>----------
>From:
> philosophy-and-religion-editor@amazon.com[SMTP:philosophy-and-religion-
>editor@amazon.com]
>Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 1997 5:56 PM
>To: philosophy-and-religion-editors-subscribers@amazon.com
>Subject: Your Editors Philosophy and Religion E-mail from Amazon.com
>Books
>
>A sonic boom once precipitated a discussion between a
>childhood friend and me in which we marveled over
>humanity's success in breaking the sound barrier. My
>friend solemnly extrapolated that the light barrier
>would be next. Although common in the ebullience of
>youth, such blithe disregard for scientific "laws," not
>to mention mere convention, wanes in our adult years,
>when convention becomes law and impression fact.
>
>Fortunately, certain unrepentant iconoclasts refuse to
>grow up, such as the three authors Stephen Jay Gould,
>Derek Bickerton, and Steven Shapin. Gould, a longtime
>bucker of trends, comes out against trends in his new
>opus "Full House," in which he goes to great lengths to
>demonstrate that the shorthand of trends and averages
>can distort our view of populations and data. The
>upshot, of course, is Gould's ingenious solution to the
>perennial paradox of the disappearance of the 0.400
>hitter in baseball. Oh, and did I forget to mention
>that humans lose their place atop the evolutionary
>heap?
>
>Bickerton challenges us in "Language and Human
>Behavior" to see human consciousness not in terms of
>Cartesian dualism or strict linear materialism, but in
>terms of a two-tiered consciousness in which the syntax
>of language forms the bridge between human-style,
>representational consciousness and animal-style,
>behavioral consciousness. This compelling schematic may
>alter much of our thinking on the subject.
>
>Like Gould, Shapin is out to dissolve presumptive
>illusions in "The Scientific Revolution." The opening
>statement--"There was no such thing as the Scientific
>Revolution, and this is a book about it"--is dead on
>target even if the subsequent presentation is not as
>earth-shaking as you might expect. Shapin gives a
>precise overview of figures and events of the
>scientific revolution while simultaneously chipping
>away at unfounded generalities that have accreted over
>time.
>
>There's nothing quite like the refreshing jolt of a
>powerful argument that compels one to rethink basic
>assumptions, and these books are just the ticket.
>
>--A freelance writer and translator, Brian Bruya has
>degrees in philosophy and Chinese from the University
>of Washington and has published several translations
>(http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bbruya/wisdom.html). He
>reads and writes in and around Seattle.
>
>You'll find Brian's favorite philosophy and religion
>books on the shelves of Amazon.com Books
>http://www.amazon.com/philosophy
>
> ******
>
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>
>And now, a book from Harpercollins:
>
>"Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual
>Growth," by Richard J. Foster. You'll find this book at
>http://www.amazon.com/philosophy
>
>Drawing upon his experiences of the past ten years,
>Foster has substantially revised his bestselling guide
>(over 350,000 sold) using the classical spiritual
>disciplines to achieve an enriched, joyful inner life.
>
>
>