The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do104 reviews Judith Rich Harris Free Press, 1999 Great book I really enjoyed this book. When I look at my two kids I think, same parents, same household, TOTALLY different kids and wonder what really influences them. It's apparent it's not their parents. This book presents an interesting theory on why kids from the same household can be so different ...             The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature198 reviews Steven Pinker Penguin (Non-Classics), 2003 Blank Slate is erased + One of the best books ever + A must read for anyone interested in human nature + A Discussion on Human Nature             Scientific Genius: A Psychology of Science1 review Dean Keith Simonton Cambridge University Press, 1988 Scientists' Bias is Pervasive This book focuses on the scientific method. Perhaps the most eye-catching analysis is that of scientific objectivity and tendentiousness. Simonton (p.15) writes about the dispassionate search for truth that supposedly characterizes science as follows: "...the bulk of the evidence suggests that few ...             The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind19 reviews Elkhonon Goldberg Oxford University Press, USA, 2002 Helpful to Understanding Brain Injury + A Worthwhile Read + Interesting, not despite its slightly unscientifical approach, but because of it + I loved the book!             The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex29 reviews Murray Gell-Mann Holt Paperbacks, 1995 trying very hard to make progress in "complexity" theory + The basics of information theory as relating to the science of emergent order is clearly presented The "reductionistic" scientific method, which seeks to reduce phonomena to simpler and more general underlying bludprints, has dominated the last three centuries. It works great in physics, as Newton domonstrated, but less well in other disciplines such as biology and psychology. For example, ...             The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable319 reviews Nassim Nicholas Taleb Random House, 2007 A philosophy from statistics This is a very fun book to read. Taleb is one of those polymath writers who are totally unashamed to bloviate and utterly convinced he's right (and is willing to call Nobel laureates frauds!). And I give him credit for making statistics engaging to read and a philosophy to boot. My one ...             Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic45 reviews Bart Kosko Hyperion, 1994 3.5 stars-An above average presentation of the fuzzy logic revolution with some significant oversights + An important book that failed This book incorporates a general discussion of the fuzzy logic paradigm,which was started in 1965 with an article by L Zadeh.Kosko's contributions in this field are incorporated within a framework of bibliographic sketches that bring a personal note to the book.It incorporates a philosophical ...             Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics46 reviews Eric D. Beinhocker Harvard Business School Press, 2007 Accessible, Informative, a book for the masses + This book is about more than economics + a new paradigm Some have reviewed Beinhocker's book, criticizing the lack of rigorous data, and other empirical evidence to support his arguments. There was another economist who published a book a couple years ago who also banished equations and other math goop to the footnotes and appendices, his name was ...             How the Mind Works164 reviews Steven Pinker W. W. Norton & Company, 1999 A Logical Mind Interprets and Sees a Logical Mind + A treatise on evolutionary psychology I found this book to be excellent and a fun read. It goes into detail about how one can view the human mind from a logical and behaviorist stand-point. He discusses a computer program type analogy for how a mind can work with a minimum of sub-programs or data types. I did find the book a ...             Beyond Good and Evil (Penguin Classics)74 reviews Friedrich Nietzsche Penguin Classics, 2003 A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength--life itself is will to power + What was on Zarathustra's mind on those mountains? + FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: "...PUTTING HIS FINGER ON BAD ARTS OF INTERPRETATION" (start here with Nietzsche) + Way Beyond Good & Evil             Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life150 reviews Daniel C. Dennett Simon & Schuster, 1996 Unintelligent design explained + Must read! + More a critique than anything else + Complex and Entertaining + like good medicine             Heaven in a Chip: Fuzzy Visions of Society and Science in the Digital Age7 reviews Bart Kosko Three Rivers Press, 2000 Kosko's Predictions for the Future of Technology + Clarifies the Fuzzy Future + An Ambitious Attempt to Integrate Numerous Ideas Kosko predicts the future within the framework of a paradigm shift from binary thinking to fuzzy logic. There is an extensive index to allow for easy reference and about 100 pages of footnotes that keep the technical jargon out of the primary text. The story flows like a science fiction novel ...             Outsmarting IQ: The Emerging Science of Learnable Intelligence6 reviews David Perkins Free Press, 1995 Great book presenting a theory of learnable intelligence + Pleased with this books information. + Smart Start What is the nature of intelligence? How and to what extent can intelligence be developed? What aspects of intelligence can de identified and what aspects especially demand attention? While the classic view of intelligence implies that intelligence is a fixed, genetically determined characteristic ...             The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies36 reviews Bryan Caplan Princeton University Press, 2007 Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand government and politics + Great book with many brilliant points The conclusion: 1. Accept that a fair democracy will still make bad mistakes 2. Improve public education, especially when it comes to teaching economics 3. Teach your friends, family, acquaintances how the economy works             Noise14 reviews Bart Kosko Viking Adult, 2006 Making the arcane understandable + Noise by Bart Kosko "Noise" is entertaining and enlightening as Kosko takes you through a bevy of stimulating notions regarding the various forms of noise and how they affect our lives in both beneficial and detrimental ways. With rhythmic tenacity you explore the fundamental makeup of signals and the underlying ...             The Structure of Scientific Revolutions117 reviews Thomas S. Kuhn University Of Chicago Press, 1996 Not Just for Those Interested in Science + Review of Kuhn + Exciting, elevated, and encouraging (to would be researchers) Essential reading in understanding why the Enlightenment ideal of rationality is dead or at least doesn't count in ways that matter. In particular, Kuhn calls into question the idea of science as a rational enterprise, and since science is epistemologically privileged and thought to be the ...             The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author285 reviews Richard Dawkins Oxford University Press, USA, 2006 The Selfish Gene + If you read one book on evolution... + Why take an interest in science? + We have a genetic predisposition to act self interestedly? Who woulda thunk it? + Shockingly Good             The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom12 reviews Yochai Benkler Yale University Press, 2006 Phenomenal Book on Information Science and Peer Production + This book gave meaning to law school + Illustrates potential of networks I first became familiar with Benkler after reading his paper, "Coase's Penguin" in undergraduate study. I was delighted to hear of the publication of this book. Benkler continues beautifully where he left off in his previous papers and synthesizes an excellent theory of social production in his ...             Teaching As a Subversive Activity12 reviews Neil Postman, Charles Weingartner Delta, 1971 The beginning of Education Reform + Required Reading + Teaching As a Subversive Activity 40 years since Postman declared the need for reformed education and our school systems still look the same today as it did then. A new age is still growing for the next age of education. This is the most excellent book on the nature of teaching and educating I have yet read. Postman articulates ...             The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature33 reviews Steven Pinker Viking Adult, 2007 The chicken-and-egg of language + Insightful, but broad at the expense of depth + Not quite as great as some of Mr. Pinker's other books Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist involved in research into the human mind, but he is also an unabashed popularizer whose books are full of pop culture references (especially comic strips). Apart from a few tedious sections, "The Stuff of Thought" is one of his best books. It applies a ...