Books of Interest

River Out of Eden, by Richard Dawkins.

This was one of the most exciting books I've read in years. It had me laughing, and marvelling, and incredulous at the incredible details of life. Dawkins helps the reader get beyond many common misconceptions, while deepening the appreciation for both science and the wonders of the natural world. Actually, I happen to believe that science is the study of the wonders of the world...


Philosophy in the Flesh, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson.

An incredible book! A bit wordy in places, and sometimes hard slogging. But if you are familiar with philosophy and rudimentary biology, then you may appreciate the clarity that this book brings to many of the great philosophical questions of the ages. In fact, the discoveries of cognitive science are so profound that most of the ideas we take for granted (consciously or unconsciously) have to be completely abandoned and replaced with new knowledge! As I've been doing this, a lot of things that have puzzled and frustrated me for decades are suddenly making sense... Lakoff and Johnson are doing for philosophy what Copernicus did for astronomy. Changing the way you look at things can sometimes make it all fall into place.