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Recommendations based on The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reasonby Sam Harris
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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)
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)
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)
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 Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
by Sam Harris
Examines how science can be used to understand and guide morality.
Sam Harris' first book, The End of Faith , ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion. In the aftermath, Harris discovered that most people - from religious fundamentalists to ... (Goodreads)
Free Will
by Sam Harris
An exploration of the implications of determinism, examining the role of free will in our lives.
Belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of ... (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 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)
The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
by Christopher Hitchens
Selection of essays, articles, and excerpts from some of the greatest minds in atheism.
From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of God Is Not Great , a provocative and entertaining guided tour of atheist and agnostic thought through the ages with never-before-published pieces by ... (Goodreads)
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
by Bart D. Ehrman
A historical analysis of the New Testament, exploring the discrepancies and alterations made by scribes and theologians throughout history.
For almost 1,500 years, the New Testament manuscripts were copied by hand––and mistakes and intentional changes abound in the competing manuscript versions. Religious and biblical scholar Bart Ehrman ... (Goodreads)
Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
by Bertrand Russell
Collection of essays on religion, morality, and philosophy, arguing against the existence of God and criticizing organized religion.
Dedicated as few men have been to the life of reason, Bertrand Russell has always been concerned with the basic questions to which religion also addresses itself – questions about man's place in the ... (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)
A People's History of the United States
by Howard Zinn
An examination of American history from a perspective of marginalized people.
In the book, Zinn presented a different side of history from the more traditional "fundamental nationalist glorification of country". Zinn portrays a side of American history that can largely be seen ... (Goodreads)
A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing
by Lawrence M. Krauss
A scientific exploration of the origins of the universe, proposing that it could have arisen from nothing.
Bestselling author and acclaimed physicist Lawrence Krauss offers a paradigm-shifting view of how everything that exists came to be in the first place. “Where did the universe come from? What was ... (Goodreads)
Letters to a Young Contrarian
by Christopher Hitchens
A collection of essays offering philosophical reflections on society and the power of dissent.
From bestselling author and provocateur Christopher Hitchens, the classic guide to the art of principled dissent and disagreement In Letters to a Young Contrarian , bestselling author and world-class ... (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)
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 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)
A Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking
Exploring the depths of time and space and the emergence of the universe.
In the ten years since its publication in 1988, Stephen Hawking's classic work has become a landmark volume in scientific writing, with more than nine million copies in forty languages sold ... (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)
Infidel
by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
A memoir of a woman's journey of faith, identity, and self-liberation.
One of today’s most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened that she would ... (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 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)
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)
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life
by Daniel C. Dennett
An exploration of the implications of Darwin's theory of evolution, and how it has shaped our understanding of life and the universe.
In a book that is both groundbreaking and accessible, Daniel C. Dennett, whom Chet Raymo of The Boston Globe calls "one of the most provocative thinkers on the planet," focuses his unerringly logical ... (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)
A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
by Karen Armstrong
Traces the evolution of the concept of God in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, exploring the similarities and differences between the three religions.
Over 700,000 copies of the original hardcover and paperback editions of this stunningly popular book have been sold. Karen Armstrong's superbly readable exploration of how the three dominant ... (Goodreads)
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
by Dan Ariely
An exploration of why humans make irrational decisions, and how to overcome them.
Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin? Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn't ... (Goodreads)
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau
A reflective journey into nature, exploring the power of contemplation and simplicity.
Originally published in 1854, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, is a vivid account of the time that Henry D. Thoreau lived alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. It is one of the most influential and ... (Goodreads)
Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality
by Christopher Ryan
An exploration of the evolutionary and cultural origins of human sexuality.
Since Darwin's day, we've been told that sexual monogamy comes naturally to our species. Mainstream science–as well as religious and cultural institutions--has maintained that men and women evolved ... (Goodreads)
