Not on ecology but neatly (albeit a bit old) great book on Eastern religious beliefs were way ahead of nuclear physics is of course Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Physics-Exploration-Parallels-Anniversary/dp/1570625190/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273701010&sr=8-4
He also has other interesting books On Wed, May 12, 2010 at 1:49 PM, Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> wrote: > Ecolog: > > What a pity that evolution scares away religious students. With the > exception of some professional bible-thumpers and other immoral > manipulators, I find most religious people attracted to various dogma > because they are fundamentally (npi) good, and are as sick and tired of > institutionalized indifference of the domineering quality of civilization as > the rest of us. Belief is only easier than thinking because the dominant > cultures do not want their victims challenging their authority; thus there > is no "Thinking 101" taught anywhere that I know of. Princeton? Fifth grade? > > Thinking is the natural, easy, hard-wired brain function. To overcome this > automatic habit, children "have to carefully taught." It "has to be drummed > in[to] their dear little ears" to quote the song from "South Pacific." > Thinking and believing can't be done at the same time, but if the cataracts > of dogma can be lifted a bit, with patience rather than mimicking the very > kind of fundamentalism that created them in the first place (in "scientific" > clothing), the thought process can begin to soften the sclerotic encasement > that confines the mind.* Perhaps one place to start is to stop asking > whether or not people "believe in" evolution. > > Science is about questioning one's assumptions; religion is about what's > right and what's wrong. A real reading of, say, the Vedic "scriptures," the > Koran, the Bible, and other ancient tracts of uncertain and probably > multiple authorship, rather than taking the rantings of some self-righteous > demagogue as "gospel" will reveal that much thinking has gone into those > once flexible tracts that have been perverted through mistranslation and > modification to suit the expediencies of money-changers in priestly shrouds > that have constructed hierarchies that have silenced the custom of > consultation that once was an integral part of their development. > > The Demagogues of Dogma (title of an essay upon which I am still working) > find it expedient and effective to demonize "unbelievers," and "science" > itself tends to silence heretics, hence it is not immune from some of the > same processes that have perverted religions, which once were centers, foci, > of honest philosophy as "disciplined" (not conformist) thought. > > Why "scientists" fear religion is no mystery. The fear has an origin common > to both what passes for science but is actually restrictive, in much the > same way as dogma insists upon conformity to the interpretations of the > current crop of authoritarians. There is much in the history of religious > thought to interest scientists; there is much in science that is not > inconsistent with true religion. They both are signposts in the history of > human thought, and both contain elements which, if subject to continuous > challenge, might contribute to a transformation from the rigidities of > civilization to a reconciled state of being which has been my life-quest > since the age of fifteen: To reconcile the needs and works of humankind with > those of the earth and its life. > > WT > > *I strongly recommend "Breaking Through: Essays, Journals, and Travelogues > of Edward F. Ricketts" By Katherine A. Rodger, with a foreword by Susan F. > Beegel. It is not a text, but I am reluctant to term it "additional > reading." > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Madhusudan Katti" < > [email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:08 AM > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] evolution for non-scientists textbook > > > Just following up on my earlier suggestion, there is a positive review > of "The Tangled Bank" in the recent American Biology Teacher: > > http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1525/abt.2010.72.3.13 > > “For students of evolution or scholars who want to know the specifics > about particular evolutionary processes, this is an excellent read. The > fact that it is understandable to beginners and fascinating to > scientists makes this book truly unique and valuable.” > > I would also recommend Carl Zimmer's excellent blog The Loom > (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom) as a companion to any course on > evolution. > > I like some of the other suggestions in this thread as well, especially > Sean Carroll's book. Coyne is very good too, and Dawkins new book is > probably dependable in getting the students' attention (I haven't read > it). The Selfish Gene is too old to be used as a general text for a > course on evolution. Moreover, with Coyne and Dawkins, I'd worry about > alienating some of the religious-minded students. I would hesitate to > use those in a non-majors class here in the central valley of > California, for example. In fact, I suspect that Coyne's book may have > played a role in pushing one of my own students (a grad student no > less!) away from Biology because the evidence/arguments in that book > were too strong for this religious student to handle. Of course that end > result was good in some ways, but it depends on what your goals are with > the class. Besides, your audience in Princeton (presuming it hasn't > changed in the decade since I was there) will be rather different from > what I face here in Fresno - so your mileage may vary! > > __________________________________________ > Madhusudan Katti > Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Biology > Department of Biology, M/S SB 73 > California State University, Fresno > Fresno, CA 93740-8034 > > +1.559.278.2460 > [email protected] > http://www.reconciliationecology.org/ > __________________________________________ > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.437 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2869 - Release Date: 05/12/10 > 06:26:00 > -- Jan Ygberg Juan Fanning 380 Lima 18 Peru INT+(511) 446 1099
