books

Hi all, I've recently become quite interested in the dissection of so-called 'psychic abilities'. I have always been an atheist, and never believed in the supernatural, but only recently (mainly thanks to Robert Lancaster's excellent site) I have become more passionate about seeing psychics...

As Blu-Ray seems to have become the clear-winner in the format wars, I have begun to think about the permanence of that part of my magic library comprising instructional DVDs. (Not to mention the VHS instructional tapes I haven't watched in eons.) As I understand it, Blu-Ray players will...

Over the past couple of years, I have read a lot of books about evolutionary biology. A lot of books. But, now I have come to realize that the science investigating the earliest beginnings of life, is not a particular area I have gained very much knowledge about. I got the general concepts...

I kind of dabble in magic from time to time and I would like to know what people think are the best magic books for each type of magic. I currently own Royal Road to Card Magic, Mark Wilson's book, and a book called Now you see it... I understand that opinions may vary, but if I wanted to...

I did what I think was a very bad search so I don't know if this has been done or not, so if it has, apologies in advance. We all seem to enjoy a good book here and we have threads that express that. What I want with this thread is probably to compile some sort of list of books that you...

The Old Farmer’s Almanac for 2008: An Astronomical Review by Charlie Cotterman In this age of fastfastfasthurryupgetthelatestohthat’ssofivesecondsago, when the whole world seems to rotate around Brangelina and Brit’n’Fed-ex and Paris and who’s running around with/doing what with/to who, it’s...

Just watched the Time Machine by H.G.Wells,I havn't seen it for years and really enjoyed it again.The bit at the end where he goes back/forward to the future he takes with him three books.Although in the film it doesn't acually say what books he takes I was wondering what three books from now...

From Randi's August 17 "In Closing" segment: I did indeed check my local listings, via my Cox Communications DVR. It lists the program's content as: Either these are considered more important (or at least more palatable) than the preservation of rationality in the modern world in the face...

Howdy, folks. I need some advice and guidance. Since I was 13 years old, I've been skeptical of many of the things folks believe in without question, like gods and psychics and the like. I have enough common sense to know that the impossible simply isn't possible, and that's been enough to keep...

What are your favourite childrens's books, both those that you enjoyed as a child, and those that you enjoy(ed) reading to children? I'll start with one that has just (Oh Joy) been reprinted in the US... J P Martin's "Uncle" A brilliantly insane book (illustrated by Quentin Blake, which is...

This thread started over here. A few people from JREF have decided to read religious books in search of truth using the methods described by those books instead of the scientific method. I have done this with two of these books and have actually gained knowledge through using this method. The...

Yesterday I picked up "Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide For Young Skeptics" by Dan Barker. I must say that I am very pleased! This book is short and to the point. It begins in cartoonish way telling the story of a skeptical child who is confronted with friends who make claims about a haunted...

I recently downloaded the Zotero Firefox plug-in. It is a citation manager which can scrape bibliographic data from any site for which it has a "translator." It also has a generic template to create a citation for any web page you want to save, and the ability to add notes and attachments to any...

I'm looking to do some reading about genetics. I don't have any sort of science degree or anything, I've just found it interesting lately. Can anyone recommend a good book to start with, that lays out the basics in a way that a layman can understand? I don't want to jump into anything too...

Hi all. Can anyone recommend books on the following topics? 1. Evolution. I came across Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth on Amazon; anyone read it or have other suggestions? 2. Bible critique. I was considering Misquoting Jesus and/or Lost...

Two questions: 1. A few months ago I seem to remember reading a thread in which someone was proposing to produce an anthology of short stories with a theme along the lines of "If the paranormal was real". Has this progressed any further? 2. Can anyone point to a list of recommended fiction...

Thanks Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed By: Jared Diamond Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors By: Nicholas Wade The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals By: Michael Pollan Galileo By: James Reston, Jr. The Borderlands of Science...

I'm having problems getting material on Sean Manchester as none of his books were published in the US. To buy one, I'd have to pay $50 to $100 and that's a bit too much. Chatter on the internet says his mighty tome, "The Highgate Vampire" can be found in used bookstores for a few quid. If any...

I just wanted to get some advice on what people consider the essentials for reading into skepticism. I did a search and found that there are some threads similar to this, but I wanted to get an updated view.

hiya i'm sure i've seen "recommend a book" threads before - so i thought what with the season to be jolly almost upon us, this would be a good time for another one - but with the added twist of specifying just who the book would make a great present for.... whether you're looking to buy a book...

I am currently doing a term paper on why Intelligent Design shouldn't be taught in school. I need some books that present the "theory" in a coherant way. I currently am reading through Darwin's Black Box. I hope to get one more pro-intelligent design book to use as a source. What would be a good...

Howdy folks. I'm looking to stock up on (and read) the basic holy books of several different faiths. I want to have the Bible in both an original form and the King James version, a Koran (I have no idea what sorts might be out there), and whatever books the Mormon church uses. Any suggestions...

I think I recall this being posted before but it's worth another look all the same. Mr Goldacre's latest column provided the link: Petr Skrabanek's Publications

I'm starting a nonfiction book discussion group at my library. I want to use books such as Diane Ackerman's A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SENSES that describe nature as science has revealed it to us, with accuracy and beautiful language. I've also chosen LIVES OF A CELL by Lewis Thomas, UNCLE...

OK, so my wife is a vet, and I've decided to start her a collection of books about animals. But I want "feel good" animal books, one that a vet would enjoy to read (Cujo and Jaws need not apply) Unfortunately, the only really feel good animal books I know are those from my youth. Things like...

I started watching the most recent Harry Potter movie last night (watching half a movie per night is about all I can manage still, with two kids under the age of 2). And some questions re-occurred to me, so I thought I'd ask here, since I know there are quite a few Patter fans on the forum: 1)...

In another thread, Vagabond writes: So my question to you all is, how many have YOU read? Try to come up with an estimate. I've always loved the scene in Cosmos where Carl Sagan is standing in the Library of Congress talking about knowledge, and says something like, "If you read a book a...

I had a chance to visit my local book shop and was looking through the collection of new science books. I had read several of the selections offered and saw several that caught my attention. One book was a thin, basic stuff-type book (probably written for the non-scientist) by Tom Bethell...

I'm looking for some book physics books. What I need is something fairly broad, coffee table type stuff, think "A Brief History of Time" but more up to date. Any suggestions, preferably along with at least a one sentance description?

Many moons ago I bought the "Mega Memory" book by Kevin Trudeau. Then I found out who Kevin Trudeau was, and I sold the book to some other gullible idiot. As I get older, remembering important facts is getting harder. Are there any good books on memorization, exam techniques etc that skeptics...