1. Abanes, R. (1999). End-time
visions: The road to armageddon? Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman,
Publishers.
Albanes provides
an historical, rational, and biblical critique of millennial madness. He
argues that end-time visionaries play on the willful ignorance of their
followers and he aims to remove that ignorance.
2. Bennett, D.J. (1998). Randomness.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Why are our intuitions
about chance almost always dead wrong? Deborah Bennett traces the path
from acquiring a correct intuitive understanding of chance to the problems
individuals have with concepts of uncertainty and fairness. She reveals
the processes whereby societies have developed ideas about randomness and
determinacy.
3. Berlinski, D. (1988). Black
mischief: Language, life, logic, luck. 2nd Edition. N.Y.:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers.
Berlinski reveals
the persistence of certain outmoded forms of thought in economics, psychology,
biology, and other aspects of the science establishment.
4. Carruthers, P. (1992). The
animals issue: Moral theory in practice. N.Y.: Cambridge University
Press.
Carruthers provides
a clear discussion of the role that theoretical considerations play in
determining our moral judgment. He shows why theoretical issues in ethics
actually matter.
5. Casti, J.L. (1990). Searching for certainty: What scientists can
know about the future. New York: William Morrow & Co.
Casti uses notions of probability, chance, and chaos
to investigate developmental biology, modern warfare, weather and climate
prediction, mathematics, economics, and games of chance in order to reveal
how well science can predict the future.
6. Cohen, M.N. (1989). Health
and the rise of civilization. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Cohen challenges
the popular notion that members of "primitive" societies are in poor health.
He proposes in stead that patterns of health and disease have changed in
response to the development of civilization. Our attempts to expand and
modify our ecological habitat in response to population growth have introduced
new problems of health.
7. Cowen, R. (2000). History of life, 3rd Ed. Oxford,
England: Blackwell Science, Inc.
Cowen presents, for the non-scientist, the study
of paleontology and the history of life as a dynamic and exciting science.
8. Dawkins, R. (1998). Unweaving
the rainbow: Science, delusion, and the appetite for wonder. N.Y.:
Houghton Mifflin Co.
Dawkins presents
a humanisitic examination of science, mysticism, and human nature. He attempts
to show that scientific understanding of natures mechanics need not sap
one’s zest for life – science is poetry.
9. Dawkins, R. (1997). Climbing
mount improbable. N.Y.: Norton.
Dawkins demonstrates
exactly how complex structures (such as the human eye and lung) and intricate
mutual adaptations (such as between certain species of fig and wasp) could
evolve. This provides a powerful defense of key Darwinian ideas.
10. Dawkins, R. (1996). The blind
watchmaker: Why the evidence of evolution reveals a universe without design.
N.Y.: Norton.
Dawkins argues
not just that the Darwinian world view happens to be true but that it is
the only theory that could, in principle, solve the mystery of our existence.
11. Devlin, B., Fienberg, S.E., Resnick,
D.P., & Roeder, K., Eds. (1997). Intelligence, genes, and success:
Scientists respond to "The bell curve". N.Y.: Springer-Verlag.
A best selling
book, "The bell curve", argued for the heritability of intelligence and
for the relationship between IQ results and social success. The authors
of that best selling book argued that science showed that welfare dependency,
crime, and differences in earnings were the results of genetically determined
differences in intelligence. The essays in this book demonstrate that scientific
evidence does not support the conclusions reached in the best selling book.
12. Glassner, B. (1999). The culture
of fear: Why Americans are afraid of the wrong things. N.Y.: Basic
Books.
Glassner shows
how opportunistic politicians, single-minded advocacy groups, and unscrupulous
TV "News-magazines" have made us afraid of many things that should not
frighten us and negligent about real dangers.
13. Gould, S.J. (1999). Rocks
of ages: Science and religion in the fullness of life. N.Y.: Ballantine
Books.
Gould argues
that science and religion can not be unified but neither should they be
in conflict. Each has its own domain of authority in teaching. The natural
world belongs to science and the moral to religion.
14. Gould, S.J. (1996). The mismeasure
of man. N.Y.: Norton.
Gould demolishes
the IQ industry by revealing the motives behind those who would judge intelligence.
15. Gould, S.J. (Ed.) (1993). The book of life: An illustrated history
of the evolution of life on earth. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Gould combines science and art to show how the dynamics
of climate, land movements, and life itself influence the course of evolution
of all life on Earth.
16. Gribbin, J. (1999). Almost everyone’s guide to science. New
Haven, CN: Yale University Press.
Gribbin provides a guide for those interested in
science. The achievements of science including the structure of particles
within the atom, the origin of life and species, the birth of the universe
are presented in clear and understandable manner. Science is shown to be
a way of thinking involving honesty, democracy and the avoidance of politics
and wishful thinking.
17. Gross, P.R., Levitt, N., &
Lewis, M.W., Eds. (1996). The flight from science and reason. Annals
of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 775.
The modern popular
and academic attacks on scientific knowledge of physics, health, history,
education, and the environment are examined within the framework of society,
politics, religion, and the humanities.
18. Hardcastle, V.G. (1999). The myth of pain. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press.
Hardcastle presents an argument that both professional
and common definitions of pain are incorrect. Pain is scientifically and
philosophically examined to demonstrate that current treatments of pain
and pain patients are inappropriate and to identify better ways of identifying
pain and pain treatments.
19. Holton, G. (1993). Science
and anti-science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Holton examines
the world views and political ambitions of the proponents of science and
the opponents of science (the critics of establishment science and the
adherents of alternative science).
20. Kennedy, J.S. (1992). The
new anthropomorphism. N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.
Kennedy argues
that there is an anthropomorphism present even in scientific researchers
that is unintended and largely unconscious and hence more difficult to
avoid. He reveals the techniques that can be done to minimize the damage
done by this subtle anthropomorphism to the causal analysis of animal behavior.
21. Kitcher, P. (1993). The advancement
of science: Science without legend, objectivity without illusions.
N.Y.: Oxford University Press.
Kitcher demonstrates
that although science is done by people with a variety of personal and
social interests, the growth of science is a process which improves both
our vision of nature and our methods of learning about nature.
22. Kotre, J. (1995). White gloves:
How we create ourselves through memory. N. Y.: The Free Press.
Using modern
research, Kotre shows how our "autobiographical" memory is constantly recreated
giving us ever new personal histories. He reveals how it is possible to
have vivid and detailed memories of events that never occurred and how
collective family memories form and change over time and how these memories
shape the course of each family member’s existence.
23. Krauss, L. M. (1995). The physics of Star Trek. New York:
Basic Books.
Krauss identifies which science the series writers
got correct and which they got wrong.
24. Krauss, L.M. (1997). Beyond Star Trek: Physics from Alien Invasions
to the End of Time. New York: HarperCollins.
Krauss examines how the laws of physics relate to
"science" notions from our popular culture.
25. Leeming, D. & Page, J. (1998).
The
mythology of native North America. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma
Press.
This anthology
brings North American Indian mythology into mainstream world mythology.
26. Lewis, H.W. (1997). Why flip
a coin? The art and science of good decisions. N.Y.: Wiley.
Lewis unravels
the systematic procedures you can use to separate the threads of options,
consequences, probabilities, and preferences that will lead to the optimal
choice. He shows how to organize your thinking so as to avoid the common
mistakes made in a variety of decision-making situations.
27. Matheson, T. (1998). Alien
abductions: Creating a modern phenomenon. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus
books.
Matheson shows
how claims of alien abduction become recast as stories in the shaping of
a powerful contemporary myth.
28. Nuland, S.B. (2000). The mysteries within: A surgeon reflects
on medical myths. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Nuland traces the history of the folklore and illusions
that we have created about how the human body works and compares these
to our scientific understanding and the history of medicine.
29. Officer, C. & Page, J. (1996).
The
great dinosaur extinction controversy. N.Y.: Addison-Wesley Publishing
Co.
It is common
wisdom that the dinosaurs were extinquished by the consequences of a gigantic
meteorite that crashed into the earth. Officer and Page describe the controversy
surrounding this notion and describe evidence that fails to support it.
In doing so, they demonstrate how sound science should be performed and
how the findings of science should be transmitted to the public.
30. Park, R. (2000). Voodoo science: The road from foolishness to
fraud. Oxford, England: Oxford University press.
Park demonstrates how voodoo science results in
billions being spent on worthless therapies, billions of tax dollars being
squandered on huge government projects that are doomed to fail from the
start, and investors being bilked by schemes that violate the most fundamental
laws of nature. The public’s belief in voodoo science creates fears of
imaginary dangers, reliance on magical cures, and an upside-down view of
how nature works.
31. Pennebaker, J.W. (1982). The
psychology of physical symptoms. N.Y.: Springer-Verlag.
Pennebaker examines
the factors that influence how we perceive and report physical symptoms.
On a daily basis, symptoms are more often based on environmental cues than
on physiological activity and symptom reporting depends on the quantity
and quality of other information that occupies our awareness.
32. Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (1994). Inevitable illusions: How mistakes
of reason rule our minds. New York: Wiley
This book shows exactly how our intuitive judgement
is faulty and irrational. Thus, we should be most skeptical when we are
most confident that we know the truth. The book provides some techniques
to protect ourselves from deceptive short-cuts and flaws of logic and rationality
that govern our thinking.
33. Randi, J. (19) Flim-flam!
Psychics, ESP, unicorns and other delusions.
Randi, a magician,
exposes the deception in paranormal phenomena and the failure of the media
and researchers to recognize the obvious deceptions.
34. Raymo, C (19). Skeptics and
true believers: The exhilarating connection between science and religion.
Physicist Raymo
makes a strong case for peaceful coexistence of the scientific and spiritual
communities.
35. Richardson, K. (2000). The making of intelligence. New York:
Columbia University Press.
By examining how intelligence is characterized,
measured, used in society, and related to our understanding of the mind-brain
relationship, Richardson argues that intelligence as a concept should disappear.
36. Rothman, M.A. (1992). The
science gap: Dispelling the myths and understanding the reality of science.
Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus books.
Rothman examines
and corrects 16 popular myths about the nature of science.
37. Sagan, C. (19). The demon-haunted
world: Science as a candle in the dark.
Sagan argues
for a return to scientific thinking and underscores the dangers inherent
in a society that prefers sensationalism, superstition, and irrationality
over reality.
38. Shermer, M. (2000). How we
believe: The search for God in a age of science. San Francisco: Freeman.
Shermer explores
the question of how people can sustain a belief in God in the face of scientific
skepticism.
39. Shostak, S. (19) Sharing the
universe: Perspectives on extraterrestrial life.
Shostak, a leading
astronomer, relies on science and evidence in seeking an answer to the
question of whether we are alone in the universe.
40. Silver, B.L. (1998). The ascent of science. New York: Oxford
University press.
The most profoundly important and often impenetrably
obscure scientific developments from the Renaissance to the present are
explained in an understandable and enjoyable manner. This book is not only
a history of science but also an examination of the nature of science,
its relation to art, literature, music, politics and philosophy, and its
role in modern society. The open-mindedness of science, its ability to
subject itself to continued evaluation and validation, and its willingness
to abandon scientific beliefs when they are undercut by new facts or better
theories make science the surest guide to knowledge.
41. Trefil, J. (1997). Are we
unique? N.Y.: Wiley.
Trefil explores
studies of artificail and animal intelligence to present a compelling argument
that humans have a unique form of intelligence. However, he proposes that
some day computers will exhibit a powerfully unique kind of intelligence
and consciousness of their own.
42. Wall, P. (2000). Pain: The science of suffering. New York:
Columbia University Press.
Most scientists, physicians, philosophers, and people
in general believe pain to operate like a simple signal; that is, any particular
injury produces a fixed amount of pain that gets transmitted to the brain.
However, Wall shows that pain involves our social mores, beliefs, personal
experiences, and expectations. Pain is an expression of our individuality
and culture.
43. Ward, P.D. & Brownlee, D. (2000). Rare earth: Why complex
life is uncommon in the universe. New York: Springer-Verlag
Drawing on physical, chemical and biological sciences,
this book demonstrates that advanced life may be very rare, perhaps unique,
in the universe. Although microbiological life may occur elsewhere in the
universe, the conditions necessary for the evolution of more complex life
are so complex and precarious that they are unlikely to arise in many other
places, if at all.
44. Williams, W.F. (Ed.) (2000). Encyclopedia of pseudoscience.
New York: Book Builders incorporated.
This book identifies, defines, and explains all
of the terms and concepts that comprise pseudoscience.
Journals and Magazines that publish reliable scientific information presented in a manner that does not require sophisticated scientific knowledge and understanding.
American Scientist
Natural History
New Scientist
Scientific American
Skeptic
Skeptical Inquirer
The Sciences