I’ve read Outgrowing God and also Magic of Reality by our Richard Dawkins of course. These helped me to make my mind up about what to believe regarding god and to set me free from my beliefs in god to be honest.
I’ve looked Richard’s most recent book I think which is called Books Do Furnish a Life - but I’m not sure about it as it sounds like a book that talks about other books or that’s an impressions I got, so it doesn’t seem so appealing to me.
I’m not even that sure what I want to read next regarding science / evolution / astrology - can anyone recommend something that might be interest for me to read next please.
At my age I don’t read a lot anymore, but I do browse YouTube for interesting and noteworthy lectures by acknowledged experts .
You may want to have a listen to this excellent lecture by Robert Hazen at he Carnegie Institute for Science.
It follows directly from your OP question and provides a solid foundation for discussion on evolution. Enjoy.
Start @ 12:00 to avoid a lengthy introduction.
After that, I have several other videos that will change your perspective on evolution and how things change via natural selection of minor genetic changes that turn out to be beneficial to an organism and provide a survival advantage.
Matioesperante, using Write4u’s comment as a springboard, I’ve had a chance to put together list of mine own that I like sharing. I’ll bet you’d find a few of them quite fascinating.
Since I’m no scholar, I’ve done my learning by way of some wonderful science communicators, mostly real scientists giving lectures via YouTube along with writing articles and books, with a few talented writers and science documentarians in the mix.
I’ve put together a bibliographic list of my favorites, and of course, it’s geared to the intelligent high schooler or early college student, and for other informed enthusiasts such as myself. It follows a natural progression from matter forming followed by mineral evolution & our planet evolving a “global heat and moisture distribution engine,” to geology and biology combining forces, on to the mysteries of complex dynamic living creatures. Then on to the greatest show on Earth with life’s collective consciousness spectrum.
Featuring: Sean Carrol, NOVA/NASA, Robert Hazen, Robert Rohde, Richard Alley, Nick Lane, David Qualmen, Carl Woese, Lynn Margulis, Tsutomu Wantanabe , Angela Hessler, Svante Pääbo, Mark Solms, Antonio Damasio, Susan Greenfield, Jim Al-Khalili. Finishing with introductions to David Attenborough’s incomparable tour of the evolution of Earth’s living creatures: “Life on Earth”, and James L. Sadd’s wonderful introduction to the fundamentals of geology: “Earth Revealed.” LINK
Now that you’ve covered the theoretical/philosophical stuff, you might want to read a few things about reality, books about real people in real situations and then put yourself in their situations and reflect on the philosophical stuff from that perspective. Two great books for that are John McCain’s Faith of My Fathers (in particular his descriptions of being tortured). That and A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo - where he tries (and succeeds) in allowing the reader to experience the Vietnam war firsthand.
That sounds really interesting - I’ve not read that many reality books and it does sound good for other perspectives. I’m thinking about subscribing to Amazon Audible so I’ll get a taste of those two books for sure.
I started watching the video from @write4u above - that reminds me … there is a section in Magic of Reality by Dawkins that introduces amino acids - for me that kind of stuff is easily forgettable so will have to keep going over it to learn about it better — I keep meaning to re-read that section from the book.
Also thanks @citizenschallengev4 - I’ve watched the little show from that website in one of the tabs - quite enjoyed it and yet another thing to learn about much better
Along those lines, I’ve been waiting to rave about this book until after I finished listening to, and now half way through my second listen and it’s every bit as good and fascinating as the first listen through, plus he tosses so much information at the listener, a second listen seems like a minimum to do it any justice.
“A radical retelling… Poskett deftly blends the achievements of little-known figures into the wider history of science… The book brims with clarity.”—Financial Times
The history of science as it has never been told before: a tale of outsiders and unsung heroes from far beyond the Western canon that most of us are taught.
When we think about the origins of modern science we usually begin in Europe. We remember the great minds of Nicolaus Copernicus, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein. But the history of science is not, and has never been, a uniquely European endeavor. Copernicus relied on mathematical techniques that came from Arabic and Persian texts. Newton’s laws of motion used astronomical observations made in Asia and Africa. When Darwin was writing On the Origin of Species, he consulted a sixteenth-century Chinese encyclopedia. And when Einstein studied quantum mechanics, he was inspired by the Bengali physicist, Satyendra Nath Bose.
Horizons is the history of science as it has never been told before, uncovering its unsung heroes and revealing that the most important scientific breakthroughs have come from the exchange of ideas from different cultures around the world. In this ambitious, revelatory history, James Poskett recasts the history of science, uncovering the vital contributions that scientists in Africa, America, Asia, and the Pacific have made to this global story.
Talk about eye-opening and enlightening. In hindsight what’s really wild is how much of this information was already out there in bit and pieces, here and there. James Poskett has done a superb job of weaving together an amazing tapestry. The coolest part is, from my old man eyes he looks like a peach fuzz kid, but he’s not allowed any moss to grow on his stone:
ok I think I’ve decided on my next book or audible should I say :
The Four Horsemen: The Discussion that Sparked an Atheist Revolution
I read a comment on Amazon that said its not too deep - I am interested to learn more about Darwinism and the Big Bang - does anyone know if this book covers these aspects as well?
Actually I’ve changed my mind - just got Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder on Audible.
Someone recommended in this topic but appears to have vanished. Thanks to whoever it was - he was right - this book is for me and will answer my thirst for more answers
