Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution - Nick Lane (Audibook + E-book)

"Original and awe-inspiring... an exhilarating tour of some of the most profound and important ideas in biology."
—Michael Le Page, New Scientist

How did life invent itself? Where did DNA come from? How did consciousness develop? Powerful new research methods are providing vivid insights into the makeup of life. Comparing gene sequences, examining atomic structures of proteins, and looking into the geochemistry of rocks have helped explain evolution in more detail than ever before. Nick Lane expertly reconstructs the history of life by describing the ten greatest inventions of evolution (including DNA, photosynthesis, sex, and sight), based on their historical impact, role in organisms today, and relevance to current controversies.

Quantum Gods: Creation, Chaos, and the Search for Cosmic Consciousness - Victor J. Stenger

"Either there is evidence for the supernatural and the paranormal, or there isn't. There isn't. Victor Stenger explains why there isn't."
—Michael Shermer, author of How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God

Does quantum mechanics show a connection between the human mind and the cosmos? Are our brains tuned into a "cosmic consciousness" that pervades the universe enabling us to make our own reality? Do quantum mechanics and chaos theory provide a place for God to act in the world without violating natural laws?

Many popular books make such claims and argue that key developments in twentieth-century physics, such as the uncertainty principle and the butterfly effect, support the notion that God or a universal mind acts upon material reality.

Science, Evolution, and Creationism - National Academy of Sciences & Institute of Medicine

Revised by the committe which includes Neil deGrasse Tyson and Francisco Ayala

How did life evolve on Earth? The answer to this question can help us understand our past and prepare for our future. Although evolution provides credible and reliable answers, polls show that many people turn away from science, seeking other explanations with which they are more comfortable.

In the book Science, Evolution, and Creationism, a group of experts assembled by the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine explain the fundamental methods of science, document the overwhelming evidence in support of biological evolution, and evaluate the alternative perspectives offered by advocates of various kinds of creationism, including "intelligent design." The book explores the many fascinating inquiries being pursued that put the science of evolution to work in preventing and treating human disease, developing new agricultural products, and fostering industrial innovations. The book also presents the scientific and legal reasons for not teaching creationist ideas in public school science classes.

Deconstructing Jesus - Robert M. Price

In Deconstructing Jesus, author Robert M. Price argues that liberal Protestant scholars who produce reconstructions of the "historical Jesus" are, as Albert Schweitzer pointed out long ago, creating their own Jesus icons to authorize a liberal religious agenda. Christian faith, whether fundamentalist or theologically liberal, invariably tends to produce a Jesus capable of playing the role of a religious figurehead.

Experimental Evolution: Concepts, Methods, and Applications of Selection Experiments - Theodore Garland, Jr. & Michæl R. Rose

"Will surely be of interest to researchers looking for new ways to ask evolutionary questions. . . . This book, almost encyclopedic in its breadth, will provide a valuable entree for those thinking about carrying out an experimental evolution study. . . . For any problem under consideration, this book will lead one quickly and thoroughly into a fascinating literature, and will help one to carry out well-designed experiments."—Bioscience

Includes an article by Douglas J. Futuyma

Experimental approaches to evolution provide indisputable evidence of evolution by directly observing the process at work. Experimental evolution deliberately duplicates evolutionary processes--forcing life histories to evolve, producing adaptations to stressful environmental conditions, and generating lineage splitting to create incipient species.

Intellectual Impostures - Alan Sokal & Jean Bricmont

"A splendid book."
—Richard Dawkins

"The exposure of ignorance, pomposity and pseudo-science in this book are truly breathtaking."
—Sunday Telegraph

In Intellectual Imposteurs, Alan Sokal, the author of Beyond the Hoax, and Jean Bricmont contend that abuse of science is rampant in postmodernist circles, both in the form of inaccurate and pretentious invocation of scientific and mathematical terminology and in the more insidious form of epistemic relativism. When Sokal and Bricmont expose Jacques Lacan's ignorant misuse of topology, or Julia Kristeva's of set theory, or Luce Irigaray's of fluid mechanics, or Jean Baudrillard's of non-Euclidean geometry, they are on safe ground; it is all too clear that these virtuosi are babbling.

Darwin's Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution - Rebecca Stott (Unabridged Audiobook)

"Stott's research is broad and unerring; her book is wonderful…. An exhilarating romp through 2,000 years of fascinating scientific history."
—Nature

Christmas, 1859. Just one month after the publication of On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin received an unsettling letter. He had expected criticism; in fact, letters were arriving daily, most expressing outrage and accusations of heresy. But this letter was different. It accused him of failing to acknowledge his predecessors, of taking credit for a theory that had already been discovered by others. Darwin realized that he had made an error in omitting from Origin of Species any mention of his intellectual forebears. Yet when he tried to trace all of the natural philosophers who had laid the groundwork for his theory, he found that history had already forgotten many of them.

Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That?: And Other Reflections on Being Human - Jesse Bering (Unabridged Audiobook)

In Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That?, the research psychologist and award-winning columnist Jesse Bering features more than thirty of his most popular essays from Scientific American and Slate, as well as two new pieces, that take readers on a bold and captivating journey through some of the most taboo issues related to evolution and human behavior. Exploring the history of cannibalism, the neurology of people who are sexually attracted to animals, the evolution of human body fluids, the science of homosexuality, and serious questions about life and death, Bering astutely covers a generous expanse of our kaleidoscope of quirks and origins.

The Hunt for Higgs (2012)

CERN is the headquarters of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research. It's home to some of the thousands of scientists who have been doggedly hunting the elusive Higgs boson and the £6 billion experiment that they're using to do it. Especially built to find the one particle that's thought to give substance to everything in the universe.

The Discovery of the Higgs Boson? Garrett Lisi Explains

Following the CERN announcement, theoretical physicist Garrett Lisi explains the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle by CERN scientists.

God Bless America (2011)

I confess this movie was an unexpected discovery for me. I had no information about it until watching the hilarious trailer on 9gag and be sure the movie is great as the trailer's itself. The movie is centering on a middle aged, divorced man, Frank who hates his annoying neighbors, stupid and exploitive TV shows and all kinds of bullshit. After Frank learns that he has a brain tumor, he decides to resolve the whole problems with his very own style!