Category Archives: Book Notes

David McRaney, HOW MINDS CHANGE

Posted on Thursday 4 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion (Portfolio/Penguin, June 2022, 330pp) Almost a decade ago I discovered two books by David McRaney, YOU ARE NOT SO SMART (2011) and YOU ARE NOW LESS DUMB (2013) that … Continue reading →

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Randy Olson, HOUSTON, WE HAVE A NARRATIVE

Posted on Monday 1 August 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This is an interesting book that I’m disappointed by only because it’s not the book I wanted to read. That is, not the author’s fault. An interesting, useful, book nonetheless. (University of Chicago Press, 2015, trade paperback, 260pp) Olson’s book … Continue reading →

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David Brin, POLEMICAL JUDO

Posted on Monday 25 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a 2019 book, self-published, subtitled “A Brazen Guide for Sane Americans to Bypass Trench Warfare and Win Our Life or Death Struggle for Civilization.” This is a book full of sound and fury, an expression of Brin’s rage … Continue reading →

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Michio Kaku: THE GOD EQUATION, 2

Posted on Saturday 2 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve spent my blogging time this afternoon refining yesterday’s post about Michio Kaku’s book THE GOD EQUATION. I’m not sure reducing 20 bullets about each chapter to 10 bullets will make much difference, in terms of my goal to pass … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Cosmology, Physics | Comments Off on Michio Kaku: THE GOD EQUATION, 2

Michio Kaku: THE GOD EQUATION (Doubleday, 2021)

Posted on Friday 1 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a book I thought suspect on two or three counts, but which turned out to be quite worthwhile. It’s a succinct, crisp history of physics, from the Greeks to the present, and ending with, though not dwelling too much … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Cosmology, Physics | Comments Off on Michio Kaku: THE GOD EQUATION (Doubleday, 2021)

Vaclav Smil, NUMBERS DON’T LIE

Posted on Friday 3 June 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a 2020 book by a writer I had never heard of, until reading a pre-publication review in PW of his 2022 book How the World Really Works, which was just published in May. Smil is something of a … Continue reading →

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Daniel C. Dennett, BREAKING THE SPELL, post 3

Posted on Thursday 5 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

A few more notes, and quotes.

Posted in Book Notes, Science | Comments Off on Daniel C. Dennett, BREAKING THE SPELL, post 3

Daniel C. Dennett, BREAKING THE SPELL, post 2

Posted on Tuesday 3 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Finishing up key points and detailed notes on the second half of this book. Will have some general comments, and notes on the appendices, tomorrow.

Posted in Book Notes, Evolution, Religion | Comments Off on Daniel C. Dennett, BREAKING THE SPELL, post 2

Daniel C. Dennett, BREAKING THE SPELL, post 1

Posted on Monday 2 May 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a book published in 2006. The author, Daniel C. Dennett, is a professor of philosophy at Tufts University. He became grouped among the four so-called “new atheists” of the 2000s, along with Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens, … Continue reading →

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Michel Onfray, ATHEIST MANIFESTO, summary

Posted on Saturday 30 April 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

One more time.

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