So after a breakfast at IHOP this morning, Clint and I made a stop at Borders for a few books. Clint wanted a few books on running a small business, so while he was looking through the business section, I found my way into the teaching section (go figure sense they are right next to each other.) I picked up the following books:
I started reading this, and man does it make my brain hurt. But in a good way. Here’s a quick synopsis of what its about:
(Taken from Booklist) In this informative and often surprising book, more than 100 notable scientists and scholars answer the question, “What do you believe even though you cannot prove it?” The responses range from the thought-provoking to seemingly trivial (or just plain silly).
From what I have read so far, it has provoked my own mind to truly look into what I believe but can’t prove. What do you believe?
As if one mind hurting book from this editor wasn’t enough I grabbed another one.
Here’s the description found on Amazon.com:
From Copernicus to Darwin, to current-day thinkers, scientists have always promoted theories and unveiled discoveries that challenge everything society holds dear; ideas with both positive and dire consequences. Many thoughts that resonate today are dangerous not because they are assumed to be false, but because they might turn out to be true.
What do the world’s leading scientists and thinkers consider to be their most dangerous idea? Through the leading online forum Edge (www.edge.org), the call went out, and this compelling and easily digestible volume collects the answers. From using medication to permanently alter our personalities to contemplating a universe in which we are utterly alone, to the idea that the universe might be fundamentally inexplicable, What Is Your Dangerous Idea? takes an unflinching look at the daring, breathtaking, sometimes terrifying thoughts that could forever alter our world and the way we live in it.
My final book that I picked up is somewhat of an easier read compared to the first too. Only makes sense again that I pick it up.
The picture is crappy, but The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History is something that I am rather interested in. I know that my college history classes were a huge eye opener, because what you are taught in Elementary, Middle and High School are just VERY simplified versions of what really happened. Here’s what one of the reviews of the book stated:
Claiming that most textbooks and popular history books were written by biased left-wing writers and scholars, historian Thomas Woods offers this guide as an alternative to “the stale and predictable platitudes of mainstream texts.” Covering the colonial era through the Clinton administration, Woods seeks to debunk some persistent myths about American history. For instance, he writes, the Puritans were not racists intent on stealing the Indians’ lands, the Founding Fathers were not revolutionaries but conservatives in the true sense of the word, the American War Between the States (to even call it a civil war is inaccurate, Woods says) was not principally about slavery, Abraham Lincoln was no friend to the slaves, and FDR’s New Deal policies actually made the Depression worse. He also covers a wide range of constitutional interpretations over the years, particularly regarding the First, Second, Ninth, and Tenth amendments, and continually makes the point that states’ rights have been unlawfully trampled upon by the federal government since the early days of the republic. Though its title is more deliberately provocative than accurate, Woods’ attack on what he sees as rampant liberal revisionism over the past 25 years proves to be an interesting platform for a book. He’s as biased as those he rails against, of course, but he does provoke thought in an entertaining way even if he sometimes tries to pass off opinion as hard facts.
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Seeing as I have no actual “text” for my current graduate class, these books will do just fine!
