Tag Archives: skepticism

A Devil’s Chaplain

Posted on September 6, 2017 by smellincoffee

A Devil’s Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love© 2003 Richard Dawkins263 pages Charles Darwin mused that a devil’s chaplain might write quite a book on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering low, and horridly cruel works of nature.  A Devil’s … Continue reading →

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A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science

Posted on January 31, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Canon: A whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science© 2007 Natalie Angier293 pages Science is amazing! Why is so much of the writing about it so lame?   Natalie Angier’s The Canon first reviews the principles of scientific thinking … Continue reading →

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Wonder and Skepticism

Posted on January 7, 2017 by smellincoffee

Last night I suddenly wanted to listen to Carl Sagan’s last address to the Committee for the Scientific Investigation for Claims of the Paranormal (now known as the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry).   I needed to hear Sagan’s voice, his … Continue reading →

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SCIENCE! ..and other stuff

Posted on February 17, 2016 by smellincoffee

Dear readers:  I am still scratching an itch for science and science fiction, both in books and on the screen.  Over the weekend I read A Survival Guide to the Misinformation Age,  on inculcating scientific habits of mind.  It’s rather … Continue reading →

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Varieties of Scientific Experience

Posted on November 21, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for Goded. Ann Druyan, © 2006304 pages In 1985, Carl Sagan delivered a series of lectures to the University of Glasgow on the general subject of natural theology, or … Continue reading →

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Paleofantasy

Posted on September 4, 2013 by smellincoffee

Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Says about Sex, Diet, and How We Live© 2013 Marlene Zuk328 pages Despite its name, Paleofantasy is not a deliberate debunking of arguments for a ‘paleo diet’ and a paleo lifestyle.  Although Zuk does take aim at … Continue reading →

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Disrupting the Rabblement

Posted on June 20, 2013 by smellincoffee

Disrupting the Rabblement: Think  For Yourself, Face Your Fears, Live Your Dreams, and Piss off some Zombies© 2012 Niall Doherty~138 pages There are those who live, and those who simply exist. The majority of people, the rabblement, simply exist, and it’s … Continue reading →

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Brilliant Harry Potter fanfiction

Posted on June 5, 2013 by smellincoffee

Last while I heard a fanfiction series, “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality“, mentioned on a podcast. In it, Harry is raised not by the abusive and smallminded Dursleys, but by a scientist, and thought to think critically. For … Continue reading →

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Space Chronicles

Posted on November 19, 2012 by smellincoffee

Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier© 2012 Neil deGrasse Tyson; edited by Avis Lang384 pages On July 20th, 1969, America mesmerized the world by landing men on the Moon. For the first time in history, human feet stepped on the soil … Continue reading →

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Spook

Posted on October 2, 2010 by smellincoffee

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife© 2005 Mary Roach311 pages Having so thoroughly enjoyed Stiff last week, I visited the library this past Wednesday with the intent of reading more by the same author. I’ve walked by this book hundreds of … Continue reading →

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