Non-Fiction book suggestions for July & August 2008

yodha · Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 11:53 pm Post subject:

I'm interested in reading Walden too. It is one of those classics which everyone recommends, but I'm afraid I won't enjoy completely unless I read with a group. I guess it's a perfect book for long discussions and philosophy.

If not Walden then The Post-American World looks interesting.

Whit · Newbie Joined: 12 Feb 2008 Posts: 4 Gender:

Bluegrass Is My Second Language

This is a wonderful non-fiction book by first time author John Santa detailing his journey into the unique people and unbelievable places where this slice of Americana is still played by musicians who tend crops or work in factories during the day and play music at night.

More info can be found at www.bluegrassbook.com

DWill · Senior Joined: 31 Jan 2008 Posts: 383 Gender:

I heard Stuart Kauffman on NPR and read the intro chapter to his book (Saffron was kind enough to let it go for a while). My impression is different from Lawrence's in that I hear him saying he doesn't believe in God, but he does think there are objective reasons to see meaning and purpose in the biosphere and in human life and economy. We do not have to follow the existentialists in seeing value only in the choices we make. There is an essence that does precede existence. Scientific reductionism leads us to a view of existence as reduced to physics. But Kauffman believes the arrows don't just do down, but up, outward.

Kauffman is now connected with the Unviersity of Calgary and was formerly with the Santa Fe Institute. Here's the brief review from Publisher's Weekly:

Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion Stuart A. Kauffman. Basic, $27 (336p) ISBN 978-0-465-00300-6

Kauffman, a complexity theorist at the University of Calgary, sets a huge task for himself in this provocative but difficult book: to find common ground between religion and science by redefining God as not a “supernatural Creator” but as “the natural creativity in the universe.” That creativity, says Kauffman, defies scientific assumptions that the biosphere’s evolution and human activity can be reduced to physics and are fully governed by natural laws. Kauffman (At Home in the Universe) espouses emergence, the theory of how complex systems self-organize into entities that are far more than the sum of their parts. To bolster the idea of this “ceaselessly creative” and unpredictable nature, Kauffman draws examples from the biosphere, neurobiology and economics. His definition of God as “the fully natural, awesome, creativity that surrounds us” is unlikely to convince those with a more traditional take on religion. Similarly, Kauffman’s detailed discussions of quantum mechanics to explain emergence are apt to lose all but the most technically inclined readers. Nonetheless, Kauffman raises important questions about the self-organizing potential of natural systems that deserve serious consideration. (May)

I think it might be a worthy book. I'm a little concerned that every review I've seen mentions that it gets pretty abstruse. Maybe one of us can read it and then give an opinion. We might need to consider it for a later round.
Another book of his, At Home in the Universe, is said to be a less imposing read.

I also think Walden would be a good choice. It's a favorite of mine, but beyond that I think parts of it would generate good discussion.
DWill[/i]

gskg · Newbie Joined: 27 May 2008 Posts: 2 Gender:

Chris OConnor · Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 9:45 am Post subject:

gskg

Those are all great questions worthy of consideration and discussion. You seem like a great fit for BookTalk.org. I sure hope to see you become actively involved here. Smile

PatrickSMcNally · Eligible to vote! Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 15 Gender:

Mary Fulbrook, The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker

http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-State-German-Society-Honecker/dp/0300108 842/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212163219&sr=1-2

A very interesting effort to integrate the better known facts about the GDR as a police state with the more hum-drum patterns of daily life.

Robert Tulip · Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 4:06 pm Post subject:

I vote for Walden as it is readily accessible on line, I have not read it and I like the comparison between Thoreau, Yeats, Jung and Heidegger as solitary thinkers who were in touch with nature. Walden is available at http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden00.html

Chris OConnor · Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 7:59 pm Post subject:

I think we ought to just go with Walden. So many of you want to read and discuss this book that it might be best to just announce Walden as the next non-fiction book and save going through the poll process. This thread has been up for weeks and there have not been many suggestions. There has been even less feedback on other peoples suggestions OTHER than Walden. That book seems to be a good pick.

Would you all be comfy with going with Walden?

yodha · Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 12:34 am Post subject:

Chris OConnor · Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 2:57 am Post subject:

Walden it is. I'll add the book image up at the top of the forums Sunday.


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