Books Sorted by Date

Standard quantum mechanics offers some widely accepted "primacy of consciousness" interpretations at odds with Objectivism. By contrast, this book of "classical quantum mechanics" attempts to explain experimental observations using a "primacy of existence" premise. In late 1999, I wrote an article for The Daily Objectivist about this book and its... (See the whole review)

A perspective on the science of cosmology that I found to be interesting from the viewpoint of Objectivism. The scientific content of the book consists of a discussion of the flaws in the Big Bang Theory (some of which may be dated, since this was published in 1991) and a presentation of an alternative theory based on the physics of plasma. But t... (See the whole review)

Quantum mechanics is the most fundamental and important theory known to man.  It underpins modern science and technology and even provides us with a blueprint for reality itself.  And yet it has been said that if you are not shocked by it, you quite clearly don't understand it.  But is quantum physics really so unknowable?  Is reality really so str... (See the whole review)

In the year 2753, after unparalleled technological and economic advancement within the Intergalactic Protectorate, reaction has set in, as a group of environmentalist mystics seeks to usurp the mechanisms of government. A scientist on the Protectorate’s outskirts discovers a planet with an entirely new sentient life form, devoid of sight of the ext... (See the whole review)

This is Heinlein's lost first novel which was originally rejected by publishers because it was too philosophical.  He eventually gave up on it, instead stealing many of the ideas for his later works.  Heinlein's copy was destroyed, but a copy was recently discovered in a friends garage and is now published for the first time in 2004.  Honestly, it ... (See the whole review)

This book lists a number of factual errors in the works of Michael Moore from the beginning of his career up to but not including his 9-11 movie. It shows his lack of integrity as a documentarian and dangerously creative skill as a propagandist. Moore commands a frightening but small portion of society with his populist propaganda, so it is no wond... (See the whole review)

With all the talk of failing schools these days, we forget that schools can fail their brightest students, too. We pledge to "leave no child behind," but in American schools today, thousands of gifted and talented students fall short of their potential. In Genius Denied, Jan and Bob Davidson describe the "quiet crisis" in education: gifted students... (See the whole review)

Inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin, the Moon and Sixpence is an unforgettable study of a man possessed by the need to create — regardless of the cost to himself, and to others. Excerpts: "And man, subservient to interests he has persuaded himself are greater than his own, makes himself a slave to his taskmaster. He sits him on a sea... (See the whole review)

"A novel that brilliantly illuminates some of the darker interconnections between politics and sex . . . Just as the world of Orwell's 1984 gripped our imaginations, so will the world of Atwood's handmaid!" --Washington Post Book World "Atwood takes many trends which exist today and stretches them to their logical and chilling co... (See the whole review)

This story is about a group of rabbits who leave their home in search of a new place to live because of dangers that threaten them. Along the way they meet other rabbits and come across many warrens, some of which they are invited to live at, others which they must escape from. The story is not only a page turner at times, but I thought the author ... (See the whole review)

Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) was an Italian sociologist, who, in his 1901 treatise, The Rise and Fall of Elites, foretold the ascent of socialism as a ruling doctrine in the decades to come. Pareto, to his credit, does not even remotely consider socialism capable of achieving the existential and moral utopia that its advocates espoused. Moreover, he... (See the whole review)

This "children's" book is probably the single most horrifying and depressing thing I've ever read... even more so than George Orwell's 1984.  It revolves around a falsely utopian nightmare society that provides its wonders at a chilling cost.  Although Lowry does employ a bit of fantasy in just a few places, her story is still a very effect... (See the whole review)

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity -- principles that give... (See the whole review)

Why have Jews risen to the top of the business and professional world in numbers staggeringly out of proportion to their percentage of the American population? Steven Silbiger has the answer. Combining the huge appeal of the bestsellers The Millionaire Next Door and The Gifts of the Jews, The Jewish Phenomenon sets forth the seven principles that f... (See the whole review)

Often I feel I go to some distant region of the world to be reminded of who I really am. ... (See the whole review)

Modern agriculture and food-preservation methods have done serious damage to the human diet. The detrimental effects on the human body caused by acidic wastes from processed food and chemical additives are myriad. Byproducts of the foods we eat, acidic wastes are the common denominator in all degenerative diseases. When acidic wastes accumulate, th... (See the whole review)

Few physicians talk about the clinical use of touch, and few medical schools teach it specifically, even though touch is a unique tool for diagnosis and therapeutic applications, as well as a means of communicating a caring attitude. In the poem "Line Drive," by Allen Ginsberg, the physician realizes that he "forgot to touch or be touched" while gi... (See the whole review)

At last! This is the book every AIDS-watcher has been awaiting, in which the most prominent and persistent critic of HIV as the cause of AIDS presents his case most exhaustively and popularly. Duesberg, himself a virologist, stoutly maintains that HIV cannot cause AIDS because it fails to meet the rules by which a virus is implicated as disease-cau... (See the whole review)

While the jury may yet be out on the empirical benefits of Barefoot's coral calcium, this book yields an enormous wealth of incredibly distilled and concentrated human biochemistry information... things that the mainstream medical industry definitely does not want you to know. ... (See the whole review)

In his provocative new book The Age of Spiritual Machines, Ray Kurzweil, who Forbes Magazine calls "the ultimate thinking machine," takes readers on an breathtaking tour of the history of computation and artificial intelligence and makes startling predictions for the future of technology, such as: * 2010: A translating telephone will allow you to s... (See the whole review)

Critics have attacked the foolishness of some of today’s elite thought from many angles, but few have examined the real-world consequences of those ideas. In The Burden of Bad Ideas, Heather Mac Donald reports on their disastrous effects throughout our society. At a Brooklyn high school, students perfect their graffiti skills for academic credit. A... (See the whole review)

Why don't zebras get ulcers--or heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases--when people do? In a fascinating look at the science of stress, biologist Robert Sapolsky presents an intriguing case, that people develop such diseases partly because our bodies aren't designed for the constant stresses of a modern-day life--like sitting in daily t... (See the whole review)

How could you, a mathematician, believe that extraterrestrials were sending you messages?" the visitor from Harvard asked the West Virginian with the movie-star looks and Olympian manner. ... (See the whole review)

(This book is not what you think)  Founder of Lionheart Books, Reagan has produced the ideal smaller coffee-table book for the 21st century. The Hand of God combines dozens of dazzling images of starscapes and far planets captured by the Hubble telescope with reflections on the self, the stars, and the universe, from writers as various as Oscar Wil... (See the whole review)

As an illustrator and student of art, I say without reservation that this is the best damn book ever for learning how to draw the human face and body.  All the other books pale by comparison; this book is what they just don't teach in art classes any more, because postmodernism has destroyed all objective standards. I recently bought... (See the whole review)

Subtitled The Science Lover's Illustrated Guide to How Life Grows, Develops, Reproduces, and Gets Along, The Way Life Works is what happens when a biologist and artist share an interest in life from bacteria to humans, and collaborate on taking their knowledge public. The result is a most magnificent science book, devoted to the wonder and unity of... (See the whole review)

Some observers see the global political landscape as a complex amalgam of divergent worldviews, shades of gray that usually move in harmony but sometimes collide with violent results. David Frum and Richard Perle, authors of An End to Evil think it's a great deal simpler than that: the United States is good, those who pose a threat, current or futu... (See the whole review)

Phenomenon: Keirsey and Bates's Please Understand Me, first published in 1978, sold nearly 2 million copies in its first 20 years, becoming a perennial best seller all over the world. Advertised only by word of mouth, the book became a favorite training and counseling guide in many institutions -- government, church, business -- and colleges across... (See the whole review)

Despite popular belief, American boys tag behind girls in reading and writing ability, and they are less likely to go to college. Our young men are greatly at risk, yet the best-known studies and experts insist that it's girls who are in need of our attention. The highly publicized "girl crisis" has led to many changes in American schools, politics... (See the whole review)

Meditative and yet authoritative, The Philosophical Programmer celebrates the creative possibilities of programming while reminding the reader of technology's ethical conundrums. Daniel Kohanski keeps this slim volume rooted in valid examples, providing a rich exploration of the thought process involved in machine code. He treats programming as a l... (See the whole review)

Farrell debunks the myth of male power. He dares to question the image of male-as-oppressor, arguing that this misconception has hindered not only men, but women as well. (See the whole review)

Dedicated as few men have been to the life of reason, Bertrand Russell has always been concerned with the basic questions to which religion also addresses itself -- questions about man's place in the universe and the nature of the good life, questions that involve life after death, morality, freedom, education, and sexual ethics. He brings to his t... (See the whole review)

"The Watchmen" is set in a unique universe where superheroes have been banned and the world is on the brink of nuclear war. The story starts off as a murder mystery and grows into a tale of truly epic proportions. Alan Moore paints a largely dark picture of humanity and weaves a story that is so intricate it absolutely demands your full attention. ... (See the whole review)

This is one of the milestone comic stories of this era. Written by Frank Miller, the story shows a brooding, old and retired Bruce Wayne. The world is in chaos and Bruce Wayne decides to take back the world by donning the mantel of the Bat. But his second coming is met with opposition from all classes, the mutant gangs and its leader, the Gotham Ci... (See the whole review)

Why is there evil, and what can scientific research tell us about the origins and persistence of evil behavior? Considering evil from the unusual perspective of the perpetrator, Baumeister asks, How do ordinary people find themselves beating their wives? Murdering rival gang members? Torturing political prisoners? Betraying their colleagues to the ... (See the whole review)

In 1984, this groundbreaking book presented a chilling profile of the criminal mind that shattered long-held myths about the sources of and cures for crime. Now, with the benefit of twenty years' worth of additional knowledge and insight, Stanton Samenow offers a completely updated edition of his classic work, including fresh perceptions into crime... (See the whole review)

This is a brilliant comic book series that takes the insult, "not if you were the last man on earth", and makes an eerie Twilight Zone series out of it. In the story, a mysterious plague has selectively killed off all the males of all animal species on earth, except for Yorick Brown and his pet monkey.  Now, Yorick seeks to reunite with his ... (See the whole review)

This is the first novel in Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, comprised so far of eight books following the life of Richard, The Seeker of Truth.  Wizard's First Rule begins with Richard as a simple woods-guide, but quickly transforms into a face-paced action/fantasy read that spans a massive continent made up of three realms of varying magical qual... (See the whole review)

Though a tiny bit outdated being published in 2002, Statecraft takes the reader through what Thatcher considers all of the world's most pressing foreign policy issues. Her examinations are broad and insights interesting and applicable to more than just any specific issue. Statecraft reads like a combination history, prophecy, and memoir, because ... (See the whole review)

The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power ... (See the whole review)

Marvellous teleological defence of individual rights. Smith is an Objectivist (ARI) although she comes over as more generally Aristotelian here.

Widely known for encouraging the idea that thinking is a skill that can be taught, and for his promotion of the skill of 'lateral thinking' to enhance creativity, de Bono's Mechanism of Mind uses stories, metaphors and models to help explain how your mind works, and how you can help it to work better. (See the whole review)

Also by: Neil Vidmar and Hans Zeisel ... (See the whole review)

In this book, Bastiat defends free markets by crushing the arguments for intervention.  He goes through one economic fallacy after another, demolishing them with logic and especially wit.  Bastiat explains his ideas through stories and examples, always showing the absurdity of these bad ideas.  The style is funny and light-hearted, and he makes the... (See the whole review)

If you like John Stossel, you'll like this book.  It's the story of his intellectual and professional development.  He explains what evidence he ran into that made him a strong advocate of free-markets.  He reviews the major ideas and issues he's dealt with, going over many of his television specials. ... (See the whole review)

Evolution, Biology, Philosophy and more. Dense but well written.

This Hugo and Nebula award winning masterpiece captures the world from a small child's point of view amazingly well.  Ender is a little boy who is smaller than everyone else his age and smarter than most everyone else of any age.  His very existence is due solely to the hope that he might one day save the world.  He is persecuted by his jealous cla... (See the whole review)

Jefferson's theory and practice have often been seen as inconsistent or contradictory. Mayer attempts to show that much of Jefferson's views and actions are consistent with a contextual view of the Constitution. The contextual view, as explained in this book, provides an interesting way of understanding the purpose and structure of the Constitution... (See the whole review)

1984 is a dystopian story set in the future of a statist world. The main character, Winston Smith, struggles to live in a world where there is no privacy, and the government controls every aspect of your life. The symbol of the government is Big Brother, a fictitious leader who is said to benevolently watch over his people. In practice, the citizen... (See the whole review)

A short novella about a man trapped in a future society that has taken collectivism to its full and natural course. He struggles against that society and eventually breaks free and discovers the most glorious word in the english language, "I".