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Recommendations based on Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Lifeby Daniel C. Dennett
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
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)
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)
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 Selfish Gene
by Richard Dawkins
A study of evolutionary biology, exploring how genes act and how they impact behavior.
Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, and Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves and the world with the publication of The ... (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)
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 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)
The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
by Ray Kurzweil
A futurist's prediction of a technological singularity where humans merge with machines, leading to a new era of evolution.
For over three decades, Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines , he argued ... (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)
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 Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are - The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology
by Robert Wright
A scientific exploration of how evolutionary psychology shapes human behavior and morality.
Are men literally born to cheat? Does monogamy actually serve women's interests? These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animal one of the most provocative science books in recent ... (Goodreads)
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
by Carl Sagan
A critical look at superstition and pseudoscience, advocating for the power of science and reason.
How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? ... (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)
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)
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 Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language
by Steven Pinker
An exploration of the origins and development of human language and its implications for cognitive science.
The classic book on the development of human language by the world’s leading expert on language and the mind. In this classic, the world's expert on language and mind lucidly explains everything you ... (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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments
by David Foster Wallace
Collection of essays and arguments, exploring the absurdities of contemporary culture.
In this exuberantly praised book — a collection of seven pieces on subjects ranging from television to tennis, from the Illinois State Fair to the films of David Lynch, from postmodern literary ... (Goodreads)
The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
by Matt Ridley
Examines how evolutionary biology shapes human behavior and sexuality.
Referring to Lewis Carroll's Red Queen from Through the Looking-Glass , a character who has to keep running to stay in the same place, Matt Ridley demonstrates why sex is humanity's best strategy for ... (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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction
by Michel Foucault
Examination of the power dynamics and social constructions of sexual behavior.
Michel Foucault offers an iconoclastic exploration of why we feel compelled to continually analyze and discuss sex, and of the social and mental mechanisms of power that cause us to direct the ... (Goodreads)
