EAllusion wrote:Off the top of my head, my personal favorite pop-science book on evolution is Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin. It's wonderfully written. It isn't simply trying to distill a case for evolution like some offerings on here are, but it is hard for a sharp eye to read it and not begin to appreciate the complexity and strength of evidence of evolutionary theory. Shubin deserves to be a household name.
This.
The world is always full of the sound of waves..but who knows the heart of the sea, a hundred feet down? Who knows it's depth? ~ Eiji Yoshikawa
The Swerve - How the World Became Modern, the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Winner by Stephen Greenblatt.
The author tells the well researched story of a book hunting monk named Poggio Bracciolini, who was in large measure responsible for bringing to light again the epic poem On the Nature of Things, written by Lucretius around 50 BCE and effectively suppressed by the Church for a millennium.
Lucretius was an Epicurean and through On the Nature of Things (and some fortunate book hunting by an obscure monk) was able to elaborate upon and help project Epicurean thought through the dark ages and set it on a collision course with religion. It is the swerve of history cause by this collision (away from religion) for which the book is titled.
Modern science owes a great deal to the philosophy of Epicurus and Lucretius and, it would appear, to Poggio Bracciolini as well.
Had a hard time putting this one down and read it in two sittings. It is well worth the time for anyone interested in history, science, philosophy, or just a good true story.
Last edited by Guest on Sun Mar 03, 2013 11:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
David Hume: "---Mistakes in philosophy are merely ridiculous, those in religion are dangerous."
DrW: "Mistakes in science are learning opportunities and are eventually corrected."
The Erotic Apologist wrote:Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber
Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth by Margaret Atwood is a collection of lectures that she gave for the 2008 Massey Lectures in Canada. Great exposition and exploration of the concept of debt.
"Others cannot endure their own littleness unless they can translate it into meaningfulness on the largest possible level." ~ Ernest Becker "Whether you think of it as heavenly or as earthly, if you love life immortality is no consolation for death." ~ Simone de Beauvoir
I agree. this is weird enough that I might get it, and i don't buy books very often. I've read about 20 Amazon reviews of it since TEA posted this trying to figure out if I should getit
If you do, I'd very much like to know your and Equality's thoughts on this book.
Ditto on LDST's bump for Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief.
And because man does not live by his Kindle alone, I'd also like to recomend Secrets of the Tribe, a documentary by Jose Padilha about anthropologists behaving badly. It screened at Sundance in 2010.
"Filmmaker Jose Padilha examines the ethical peccadilloes and procedural failings of a handful of anthropologists, with a tribe of native people suffering the consequences, in this documentary. In 1929, researchers first discovered the Yanomamo Indians, an indigenous tribe living in Brazil along the Amazon. The Yanomami were believed to be perhaps the last band of primitive peoples essentially untouched by civilization, and they became a favorite subject of study among anthropologists, especially in the 1960s. However, different studies of the Yanomami produced wildly different conclusions -- one book on the tribe described them as a warlike people who often fought amongst themselves, while another celebrated their society in which violence was little known. While different research teams may have had different perceptions of the Yanomamo tribe, nearly all of them made the mistake of interfering in the lives of their subjects, with disastrous results. Kenneth Good didn't just study the tribe, he married a 13-year-old Yanomamo girl, while Jacques Lizot frequently paid teenage Yanomamo boys for sex. Western anthropologists also unwittingly exposed the Yanomami to diseases for which they had no immunity, leading to widespread illness and death among the natives. In time, the Yanomami began actively driving anthropologists away, angry over the way in which their culture had been spoiled for the benefit of others. Secrets Of The Tribe was an official selection at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival."
Surprise, surprise, there is no divine mandate for the Church to discuss and portray its history accurately. --Yahoo Bot
I pray thee, sir, forgive me for the mess. And whether I shot first, I'll not confess. --Han Solo, from William Shakespeare's Star Wars
The Erotic Apologist wrote:Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber
Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth by Margaret Atwood is a collection of lectures that she gave for the 2008 Massey Lectures in Canada. Great exposition and exploration of the concept of debt.
I'll look it up. Thanks.
Surprise, surprise, there is no divine mandate for the Church to discuss and portray its history accurately. --Yahoo Bot
I pray thee, sir, forgive me for the mess. And whether I shot first, I'll not confess. --Han Solo, from William Shakespeare's Star Wars
DrW wrote:On another thread, Craig Paxton recommended:
The Swerve - How the World Became Modern, the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Winner by Stephen Greenblatt.
The author tells the well researched story of a book hunting monk named Poggio Bracciolini, who was in large measure responsible for bringing to light again the epic poem On the Nature of Things, written by Lucretius around 50 BCE and effectively suppressed by the Church for a millennium.
Lucretius was an Epicurean and through On the Nature of Things (and some fortunate book hunting by an obscure monk) was able to elaborate upon and help project Epicurean thought through the dark ages and set it on a collision course with religion. It is the swerve of history cause by this collision (away from religion) for which the book is titled.
Modern science owes a great deal to the philosophy of Epicurus and Lucretius and, it would appear, to Poggio Bracciolini as well.
Had a hard time putting this one down and read it in two sittings. It is well worth the time for anyone interested in history, science, philosophy, or just a good true story.
I got my copy on Friday and I am about half way through. Terrific book, easy reading and provides an excellent outline of how monasteries were responsible for preserving most of what we have left of pagan texts written before Christianity.
"Any over-ritualized religion since the dawn of time can make its priests say yes, we know, it is rotten, and hard luck, but just do as we say, keep at the ritual, stick it out, give us your money and you'll end up with the angels in heaven for evermore."
EAllusion wrote:I wouldn't recommend the books by those who regrettably get called "new atheists" offer. You are far better off simply reading about various attempts at theistic justification on a case by case basis. That tends to open up many competent scholars who themselves are believers but simply do not buy into the argument in question. Along with the professionals who happen to be atheists, you tend to get a better class of presentation and analysis with that.
I would love for you to elaborate. I think I am more than ready to move beyond the "New Atheist" offerings. I'd be especially interested in hearing your recommendations for works that would help me get up to speed on the "fine tuning" stuff you and Don have been discussing on another thread.
I second the recommendation for Your Inner Fish. Great book. Can't believe I forgot to list it.
"The Church is authoritarian, tribal, provincial, and founded on a loosely biblical racist frontier sex cult."--Juggler Vain "The LDS church is the Amway of religions. Even with all the soap they sell, they still manage to come away smelling dirty."--Some Schmo