This thread is for making nominations for our May & June 2004 book selection. Please, please, please include an explanation for why you think your suggestion would be ideal for a BookTalk selection. Do not just post a book title. By doing so you are expecting people to do research when you should have done it yourself.You can simply copy and paste a description of the book from Amazon.com if you like. You don't have to type an essay as to why the book is so wonderful. Just do something to educate us on what the book is about. Please limit your suggestions to a handful at best. Thanks! "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them"

Well, I've nominated some items the last few times, and I figured this time should be no different. Here are a few items in no particular order.1.Hayek's Journey: The Mind of Friedrich Hayek by Alan Ebenstein.www.amazon.com/exec/obido...7RAL16H02HHayek is one of those little known figures of the 20th Century, we should all know something about him.2.The Soul of Battle : From Ancient Times to the Present Day, How Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny by Victor Davis Hansonwww.amazon.com/exec/obido...ce&s=booksHanson is one of the most widely respected military historians alive.3. Great Books: My Adventures With Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World by David Denbywww.amazon.com/exec/obido...97-6120858Re-experiencing some of the classics of Western Literature, Denby offers an interesting view of the great books controversy.4. Rome and the Enemy: Imperial Strategy in the Principate by Susan P. Matternwww.amazon.com/exec/obido...97-6120858Many people like to talk about our resemblance to Rome, few understand how her empire worked. Read and be one of the few.5. Reelecting Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864 Presidency by John C. Waughwww.amazon.com/exec/obido...97-6120858It's always good to get some perspective during an election year. Here it is.

I'll throw Pale Blue Dot into the fray once more. Sooner or later everyone will just vote for it to shut me up

I'll second Pale Blue Dot, I was very much torn between it and How We Believe.

I book on new theories of the cosmos/quantum physics might be interesting. Most of our science books have been related to biology. This book review in the NY Times discusses a potential candidate. The book is The Fabric of the Cosmos : Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene.On the other hand, I guess Pale Blue Dot is in this field. If that book loses the poll again, maybe we should just start a forum and go for it, you know, 6 nominations = guaranteed discussion? Edited by: LanDroid at: 2/27/04 2:04 pm

I'm partway through The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2003 edited by Richard Dawkins. That might be an interesting discussion, since Dawkins selected 29 essays as the best of 2003. Aha, I found the table of contents on B&N. Looks like quite a broad collection...

I think to read some philiosophy of science would be nice. Would generate some very interesting discussion I believe.I would tentatively suggest The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn, not on the basis that I agree with what he says, but purely on the basis of its noteriety.If anyone has a different book on the subject of philosophy of science, that would be good also.

I agree with Pale Blue Dot. Damn I wish I was going to the Atheist Alliance International Convention in April. Ann Druyan will be speaking there and that would have been a fantastic time to ask her to chat with us...in the event Carl's book wins the poll. Chris "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them"

My nomination:The Future of Life by Edward O. WilsonFrom Publishers WeeklyQuote:Legendary Harvard biologist Wilson (On Human Nature; The Ants; etc.) founded sociobiology, the controversial branch of evolutionary biology, and won the Pulitzer Prize twice. This volume, his manifesto to the public at large, is a meditation on the splendor of our biosphere and the dangers we pose to it. In graceful, expressive and vigorous prose, Wilson argues that the challenge of the new century will be "to raise the poor to a decent standard of living worldwide while preserving as much of the rest of life as possible." For as America consumes and the Third World tries to keep up, we lose biological diversity at an alarming rate. But the "trajectory" of species loss depends on human choice. If current levels of consumption continue, half the planet's remaining species will be gone by mid-century. Wilson argues that the "great dilemma of environmental reasoning" stems from the conflict between environmentalism and economics, between long-term and short-term values. Conservation, he writes, is necessary for our long-term health and prosperity. Loss of biodiversity translates into economic losses to agriculture, medicine and the biotech industries. But the "bottleneck" of overpopulation and over consumption can be safely navigated: adequate resources exist, and in the end, success or failure depends upon an ethical decision. Global conservation will succeed or fail depending on the cooperation between government, science and the private sector, and on the interplay of biology, economics and diplomacy. "A civilization able to envision God and to embark on the colonization of space," Wilson concludes, "will surely find the way to save the integrity of this planet and the magnificent life it harbors." I just read Ch. 13 of Richard Leakey's, "The Sixth Extinction," which was published in 1996, and was prepared to offer it as a nomination. But after looking on Amazon.com I came across Wilson's more up to date version on the same topic. Many of you have heard me express my concern that religion will be the downfall of humanity, but after reading Leakey's writing on mans destruction of the natural world, and the resulting epidemic in species extinction, I would like to revise my theory. Our species appears doomed due to man's ignorance, in general. Reading a book, such as, "The Future of Life," might impact enough of us to make an effort to do something about it. Whether or not we have the ability to make enough of an impact or difference is debatable, but single individuals have definitely changed the course of history before. Perhaps through education we can avoid what seems to be the inevitable.Chris "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them"

Dammit Chris, you do this every time - you push for Pale Blue Dot, then you nominate something else that looks just as tasty!