This is an elegant and wonderfully lucid introduction to the philosophy of science. 288 pages in Open University Press paperback edition. ISBN 978-0335201099
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Lisa Jardine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Jardine) argues that the creation of culture during the Renaissance was inextricably tied to the creation of wealth — that the expansion of commerce spurred the expansion of thought. This is a superb and fascinating read, especially for those who are drawn to the Renaissance as a subject. Do also listen to
The Sense of an Ending (1967) is a book which seeks to establish a connection between fiction, time and apocalyptic modes of thought. Frank Kermode (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Kermode) sees in the apocalyptic certain features which, he suggests, provide a useful analogy with the process of reading and writing fiction. The author tells us that in imagining an end
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The language that would become English arrived in these islands in the fifth century with Germanic tribes as the Roman empire began collapsing. Bragg describes it in almost Darwinian terms, a “subtle and ruthless” survivor that defeated competing tongues over the next three centuries, refusing to marry with the indigenous Celtic language (which has left us
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Mystery and thriller writer Harlan Coben (http://www.harlancoben.com/) entertains us once more with a tale in which facts re-surface from the past. In Six Years the narrative is immersive, and the well-drawn characters and twisting plotting are stellar. With such a cool hook and a surprising and satisfying payoff, get straight out and read what might be
Consciousness, morality, creativity, language, and art: these are the some of the traits that combine to make us human. Scientists have have often explained these qualities as merely a side effect of surplus brain size, but Miller (http://psych.unm.edu/people/directory-profiles/geoffrey-miller.html, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Miller_(psychologist)) argues that they were sexual attractors, not side effects. The author bases his argument on Darwin’s
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This book by Cleanth Brooks is a classic ‘must read’ study in the criticism of poetry for reasons adequately given here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well_Wrought_Urn:_Studies_in_the_Structure_of_Poetry 324 pages in Mariner Books paperback edition. ISBN 978-0156957052
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“Fiction and The Reading Public” provoked fierce controversy when first published in 1932, and it has since come to be recognised as a classic in its field. In her fascinating study, Q D Leavis (http://mypages.surrey.ac.uk/eds1cj/qd-leavis-life-and-work.htm#lifeandwork) investigates what has happened to the public taste in the last three centuries and what effect this has had on
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Prolific crime writer and film producer Peter James (http://www.peterjames.com/, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_James_(writer)) has been publishing novels since 1981. He has been translated into 36 languages. His 2013 offering is Dead Man’s Time (The ninth book in the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series). The summary goes as follows: A vicious robbery at a secluded Brighton mansion leaves its elderly
