The Greatest Show on Earth

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Stephen Jay Gould

What would the world have been like, if George Bailey of "It's A Wonderful Life" hadn't been born? George was lucky enough to have an angel that could roll back the tape of life and show him how things would have been different. He learned that one contingency changes everything. In "Wonderful LIfe", an homage to the American classic film, "It's A Wonderful Life", Stephen J. Gould plays the role of the angel, rolling back the tape of life a half billion years for his readers through the lens of the Burgess Shale (British Columbia), arguably the most important fossil site on the planet. His theme of contingency plays out as he discusses the many unique forms of life that might have, if things had gone differently, become the dominant forms on this planet, and how they contrast with those of today -- the one's that survived. Along the way he tells the story of the discovery and discovers of the Shale, how it was first interpreted in terms of prevalent beliefs about the origins of life, and how it has subsequently been re-interpreted in light of knowledge. So enjoy the "film", but be sure to bring along a cup of coffee and a dictionary -- with Gould's intense writing style you're likely to need both!

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Richard Dawkins

'Moet u zich eens voorstellen wat voor boek een kapelaan van de duivel zou kunnen schrijven over de onhandige, verspillende, blunderende en gruwelijk gemene werken van de natuur.' Dit schreef Darwin in 1856 aan een vriend. Maar, hoe gruwelijk en onhandig ook, willekeurig zijn de evolutionaire processen allerminst, zo laat Richard Dawkins zien in zijn even nuchtere als helder onderbouwde werk. Kapelaan van de duivel is een veelzijdig boek. Dawkins schrijft over zijn bewondering voor Darwins werk tegen de klippen van het geloof op, over de fouten van het jurysysteem in de rechtspraak, over zijn afkeer van postmodern relativisme en over vele andere onderwerpen. Dawkins werk staat in het teken van gezond verstand; het is een verzameling onweerlegbare argumenten in gecompliceerde discussies. Bovendien vertegenwoordigen deze stukken een persoonlijker kant van Richard Dawkins. Wetenschap is voor hem 'levend plezier', en dat straalt ervan af. [(bron)][1] [1]:

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Neil Broom

This text demonstrates that modern materialistic science remains powerless to explain the phenomenon of life itself. It shows how the qualities of purpose, intentionality and mind, suffuse almost every aspect of the living realm, yet these same qualities remain unaccounted for by science itself.

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Ian Hall & Lisa Hill

In the modern era, British thinkers have made significant - indeed perhaps even disproportionate - contributions to our understanding of the workings of international relations. This book brings together eleven original essays by an inter-disciplinary team of historians, political theorists and international relations specialists that reconsider some of those contributions and their legacies. It aims to provide new insights into the work of thinkers from Thomas Hobbes and Edmund Burke to Goldsworthy Lowes and Lewis Namier as well as to advance the study of the history of international thought.