Pit Recommended Reading List

[PopeKevinI]

Just released by the National Academies Press: Science, Evolution, and Creationism.

Science, Evolution, and Creationism explains the fundamental methods of science, documents the overwhelming evidence in support of biological evolution, and evaluates the alternative perspectives offered by advocates of various kinds of creationism, including "intelligent design." The book explores the many fascinating inquiries being pursued that put the science of evolution to work in preventing and treating human disease, developing new agricultural products, and fostering industrial innovations. The book also presents the scientific and legal reasons for not teaching creationist ideas in public school science classes.

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11876

I'm through the first half of it. I think it should be required reading for anyone before they start arguing about creationism and evolution in the classroom.

[Spoonie]

Originally Posted by Mr. Marbles

I love Henry Miller

If you really like Miller I would recommend the trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion (Sexus, Plexus, and Nexus)

If you like Miller, read Anais Nin while you are at it, including the journals.
Then you begin to get a good insight in literary representations of sexuality in early C20.

[Mr Pickle Pants]

Originally Posted by Spoonie

If you like Miller, read Anais Nin while you are at it, including the journals.
Then you begin to get a good insight in literary representations of sexuality in early C20.

The book collecting the letters they sent to one another is good, also.

[mypetmeatball]

Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion"

[deltabourne]

The Revolution: A Manifesto - Dr. Ron Paul

[kbs]

Originally Posted by mypetmeatball

Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion"

QFT

Definitely a great book.

[Malakai]

The Underground History of Education in America - John Taylor Gatto
http://www.amazon.com/Underground-Hi.../dp/B000A4IX46

Just in case it hasn't been posted. I believe our education system (or lack thereof) is one of our biggest problems in America today. Just look at a recent macroeconomics textbook and then read something by Milton Friedman (among others) if you want proof that our education system is extremely one sided. Back during the first Iraq war I was in a private elementary school, and the fact that our overseas interventions might not be a good idea was never ever mentioned. We are the good guys, they are the bad guys, is what we teach our kids when it comes to any of our wars.

We need to teach kids to critically think and analyze and question everything they hear, not to believe whatever the papers and leaders say. Neoconservatism would never have caught on like it has if people really knew how to think critically IMO, and schooling is where thats supposed to be taught.

Also in college, foreign interventionism is rampantly taught and indoctrinated; while people leaning towards non interventionism can be ridiculed by their professors and school administrations, have their papers failed, even fail whole classes for sticking with the idea. I wouldn't have believed it myself without witnessing it firsthand and then learning it was not something isolated to my local university. I've heard the word "isolationist" so many times in class I want to puke.

[zerowizard]

A Man Without A Country; Kurt Vonnegut; A series of short essays by Vonnegut.(dealing with politics, technology, men and women, etc...)

[möbiustrip]

If you're nerdy -- and all of you are -- this guy has fantastically level-headed advice on life.

http://philip.greenspun.com/careers/women-in-science

http://philip.greenspun.com/material...ly-retirement/

http://philip.greenspun.com/material...ment/investing

Some folks read this and assume that the author is a bitter or disappointed scientist. I plead guilty to having majored in mathematics as a college undergraduate (I started college at age 14 and graduated at 18--how would you like to be held accountable for decisions that you made as a teenager?), but otherwise I have spent my life as a humble electrical and software engineer, not as a scientist (my PhD is in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; I started the program, without intending to finish, because I was curious to learn how my stereo system worked and because I was earning enough every month as a Lisp Machine programmer to pay my annual living expenses; I finished the program because I am a stubborn testosterone-poisoned guy). I do love science and enjoy talking to and learning from scientists. Starting in 2001, I've been doing a lot of flying in airplanes and helicopters, including several cross-continent trips in light aircraft, and this has sparked an interest in meteorology and geology. Taking advantage of my location in Cambridge, I have sat in on some classes at MIT in Atmospheric Physics, Biology, and Geology. I also teach a software engineering lab course at MIT every three or four semesters (textbook). But for me, the university has mostly been a source of entertainment; I have never looked to it as a source of income. In my guide to early retirement, I suggest that university towns are great places to live for a person of adequate means.

[Malakai]

Missed my favorite of Ayn Rand, "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal".

My description: A passionate and thoroughly reasoned argument both morally and objectively for capitalism. The book is a collection of essays from Rand herself and others, including 2 or 3 from Alan Greenspan before he was chairman of the Fed; one of which is his fantastic and rather ironic argument for the gold standard and why the Federal Reserve themselves caused and prolonged the Great Depression. A must read for anyone serious about learning about real free market capitalism. Also has political and moral commentary on issues of the time (war, draft, expansion of state power, socialism in America) which still face us today in different forms and with different names.

http://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Ide...8008756&sr=8-1

Another I read recently if not already posted:

Peter Schiff "Crash Proof: How to Profit from the coming Economic Collapse"

My description: Don't let the title fool you, this isn't just a book on investing advise. The first half is a thoughtful and easy to understand explanation of the problems of the US Economy, their origins and propagation by government, and where we are headed. Considering publishing date, Schiff accurately predicts the current housing and credit crisis. He also debunks government CPI numbers and explains their obvious manipulation. After reading and learning more about the economy, it's hard to disagree with his conclusions about our future financial stability.

http://www.amazon.com/Crash-Proof-Ec...8009454&sr=1-1

Additional Info:
Schiff is a frequent commentator on business news shows on Fox CBS and others. Every clip he has ever done is up on his website going back many years, so you can see how accurately he has predicted economic events using common sense free-market thinking. The site is http://www.europac.net/. Schiff is the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, a successful investment firm specializing in foreign investments under the assumption the US economy/dollar is a train wreck waiting to happen. I'll note the iinvestments EuroPac specializes in like commodities (gold, oil) as well as foreign stock (gold related, oil related, food and farming related) have all done fantastically these last few years. I've never heard a negative review from a client, ever =) My boss just got into gold with them last year and is quite pleased with the results so far.

[ZQ]

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson - Sci-fi story telling of possible future, internet evolution, nuclear dog tech, and one mean Pizza Driver.

[TheMorlock]

Originally Posted by ZQ

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson - Sci-fi story telling of possible future, internet evolution, nuclear dog tech, and one mean Pizza Driver.

snow crash sucked. Diamond Age was good.

[möbiustrip]

http://mises.org/story/3232

1967 politics and economics. Rothbard pokes everyone in the eye.

[ry_goody]

Terence McKenna - True Hallucinations

[topcat989]

Honor Harrington series by David Webber, starting with "On Basilik Station". Subject is scifi, but it explores political/cultural systems in the background. Interesting reading, complex and detailed. Imagine Tom Clancy writing military scifi, and it would be like this. Series is 12 or so books long at the moment.