Science and Inquiry discussion

This is a continuation of the previous topic by the same name. Previous thread is at:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Why you joined, what you like to read, maybe what your background is.

Welcome, Stelleri. The Demon Under the Microscope is on my Maybe list of books that look interesting if I can ever make a dint in my To-Read pile. What did you think of it?

It was very interesting, somewhat light on Beyer/IG Farben's accountability for war crimes, and somewhat disorganized--at least, in audiobook format, I had a hard time with the author's temporal jumps, though I was able to reconstruct the timeline. Slightly repetitive, but this is true for many books.

Hi everyone. My name is Sagar and am from India. I am one-half of a software startup in Bangalore, and spend my time between here and my hometown of Mumbai.

I enjoy books on just about any scientific discipline be it astronomy, physics, biology - especially evolution, The Greatest Show on Earth is among my favorites - to books that speak about the philosophy of science and scientific inquiry like Broca's Brain by Carl Sagan.

I am looking for suggestions on books about climate science and environment, which I can then force my friends to read as well :)

Welcome Sagar. Have you checked our bookshelves? https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

We only have three books coded as climate related, but the coding is haphazard at best, so you might want to check other categories, too.

Thank you Betsy.

Welcome Krishna. We often read cosmology in our monthly group reads. Check out the bookshelves: https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

Demon Under the Microscope sounds like a great read. Def going on my to-read list.

Hello Good Readers!

This is Mohammad Saad Yaseen from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Currently, I am a Software Engineer working for a financial technology company in Dhaka. In addition, I am also pursuing my post-graduate studies in Computer Science.

I love reading books on any Scientific discipline - subjects ranging from Cosmology to Biology to Neuroscience.

The most influential authors/books in my adult life are Carl Sagan's "The Demon Haunted World" and David McRaney's "You're Not So Smart." These books helped me making an unfettered mind in this age of information overload from baloney/pseudo-realities and pseudo-sciences.

Hope to find great reading-buddies here (:

Welcome to the group, Saad! Since you are attracted to just about every aspect of science, you will find a lot of topics here of interest. And, best of luck in your post-graduate studies.

Hi, I am Bonnie from San Francisco. I AMA biology teacher. I enjoy books about the brain, The Brain that changes itself, evolution including anything by E. O. Wilson and

Hi Bonnie, welcome to our group! On our next book-of-the-month nomination discussion, why not suggest your favorite book by E.O. Wilson?

EO WIlson is one of my favorite thinkers, too. Consilience and Superorganism are the two I have most recently read.

Mohammad Saad Yaseen, I have a VERY tattered copy of The Demon Haunted World. I re-read it about once every year, or so. It helps remind me that the failings of the 'primitive' mind are also functioning in the 'modern' mind... that we each need to apply reason to the claims of modern charlatans, just as we have to 'primitive' charlatans.

GOD, I miss Carl Sagan!!!

Robbower wrote: "Mohammad Saad Yaseen, I have a VERY tattered copy of The Demon Haunted World. I re-read it about once every year, or so. It helps remind me that the failings of the 'primitive' mind are also functi..."

Would like to share the following quote:
“Because today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups... So I ask, in my writing, What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind. I ought to know. I do the same thing.”
― Philip K. Dick

So true you are Robbower. Human minds are very remarkable for their fallibility (any time) on accepting claims. However, its through disciplined skepticism one can derive a healthy conclusion to act upon.

Yup, I miss Carl Sagan too. We all do (:

Hello everyone,

I'm Minh-Hai, PhD student in Physics. I'm relatively new to GoodReads. Physics, Biology, Psychology and some History are my taste. I'm reading "Parasite Rex" by Carl Zimmer.

@Saad: I've also read "You are not so smart" book 1 and followed the blog. The paperback version of book 2 ("You are now less dumb") has been released. FYI.

Welcome, Minh-Hai.

I'm Peter,currently I'm in high school but I am very interested in the field of quantum physics and would like to be working with physics went i finish school
I'm currently reading "Hidden Reality" by Brian Greene

Hi All,

I am a chemistry prof.
"Spillover" by David Quammen is one of my favorite books, as is "The Big Bang" by Simon Singh.
I wrote "Glowing Genes" and have a new book about diseases coming out in December.

Cheers

Marc Zimmer

Hi,I always get excited when someone said they are a professor.Ive heard of "Spillover"but never got a chance to try it
Nice to meet you
My favourite book is the "Hidden Reality" by Brian Greene

If you prefer physics books the "Big Bang" is right up your alley.

Oh,ok thanks for the information
I'll try it

Welcome Marc and Peter.

I'm just looking for some good debate and discussion about science

Welcome Joseph. I think you've come to the right place.

Hi guys, I'm Swaroop from India and am a physics student here. I love Everything Sagan and Tyson!

Welcome Swaroop.

Hi, I'm Jan from Germany. I studied humanities but I'm interested in all sciences and in their impact on society and our future as human beings. My favourites are anthropology, biology, history and philosophy.

Welcome to the group, Jan.

Marc wrote: "Hi All,

I am a chemistry prof.
"Spillover" by David Quammen is one of my favorite books, as is "The Big Bang" by Simon Singh.
I wrote "Glowing Genes" and have a new book about diseases coming out..."

Hi Marc
I thought "Spillover" was an excellent book too.

I enjoy staying current with popular science and following ecology and conservation issues.

Welcome to the group Cari.

Hi, I am Avik S. I am originally from Kolkata, India but have been living for quite some time in Germany (Heidelberg/Ulm/...). I have a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry and work at a University. I have a huge appetite for books, esp. classics (both English and vernacular), non-fiction and science. I joined this group in search of like-minded people and reading suggestions.

Welcome Avik. I think you've come to the right group.

Hi, I am Son. I'm from Vietnam. I am studying in Physics. I enjoy reading the book which help me to see all about essence of the matters.

Welcome Son. Please be sure to join in the various group polls.

Betsy wrote: "Welcome Son. Please be sure to join in the various group polls."

Yes, of course.

Hello, All!
I am Gurpreet and I'm an undergraduate Chemistry student in London. I love and am obsessed with science, just learning new things in general and, of course, reading! I am very excited to be a part of this Goodreads community and about getting to know more like-minded people!
I hope everyone is having a lovely day!

Welcome Gurpreet.

I'm Jim. I found out about this group due to a post Betsy made in another group. Looks interesting. I've always liked science & math. I'm a sys admin, so fiddle with computers all day. I'm more into the practical aspects of computer usage than the science. I have a small farm with a few horses, goats, & dogs. I spend a lot of time in my shop where I turn bowls, make toys, spin yarn, & generally fiddle. My wife doesn't want me underfoot in the house, anyway.
;)

Hello,
I'm Rod. I found out about this group due to a post Jim made about a post Betsy made. I adore science. I'm also a sys admin, and use computers for work and play. My last book was on string theory (I'm still working through that one.) I also like astrophysics, psychology, neurology, and math. I recently finished an online course on neural networking. I have ambitions to build an android. I've finished the research part of the synthetic intelligence, but looking for funds to do the development part.

Welcome Jim and Rod. I'm so glad you both found us.

Hello,

Thank you for your invitation to this interesting group. I was a maths and science person before switching out of medicine into philosophy and law. My father carried out a lifetime of research into genetics for the purpose of curing cancer and made some good contributions. The application of physics, mathematics and geometry to biology was a favorite conversation topic. (Rupert Sheldrake was an author we liked.) My fascination has been with the blending of science, mathematics and philosophy.

Bob

Welcome R.J.

This sounds exciting. I read mysteries for escape and science/philosophy for excitement. I prefer edge-of-knowledge explorations over plain science (whatever that is). Favorites include "The Brain that Changes Itself," Julian Jaynes, E. O. Wilson, "User Illusion," and one on the content analysis of dreams. I am a retired psychologist.

Welcome to our group, Nan.

I agree with you about the books that you mention--I enjoyed The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science, and books by E.O. Wilson. I started reading "User Illusion", but couldn't get past the first chapters.

I have the 'Brain That Changes Itself' on my shelf also - very good and inspiring. If you like "edge of knowledge" which relies on mainstream science then 'Consciousness Beyond Life - the science of the near death experience' by cardiologist Dr Pim van Lommel is great. The results of the study behind the book was published in the Lancet ( proving its rigorous scientific and medical credentials). In particular it features an event broadcast on the BBC about an operation on a patient Pamela Reynolds - see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GleW0... which has great implications on the mind - brain debate.

Many thanks, R.J. I visited your suggested BBC broadcast. I have come upon such reports too but this does seem the most convincing of...something. Unfortunately I'm far from being able to put any of the pieces together. How about you?

Hi! My name is Christine. I love science of all kinds especially geology, anthropology, biology. I have my graduate degree in geology. I am currently reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and so far it is very interesting. I am excited to be a part of this group.