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Recommendations based on Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Lifeby Daniel C. Dennett
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The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
by Steven Pinker
The exploration of the science of human nature, including the implications for society.
In The Blank Slate , Steven Pinker explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. He shows how many intellectuals have denied the existence of human nature by ... (Goodreads)
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
by Daniel C. Dennett
Examines the origins of religious belief, exploring how it has shaped society.
An innovative thinker tackles the controversial question of why we believe in God and how religion shapes our lives and our future. For a growing number of people, there is nothing more important ... (Goodreads)
The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
by Richard Dawkins
A detailed exploration of the evidence for evolution, and its implications for our understanding of the world.
***30th Anniversary Edition*** Cover note: Each copy of the anniversary edition of, The Blind Watchmaker, features a unique biomorph. No two covers are exactly alike. Acclaimed as the most ... (Goodreads)
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
by Richard Dawkins
An exploration of the evidence and science of evolution, highlighting its importance in understanding the history of life on Earth.
Charles Darwin’s masterpiece, On the Origin of Species , shook society to its core on publication in 1859. Darwin was only too aware of the storm his theory of evolution would provoke but he would ... (Goodreads)
The God Delusion
by Richard Dawkins
Scientific exploration of the evidence for and against religious belief.
A preeminent scientist - and the world's most prominent atheist - asserts the irrationality of belief in God, and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11. With ... (Goodreads)
Chaos: Making a New Science
by James Gleick
Investigation of complex systems and the impact of chaos on scientific understanding.
A work of popular science in the tradition of Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan, this 20th-anniversary edition of James Gleick’s groundbreaking bestseller Chaos introduces a whole new readership to ... (Goodreads)
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind
by V.S. Ramachandran
An exploration of the human brain, examining its functions and mysteries.
Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers to the deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address. His bold insights about ... (Goodreads)
The Origin of Species
by Charles Darwin
Comprehensive scientific exploration of the evolution of species and the natural world.
Darwin's theory of natural selection issued a profound challenge to orthodox thought and belief: no being or species has been specifically created; all are locked into a pitiless struggle for ... (Goodreads)
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
by Jared Diamond
Tracing the origins of human civilizations through the lens of geography, technology, and biology.
"Diamond has written a book of remarkable scope ... one of the most important and readable works on the human past published in recent years." Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: ... (Goodreads)
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
by Brian Greene
An exploration of space and time in the physical world, looking at the fundamental laws of the universe.
From Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading physicists and author the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Elegant Universe , comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely ... (Goodreads)
Cosmos
by Carl Sagan
Voyage through the vastness of space, unlocking the mysteries of the universe.
Cosmos has 13 heavily illustrated chapters, corresponding to the 13 episodes of the Cosmos television series. In the book, Sagan explores 15 billion years of cosmic evolution and the development of ... (Goodreads)
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
An exploration of the two systems of the mind, and how they influence decision-making.
In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow , Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and ... (Goodreads)
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
by Steven Pinker
Investigation into the causes of violence and the reasons why it has decreased in modern society.
Believe it or not, today we may be living in the most peaceful moment in our species' existence. In his gripping and controversial new work, New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows that ... (Goodreads)
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
by Douglas R. Hofstadter
A complex exploration of logic, mathematics and art, exploring their relationships and interconnections.
Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity ... (Goodreads)
The Complete Essays
by Michel de Montaigne
Collection of essays exploring diverse topics, from philosophy to morality.
Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance, singlehandedly responsible for popularising the essay as a literary form. This Penguin Classics edition of The Complete ... (Goodreads)
Why Evolution Is True
by Jerry A. Coyne
Comprehensive exploration of the evidence for evolutionary biology.
Why evolution is more than just a theory: it is a fact. In all the current highly publicized debates about creationism and its descendant "intelligent design," there is an element of the controversy ... (Goodreads)
How the Mind Works
by Steven Pinker
Exploration of the human mind, understanding the elements that make us think and act.
In this extraordinary bestseller, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading cognitive scientists, does for the rest of the mind what he did for language in his 1994 book, The Language Instinct . He ... (Goodreads)
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
by Carl Sagan
Reflection on humanity's place in the universe, and its responsibility to protect life on Earth.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sagan traces our exploration of space and suggests that our very survival may depend on the wise use of other worlds. This stirring book reveals how scientific ... (Goodreads)
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
by Jonathan Haidt
Exploring the underlying moral foundations of political and religious beliefs and how they shape our views.
An alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780307377906 can be found, here., Why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about ... (Goodreads)
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal
by Jared Diamond
Study of the evolution and history of the human species, exploring its relationship with other primates.
At some point during the last 100,000 years, humans began exhibiting traits and behavior that distinguished us from other animals, eventually creating language, art, religion, bicycles, spacecraft, ... (Goodreads)
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
by Sam Harris
An exploration of religion, its implications for our world and how it can be replaced with reason.
In The End of Faith , Sam Harris delivers a startling analysis of the clash between reason and religion in the modern world. He offers a vivid, historical tour of our willingness to suspend reason in ... (Goodreads)
Your Inner Fish: a Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body
by Neil Shubin
Exploration of human evolution through the lens of anatomy, revealing our connection to our ancient ancestors.
Why do we look the way we do? What does the human hand have in common with the wing of a fly? Are breasts, sweat glands, and scales connected in some way? To better understand the inner workings of ... (Goodreads)
Plato: Complete Works
by Plato
Collection of ancient Greek philosopher Plato's dialogues, discussing morality, knowledge and truth.
Outstanding translations by leading contemporary scholars–many commissioned especially for this volume--are presented here in the first single edition to include the entire surviving corpus of works ... (Barnes & Noble)
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
by Christopher Hitchens
Criticism of organized religion, arguing it is the root of much suffering in the world.
With his unique brand of erudition and wit, Hitchens describes the ways in which religion is man-made. "God did not make us," he says. "We made God." He explains the ways in which religion is ... (Goodreads)
A History of Western Philosophy
by Bertrand Russell
A comprehensive overview of the major philosophical thinkers and their ideas.
Since its first publication in 1945 Lord Russell's A History of Western Philosophy has been universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject—unparalleled in its ... (Goodreads)
Letter to a Christian Nation
by Sam Harris
A refutation of religious dogma and an argument for the supremacy of reason.
In response to The End of Faith , Sam Harris received thousands of letters from Christians excoriating him for not believing in God. Letter to A Christian Nation is his reply. Using rational ... (Goodreads)
Meditations
by Marcus Aurelius
Reflections on Stoic philosophy, exploring the nature of existence and how to live life.
Written in Greek by the only Roman emperor who was also a philosopher, without any intention of publication, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a remarkable series of challenging spiritual ... (Goodreads)
Fermat's Enigma
by Simon Singh
Uncovering the centuries-old mathematical mystery of Pierre de Fermat's Last Theorem.
xn + yn = zn, where n represents 3, 4, 5, ...no solution "I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain." With these words, the ... (Goodreads)
Tao Te Ching
by Lao Tzu
A collection of wise sayings and reflections on the nature of existence.
A lucid translation of the well-known Taoist classic by a leading scholar-now in a Shambhala Pocket Library edition. Written more than two thousand years ago, the Tao Teh Ching , or -The Classic of ... (Goodreads)
Walden & Civil Disobedience
by Henry David Thoreau
A philosophical exploration of solitude, nature and civil disobedience.
Henry David Thoreau's masterwork, Walden , is a collection of his reflections on life and society. His simple but profound musings—as well as Civil Disobedience , his protest against the government's ... (Goodreads)
