-book. >> in other words, it didn't take johnson long to undo the best policy he was associated with and for a lot of different reasons related to the war and politics and what not. he raised tax rates and put the individual rate of 70 back to 78%. he began to unhinge the dollar and i said this is a bipartisan, nonpartisan book. the next president richard nixon who i have met many times and

the family is a deer friend of mine, as nixon said to me when he was out of office, you don't think much of my economics do. nixon unleash the dollar, any other monetary discipline and impose massive regulations on the economy including wage and controls, so, again, bipartisan way democratic republican and we had a democrat and republican who got it wrong and now the question is how is the balance going to end up tipping. i can't answer that question. my cristal ball is no better than yours but it's important and the other point that ryan read which i love, really, bob was a wealthy banker. the whitest of the whitest in

new york. doug had just about as much as money joe kenny and jack kennedy and traveled in very high social circles in fact, higher than the kennedys so the kennedys did not stair him down. so i thought that was pretty good. sometimes you have to be able make people to listen to you in this case was money and social standing. me, i take it any way i can get it and good policy is good policy but the main point here, this is not a partisan book, i just want america to get moving again. we've got to turn less than 2% growth over a couple decades now back to 3 to 4% growth which is what we do historically and to get there we are going to have to take strong remedial actions particularly on business and tax

cuts to grow the economy as 5 or 6% for several years in order to get us back on track. kennedy and reagan showed, proved historically that it can be done. >> you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. .. ÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷

>> good morning. author of the elongate how obama redefined washington. with the foreign policy aspect of his administration. please silence your cell phones please buy a couple books on your way out. we will have a few minutes to sign books. we will talk about ten min