Now re-reading (actually listening to) Brian Cox & Andrew Cohen’s wonderful book, Human Universe. Beautifully & intelligently written (& the same goes for Samuel West’s reading). A book that fills one with admiration for science as perhaps humanity’s most sublime achievement.
The Cheating Cell by @AthenaAktipis. Darwinian approach to evolution of cancer and cancer-resistance. Brilliant book, up there with Nesse & Williams. Tussle between opposing selection pressures means cancer is an inevitable byproduct of selection for individual advantage.
Still reading Ian Kershaw’s biography of Hitler with horrified fascination. Hitler’s world-class egomania, lies, lazy incompetence, insane mood-swings, bonkers anthropological theories & bigoted, murderous nastiness were clear for all to see. Yet millions followed adoringly.
Very nice to see a thorough and vivid exposition of the Extended Phenotype (he calls it “Exophenotype”) by @NAChristakis in Chapter 10 of Blueprint, a book that I strongly recommend in general. So good to read a sociologist who understands evolution and takes it seriously.
Finished Sean Carroll’s The Big Picture. Superb (mostly because written by scientist) intro to philosophy. Now greatly enjoying Blueprint by Nicholas Christakis. So far, fascinating natural history of humans in small groups: shipwrecks, kibbutzes, shakers, communes, South Pole.
I’ve read Irreversible Damage, and I strongly recommend it.
Rereading A Huxley’s After Many a Summer. Brilliant portrayal of US culture through horrified eyes of literary Englishman + juxtaposition of his literary culture with science, perhaps gleaned from Julian H. Skip tedious philosophy of Mr Propter character (A Huxley himself?)
Katherine Stewart @kathsstewart has adapted parts of her excellent book, The Power Worshippers, for Free Inquiry, one of the Center for Inquiry’s 2 journals. She takes the lid off the very nasty Religious Nationalism movements that threaten US democracy:
Just read ‘Freedom from Speech’ by Greg Lukianoff (@glukianoff, co-author of ‘The Coddling of the American Mind’, which is also very good, by the way). Strong title, and the book lives up to it. It’s short, in a series the publishers call Broadsides. Strongly recommended.
Just read ‘Freedom from Speech’ by Greg Lukianoff (@glukianoff, co-author of ‘The Coddling of the American Mind’, which is also very good, by the way). Strong title, and the book lives up to it. It’s short, in a series the publishers call Broadsides. Strongly recommended.