review on amazon about _beautiful mind_
--
I walked out of the movie and straight into the bookstore in the mall to get the book, read it that night. This is the reverse of my habit, which is to read the book before seeing the movie. The only thing in common between the movie and the book is the man, they are very different, but unlike most combinations these two are both good. The movie is written to get people into the theatres and to tell their friends what a good movie they saw. So it concentrates on the heroic parts of John Nash's life, the genius and the battle against it's flipside--the darkness of illusion brought on by mental illness. While it neglects the sordid(first son and girlfriend he never married), the weird(king of antartica) and replaces the object of the mindless data collection and analysis with government involvement.
I'd like to expand on the heroic, that part of both the book and the movie that we cheer for, tear up at, and generally find appealing. Most of us do not identify with either genius or with madness, we can see people here and there, mostly in books and movies, that pass over the lines. But we ourselves believe ourselves anchored in the plain, commonplace, ordinary so well that it is only at a distance that we can identify with characters like John Nash. We can feel sorry, and then joy with him but we can not feel like him, unless we have been through what he did. But we can identify with his heroic struggle, with his passion to have a unique and original thought, to be the very most creative in his chosen field. This is what builds the movie. But not the book, for she shows him as a rat towards those who care for him. He is not very sympathatic a character, too often you can blame him for the bad choices, not his approaching storm of schzophrenia. This is the genius of the book that the movie neglects, in order to fill the seats. For you cry with a man whose life is a shambles not because we can experience either genius or madness but because we can participate with him in the common lot of mankind through the ages in trying to conquer ourselves. That battle with passions misdirected towards our destruction more often then towards our heroic challenges. Thanks for the book Ms. Nasar, and to John Nash, thanks for sharing your story and i'm sorry for your pain, and to the mental health professionals- can't you move a little bit faster towards fixing what ills us up there.
Tuesday, December 31, 2002
review at amazon on _fatal shore_ read for history-bio book club at groups.yahoo.com
-0-0-0--0-
When you think about fiction you naturally look at various levels of interpretation. From the plot downwards to author's subconscious and upwards towards historical-social-critical analysis. But this type of understanding doesn't fit non-fiction, at least until i read _fatal shore_. The author himself is conscious and deliberate in several levels---where the false ideal of the past is part of current Australian consciousness for example. Or where he praises a commandant for his humanity being 100 years ahead of his time. He is on one basic level retelling the story of the convict founding of OZ, and yet showing constantly the larger issues of it's place in English intellectual and cultural history to the big picture of man's inhumanity to man.
This placing of the pieces of the puzzle in several larger contexts is excellent and makes the book far more than just the recounting of a sad tale indeed. It redeems the book from the world of facts and figures so common to historical writing and raises it to analysis and good commentary.
The only critical thing i have towards the book is a somewhat disjointed structure, the chapters are not quite chronological, more organized around a single character, usually a commander of facilities. Thus often backtracking between chapters, which leaves the newcomer to this country's history without good memory pegs to hang the facts onto.
I'm glad i invested the several hours it took to get through the book with it's gore and extraordinary sadness permeating the story. It's a good book and desires the wide circulation it is getting on the online bookclubs, which is how i found it.
-0-0-0--0-
When you think about fiction you naturally look at various levels of interpretation. From the plot downwards to author's subconscious and upwards towards historical-social-critical analysis. But this type of understanding doesn't fit non-fiction, at least until i read _fatal shore_. The author himself is conscious and deliberate in several levels---where the false ideal of the past is part of current Australian consciousness for example. Or where he praises a commandant for his humanity being 100 years ahead of his time. He is on one basic level retelling the story of the convict founding of OZ, and yet showing constantly the larger issues of it's place in English intellectual and cultural history to the big picture of man's inhumanity to man.
This placing of the pieces of the puzzle in several larger contexts is excellent and makes the book far more than just the recounting of a sad tale indeed. It redeems the book from the world of facts and figures so common to historical writing and raises it to analysis and good commentary.
The only critical thing i have towards the book is a somewhat disjointed structure, the chapters are not quite chronological, more organized around a single character, usually a commander of facilities. Thus often backtracking between chapters, which leaves the newcomer to this country's history without good memory pegs to hang the facts onto.
I'm glad i invested the several hours it took to get through the book with it's gore and extraordinary sadness permeating the story. It's a good book and desires the wide circulation it is getting on the online bookclubs, which is how i found it.
recommendations to the reading list
please send mail to thinkcreation2002@yahoo.com to interact with this list
--------------------------------------
plantinga debate at asa this is where i am going to begin. these papers really form the beginnings of a solution to the creation-evolution debate for me. if you really want to help build the reading list you need to read these links.
please send mail to thinkcreation2002@yahoo.com to interact with this list
--------------------------------------
plantinga debate at asa this is where i am going to begin. these papers really form the beginnings of a solution to the creation-evolution debate for me. if you really want to help build the reading list you need to read these links.
my listmania list at amazon --->evolution for biblical conservatives
Bas van Fraassen's _The Empirical Stance_ (Yale, 2002)
Thomas Nagel's _The Last Word_
J.P. Moreland, _Christianity and the Nature of Science_
J.P. Moreland & John Mark Reynolds (eds.), _Three Views on Creation and
Evolution_ (Zondervan, 1999)
Richard F. Carlson (ed.), _Science and Christianity: Four Views_
glenn morton's creation evo page
blood clotting section from _finding darwin's god_
Resistance To Truth, Even to Simple Scientific Truth.
this mobio is the evidence that finally flipped my thinking to evolution
posted to evolutionvsintelligentdesign@groups.yahoo.com
from my blog at: http://rmwilliamsjr.blogspot.com/-->
the new year is naturally a time for reflection and recommittment to
principles. to this end i will begin to structure my reading and hope
to write a paper on my conclusions.
so this will be the preliminary sketch.
start with the image of the two books of god. that of nature read by
science and that of scripture read by theology. what is the nature of
the relationship between the two? start with galileo, in the conflict
between the beginnings of physics and the received wisdom of the
church how does conflict arise and how is it settled. the second big
crisis is in biology and it begins with darwin and continues to today.
look for analogies back to galileo on how the two communities
interact. what makes the biological confrontation so important is that
it determines the nature of the subject, mankind, himself. the
astronomical revolution moved man from the center of the universe to
it's periphery, the biological moves man from a unique position as a
little lower than the angels back into a de-enchanted world as just a
little higher than the apes.
-=-=-
i am getting weary of never ending discussions that rehash the same
issues. to settle my own mind i'd like to ask for help on building a
reading list towards the goal of writing this paper.
so if you would send me books or online articles or journal article
citations that would help me on this path to
thinkcreation2002@y... i'd be thankful.
i will post the reading list and reviews of each book as i finish them
to http://rmwilliamsjr-books.blogspot.com/
please feel free to send this request to friends who might help.
thanks for your help
Monday, December 30, 2002
review of _the chinese have a word for it_
there can be no doubt that language is a major component of culture. but what is the relationship of language to thought? especially to subconscious thought? this is no academic introduction to the complexities of chinese thought.culture.language but rather a few pages dedicated to explanation of some meaningful and common chinese idioms, both single words and phrases. a must read for any student of china, even for a traveler there who might hear and remember the book on a few key words like quanxi. thought provoking, a little political and pointed at times. i wouldnt show it to just any english speaking chinese i talked to, it is not flattering to either the political culture or to the herd mentality that we westerners often see displayed in china. but it shows remarkable taste and scholarship from someone who genuinely likes the chinese and their 5000 year old complex culture as mirrored in a very interested language.
there can be no doubt that language is a major component of culture. but what is the relationship of language to thought? especially to subconscious thought? this is no academic introduction to the complexities of chinese thought.culture.language but rather a few pages dedicated to explanation of some meaningful and common chinese idioms, both single words and phrases. a must read for any student of china, even for a traveler there who might hear and remember the book on a few key words like quanxi. thought provoking, a little political and pointed at times. i wouldnt show it to just any english speaking chinese i talked to, it is not flattering to either the political culture or to the herd mentality that we westerners often see displayed in china. but it shows remarkable taste and scholarship from someone who genuinely likes the chinese and their 5000 year old complex culture as mirrored in a very interested language.
Sunday, December 29, 2002
the board's list
1. THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by Henry Adams*
2. THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE by William James*
3. UP FROM SLAVERY by Booker T. Washington*
4. A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN by Virginia Woolf
5. SILENT SPRING by Rachel Carson
6. SELECTED ESSAYS, 1917-1932 by T. S. Eliot
7. THE DOUBLE HELIX by James D. Watson
8. SPEAK, MEMORY by Vladimir Nabokov
9. THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE by H. L. Mencken
10. THE GENERAL THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT, INTEREST, AND MONEY by John Maynard Keynes
11. THE LIVES OF A CELL by Lewis Thomas
12. THE FRONTIER IN AMERICAN HISTORY by Frederick Jackson Turner
13. BLACK BOY by Richard Wright
14. ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL by E. M. Forster
15. THE CIVIL WAR by Shelby Foote*
16. THE GUNS OF AUGUST by Barbara Tuchman
17. THE PROPER STUDY OF MANKIND by Isaiah Berlin
18. THE NATURE AND DESTINY OF MAN by Reinhold Niebuhr
19. NOTES OF A NATIVE SON by James Baldwin
20. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALICE B. TOKLAS by Gertrude Stein*
21. THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by William Strunk and E. B. White
22. AN AMERICAN DILEMMA by Gunnar Myrdal
23. PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell
24. THE MISMEASURE OF MAN by Stephen Jay Gould
25. THE MIRROR AND THE LAMP by Meyer Howard Abrams
26. THE ART OF THE SOLUBLE by Peter B. Medawar
27. THE ANTS by Bert Hoelldobler and Edward O. Wilson
28. A THEORY OF JUSTICE by John Rawls
29. ART AND ILLUSION by Ernest H. Gombrich
30. THE MAKING OF THE ENGLISH WORKING CLASS by E. P. Thompson
31. THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK by W.E.B. Du Bois*
32. PRINCIPIA ETHICA by G. E. Moore
33. PHILOSOPHY AND CIVILIZATION by John Dewey
34. ON GROWTH AND FORM by D'Arcy Thompson*
35. IDEAS AND OPINIONS by Albert Einstein*
36. THE AGE OF JACKSON, Arthur Schlesinger by Jr.
37. THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB by Richard Rhodes
38. BLACK LAMB and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West
39. AUTOBIOGRAPHIES by W. B. Yeats
40. SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION IN CHINA by Joseph Needham
41. GOODBYE TO ALL THAT by Robert Graves
42. HOMAGE TO CATALONIA by George Orwell
43. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN by Mark Twain
44. CHILDREN OF CRISIS by Robert Coles
45. A STUDY OF HISTORY by Arnold J. Toynbee
46. THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY by John Kenneth Galbraith
47. PRESENT AT THE CREATION by Dean Acheson
48. THE GREAT BRIDGE by David McCullough
49. PATRIOTIC GORE by Edmund Wilson
50. SAMUEL JOHNSON by Walter Jackson Bate
51. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X by Alex Haley and Malcolm X
52. THE RIGHT STUFF by Tom Wolfe
53. EMINENT VICTORIANS by Lytton Strachey*
54. WORKING by Studs Terkel
55. DARKNESS VISIBLE by William Styron
56. THE LIBERAL IMAGINATION by Lionel Trilling
57. THE SECOND WORLD WAR by Winston Churchill
58. OUT OF AFRICA by Isak Dinesen*
59. JEFFERSON AND HIS TIME by Dumas Malone
60. IN THE AMERICAN GRAIN by William Carlos Williams
61. CADILLAC DESERT by Marc Reisner
62. THE HOUSE OF MORGAN by Ron Chernow
63. THE SWEET SCIENCE by A. J. Liebling
64. THE OPEN SOCIETY AND ITS ENEMIES by Karl Popper
65. THE ART OF MEMORY by Frances A. Yates
66. RELIGION AND THE RISE OF CAPITALISM by R. H. Tawney
67. A PREFACE TO MORALS by Walter Lippmann
68. THE GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE by Jonathan D. Spence
69. THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS by Thomas S. Kuhn
70. THE STRANGE CAREER OF JIM CROW by C. Vann Woodward
71. THE RISE OF THE WEST by William H. McNeill
72. THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS by Elaine Pagels
73. JAMES JOYCE by Richard Ellmann
74. FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE by Cecil Woodham-Smith
75. THE GREAT WAR AND MODERN MEMORY by Paul Fussell
76. THE CITY IN HISTORY by Lewis Mumford
77. BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM by James M. McPherson
78. WHY WE CAN'T WAIT by Martin Luther King by Jr.
79. THE RISE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT by Edmund Morris
80. STUDIES IN ICONOLOGY by Erwin Panofsky
81. THE FACE OF BATTLE by John Keegan
82. THE STRANGE DEATH OF LIBERAL ENGLAND by George Dangerfield
83. VERMEER by Lawrence Gowing
84. A BRIGHT SHINING LIE by Neil Sheehan
85. WEST WITH THE NIGHT by Beryl Markham
86. THIS BOY'S LIFE by Tobias Wolff
87. A MATHEMATICIAN'S APOLOGY by G. H. Hardy
88. SIX EASY PIECES by Richard P. Feynman
89. PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK by Annie Dillard
90. THE GOLDEN BOUGH by James George Frazer
91. SHADOW AND ACT by Ralph Ellison
92. THE POWER BROKER by Robert A. Caro
93. THE AMERICAN POLITICAL TRADITION by Richard Hofstadter
94. THE CONTOURS OF AMERICAN HISTORY by William Appleman Williams
95. THE PROMISE OF AMERICAN LIFE by Herbert Croly
96. IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote*
97. THE JOURNALIST AND THE MURDERER by Janet Malcolm
98. THE TAMING OF CHANCE by Ian Hacking
99. OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS by Anne Lamott
100. MELBOURNE by Lord David Cecil
the reader's list
1. THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS by AYN RAND
2. DIANETICS:THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH by L. RON HUBBARD
3. OBJECTIVISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF AYN RAND by LEONARD PEIKOFF
4. 101 THINGS TO DO TIL THE REVOLUTION by CLAIRE WOLFE
5. THE GOD OF THE MACHINE by ISABEL PATERSON
6. AYN RAND: A SENSE OF LIFE by MICHAEL PAXTON
7. THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE by JULIAN SIMON
8. ECONOMICS IN ONE LESSON by HENRY HAZLITT
9. SEND IN THE WACO KILLERS by VIN SUPRYNOWICZ
10. MORE GUNS, LESS CRIME by JOHN R. LOTT
11. PSYCHIATRY: THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL by BRUCE WISEMAN
12. FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS by G. HANCOCK
13. CLASSICAL INDIVIDUALISM: THE SUPREME IMPORTANCE OF EACH HUMAN BEING by TIBOR MACHAN
14. FREE TO CHOOSE by MILTON AND ROSE FRIEDMAN
15. AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS IF YOU DO by PETER MCWILLIAMS
16. THE ROAD TO SERFDOM by F. A. HAYEK
17. FREEDOM IN CHAINS by JAMES BOVARD
18. AMERICA'S GREAT DEPRESSION by MURRAY N. ROTHBARD
19. THE ROOSEVELT MYTH by JOHN T. FLYNN
20. THE TRUE BELIEVER by ERIC HOFFER
21. VINDICATING THE FOUNDERS by THOMAS WEST
22. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE by CARL L. BECKER
23. COGNITIVE THERAPY AND THE EMOTIONAL DISORDERS by AARON T. BECK
24. DEATH BY GOVERNMENT by R. J. RUMMEL
25. A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN by VIRGINIA WOOLF
26. LONGITUDE by DAVA SOBEL
27. ORDINARILY SACRED by LYNDA SEXSON
28. SPEAK, MEMORY by VLADIMIR NABOKOV
29. THE ART OF MEMORY by FRANCES YATES
30. DUMBING US DOWN by JOHN TAYLOR GATTO
31. THE GOLDEN BOUGH by JAMES FRAZER
32. UNDAUNTED COURAGE: MERIWETHER LEWIS, THOMAS JEFFERSON, AND THE OPENING OF THE AMERICAN WEST by STEPHEN E. AMBROSE
33. A MODERN PROPHET by HAROLD KLEMP
34. THE FLUTE OF GOD by PAUL TWITCHELL
35. REAL PRESENCES by GEORGE STEINER
36. OUT OF AFRICA by ISAK DINESEN
37. WAYS OF SEEING by JOHN BERGER
38. THE SHADOW UNIVERSITY: THE BETRAYAL OF LIBERTY ON AMERICA'S CAMPUSES by ALAN CHARLES KORS
39. PROPERTY MATTERS: HOW PROPERTY RIGHTS ARE UNDER ASSAULT AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE by JAMES V. DE LONG
40. STORMING HEAVEN by JAY STEVENS
41. THE TEXAN by C. S. BARRIOS
42. HOMAGE TO CATALONIA by GEORGE ORWELL
43. THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM JAMES
44. HOW TO LIE WITH STATISTICS by DARRELL HUFF
45. BUT IS IT TRUE? by AARON WILDAVSKY
46. A MATHEMATICIAN READS THE NEWSPAPER by JOHN ALLEN PAULOS
47. ANATOMY OF CRITICISM by NORTHROP FRYE
48. THE MAINSPRING OF HUMAN PROGRESS by HENRY GRADY WEAVER
49. MODERN TIMES by PAUL JOHNSON
50. MEN TO MATCH MY MOUNTAINS by IRVING STONE
51. THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by HENRY ADAMS
52. THE GREAT BRIDGE by DAVID MCCULLOUGH
53. AMERICAN GAY by STEPHEN O. MURRAY
54. THE DOUBLE HELIX by JAMES D. WATSON
55. THE SENSE OF AN ENDING by FRANK KERMODE
56. THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS by ELAINE PAGELS
57. EROS THE BITTERSWEET by ANNE CARSON
58. THE WESTERN CANON by HAROLD BLOOM
59. THE WHITE GODDESS by ROBERT GRAVES
60. HEALING OUR WORLD by MARY RUWART
61. SILENT SPRING by RACHEL CARSON
62. PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK by ANNIE DILLARD
63. SEXUAL PERSONAE by CAMILLE PAGLIA
64. THINK AND GROW RICH by NAPOLEON HILL
65. A LIFE OF ONE'S OWN by DAVID KELLEY
66. DOORS OF PERCEPTION by ALDOUS HUXLEY
67. THE DISCOVERY OF FREEDOM by ROSE WILDER LANE
68. MORE LIBERTY MEANS LESS GOVERNMENT by WALTER WILLIAMS
69. LIBERTARIANISM: A PRIMER by DAVID BOAZ
70. BEYOND LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE by WILLIAM MADDOX AND STUART LILIE
71. A CONFLICT OF VISIONS: IDEOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF POLITICAL STRUGGLES by THOMAS SOWELL
72. PARLIAMENT OF WHORES by P. J. O'ROURKE
73. SEPARATING SCHOOL AND STATE: HOW TO LIBERATE AMERICA'S FAMILIES by SHELDON RICHMAN
74. THE FUTURE AND ITS ENEMIES by VIRGINIA POSTREL
75. THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by WILLIAM STRUNK AND E. B. WHITE
76. ORIENTALISM by EDWARD SAID
77. ECOTERROR by RON ARNOLD
78. WHY GOVERNMENT DOESN'T WORK by HARRY BROWNE
79. OUT OF THE CRISIS by W. EDWARDS DEMING
80. NOT OUT OF AFRICA by MARY LEFKOWITZ
81. THE END OF RACISM by DINESH D'SOUZA
82. BEHIND THE MASK by IAN BURUMA
83. IN A DARK WOOD by ALSTON CHASE
84. PRIVATE PARTS by HOWARD STERN
85. THE TELEPHONE BOOK by AVITAL RONELL
86. THE MINUTEMAN: RESTORING AN ARMY OF THE PEOPLE by GARY HART
87. WAKING AND DREAMING by JOSEPH HART
88. THE GREATEST STORY NEVER TOLD by LANA CANTRELL
89. RADICAL SON by DAVID HOROWITZ
90. UNDER THE SIGN OF SATURN by SUSAN SONTAG
91. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X by ALEX HALEY AND MALCOLM X
92. A FEELING FOR BOOKS by JANICE RADWAY
93. THE HERO OF A THOUSAND FACES by JOSEPH CAMPBELL
94. THE JOB by WILLIAM BURROUGHS
95. SILENT INTERVIEWS by SAMUEL R. DELANY
96. SLATS GROBNIK AND SOME OTHER FRIENDS by MIKE ROYKO
97. RISE OF THE UNMELTABLE ETHNICS by MICHAEL NOVACK
98. REVERSE ANGLE by JOHN SIMON
99. PLACING MOVIES by JONATHON ROSENBAUM
100. RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING by PATRICK J BUCHANAN
* Published or soon to be published by the Modern Library.
Copyright © 1999 by Random House, Inc.
1. THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by Henry Adams*
2. THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE by William James*
3. UP FROM SLAVERY by Booker T. Washington*
4. A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN by Virginia Woolf
5. SILENT SPRING by Rachel Carson
6. SELECTED ESSAYS, 1917-1932 by T. S. Eliot
7. THE DOUBLE HELIX by James D. Watson
8. SPEAK, MEMORY by Vladimir Nabokov
9. THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE by H. L. Mencken
10. THE GENERAL THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT, INTEREST, AND MONEY by John Maynard Keynes
11. THE LIVES OF A CELL by Lewis Thomas
12. THE FRONTIER IN AMERICAN HISTORY by Frederick Jackson Turner
13. BLACK BOY by Richard Wright
14. ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL by E. M. Forster
15. THE CIVIL WAR by Shelby Foote*
16. THE GUNS OF AUGUST by Barbara Tuchman
17. THE PROPER STUDY OF MANKIND by Isaiah Berlin
18. THE NATURE AND DESTINY OF MAN by Reinhold Niebuhr
19. NOTES OF A NATIVE SON by James Baldwin
20. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALICE B. TOKLAS by Gertrude Stein*
21. THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by William Strunk and E. B. White
22. AN AMERICAN DILEMMA by Gunnar Myrdal
23. PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell
24. THE MISMEASURE OF MAN by Stephen Jay Gould
25. THE MIRROR AND THE LAMP by Meyer Howard Abrams
26. THE ART OF THE SOLUBLE by Peter B. Medawar
27. THE ANTS by Bert Hoelldobler and Edward O. Wilson
28. A THEORY OF JUSTICE by John Rawls
29. ART AND ILLUSION by Ernest H. Gombrich
30. THE MAKING OF THE ENGLISH WORKING CLASS by E. P. Thompson
31. THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK by W.E.B. Du Bois*
32. PRINCIPIA ETHICA by G. E. Moore
33. PHILOSOPHY AND CIVILIZATION by John Dewey
34. ON GROWTH AND FORM by D'Arcy Thompson*
35. IDEAS AND OPINIONS by Albert Einstein*
36. THE AGE OF JACKSON, Arthur Schlesinger by Jr.
37. THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB by Richard Rhodes
38. BLACK LAMB and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West
39. AUTOBIOGRAPHIES by W. B. Yeats
40. SCIENCE AND CIVILIZATION IN CHINA by Joseph Needham
41. GOODBYE TO ALL THAT by Robert Graves
42. HOMAGE TO CATALONIA by George Orwell
43. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN by Mark Twain
44. CHILDREN OF CRISIS by Robert Coles
45. A STUDY OF HISTORY by Arnold J. Toynbee
46. THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY by John Kenneth Galbraith
47. PRESENT AT THE CREATION by Dean Acheson
48. THE GREAT BRIDGE by David McCullough
49. PATRIOTIC GORE by Edmund Wilson
50. SAMUEL JOHNSON by Walter Jackson Bate
51. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X by Alex Haley and Malcolm X
52. THE RIGHT STUFF by Tom Wolfe
53. EMINENT VICTORIANS by Lytton Strachey*
54. WORKING by Studs Terkel
55. DARKNESS VISIBLE by William Styron
56. THE LIBERAL IMAGINATION by Lionel Trilling
57. THE SECOND WORLD WAR by Winston Churchill
58. OUT OF AFRICA by Isak Dinesen*
59. JEFFERSON AND HIS TIME by Dumas Malone
60. IN THE AMERICAN GRAIN by William Carlos Williams
61. CADILLAC DESERT by Marc Reisner
62. THE HOUSE OF MORGAN by Ron Chernow
63. THE SWEET SCIENCE by A. J. Liebling
64. THE OPEN SOCIETY AND ITS ENEMIES by Karl Popper
65. THE ART OF MEMORY by Frances A. Yates
66. RELIGION AND THE RISE OF CAPITALISM by R. H. Tawney
67. A PREFACE TO MORALS by Walter Lippmann
68. THE GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE by Jonathan D. Spence
69. THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS by Thomas S. Kuhn
70. THE STRANGE CAREER OF JIM CROW by C. Vann Woodward
71. THE RISE OF THE WEST by William H. McNeill
72. THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS by Elaine Pagels
73. JAMES JOYCE by Richard Ellmann
74. FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE by Cecil Woodham-Smith
75. THE GREAT WAR AND MODERN MEMORY by Paul Fussell
76. THE CITY IN HISTORY by Lewis Mumford
77. BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM by James M. McPherson
78. WHY WE CAN'T WAIT by Martin Luther King by Jr.
79. THE RISE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT by Edmund Morris
80. STUDIES IN ICONOLOGY by Erwin Panofsky
81. THE FACE OF BATTLE by John Keegan
82. THE STRANGE DEATH OF LIBERAL ENGLAND by George Dangerfield
83. VERMEER by Lawrence Gowing
84. A BRIGHT SHINING LIE by Neil Sheehan
85. WEST WITH THE NIGHT by Beryl Markham
86. THIS BOY'S LIFE by Tobias Wolff
87. A MATHEMATICIAN'S APOLOGY by G. H. Hardy
88. SIX EASY PIECES by Richard P. Feynman
89. PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK by Annie Dillard
90. THE GOLDEN BOUGH by James George Frazer
91. SHADOW AND ACT by Ralph Ellison
92. THE POWER BROKER by Robert A. Caro
93. THE AMERICAN POLITICAL TRADITION by Richard Hofstadter
94. THE CONTOURS OF AMERICAN HISTORY by William Appleman Williams
95. THE PROMISE OF AMERICAN LIFE by Herbert Croly
96. IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote*
97. THE JOURNALIST AND THE MURDERER by Janet Malcolm
98. THE TAMING OF CHANCE by Ian Hacking
99. OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS by Anne Lamott
100. MELBOURNE by Lord David Cecil
the reader's list
1. THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS by AYN RAND
2. DIANETICS:THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH by L. RON HUBBARD
3. OBJECTIVISM: THE PHILOSOPHY OF AYN RAND by LEONARD PEIKOFF
4. 101 THINGS TO DO TIL THE REVOLUTION by CLAIRE WOLFE
5. THE GOD OF THE MACHINE by ISABEL PATERSON
6. AYN RAND: A SENSE OF LIFE by MICHAEL PAXTON
7. THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE by JULIAN SIMON
8. ECONOMICS IN ONE LESSON by HENRY HAZLITT
9. SEND IN THE WACO KILLERS by VIN SUPRYNOWICZ
10. MORE GUNS, LESS CRIME by JOHN R. LOTT
11. PSYCHIATRY: THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL by BRUCE WISEMAN
12. FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS by G. HANCOCK
13. CLASSICAL INDIVIDUALISM: THE SUPREME IMPORTANCE OF EACH HUMAN BEING by TIBOR MACHAN
14. FREE TO CHOOSE by MILTON AND ROSE FRIEDMAN
15. AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS IF YOU DO by PETER MCWILLIAMS
16. THE ROAD TO SERFDOM by F. A. HAYEK
17. FREEDOM IN CHAINS by JAMES BOVARD
18. AMERICA'S GREAT DEPRESSION by MURRAY N. ROTHBARD
19. THE ROOSEVELT MYTH by JOHN T. FLYNN
20. THE TRUE BELIEVER by ERIC HOFFER
21. VINDICATING THE FOUNDERS by THOMAS WEST
22. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE by CARL L. BECKER
23. COGNITIVE THERAPY AND THE EMOTIONAL DISORDERS by AARON T. BECK
24. DEATH BY GOVERNMENT by R. J. RUMMEL
25. A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN by VIRGINIA WOOLF
26. LONGITUDE by DAVA SOBEL
27. ORDINARILY SACRED by LYNDA SEXSON
28. SPEAK, MEMORY by VLADIMIR NABOKOV
29. THE ART OF MEMORY by FRANCES YATES
30. DUMBING US DOWN by JOHN TAYLOR GATTO
31. THE GOLDEN BOUGH by JAMES FRAZER
32. UNDAUNTED COURAGE: MERIWETHER LEWIS, THOMAS JEFFERSON, AND THE OPENING OF THE AMERICAN WEST by STEPHEN E. AMBROSE
33. A MODERN PROPHET by HAROLD KLEMP
34. THE FLUTE OF GOD by PAUL TWITCHELL
35. REAL PRESENCES by GEORGE STEINER
36. OUT OF AFRICA by ISAK DINESEN
37. WAYS OF SEEING by JOHN BERGER
38. THE SHADOW UNIVERSITY: THE BETRAYAL OF LIBERTY ON AMERICA'S CAMPUSES by ALAN CHARLES KORS
39. PROPERTY MATTERS: HOW PROPERTY RIGHTS ARE UNDER ASSAULT AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE by JAMES V. DE LONG
40. STORMING HEAVEN by JAY STEVENS
41. THE TEXAN by C. S. BARRIOS
42. HOMAGE TO CATALONIA by GEORGE ORWELL
43. THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM JAMES
44. HOW TO LIE WITH STATISTICS by DARRELL HUFF
45. BUT IS IT TRUE? by AARON WILDAVSKY
46. A MATHEMATICIAN READS THE NEWSPAPER by JOHN ALLEN PAULOS
47. ANATOMY OF CRITICISM by NORTHROP FRYE
48. THE MAINSPRING OF HUMAN PROGRESS by HENRY GRADY WEAVER
49. MODERN TIMES by PAUL JOHNSON
50. MEN TO MATCH MY MOUNTAINS by IRVING STONE
51. THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by HENRY ADAMS
52. THE GREAT BRIDGE by DAVID MCCULLOUGH
53. AMERICAN GAY by STEPHEN O. MURRAY
54. THE DOUBLE HELIX by JAMES D. WATSON
55. THE SENSE OF AN ENDING by FRANK KERMODE
56. THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS by ELAINE PAGELS
57. EROS THE BITTERSWEET by ANNE CARSON
58. THE WESTERN CANON by HAROLD BLOOM
59. THE WHITE GODDESS by ROBERT GRAVES
60. HEALING OUR WORLD by MARY RUWART
61. SILENT SPRING by RACHEL CARSON
62. PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK by ANNIE DILLARD
63. SEXUAL PERSONAE by CAMILLE PAGLIA
64. THINK AND GROW RICH by NAPOLEON HILL
65. A LIFE OF ONE'S OWN by DAVID KELLEY
66. DOORS OF PERCEPTION by ALDOUS HUXLEY
67. THE DISCOVERY OF FREEDOM by ROSE WILDER LANE
68. MORE LIBERTY MEANS LESS GOVERNMENT by WALTER WILLIAMS
69. LIBERTARIANISM: A PRIMER by DAVID BOAZ
70. BEYOND LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE by WILLIAM MADDOX AND STUART LILIE
71. A CONFLICT OF VISIONS: IDEOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF POLITICAL STRUGGLES by THOMAS SOWELL
72. PARLIAMENT OF WHORES by P. J. O'ROURKE
73. SEPARATING SCHOOL AND STATE: HOW TO LIBERATE AMERICA'S FAMILIES by SHELDON RICHMAN
74. THE FUTURE AND ITS ENEMIES by VIRGINIA POSTREL
75. THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by WILLIAM STRUNK AND E. B. WHITE
76. ORIENTALISM by EDWARD SAID
77. ECOTERROR by RON ARNOLD
78. WHY GOVERNMENT DOESN'T WORK by HARRY BROWNE
79. OUT OF THE CRISIS by W. EDWARDS DEMING
80. NOT OUT OF AFRICA by MARY LEFKOWITZ
81. THE END OF RACISM by DINESH D'SOUZA
82. BEHIND THE MASK by IAN BURUMA
83. IN A DARK WOOD by ALSTON CHASE
84. PRIVATE PARTS by HOWARD STERN
85. THE TELEPHONE BOOK by AVITAL RONELL
86. THE MINUTEMAN: RESTORING AN ARMY OF THE PEOPLE by GARY HART
87. WAKING AND DREAMING by JOSEPH HART
88. THE GREATEST STORY NEVER TOLD by LANA CANTRELL
89. RADICAL SON by DAVID HOROWITZ
90. UNDER THE SIGN OF SATURN by SUSAN SONTAG
91. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X by ALEX HALEY AND MALCOLM X
92. A FEELING FOR BOOKS by JANICE RADWAY
93. THE HERO OF A THOUSAND FACES by JOSEPH CAMPBELL
94. THE JOB by WILLIAM BURROUGHS
95. SILENT INTERVIEWS by SAMUEL R. DELANY
96. SLATS GROBNIK AND SOME OTHER FRIENDS by MIKE ROYKO
97. RISE OF THE UNMELTABLE ETHNICS by MICHAEL NOVACK
98. REVERSE ANGLE by JOHN SIMON
99. PLACING MOVIES by JONATHON ROSENBAUM
100. RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING by PATRICK J BUCHANAN
* Published or soon to be published by the Modern Library.
Copyright © 1999 by Random House, Inc.
review of finding darwin's god
reposted from amazon
The heart of the book is the last few chapters where he tries to show that the kind of rearguard, god-of-the-gaps reasoning is not the only path people of a biblical faith need take when confronting evolutionary theory. His idea is that evolution allows us to see the radical separation of god and his creation for what it really is; an act of love and a grant of true freedom to creatures. The universe is free from the manipulation of a supreme being, for evolution shows that life then consciousness (necessary for worship and to love god) evolved in a distinctly materialist fashion free from the miraculous. i hope he is right for the gaps available for bible literalists to hide god in are getting rarer with every discovery. Soon religion ought to switch to the winning side and be a part of the light of scientific discovery rather than fearing it as so many do currently. This book is a good start on this quest to realign religion alongside science rather than being such an adversary as the creationist would have it. To anyone with a heart felt commitment to both science and a biblical faith this book is an extraordinary find. Full of hope and faith it rises above most of this topic's dialogue to inspire and motivate the reader. Certainly a book worth moving to the top of the current reading pile. But i am afraid it will manage to turn off a lot of people since it takes science and faith seriously, and demands some intellectual exertion from it's readers, something people who want to hear comfortable and reassuring words don't normally do. If evolution bothers your faith then this is a good book to start with.
reposted from amazon
The heart of the book is the last few chapters where he tries to show that the kind of rearguard, god-of-the-gaps reasoning is not the only path people of a biblical faith need take when confronting evolutionary theory. His idea is that evolution allows us to see the radical separation of god and his creation for what it really is; an act of love and a grant of true freedom to creatures. The universe is free from the manipulation of a supreme being, for evolution shows that life then consciousness (necessary for worship and to love god) evolved in a distinctly materialist fashion free from the miraculous. i hope he is right for the gaps available for bible literalists to hide god in are getting rarer with every discovery. Soon religion ought to switch to the winning side and be a part of the light of scientific discovery rather than fearing it as so many do currently. This book is a good start on this quest to realign religion alongside science rather than being such an adversary as the creationist would have it. To anyone with a heart felt commitment to both science and a biblical faith this book is an extraordinary find. Full of hope and faith it rises above most of this topic's dialogue to inspire and motivate the reader. Certainly a book worth moving to the top of the current reading pile. But i am afraid it will manage to turn off a lot of people since it takes science and faith seriously, and demands some intellectual exertion from it's readers, something people who want to hear comfortable and reassuring words don't normally do. If evolution bothers your faith then this is a good book to start with.
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