| Summary:
Behind
all the ordinary concerns, struggles, and details of your
daily life, do you believe there is a context within which
it really matters what you choose to do? Modern science has
revealed insights about the universe that were unimagined
just a few generations ago. Surely some of these insights
are important for understanding the overall context that gives
meaning and significance to our lives. But science has acquired
a reputation for dehumanizing the world, leaving us stranded
and alienated in a universe for which our existence seems
irrelevant. One reason for this is that some of the information
uncovered by science has been destructive of many belief systems
on which we traditionally base our sense that our actions
matter. An Ordinary World outlines a way to approach
scientific information from a more optimistic and constructive
point of view. It suggests how to develop a perspective on
science from which you can pursue your own search for meaning
in a way that is consistent with a scientifically realistic
map of the world.
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Your
Cosmic Context: An Introduction to Modern Cosmology by
Todd Duncan and Craig Tyler
Go
to SII Bookstore
Todd and Craig
have finished a textbook (Your Cosmic Context: An Introduction
to Modern Cosmology). The book introduces the core ideas
of modern cosmology with an emphasis on connecting insights
from scientific cosmology to your own life and sense of place
in the universe. It's intended as a self-study introduction
to the subject and as the text for an introductory course
in cosmology for students not specializing in physics or astronomy.
Other
recommended books:
Go
to SII Bookstore
Einstein's
Dreams, by Alan Lightman
A wonderful example
of science integration. Explores the consequences of "what
if time behaved differently" in our immediate lives.
The
View from the Center of the Universe,
by Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams
A helpful guide
for thinking about how to make sense of modern cosmology
as a story that can give perspective and meaning to your
life.
Epic
of Evolution: Seven Ages of the Cosmos,
by Eric J. Chaisson & Lola Judith Chaisson
Cosmic
Evolution: The Rise of Complexity,
by Eric J. Chaisson
The
Really Hard Problem,
by Owen J. Flanagan
If consciousness
is the "hard problem" in mind science--explaining
how the amazing private world of consciousness emerges from
neuronal activity--then the "really hard problem,"
writes Owen Flanagan in this provocative book is explaining
how meaning is possible in the material world. How can we
make sense of the magic and mystery of life naturalistically,
without an appeal to the supernatural? How do we say truthful
and enchanting things about being human if we accept the
fact that we are finite material beings living in a material
world, or, in Flanagan's description, short-lived pieces
of organized cells and tissue? Flanagan's answer is both
naturalistic and enchanting. We all wish to live in a meaningful
way, to live a life that really matters, to flourish, to
achieve eudaimonia--to be a "happy spirit." Flanagan
calls his "empirical-normative" inquiry into the
nature, causes, and conditions of human flourishing eudaimonics.
Eudaimonics, systematic philosophical investigation that
is continuous with science, is the naturalist's response
to those who say that science has robbed the world of the
meaning that fantastical, wishful stories once provided.
Physics
for the Rest of Us, Roger Jones
Maps of Time, David Christian
The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos, Brian Swimme
Euan Squires
Henry Stapp
Manuscript submissions:
If you have a book
proposal or completed manuscript that you'd like us to consider
for publication, please send
us a short description, including a statement of how your
book helps people incorporate insights from science into their
daily lives. |
