The novel's attempts to link the story of 1969 (which consumes the bulk of it) with questions of present-day ideology and manners seem a bit thin; in this respect, the book is a poor cousin to superficially similar projects of historical archeology by writers such as Don DeLillo, Rachel Kushner, Dana Spiotta, Hari Kunzru, and Peter Carey.
However, mitochondrial genetic variation is less helpful when tackling questions on present-day genetic structuring of taxa with large population sizes and high levels of gene flow within their distribution such as marine pelagic fishes (e.g. [ 6, 21]).
It is not only a question of present-day fiscal sustainability and economic growth.
That is a classic definition of present day insanity.
One is the question whether present day races existed as such in the past, an issue brought up by the discovery of Kennewick Man.
The question is: Does the situation of present-day Muslim society, marked by crisis, tensions, foreign interventions and political despotism, foster this reformist democratic Islam, or does it promote its violent and theocratic rivals?
Regardless of its audience's religious convictions, it forces us to question historical and present day morality in an unconventional format.
The series won't solve any of classical's problems, but it can help answer the question for the present day.
Still, the question of why present-day gray-whale mothers, some of whom still bear harpoon scars, would take to seeking us out and gently shepherding their young into our arms is a mystery that now captivates whale researchers and watchers alike.
In addition, we will ask a happiness question focusing on the present day ('How happy of unhappy would you say you are today?').
From another perspective, however, the political problems of the present day are interestingly unique, giving rise to theoretical questions that earlier political philosophers did not have to confront.
