LiberatedMind » Book Reviews

Brave New World – Aldous Huxley: Book Review

LiberatedMind.com — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:20:06 +0000

Brave New World – Aldous Huxley Reading??? Yes, I do have short infrequent slivers of time in my week for the occasional read. How many qualifiers can a person use to quantify their lack of reading time in one sentence? I may need a few more… The latest read was Brave New World by Aldous …

Visualizing Complex Data Sets in Seconds

LiberatedMind.com — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:09:39 +0000

"I’m interested in how designed information can help us understand the world, cut through BS and reveal the hidden connections, patterns and stories underneath," McCandless states on his webpage.

Book Review: “Why Evolution is True” – Jerry Coyne

LiberatedMind.com — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 21:01:40 +0000

Despite its coverage of all the ways in which evolution can be demonstrated, Why Evolution is True provides a compact read of all the evidence for evolution. Only at the very last chapter does the author address creationism directly. Coyne suggests that anti-evolutionists do not oppose the idea of evolution solely, but rather reject the science because of the implications evolution has on the meaning of their personal religious beliefs. In short, evolution more than adequately explains how humans and our surroundings developed into what we are today. It leaves no gaps for a god to fill. To combat this rejection for the sake of religion, Coyne says: "Evolution is simply a theory about the processes and patterns of life's diversification, not a grand philosophical scheme about the meaning of life. It can't tell us what to do, our how we should behave."(p. 225)

Last Chance to See: Douglas Adams

LiberatedMind.com — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 02:53:21 +0000

Hands down the most refreshing book I have read in years. “Last Chance to See” by Douglas Adams fits into the non fiction section with a toe in the humor that characterizes Adams’ most famous series: “The Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy“. Adams recounts his travels around the world in a last ditch attempt to …

The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice – Hitchens

LiberatedMind.com — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:52:50 +0000

Christopher Hitchen's book The Missionary Position was published in 1995, right around the time when my 10 year old brain was being spoon fed Catholicism and my mother was telling me how saintly and wonderful Mother Teresa was. It is for this reason that I am now just able to read this revealing book on the hypocrisies and depravities of Mother Teresa. Having met Mother Teresa himself and tour her poor house in Calcutta, Hitchens offers a glimpse into the derisive nature of her work and her heavy hand in politics and money all over the globe.

Letter to A Christian Nation: Sam Harris (Book Review)

LiberatedMind.com — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:59:36 +0000

Letter to A Christian Nation was the first of Sam Harris' books that I picked up. Gathering assumptions from the title, I anticipated a book geared towards the religious infiltration into American politics. I found a bit of that mixed into Sam's book, but even better I found his straightforward approach to tackling American fundamentalists brilliantly refreshing. Written in the first person,[amazon ASIN="978-0307278777"]Letter to a Christian Nation[/amazon] bluntly points out the hypocracies American fundamentalist Christians show in opposing Muslim fundamentalists. Before doing this, he compactly brings down every major dogma of Christianity, laying the ground work for the final punch at the end. He rightly suggests that in order to combat the religious nonsense that drives Muslim suicide attacks, American Christians need to turn that finger around and examine their own radical, exclusive belief system.

The Greatest Show on Earth: Richard Dawkins

LiberatedMind.com — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:59:50 +0000

Perhaps the most comprehensive layman's book on the science of Evolution, The Greatest Show on Earth inspires a deeper understanding of life on planet Earth.

“The Family” who calls themselves the ‘Christian Mafia’ is exposed

LiberatedMind.com — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:50:47 +0000

Jeff Sharlet has the balls to unearth the dirty secrets of a Christian Mafia in his book "The FamilyThe Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power." This wealthy group was established during the great depression with the idology that power and wealth were bestowed by the christian god and should be things to be sought after. The Family openly admires Hitler, Stalin and Mau as men who understood how to attain and wield the type of power they seek to attain. The Family acts as a lobby group (unregistered) and claims non profit status as a religious organization. They also house prominent members of government in a sort of exclusive resort house call the "C Street House" where the officials are waited on hand and foot and served meals by college girls of the local Catholic College. Some of these men who are part of The Family who have recently been in the news for extramarital affairs have been Senator John Ensign and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, The Family regularily pays for countless statesmen and government officials to travel overseas to befriend third-world dictators and oppressive regimes. It is the philosophy of The Family that these dictators have god given power and deserve to be included in the christian mafia in an attempt to unite powerful, rich men all over the world with the goal of influencing public policy on a global scale.

Walking the Big Wild by Karsten Heuer: Book Review

LiberatedMind.com — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:10:21 +0000

Bear encounters, hardships, and breathtaking views keep the pages turning. As you journey with Heuer through the wilderness, you get a taste of the respect he felt by the end of the trip for the big wild.

Quantum, A guide for the Perplexed – Jim Al-Khalili

LiberatedMind.com — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:28:19 +0000

Quantum, A guide for the Perplexed by Jim Al-Khalili caught my eye at the bookstore because of the glossy pictures and example diagrams. Being a visual learner, I suspected that the best way to introduce myself to the weird world of quantum mechanics was through visual aid. This really did prove to be a great choice for my visual learning needs.