Category Archives: Book Notes

J. Bronowksi: THE ASCENT OF MAN

Posted on Saturday 10 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Little, Brown, 1973, 448pp, including 9pp (in tiny print) of bibliography and index) This is a substantial book that was popular in its time but is probably not really recommendable now, simply because it’s 50 years out of date in … Continue reading →

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Timothy Ferris, COMING OF AGE IN THE MILKY WAY

Posted on Thursday 1 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Morrow, 1988, 495pp, including 107pp of appendices (a glossary and a timeline history of the universe), notes, bibliography, and index) This is the first big substantial nonfiction book I’ve read in a while, especially one specifically about science. Ferris is … Continue reading →

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Edward O. Wilson: LETTERS TO A YOUNG SCIENTIST

Posted on Wednesday 30 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Liveright, 2013, 244pp, including 4pp of acknowledgements and photo credits) This is one of Wilson’s later, perhaps lesser books, compared to his earlier tomes like ON HUMAN NATURE and CONSILIENCE. It’s more like THE ORIGINS OF CREATIVITY and GENESIS (both … Continue reading →

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Chris Mooney, THE REPUBLICAN WAR ON SCIENCE

Posted on Tuesday 29 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

(Basic Books, 2005, 342pp, including 86pp of interview credits, other credits, notes, and index.) This is journalist Mooney’s first book, from 20 years ago, and it’s especially apropos to look back at now given the hostility to and/or misunderstanding of … Continue reading →

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Dan Ariely, MISBELIEF

Posted on Wednesday 9 April 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things” (Harper, September 2023, 311pp, including 21pp of acknowledgements, references, and index.) Here’s the latest book by Dan Ariely, author of one of the earliest books I read about psychological biases and human … Continue reading →

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Tyson & Walker, TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

Posted on Saturday 8 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Lindsey Nyx Walker Subtitled “A Journey of Cosmic Discovery” (National Geographic, Sep. 2023, 319pp, including 16pp acknowledgements, further reading, illustrations credits, and index.) This is literally a heavier-than-usual book that is nevertheless a light-weight read (even … Continue reading →

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Tom Nichols, OUR OWN WORST ENEMY

Posted on Friday 7 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “The Assault From Within on Modern Democracy” (Oxford, August 2021, xvii + 245pp, including 25pp notes and index) Here’s the last of several books about current issues that I read in December and January. I read this one because … Continue reading →

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Annalee Newitz, STORIES ARE WEAPONS

Posted on Thursday 6 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: “Psychological Warfare and the American Mind” (Norton, June 2024, xxv + 246pp, including 42pp of acknowledgements, notes, and notes.) Here’s a book that offers a different spin on the ideas of misinformation, fake news, and narratives, than earlier books … Continue reading →

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Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach, THE KNOWLEDGE ILLUSION

Posted on Tuesday 4 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “Why We Never Think Alone” (Riverhead Books, March 2017, 296pp including 30pp acknowledgements, notes, and index.) This is a book that I’ve thought of as a companion to the O’Connor/Weatherall book I just reviewed ever since they’ve been sitting … Continue reading →

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Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, THE MISINFORMATION AGE

Posted on Sunday 2 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “How False Beliefs Spread”(Yale University Press, 2019, 266pp, including 80pp of notes, bibliography, acknowledgements, and index) This is an interesting enough book that wasn’t quite what I was expecting. It seems right up my alley: why do so many … Continue reading →

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