The self and its brain Routledge ISBN: 0415058988 Mentioned in Consciousness Co-author Popper,Karl Sometimes people shake their heads about Popper's 'Dualist' tendencies as he got older. Well, I don't see that dualism is so bad, at least as a possibility. And neither does my brain. However, the book attacks parallelism - largely a non-starter anyway in my view. Also the speculation on the mind-brain connections do seem a bit quaint.

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

The Expanding Universe Cambridge University Press, 1932 ISBN: 0521349761 The years followoing Einstein's development of general relativity were heady times for cosmology as the new thinking was applied to the universe as a whole. 'The Expanding Universe' by Sir Arthur Eddington gives the reader a taste of the state of play in the early 1930's, soon after Hubble had discovered the recession of the galaxies, and in particular shows the questions which were being asked. How did the expansion fit in with other ideas of the age of the universe? Did it support the 'fireworks' (big bang) theory of it's origin? The book is based on a public lecture given by Eddington, and so it is easy for the reader to follow Eddington's line of argument. Continued..

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

The Marriage of Sense and Thought Lindisfarne Press, 1992 ISBN: 086315140X Co-authors Maier,Georg Gebert,Hans Reductionism is a powerful force in the development of science. In The Marriage of Sense and Thought: Imaginitive Participation in Science the authors claim that it is driving science in the wrong direction, and what is more that it is leading to a lack of meaning in our lives. For instance the claim in the first chapter is that smiles are being robbed of their meaning by scientists describing them in reductionist terms. So how do the authors justify this claim. Well, I have to say: not very well - they seem to take it as read in their discussions, whereas I would see it as something which requires a lot of supporting argument in order to be taken seriously. Continued..

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

Wider than the sky Penguin, 2004 ISBN: 0713997338 Gerald Edelman is a well known neuroscientist, and has developed a theory of mind known as the Theory of Neuronal Group Selection, also known as Neural Darwinism. In this theory the brain structures itself as it goes along, based on external inputs and internal feedback loops. In Wider than the sky he gives a concise introuction to this theory, explaining how it leads to the emergence of consciousness. Continued..

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

Wittgenstein's Poker Faber & Faber, 2001 ISBN: 057120547X Co-author Eidinow,John W (who has been fidgeting with the poker) asks for an example of a moral rule. P replies 'Not to threaten visiting lecturers with pokers', at which W storms out. In Wittgenstein's Poker Edmonds and Eidinow explain that it probably didn't happen quite that way. But this book is far more than just a discussion of a 10 minute incident involving Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein in Cambridge in 1946. Rather it gives a critical look at the lives of the two philosophers, including their upbringings (both came from Jewish families in Vienna, and so both were faced with the problems of the rise of Hitler), their points of view, and how they interacted with those around them. Continued..

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

INTRODUCING Fractal Geometry Icon books, 2006 ISBN: 1840467134 Co-authors Lesmoir-Gordon,Nigel Rood,Will I was a bit doubtful when I picked up INTRODUCING Fractal Geometry as to whether such a book could contain anything of use. Its quirky pictures make it look more like a comic strip than a book on mathematics. But surprisingly the format seems to work very well. Much of the useful information about a subject can be summarised in short pieces of text, but on its own such text would be excessively terse. The pictures in the book help to make a book that is easy to skim through, but still gives the reader a helpful introduction to the subject. Continued..

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

Wittgenstein's Poker Faber & Faber, 2001 ISBN: 057120547X Co-author Edmonds,David W (who has been fidgeting with the poker) asks for an example of a moral rule. P replies 'Not to threaten visiting lecturers with pokers', at which W storms out. In Wittgenstein's Poker Edmonds and Eidinow explain that it probably didn't happen quite that way. But this book is far more than just a discussion of a 10 minute incident involving Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein in Cambridge in 1946. Rather it gives a critical look at the lives of the two philosophers, including their upbringings (both came from Jewish families in Vienna, and so both were faced with the problems of the rise of Hitler), their points of view, and how they interacted with those around them. Continued..

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

The Born-Einstein Letters Macmillan, 1971 ISBN: 0333112679 Co-author Born,Max Max Born, one of the founders of quantum theory, was a friend of Einstein from their time as professors at the University of Berlin , and they kept in touch for until the end of Einstein's life. This book is a collection of the letters between them together with explanatory notes by Born. Such correspondence provides an insight into some of the issues which Einstein and Born thought important. For instance in political issues the two were generally in agreement, but Born made it known that he wanted nothing to do with the atomic bomb, whilst unbeknown to him, Einstein signed a letter encouraging its development by the USA. Continued..

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

Relativity:The Special and the General Theory Routledge, 1920 ISBN: 0415091047 There are plenty of books that will tell you about relativity, but there are advantages of hearing it 'straight from the horse's mouth' as it were. Albert Einstein's book Relativity:The Special and the General Theory gives you the chance to do this. Continued..

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

The elements of murder Oxford University Press, 2005 ISBN: 0192805991 The poisonous nature of heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic and lead is well known. In this book John Emsley examines how such elements have affected us, looking at their occurence in the environment, the danger they pose in industry and their use as medicines (where they poison the organisms which attack us). As such it is very informative, looking at the history of the elements, the symptoms they produce and their toxicity in organic and inorganic forms. But most of all it is about the use of these elements by murderers. If you enjoy a good murder story then you should certainly try this book. Continued..

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

A Guinea Pig's History of Biology Heinemann, 2007 ISBN: 9780434012596 The history of biology is usually told in terms of the work of famous biologists. But it is also interesting to find out how the study of a given species has contributed to biology over the years. In A Guinea Pig's History of Biology Jim Endersby presents the histories of a number of such species. Continued..

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

A mathematical introduction to logic Academic press ISBN: 0122384520 Mentioned in fermat undecidable Gdel's incompleteness theorem A well laid out book on mathematical logic, at the advanced student level. Includes a proof of the completeness theorem.

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca

Growing artificial societies MIT Press, 1996 ISBN: 0262550253 Co-author Axtell,Robert Doing experiments in the social sciences isn't easy - you can hardly meddle with a society just to see what happens. But it's possible to create computer models of societies, to see which features lead to realistic societies. This is what Joshua M. Epstein and Robert Axtell have done with their Sugarscape model, and Growing Artificial Societies is a report of some of the things they have observed. The model starts with a landscape in which sugar grows, with agents who roam about collecting sugar which they need to live. Even with such a simple model is it possible to see featues such as migration and uneven wealth distribution. Continued..

Buy this book Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Amazon.ca