For The Functioning Mind
Discover essential reads for the functioning mind, featuring Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, and Michio Kaku—explore science, astronomy, and the cosmos.
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The Demon-Haunted World
by Carl Sagan
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the renowned astronomer and author of Cosmos comes a “powerful [and] stirring defense of informed rationality” (The Washington Post Book World) in a world where fake news stories and Internet conspiracy theories play to a disaffected American populace. LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER • “Glorious . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought.”—Los Angeles Times How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience, New Age thinking, and fundamentalist zealotry and the testable hypotheses of science? Casting a wide net through history and culture, Pulitzer Prize–winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions. He examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies as witchcraft, faith healings, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in today’s so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning, with stories of alien abduction, “channeling” past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms.
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Microcosmos
by Lynn Margulis
BACK IN PRINT WITH A REVISED PREFACE Microcosmos brings together the remarkable discoveries of microbiology of the past two decades and the pioneering research of Dr. Margulis to create a vivid new picture of the world that is crucial to our understanding of the future of the planet. Addressed to general readers, the book provides a beautifully written view of evolution as a process based on interdependency and thei nterconnectedness of all life on the planet.
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Hyperspace
by Michio Kaku
From the renowned theoretical physicist and national bestselling author of The God Equation comes the first book-length exploration of the most exciting development in modern physics: the theory of 10-dimensional space. "Among the best of its genre to appear in recent years...What a wonderful adventure it is, trying to think the unthinkable!" —The New York Times Book Review The theory of hyperspace, which Michio Kaku pioneered, may be the leading candidate for the Theory of Everything that Einstein spent the remaining years of his life searching for.
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The Nature of Space and Time
by Stephen Hawking
Can the quantum theory of fields and Einstein's general theory of relativity be united in a single quantum theory of gravity? Can quantum and cosmos ever be combined? Two world-famous physicists debate the issue in this work, based on a series of lectures and a final debate held at the University of Cambridge. 75 line drawings.