Official Poll - Non-Fiction book for May & June 2008

WildCityWoman · Graduate Student Joined: 13 Jan 2008 Posts: 418 Gender:

Is the Truman Capote book the only fiction to vote for?

Geesh!

OK . . .

1) Iin Cold Blood
2) Predictably Irrational
3) OUr Inner Age

Chris OConnor · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:43 am Post subject:

In Cold Blood is considered non-fiction even though the book is in novel format. This poll is for selecting our May & June 2008 non-fiction book. We'll have a separate book poll for our fiction selection soon. Smile

Robert Tulip · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:27 am Post subject:

My three votes go to Your Inner Fish.

It picks up evolutionary themes of high interest in an extremely informative way. I particularly liked the statement 'the best roadmaps to human bodies lie in the bodies of other animals.'

Describing our genetic links with a range of animals it says
• “The simplest way to teach students the nerves in the human head is to show them the state of affairs in sharks. The easiest roadmap to their limbs lies in fish. Reptiles are a real help with the structure of the brain. “

I have long been fascinated with zoology as a basis of philosophy, for what it tells us of time and life. For example, the Cambrian explosion 550 million years ago saw the emergence of multiple weird phylla of macrobial life after the plants had oxygenated the atmosphere enough after 3.5 billion years. Our inner fish starts about then and gets going with the elbow fish –
• “At 375 million years old, Tiktaalik (which means "large freshwater fish" in Inuit) sports a curious mix of features that mark it as an evolutionary milestone, a "beautiful intermediate between fish and land-living animals." … Seeing Tiktaalik is seeing our history as fish." In fact, Shubin wants us to see our history not only as primates and fish, but also as insects and worms. Exploring the 3.5-billion-year history of life on Earth, Shubin says, will yield a deeper grasp of how our bodies came to be what they are. "Inside our bodies are connections to a menagerie of other creatures. Some parts resemble parts of jellyfish, others parts of worms, still others parts of fish. These aren't haphazard similarities. . . . It is deeply beautiful to see that there is an order in all these features." … evolutionary continuity, so basic to biology, paleontology and anthropology, is the real message of the book…. Shubin's melding of fossil and genetic data is deft, and it prepares us for his central conclusion. Our lives reflect the evolutionary principle of descent with modification”

Chris OConnor · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:22 am Post subject:

Attention Mr. Pessimistic

So are you going to keep score or what!? Cool

tlpounds · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:14 pm Post subject:

I would like my three votes to go to:

Book 2: Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely

Thanks

Mr. Pessimistic · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:55 pm Post subject:

Cult of Pharama - 1

Inner Fish - 6

Inner Ape - 5

Predictably Irrational - 5

In Cold Blood - 1

Mr. Pessimistic · Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:07 pm Post subject:

I will cast my votes for "Inner Fish" All three.

"Predictably Irrational" reminds me too much of "Freakonomics" (which I am listening to now).

"Inner Ape" I have seen before and thought to pick up...but we already read Diamond's "Third Chimpanzee", again this rreminds me of that book.

"Cult of Pharma" looked interesting, but after reading the description, not what I would consider at this point. (I read a similar book a while ago called "Selling Sickness" that was similar to this one).

"In Cold Blood" - Why?

So there it is. New Totals:

Inner Ape - 5

Inner Fish - 9

Cult of Pharma - 1

Predictably Irrational - 5

In Cold Blood - 1

Chris OConnor · Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:40 am Post subject:

You kinda wish you never stepped into the role of score keeper, eh? LOL

JulianTheApostate · Junior Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 308 Gender:

1 vote for each of these books:

The Cult of Pharmacology
Predictably Irrational
Our Inner Ape

I suggested the first two, which I will read anyway for my real-life book group. Our Inner Ape also seemed interesting and discussion-worthy.

The other two books seemed less appealing. In Cold Blood doesn't interest me at all, and I'm afraid a book about evolution won't give us anything to talk about.

Chris OConnor · Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:32 pm Post subject:

Is anyone else going to vote and participate in the next non-fiction discussion? Not many people have cast votes so far.


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