I've been putting off going to the bookstore for over a month now. Every time I say I want to, I change my mind because I lose the desire to go out. I really need to exercise now that it's warmer... But tonight I had another chiropractor appointment, so we jetted on over to the bookstore afterward. Only got two books this time, but both are excellent:
Why Evolution is True - Jerry A. Coyne
Among the wonders that science has uncovered about the universe, no subject as sparked more fascination and fury than evolution. Yet in all the ongoing debates about creationism and it's descendant, "intelligent design", one element of the controversy is rarely mentioned: the evidence, the emperical truth of evolution by natural selection. And the evidence is vast, varied, and magnificent, drawn from a huge spectrum of scientific inquiry ranging from genetics, anatomy, and molecular biology to paleontology and geology.
Why Evolution is True is a succinct and accessible summary of the facts supporting Darwinian evolution. Scientists today are finding species splitting in two, observing natural selection changing animals and plants before our eyes, and discovering more and more fossils capturing change in the past - dinosaurs that have sprouted feathers, fish that have grown limbs. Jerry Coyne eloquently shows that evolution does not destroy the beauty of life but enhances it.
Reading this book will explain why so many scientists have dedicated their careers to resolving this debate, and why education administrators fervently fight legislation demanding that science curricula include time for anti-Darwinian theories. By demonstrating the "indelible stamp" of the processes first proposed by Darwin. Jerry Coyne clearly confirms that evolution is more than just a theory: it is a fact - a fact that cannot be doubted by anyone with an open mind.
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory - Brian Greene
String theory, many physicists believe, is the key to the unified field theory that eluded Einstein for more than thirty years. At last, science has found a way to overcome the nearly century-old rift between the laws of the large - general relativity - and the laws of the small - quantum mechanics. String theory deftly unites there two pillars of modern physics into a single, harmonious whole by declaring that all of the wondrous happenings in the universe arise from the vibrations of one single entity: microscopically tiny loops of energy that lie deep withing the heart of matter.
In this brilliantly articulated and refreshingly clear book, Brian Greene relates the scientific story and the human struggle behind the search for the ultimate theory. Through the artful use of metaphor and analogy, The Elegant Universe makes some of the most sophisticated concepts ever contemplated viscerally accessible and thoroughly entertaining, bringing us closer than ever to understanding how the universe works.
