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The Workshop and the World: What Ten Thinkers Can Teach Us About Science and Authority – Robert P. Crease

by Myrna Posted on April 7, 2019

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The Workshop and the World: What Ten Thinkers Can Teach Us About Science and Authority

Robert P. Crease

Genre: History

Price: $12.99

Publish Date: March 26, 2019

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Seller: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.


A fascinating look at key thinkers throughout history who have shaped public perception of science and the role of authority. When does a scientific discovery become accepted fact? Why have scientific facts become easy to deny? And what can we do about it? In The Workshop and the World, philosopher and science historian Robert P. Crease answers these questions by describing the origins of our scientific infrastructure—the “workshop”—and the role of ten of the world’s greatest thinkers in shaping it. At a time when the Catholic Church assumed total authority, Francis Bacon, Galileo Galilei, and René Descartes were the first to articulate the worldly authority of science, while writers such as Mary Shelley and Auguste Comte told cautionary tales of divorcing science from the humanities. The provocative leaders and thinkers Kemal Atatürk and Hannah Arendt addressed the relationship between the scientific community and the public in in times of deep distrust. As today’s politicians and government officials increasingly accuse scientists of dishonesty, conspiracy, and even hoaxes, engaged citizens can’t help but wonder how we got to this level of distrust and how we can emerge from it. This book tells dramatic stories of individuals who confronted fierce opposition—and sometimes risked their lives—in describing the proper authority of science, and it examines how ignorance and misuse of science constitute the preeminent threat to human life and culture. An essential, timely exploration of what it means to practice science for the common good as well as the danger of political action divorced from science, The Workshop and the World helps us understand both the origins of our current moment of great anti-science rhetoric and what we can do to help keep the modern world from falling apart.

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The Workshop and the World: What Ten Thinkers Can Teach Us About Science and Authority – Robert P. Crease

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INCONVENIENT FACTS – Gregory Wrightstone

by Myrna Posted on February 14, 2019

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INCONVENIENT FACTS

The science that Al Gore doesn’t want you to know

Gregory Wrightstone

Genre: Science & Nature

Price: $8.99

Publish Date: August 30, 2017

Publisher: Silver Crown Productions, LLC

Seller: Hillcrest Publishing Group, Inc.


Well researched, clearly written, beautifully presented and, above all, fact-packed books such as  Inconvenient Facts  are absolutely essential to the very survival of democracy, to the restoration of true science, and to the ultimate triumph of objective truth. Christopher Monckton, Viscount of Brenchley You have been inundated with reports from media, governments, think tanks and “experts” saying that our climate is changing for the worse and it is our fault. Increases in droughts, heat waves, tornadoes and poison ivy—to name a few—are all blamed on our “sins of emissions” from burning fossil fuels and increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  Yet, you don’t quite buy into this human-caused climate apocalypse. You aren’t sure about the details because you don’t have all the facts and likely aren’t a scientist.  Inconvenient Facts  was specifically created for you. Writing in plain English and providing easily understood  charts and figures, Gregory Wrightstone presents the science to assess the basis of the threatened Thermageddon.  The book’s 60 “inconvenient facts” come from government sources, peer-reviewed literature or scholarly works, set forth in a way that is lucid and entertaining. The information likely will challenge your current understanding of many apocalyptic predictions about our ever dynamic climate. You will learn that the planet is improving, not  in spite  of increasing CO2 and rising temperature, but  because  of it. The very framework of the climate-catastrophe argu-ment will be confronted with scientific fact. Arm yourself with the truth. 

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INCONVENIENT FACTS – Gregory Wrightstone

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EVOLUTION MYTHS – Jeffrey K. Lyons

by Myrna Posted on February 12, 2019

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EVOLUTION MYTHS

A Critical View of neo-Darwinism

Jeffrey K. Lyons

Genre: Nature

Price: $7.99

Publish Date: November 28, 2018

Publisher: Liberty Hill Publishing

Seller: South Tx Broadcasting dba Xulon Press


Today, evolutionary theory is ubiquitous in our secular education systems. This book is a critical view of neo-Darwinism, which is the dominant dogma throughout secular higher education and K-12 public education. The criticisms of neo-Darwinism cited in this book are from various overlapping groups of: scientists, atheists, philosophers and university professors. If you are looking for a resource that will give you sound arguments and facts, that will aid you in thinking critically about Darwinism; this is the resource for you. Evolution is no longer a biological theory.  It permeates the natural sciences, social sciences and philosophy. It has become a meta-theory. Whenever scientific data are absent, both natural and social scientists resort to narrative as a super glue. Evolution is open to criticism! You will discover the following: Who popularized the term  evolution  and why Darwin opposed the term  evolution   How many times Darwin referred to the Creator in  The Origin of Species What world famous scientist believed DNA was not naturally caused The Three Barriers to Life, that evolution cannot explain Proof that life cannot be the result of random forces How catastrophic events wiped out about 90% of life on Earth Who are some of the leading scientists and philosophers that dare to question  evolution Chapter summaries will guide you through the topics Hundreds of scientific sources are cited for further research

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EVOLUTION MYTHS – Jeffrey K. Lyons

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Islands, the Universe, Home – Gretel Ehrlich

by Myrna Posted on February 11, 2019

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Islands, the Universe, Home

Essays

Gretel Ehrlich

Genre: Nature

Price: $11.99

Publish Date: February 21, 2017

Publisher: Open Road Media

Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC


Ten essays on nature, ritual, and philosophy “that are so point-blank vital you nearly need to put the book down to settle yourself” ( San Francisco Chronicle ). Gretel Ehrlich’s world is one of solitude and wonder, pain and beauty, and these elements give life to her stunning prose. Ever since her acclaimed debut, The Solace of Open Spaces , she has illuminated the particular qualities of nature and the self with graceful precision.   In Islands, the Universe, Home , Ehrlich expands her explorations, traveling to the remote reaches of the earth and deep into her soul. She tells of a voyage of discovery in northern Japan, where she finds her “bridge to heaven.” She captures a “light moving down a mountain slope.” She sees a ruined city in the face of a fire-scarred mountain. Above all, she recalls what a painter once told her about art when she was twelve years old, as she sat for her portrait: “You have to mix death into everything. Then you have to mix life into that.”   In this unforgettable collection, Ehrlich mixes life and death, real and sacred, to offer a stunning vision of our world that is both achingly familiar and miraculously strange. According to National Book Award–winning author Andrea Barrett, these essays are “as spare and beautiful as the landscape from which they’ve grown. . . . Each one is a pilgrimage into the secrets of the heart.”    

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Islands, the Universe, Home – Gretel Ehrlich

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The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons – Sam Kean

by Myrna Posted on February 3, 2019

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The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons

The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery

Sam Kean

Genre: Science & Nature

Price: $2.99

Publish Date: May 6, 2014

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Seller: Hachette Digital, Inc.


The author of the bestseller The Disappearing Spoon reveals the secret inner workings of the brain through strange but true stories. Early studies of the human brain used a simple method: wait for misfortune to strike — strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, horrendous accidents — and see how victims coped. In many cases their survival was miraculous, if puzzling. Observers were amazed by the transformations that took place when different parts of the brain were destroyed, altering victims' personalities. Parents suddenly couldn't recognize their own children. Pillars of the community became pathological liars. Some people couldn't speak but could still sing. In The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons , Sam Kean travels through time with stories of neurological curiosities: phantom limbs, Siamese twin brains, viruses that eat patients' memories, blind people who see through their tongues. He weaves these narratives together with prose that makes the pages fly by, to create a story of discovery that reaches back to the 1500s and the high-profile jousting accident that inspired this book's title.* With the lucid, masterful explanations and razor-sharp wit his fans have come to expect, Kean explores the brain's secret passageways and recounts the forgotten tales of the ordinary people whose struggles, resilience, and deep humanity made neuroscience possible. *"The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons" refers to the case of French king Henri II, who in 1559 was lanced through the skull during a joust, resulting in one of the most significant cases in neuroscience history. For hundreds of years scientists have gained important lessons from traumatic accidents and illnesses, and such misfortunes still represent their greatest resource for discovery.

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The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons – Sam Kean

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Pantone’s color of the year might vanish from nature by 2040

by AlisiaSell4583 Posted on December 7, 2018

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Every December, experts at the Pantone Color Institute comb through the world’s Rolodex of hues to determine the color of the next year. 2019, they have decreed, is the year of “Living Coral.” The “living” part is important: Dead coral is white, which hasn’t even earned a spot on the color wheel, let alone color of the year.

The announcement, much awaited by those fashionable enough to care, comes a little over a month after a monumental United Nations climate report found that the world’s coral reefs may experience a mass die-off as soon as 2040. Already, half of Australia’s 1,400 mile-long Great Barrier Reef has perished in bleaching events. Coral reefs are the bedrock of diverse coastal ecosystems, so a massive coral wipeout could also lead to the disappearance of other rare colors found among aquatic species.

What’s the purpose of memorializing the hues of a dying planet? As Slate’s Christina Cauterucci pointed out, the selection “feels like a troll directed at a planet rapidly growing inhospitable to the many organisms that call it home.”

Pantone’s announcement states, “In its glorious, yet unfortunately more elusive, display beneath the sea, this vivifying and effervescent color mesmerizes the eye and mind.” Living Coral’s retreat from the real world might be exactly why some find it so vivifying. The choice carries a whiff of ecotourism — the word for when travelers flock to the world’s disappearing landscapes, such the quickly melting glaciers of Glacier National Park.

The selection also feels like a throwback to a time when colors were valued for their elusiveness in nature. Before colors could be made synthetically, dyes were derived from natural sources, and the hard-to-find hues were considered more valuable. The original purple, for example, was obtained from a small mollusk found the Phoenician trading city of Tyre. As only the rich could afford it, this delicacy of a color became associated with royalty.

There’s a critical difference between Living Coral and the purple of mollusks: Coral isn’t meant to be so rare.

The color has a long history. “By the late 14th century it was recognized as a shade of red, from coral that was found in the Red Sea,” says David Kastan, an English professor at Yale and the author of the book On Color. “Shakespeare, for example, several times refers to ‘coral lips’ or a ‘sweet coral mouth.’”

Now that history may be nearing its end. While Pantone may have immortalized Living Coral in 2019’s most fashionable throw pillows and sweaters, crowning it color of the year seems unlikely to help the actual living coral that spans the sea.

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Pantone’s color of the year might vanish from nature by 2040

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Broca’s Brain – Carl Sagan

by Myrna Posted on November 30, 2018

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Broca’s Brain

Reflections on the Romance of Science

Carl Sagan

Genre: Science & Nature

Price: $1.99

Publish Date: April 12, 1979

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Seller: Penguin Random House LLC


A fascinating book on the joys of discovering how the world works, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Cosmos and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. “Magnificent . . . Delightful . . . A masterpiece. A message of tremendous hope for humanity . . . While ever conscious that human folly can terminate man’s march into the future, Sagan nonetheless paints for us a mind-boggling future: intelligent robots, the discovery of extraterrestrial life and its consequences, and above all the challenge and pursuit of the mystery of the universe.” — Chicago Tribune “Go out and buy this book, because Carl Sagan is not only one of the world’s most respected scientists, he’s a great writer. . . . I can give a book no greater accolade than to say I’m planning on reading it again. And again. And again.” — The Miami Herald “The brilliant astronomer . . . is persuasive, provocative and readable.” — United Press International “Closely reasoned, impeccably researched, gently humorous, utterly devastating.” — The Washington Post

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Broca’s Brain – Carl Sagan

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Factfulness – Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund & Ola Rosling

by Myrna Posted on October 12, 2018

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Factfulness

Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund & Ola Rosling

Genre: Science & Nature

Price: $14.99

Publish Date: April 3, 2018

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Seller: Macmillan


INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “One of the most important books I’ve ever read—an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.” – Bill Gates “Hans Rosling tells the story of ‘the secret silent miracle of human progress’ as only he can. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly.” — Melinda Gates " Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." – Former U.S. President Barack Obama Factfulnes s: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends— what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school —we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness , Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens . They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective —from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them ) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. — “This book is my last battle in my life-long mission to fight devastating ignorance…Previously I armed myself with huge data sets, eye-opening software, an energetic learning style and a Swedish bayonet for sword-swallowing. It wasn’t enough. But I hope this book will be.” Hans Rosling, February 2017.

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Factfulness – Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund & Ola Rosling

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Woo’s Wonderful World of Maths – Eddie Woo

by Myrna Posted on September 29, 2018

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Woo’s Wonderful World of Maths
Eddie Woo

Genre: Mathematics

Price: $11.99

Publish Date: September 25, 2018

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia

Seller: Macmillan Publishers Australia and Pan Macmillan Australia


Have you ever wondered why a rainbow is curved? Or why left-handers aren’t extinct? How a sunflower is like a synchronised swimmer, or a lightning bolt is like a blood vessel? The answer to all these questions and more can be summed up in one simple word: MATHS. As the inimitable Eddie Woo explains, maths is not just about numbers. Maths is about patterns, and our universe is extraordinarily patterned. With enthusiasm and wonder, Eddie is here to help us discover these patterns. With engaging clarity and entertaining anecdotes, Eddie demonstrates the intricacy of maths in all the things we love – from music in our iPods to our credit cards. Filled with humour and heart, this book will fascinate, entertain and illuminate the maths that surrounds us. This is a specially formatted fixed layout ebook that retains the look and feel of the print book.

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Woo’s Wonderful World of Maths – Eddie Woo

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Proust Was a Neuroscientist – Jonah Lehrer

by Myrna Posted on August 24, 2018

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Proust Was a Neuroscientist
Jonah Lehrer

Genre: Science & Nature

Price: $1.99

Publish Date: September 1, 2008

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC


The New York Times –bestselling author provides an “entertaining” look at how artists enlighten us about the workings of the brain ( New York magazine).   In this book, the author of How We Decide and Imagine: How Creativity Works “writes skillfully and coherently about both art and science”—and about the connections between the two ( Entertainment Weekly ).   In this technology-driven age, it’s tempting to believe that science can solve every mystery. After all, it’s cured countless diseases and sent humans into space. But as Jonah Lehrer explains, science is not the only path to knowledge. In fact, when it comes to understanding the brain, art got there first.   Taking a group of artists—a painter, a poet, a chef, a composer, and a handful of novelists—Lehrer shows how each one discovered an essential truth about the mind that science is only now rediscovering. We learn, for example, how Proust first revealed the fallibility of memory; how George Eliot discovered the brain’s malleability; how the French chef Escoffier discovered umami (the fifth taste); how Cézanne worked out the subtleties of vision; and how Gertrude Stein exposed the deep structure of language—a full half-century before the work of Noam Chomsky and other linguists.   More broadly, Lehrer shows that there’s a cost to reducing everything to atoms and acronyms and genes. Measurement is not the same as understanding, and art knows this better than science does. An ingenious blend of biography, criticism, and first-rate science writing, Proust Was a Neuroscientist urges science and art to listen more closely to each other, for willing minds can combine the best of both to brilliant effect.   “His book marks the arrival of an important new thinker . . . Wise and fresh.” — Los Angeles Times

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Proust Was a Neuroscientist – Jonah Lehrer

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