Catalog Search Results
1) What's a dog for?: the surprising history, science, philosophy, and politics of man's best friend
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Describes the author's loving relationship with a rescued dog and his observations about how today's pet dogs are treated with more care than in past generations, exploring the dog's complex and prominent place in the world while assessing related issues about animal rights and ethics.
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"Winner of a 2008 Lannan Notable Book Award, Lannan Foundation" Sheldon S. Wolin (1922-2015) was professor emeritus of politics at Princeton University. His books include Politics and Vision and Tocqueville between Two Worlds (both Princeton).
Democracy is struggling in America--by now this statement is almost cliché. But what if the country is no longer a democracy at all? In Democracy Incorporated, Sheldon Wolin considers the unthinkable: has...
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This Very Short Introduction introduces listeners to the key concepts of political philosophy: authority, democracy, freedom and its limits, justice, feminism, multiculturalism, and nationality. Accessible and assuming no previous knowledge of the subject, it encourages the listener to think clearly and critically about the leading political questions of our time.
Miller first investigates how political philosophy tackles basic ethical questions...
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The Authorized Albert Einstein Archives Edition: A fascinating collection of Einstein's observations about life, religion, nationalism, and a host of personal topics that engaged the genius's intellect. In the aftermath of the First World War, Albert Einstein writes about his hopes for the League of Nations, his feelings as a German citizen about the growing anti-Semitism and nationalism of his country, and his myriad opinions about the current affairs...
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This collection of 24 essays is a perfect introduction to the world of Lewis Thomas. Topics ranging from the riddle of smelling to nuclear proliferation carry the gentle, unassuming persuasiveness that characterizes the author's work. Here we are also introduced to the concerns that have distinguished Thomas' literary career: the natural altruism of organisms; the inter-relatedness of all creatures; the fragility of the human species; the uneasiness...
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Few would question that humankind is the crowning achievement of evolution - that history yields progress over time from the primitive and simple to the more advanced and complex - or that identifying an existing trend can be helpful in making important life decisions. We have always identified trends as bad or good. But Stephen Jay Gould argues that this mode of interpretation is a bias that needs correcting. In Full House, Gould presents the truth...
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How does science work? Does it tell us what the world is "really" like? What makes it different from other ways of understanding the universe? In Theory and Reality, Peter Godfrey-Smith addresses these questions by taking the listener on a grand tour of one hundred years of debate about science. The result is a completely accessible introduction to the main themes of the philosophy of science. Intended for undergraduates and general audiences with...
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In the years between her first public lecture in 1961 and her last in 1981, Ayn Rand spoke and wrote about topics as different as education, medicine, Vietnam, and the death of Marilyn Monroe. In The Voice of Reason, these pieces are gathered together in book form for the first time. Written in the last decades of Rand's life, they reflect a life lived on principle, a probing mind, and a passionate intensity. With them are five essays by Leonard Peikoff,...
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Descartes is perhaps best known for his statement, "Cogito, ergo sum," the cornerstone of his metaphysics. But he did not intend the metaphysics to stand apart from his scientific work, which included important investigations into physics, mathematics, and optics. In this book, Sorell shows that Descarates was, above all, an advocate and practitioner of the new mathematical approach to physics, and that he developed his philosophies to support his...
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Three decades in the making, one of the most ambitious and comprehensive histories of political philosophy in nearly a century.
Both a history and an examination of human thought and behavior spanning three thousand years, On Politics thrillingly traces the origins of political philosophy from the ancient Greeks to Machiavelli in Book I and from Hobbes to the present age in Book II. Whether examining Lord Acton's dictum that "absolute power corrupts...
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The brilliant mind that presented the world with A Brief History of Time offers more insights into the mysteries of the universe.
Based on a series of lectures given at Cambridge University, The Theory of Everything presents the most complex concepts of physics- both past and present- in a clear and accessible manner. Acclaimed physicist and author of A Brief History of Time- which has sold more than 25 million copies- Stephen Hawking enlightens...
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"The Conservative Mind launched the modern American Conservative Movement when it was first published in 1953 and has become an enduring classic of political thought. The seventh revised edition features the complete text and an introduction by publisher Henry Regnery."--
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"An award-winning astronomer and physicist's spellbinding and urgent call for a new Enlightenment and the recognition of the preciousness of life using reason and curiosity--the foundations of science--to study, nurture, and ultimately preserve humanity as we face the existential crisis of climate change"--
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"A new approach to uderstanding the ever-changing information that bombards us. Arbesman is an expert in scientometrics, literally the science of science--how we know what we know. It turns out that knowledge in most fields evolves in systematic and predictable ways, and understanding that evolution can enormously powerful"--
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Stephen Hawking was recognized as one of the greatest minds of our time and a figure of inspiration after defying his ALS diagnosis at age twenty-one. He is known for both his breakthroughs in theoretical physics as well as his ability to make complex concepts accessible for all, and was beloved for his mischievous sense of humor. At the time of his death, Hawking was working on a final project: a book compiling his answers to the "big" questions...
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Unlike many books about the afterlife, Life after Death makes no appeal to religious faith, divine revelation, or sacred texts. Drawing on some of the most powerful theories and trends in physics, evolutionary biology, science, philosophy, and psychology, D'Souza shows why the atheist critique of immortality is irrational. It is not only reasonable to believe in life after death; it is also beneficial. Such a belief gives depth and significance to...
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Orcas are found in every ocean on the planet. But can they survive their relationship with humans? Orcas Everywhere looks at how humans around the world (Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike) related to orcas in the past, how we relate to them now and what we can do to keep cetacean communities alive and thriving. The book deals with science, philosophy, environmentalism and ethics in a kid-friendly and accessible way. Writer, filmmaker and orca activist...
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"Until the twentieth century, scientists investigating the effects of drugs on the mind did so by experimenting on themselves. Vivid descriptions of drug experiences sparked insights across the mind sciences, pharmacology, medicine, and philosophy. Accounts in journals and literary fiction inspired a fascinated public to make their own experiments--in scientific demonstrations, on exotic travels, at literary salons, and in occult rituals. But after...