tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post1310678178951827163..comments2024-03-28T16:31:23.093-07:00Comments on Books in Northport: Getting AlongP. J. Grathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-39858419475085239052008-02-13T02:23:00.000-08:002008-02-13T02:23:00.000-08:00Thanks for these book leads, Dorene and Walt. Yes,...Thanks for these book leads, Dorene and Walt. Yes, it's Gould's sense of wonder, I guess, that so appeals to me. Yesterday I had a bookstore visit from a friend who likes to rant on science, religiona and politics, and I tried to tell him of Wilber's interesting attempt to reconcile science and religion. He gave the book that dismissive, disdainful look, refusing to look into it, and said the project was impossible and ridiculous: "Science is rational, religion is irrational--end of story!" Hallmark of a scientific mind? Open to ideas? I ask you. And whatever one thinks, how can one not be fascinated by these reconciliation projects?P. J. Grathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-28446012416416558692008-02-12T18:25:00.000-08:002008-02-12T18:25:00.000-08:00Regarding science and religion, you might find the...Regarding science and religion, you might find these references & people interesting:<BR/>(1) Dr. Guy J. Consolmagno, S.J., one of the Vatican astronomers ( http://clavius.as.arizona.edu/vo/R1024/GConsolmagno.html )<BR/><BR/>He has some interesting perspectives on science and religion, and some of the problems with Creationism. I enjoyed watching/listening to him at the Boskone science fiction convention last year. I first encountered him via one of his books, Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist. He has a new book out that I haven't read yet, God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion<BR/><BR/>(2) Donald Knuth, professor emeritus (Computer Science) from Stanford University ( http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/ ) <BR/><BR/>He spends most of his time trying to finish his magnum opus, The Art of Computer Programming, which he's been working on for several decades now (3 volumes "finished", volume 4 in progress, volume 5 (and possibly 6 and 7) still to come). Also playing the pipe organ he built at home, and lecturing occasionally. He collected one set of lectures into the book Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About, in which he covers some religion topics.Walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14394486669148208613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-68159773550084402512008-02-12T18:17:00.000-08:002008-02-12T18:17:00.000-08:00I'm a big fan of Gould as well. He was a brutally...I'm a big fan of Gould as well. He was a brutally logical man who maintained a sense of wonder about the world. This may be considered slumming in philosophy circles, but I quite enjoyed Plato Not Prozac: Applying Philosophy to Everyday Problems by Lou Marinoff.Dorenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11434652827951200044noreply@blogger.com