reviews

Patriot for Peace... Author:  David Swanson Patriotism is a complicated concept.  Love for one’s homeland can be so easily manipulated or corrupted that even those with honorable intentions can end up supporting various atrocities all in the name of patriotism.  Or maybe it’s not love that motivates as much as the fear of being labeled unpatriotic by everyone else.  Whatever the mechanism, the use of patriotism is a particularly effective way to tempt people to suspend their critical thinking skills.  This seemingly universal human tendency may be one of our greatest liabilities as a species as not a decade goes [...]

From Africa to Oxford... Author:  Richard Dawkins What was it about your childhood that made you who you are?  What were the key turning points that might have completely altered the course of your life?  Humans seem to have an unending fascination with these kinds of “what if?” questions and when it comes to famous people, the intrigue is heightened even further.  In the world of biology, there may be no greater celebrity than Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene in 1976 and The God Delusion in 2008.  In his much anticipated memoir, An Appetite for Wonder, the prolific [...]