The latest issue of Nature has a section on recommended summer reading/viewing; fourteen of us were asked to choose one book or DVD falling under the rubric of “relaxed, inspired holiday reading and viewing.” My choice was, as I noted earlier, the novel Life of Pi, for which I give a very short precis. Other contributors include Carl Zimmer (recommendation: Newton and the Counterfeiter), Eugenie Scott (The Rough Guide to Evolution), and Neil Shubin (Microcosm). All the books are nonfiction save Life of Pi and two DVD episodes of House, chosen by Felice Frankel. (I must say that I’ve never been a House fan; the guy is unlikeable and the plot unrealistic, although I can see how it appeals to detective-story fans.) And all of the nonfiction books are science-related except for David Poeppel’s choice, Bertrand Russell’s essay In Praise of Idleness. Predictably, someone chose Darwin’s Origin: it’s certainly inspired but I don’t know if I’d call it “relaxed.”
Among the choices, I’ve read only Carl Zimmer’s Microcosm and John McPhee’s The Control of Nature, both of which are good reads (I’m a huge fan of the earlier McPhee), and of course Darwin. Weigh in here with opinions about any of these, or with your own recommendations for summer reading.
I’ve just finished Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire, which I read because it was one of the two other science-related books on Newsweek’s list of “50 books for our times.” It’s pretty good — a description of the history of plant breeding using four examples: the apple, the potato, the tulip, and marijuana. Lots of fascinating history here, recounted in stylish prose, but a bit marred by the author’s tendency to find cosmic overtones in everything and to show how plant breeding is a case of human-plant coevolution. (It isn’t really, as humans haven’t evolved much, at least genetically, as we’ve selected plants.) It’s interesting, though, to contemplate that human desires have been hard-wired into the DNA of domestic plants and animals, although sometimes these desires reflect capitalism (as in the horrid Red Delicious apple) rather than taste. Pollan’s speculation on why people like marijuana makes for splendid reading; it’s the best “scientific” description I’ve yet seen about how your mental processes are affected by dope.
Here’s Pollan lecturing at Berkeley on marijuana:
And this is a very good example of how design could actually be detected in an organism, where it does exist. Genetic engineering is an example of what is more traditionally understood to be “design,” however, and closer to what one might expect from either advanced aliens or god (well, it’s hard to know what one would expect of god, but surely no lesser result than what we’d get from aliens).
Does “wild type” even mean anything in ID? Could one ever distinguish between a genetically engineered organism released by terrorists and the “design” existing throughout life? True, ID would just fudge, claim that “microevolution” is responsible for “wild type organisms” (without showing that this “microevolutionary” evidence isn’t essentially of the same kind as “macroevolutionary” evidence) and claim that “different kinds of design” are being detected in different cases–thus undermining their claim that it’s all just “design detection” like SETI researchers and archaeologists perform.
Seriously, though, we detect design in life against a backdrop of non-design (more specifically, a backdrop of non-telic evolution) in life, and nothing else makes sense as a basis for the distinctions that we are able to make.
Glen Davidson
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
Two books – one non-fiction, one fiction – same story: The life & travels of Robert Fitzroy, Captain of the Beagle.
Peter Nichols’ “Evolution’s captain”
Harry Thompson’s “This thing of darkness” (long book; perfect for a holiday/journey with limited library-space in your backpack).
Both highly recommended. I read them pretty much back-to-back about two years ago; fiction first (by chance, not by choice.
Otherwise:
David Quammen’s “Song of the Dodo” (still hard to beat that one)
Adams’ & Carwardine’s “Last chance to see” (can’t wait for the follow-up, with Stephen Fry taking over Douglas Adams’ role – who else could possibly pull that off?).
I would heartily recommend “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time”, a great little fiction book from 2003.
In it, Christopher, a 15 year old with autism, discovers the body of his neighbor’s dog. He decides to attempt to solve who killed the dog, but he finds this difficult because of his autism. Christopher decides to keep a journal of his inquiry, and this book is that journal.
The book touches on a lot of different subjects, especially mathematics, and talks about the famous Monty Hall Problem. It’s also only 226 pages.
Highly recommended.
Life of Pi is a great choice!
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold is one of my favourites. Classic natural history/conservation writing that only becomes more and more relevant (it was originally published in 1949).
Hmmm. Life of Pi?
SPOILER ALERT
Here’s why I don’t like the book – if you read it carefully, and you ask yourself the central question posed by the ending (“What is better, the true story or the better story?”), the whole thing is a metaphor for the value of myth over reality.
But it is a good yarn.
hmmm…. I didn’t think of that.
But I didn’t much care for the story anyway, actually. Erewhon is infinitely more awesome.
I recommend G.K. Chesterton’s “The Blatchford Controversies” or even better, “Orthodoxy”.
G.K. Chesterton quote:
Man is an exception, whatever else he is. If he is not the image of God, then he is a disease of the dust. If it is not true that a divine being fell, then we can only say that one of the animals went entirely off its head.
I recommend:
Fiction:
The Black Cloud By Fred Hoyle (1957)
Nonfiction:
The Atheist Camel Chronicles: Debate Themes & Arguments for the Non-Believer (and those who think they might be) By Dromedary Hump (2009)
Death From the Skies! These Are the Ways the World Will End By Philip Plait (2008)
Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body By Neil Shubin (2008)
and, of course:
Why Evolution Is True By Jerry A. Coyne
I also enjoyed Microcosm by Zimmer
Love all of Carl Zimmer’s books, including Microcosm.
Sean B. Carroll’s “Endless Forms Most Beautiful”–very worthwhile
Enjoyed “Why Evolution Is True”
Chris Impey’s book “The Lving Cosmos: Our Search For Life In The Cosmos” is a great read, full of thought provoking ideas about what life may be beyond earth.
For a more “summer read” like book for the science enthusiast Richard Holmes book “The Age Of Wonder” is a delightful read.
Leslie Ann Keller, I am currently 75% through reading “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” and it IS worthwhile, but NOT relaxing.
I just finished the Botany of Desire, and my reaction was exactly yours – when Pollan is talking about science or history it’s riveting, then everything grinds to a halt while he waxes mystical. He’s a great and well informed communicator, but he needs to rein in some of his sillier impulses.
Has anybody read his “Omnivore’s Dilemma”? I presume it has less woo than “Botany”
I’ve read that one too, and indeed it has less woo as it’s more of a call to action. The beginning basically gives corn and beef the Botany of Desire treatment, and that’s the best part of the book. It gets a little flabby at the end when he just tries to make a comedy out of a hunting trip he took. But you’ll never look at a Big Mac the same way after reading it.
Omnivore’s dilemma is his best book. I did find myself skimming over the wooey sections, but there is a lot of good reading in it, and it has changed the way my family buys and eats food.
1. Descartes’ Baby, by Paul Bloom. Excellent material on why our thinking sometimes goes astray.
2. Religion Explained, by Pascal Boyer. Best explanation out there of why our minds tend to embrace the supernatural.
One more: Why Evolution is True . . . oh, wait – everyone has already read that one.
Sean Carroll’s lastest book is Remarkable Creatures, and I found it very enjoyable(nice and light). As well as all his other books, I’m a big fan.
Victor Stenger: God, The Failed Hypothesis is also very good.
Along with:Dawkins/Hitch/Harris/Dennet/Shubin, etc.
Just checked the Editorial Reviews on Amazon for ‘Life of Pi’, and came across this quote:
“a story that will make you believe in God,”
Uhm ..? Do I really want to read this book?
It didn’t do that for ME!!! No worries . . .
Yeah but you’re an incorrigible new atheist, so that’s no help!
But Ophelia, we’ve all managed to deny the obviousness of design and of the fact that the universe would instantly disappear without the constant presence of the infinite god.
That, and our endless desires to bugger sheep and to eat babies means that we’ll never be open to the evidence.
It’s not just New Atheists, you know, since there’s nothing that the wholly honest religionists have said about New Atheists that they didn’t say about old atheists, catholics, humanists, buddhists, and the merely indifferent (which instantly destroys M&K’s scapegoating).
None of us is even slightly as open-minded as all of those people who have never read anything but religion-approved apologetics, which is virtually all IDists/creationists.
Glen Davidson
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
This is what I was referring to above – see comment #5
In one memorable discussion I had with a “faitheist”, Life of Pi was cited to me as a good argument for myth and religion, i.e., do you really want the boring scientific facts, when you can have a far greater “truth” by believing in something outlandish!?
For info on Martel, religion and religion in _life of Pi see
bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm?author_number=823
I have just finished Stenger’s “God: the failed hypothesis” for the third time in a year!
I find his relentless logic, clarity and focus most enjoyable. Not really relaxing though …
I do not understand why this book is not more widely quoted and used by tohers to support the arguments he addresses. Has anyone read a serious, negative critical review of this book?
It is an excellent book. Unfortunately I was not nearly as impressed with his follow up book “Quantum Gods: Creation, Chaos, and the Search for Cosmic Consciousness” release in April 2009.
I have not read “Quantum Gods” but the (postive) reviews I have read support your comments.
Again, based on the reviews I have read, G:TFH represents a concise, but complete, distillation of all his arguments which support “the failed hypothesis”. Chapter 5 “The Uncongenial Universe” is quite breathtaking and, since almost a year has passed since its publication, I am coming to believe that his arguments are not easy to rebuff.
Quite impossible to rebuff, since Stenger did such a careful and comprehensive study of the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions and ID arguments and either made a case for the absence of evidence or made a case for evidence of the opposite.
The problem I found with “Quantum Gods is that it seemed a bit muddled and sometimes I had a tough time figuring out what point he was making. Maybe it is just my understanding or my high expectations after “God: The Failed Hypothesis“.
NewEnglandBob
Clearly, his knowledge of the arguments and bases of the religious mob are very impressive. I can’t see how they can fault him in any way.
However, my main point is that his presentation, analysis and explanations of the physics are superb! In particular, his analysis of all the “fine-tuning” arguments is excellent. We know he has impeccable qualifications in this area and, in the absence of any serious criticism, I assume his arguments are correct.
Given this, how can any serious argument be put which advances fine-tuning of the cosmological constants as a basis for anything? All anyone has to do is to trot out Stenger’s points!
I agree, but some people aren’t interested in arguments and facts and they just ignore them and argue the same old nonsense.
I can’t be the only one chuckling at all the suggestions that Coyne would be relaxed by reading Carroll’s book…
I can’t like ‘House’ either – House is beyond unlikable, he’s immovably grim. He never laughs! He’s always scowling! He’s like a parody of ‘unlikable clever misanthropic cynical guy.’ He’s boring.
NewEnglandBob, I agree with you exactly. I found Stenger’s “Failed Hypothesis” exhilerating, and “Quantum Gods” very hard to muddle through. I thought there were some seeds of a good book in there, but they were scattered all over the place, and I don’t see that Stenger ever real developed a useful focus. And the shame is, a book like “Gods” was supposed to be about is so badly needed.
The most fun read I have had lately is the historical fiction tale “The Terror” by Dan Simmons (who has written some truly excellent SF noted below)
From the Library Journal Review:
Starred Review. Though Simmons is best known for his convoluted sf novels Hyperion, Ilium, and Olympos, his new work shows that he’s also capable of writing a direct and compelling narrative. For the most part, it’s a straightforward sea story following the difficulties of the dwindling remains of Sir John Franklin’s failed 1840s mission to find the Northwest Passage. However, in addition to scurvy, frostbite, botulism, snow-blindness, and threats of mutiny, the crews of HMS Terror and HMS Erebus are harried by some enormous Thing out on the ice. The story is told from the viewpoints of several members of the ships’ crews, with emphasis on Terror captain Francis Crozier and Erebus surgeon Harry Goodsir. The effects of malnutrition and climate on the men are related in grisly detail, while the predations of the Thing are often left vague. As several characters remark, the real monsters in this tale are their own shipmates and the North itself. It’s clear that Simmons devoted a lot of time to researching the history of the Franklin Expedition. Highly recommended for all fiction collections.
For a nonfictional account along the same lines, find a copy of Thorkild Hansen’s NORTH WEST TO HUDSON BAY: the life and times of Jens Munk (~1969/70) (alt: The Way to Hudson Bay:), which I stumbled on some months back. About the Norwegian navigator who, with two ships and a combined crew of 65 tried to find the Northwest passage for the Danish king in 1619. They became frozen in Hudson Bay and all but three died that winter, apparently largely of scurvy or its effects. Munk was one of the three survivors and against all odds these three managed to sail one of the ships back to Norway, even surviving a raging storm that tore off their sails. Based on Munk’s diary, which survived, no Thing required to make this an astonishing account. Much more than this preceding and after the expedition, too.
I am reading some excellent Carl Sagan, having enjoyed the wonderful COSMOS dvds.
I’m interested to know what the objections are to the Red Delicious apple. What makes it, as you put it, horrid?
Red Delicious apples are a robot’s dream what fruit should taste like…vaguely sweet, pretty to look at, with no annoying complexity or nuance in the flavor that might suggest a messy carbon-based origin. They are awful little plastic things, apparently bred for shelf life rather than enjoyment. The best apples I’ve ever had were near were I bow-hunted deer in Red Wing, Minnesota, an abandoned, gone-wild, grizzled old apple tree with stunted, worm-eaten fruit that tasted like earth and air and sunshine. I’m not sure even who insulted Red Delicious apples, but whoever did was so incredibly right. They are an abomination.
I guess I am spoiled since there is an apple farm around the corner and three others within 2 miles, all small, local, mom-and-pop run farms. There are also local strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and corn on the cob.
The original “Concord” grapes are 20 minutes away and John “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman’s original home is 45 minutes away.
For the record, McIntosh are my favorite apples, once past the early season.
The only thing worse is in fact a golden delicious – especially the ones that are over their prime. A similarly mealy, sickly-sweet thing without anything resembling complexity can only be had if you take the worst potato and fill it with cane juice. Eew.
Best apple I ever tasted: The Danish variety ‘Ingrid Marie’. Yum.
NewEnglandBob, not so much spoiled as fortunate. This is going to make me sound really old, and I’m not: I’m concerned that there are kids growing up right now who have never, ever tasted a real fruit or vegetable. You mention concord grapes. Those are fantastic! Rich, profound flavor, great texture. Those little globed packets of sugary pulp that most supermarkets sell as grapes are not even the third-hand rumor of a real grape. I’m not an advocate for organic locovorism or anything radical like that, because I think it’s far too expensive for most of us to eat like that all the time (and yes, Mr. Polan–I get your point about subsidies and hidden costs), but every kid should have the chance to eat actual food once in a while, just so she can know what her regular fare is intended to imitate.