Amazon.com
Amazon.co.ukTop six books for atheists this Christmas
A round-up of some of the best books published in 2009 that humanists, atheists and freethinkers will want to have in their libraries.
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The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins
In his previous books, Richard Dawkins, one of the world’s leading evolutionary scientists, assumed that most people knew about the evidence for Darwinian evolution. But it seems that many don’t. It’s not just creationists who labour under the delusion that the evidence is somehow weak – or even missing. Even ordinary people persist in believing that evolution is ‘just’ a theory (by misunderstanding what scientists mean by ‘theory’), that it shows no intermediate stages, that evolution can’t deal with the complexity of the eye or the emergence of flight. And, of course, the evidence accumulates and gets stronger every day. In this timely work, Dawkins lays out what that evidence is, and shows us – beyond doubt – that evolution by natural selection is a fact.
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Ideas That Matter: Key Concepts for the 21st Century by A C Grayling
One of our leading philosophers guides you through some of the most important concepts that have shaped our time. The alphabetically ordered entries range across religion, philosophy, scientific theory and political movements. But it’s not just a dry reference work: as usual, Grayling leavens the important subject matter and profound implications with his accessible style, occasional seasonings of wit and customary passion. An invaluable lesson in how we got to where we are today.
* See note below about AC Grayling’s latest book, To Set Prometheus Free.
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The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas edited by Ariane Sherine
A collection of writings – some thoughtful, some iluminating some hilarious – from 42 committed non-believers. The collection was compiled by Guardian journalist Ariane Sherine, who was behind the ‘There’s Probably No God’ poster campaign in the UK. The book contains contributions from the likes of Richard Dawkins, Charlie Brooker, Derren Brown, Ben Goldacre, Jenny Colgan, David Baddiel, Simon Singh, AC Grayling, Brian Cox and Richard Herring. In addition, the full book advance and all royalties go to the UK HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust.
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Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
Although not specifically about humanism or atheism, Goldacre’s passionate and often hilarious book provides a valuable lesson in how we need to uphold rigid standards in science. He first takes aim at the lunatic fringe – homeopathy, miracle vitamins and the like – showing how they exploit dubious, ‘sciency’ language to give spurious credibility to their claims while hypocritically condemning science whenever it shows them to be fraudulent, which is often. Then he goes on to attack two more mainstream menaces – Big Pharma and bad journalists. Basically, it’s all about truth and honesty, and how there’s very little room for either in medicine once money enters the picture. Essential reading.
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The Rough Guide to Evolution by Mark Pallen
A very accessible overview of what is rightly claimed as the biggest idea mankind has ever had. The importance of the theory of evolution by natural selection – both to science and to our understanding of ourselves – is such that you simply can’t have too many books about it. This heavily illustrated summary covers: the origins of the idea and the theory’s own evolution; a brief romp through the entire history of life on this planet; and an examination of the impact that the theory has had on science, society, art, history and even religion. And excellent companion to the Dawkins book above (though I would buy the Dawkins first).
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God’s Problem by Bart D Ehrman
Well, okay, maybe a book about suffering isn’t all that Christmas-y. And this originally came out last year (the paperback was published in 2009, though). The thing is, Ehrman is such a good writer, and what he has to say is so important, that I wanted one of his books in this list. And I’ve just finished reading this one. It’s quite a personal book because Christianity’s inability to deal adequately with the question, ‘if god is good, why is there suffering?’ was among the chief reasons Ehrman, a former fundamentalist, lost his faith. He goes through the list of answers that believers lean on in an attempt to answer this question – such as: good comes out of evil; suffering is the result of free will (the most popular and the most easily demolished excuse); god likes testing us; and so on. And he shows just how feeble these responses truly are. In the end, though, I found reading the book a positive experience. The message I took away is a humanist one: there will always be suffering – it’s up to us, as compassionate human beings, to do what we can about it.
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* Update (17/11/2009): I’ve just been contacted by AC Grayling’s publishers who point out that his latest book is about to hit the bookshelves. To Set Prometheus Free, published by Oberon Books (ISBN:978184002962) is subtitled ‘Religion, reason and humanity’. It is a collection of essays dealing with the need for more secularism in society. In effect, it builds on Against All Gods: Six Polemics Against Religion and an Essay on Kindness, published by Oberon in 2007. You can probably infer the gist of the book from the chapters: Where are we in history?; Why I do not subscribe to religious beliefs; Why Bertrand Russell was not religious; Scientists confront Intelligent Design and Creationism; The War of the Books; The Good Life. Meanwhile, the book is available for pre-order from Amazon.
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(1) 3 December 2009 at 2:01 am
Science book suggestions for Christmas | Code for Life
[...] you’re looking for books on atheism, Ken’s blog and this website might be a good starting [...]
(2) 16 December 2009 at 8:02 pm
HGL
Might I suggest The Counter-Creationist Handbook?
It lists a lot of the ‘arguments’ creationists put forward against evolution and offers evidence against them.
It’s very well structured with each creationist non-argument being given its own code so you can find it easier later, also the arguments are arranged into groups of similar material.