For a book carrying the subtitle “Science and Religion in Islam,” one would reasonably expect the author to be well-versed in three subjects: science, religion, and Islam. However, Taner Edis readily admits from the very beginning of An Illusion of Harmony that he is no expert in Islam. He cites having grown in a Muslim land, […]
Category Archives: Book Reviews
10
Apr
Apr
The controversial nature of evolutionary theory is a great example of what happens when one has no clear conception of their theology, science, or both in terms of their epistemology and what they can learn from them. Evolution: The Basics is a very well-written introductory book on the evolutionary theory. Sherrie Lyons did a great job […]
03
Apr
Apr
The Egyptian scholar Mohammed al-Ghazali (1917-1996) said: “إن نصف الكفر في العالم يحمل وزره متدينون بغضوا الله إلى عباده” “Verily, the weight of half of the disbelief in the world is carried by religious people who made God detestable to His servants.” God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens should be assigned reading for all […]
22
Sep
Sep
The latest book from Sebastian Junger is a short, yet very thought-provoking read. Tribe is an exploration into human nature and the root cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suffered by soldiers after they return home. Junger attempts to shed light on a puzzling paradox. How come despite our constant search for peace we do not […]
19
Mar
Mar
I have to say I’m not quite surprised that the average rating of this book on Goodreads was below 4 stars. Neil Postman launches a precise and exposing assault on the foundations that make up the modern mind. I’ve always had an intuitive sense that the impact of modern technological advancements was not restricted to […]
29
Feb
Feb
What constitutes the soul? What about the spirit? Are they one in the same? And what’s the deal with the mind? Where does the brain come in with all of this? How does it all figure in with regards to mental illness, or is it spiritual illness? Are they two different things? And are these […]
04
Feb
Feb
This book was quite a sobering read that I think everyone, especially those in medicine should pick up. As Dr. Atul Gawande states at the beginning of it, medical education is so focused on saving lives that physicians may be the least prepared for their patients to deal with the inevitable flip side of this […]
28
Jan
Jan
This is one of the most captivating books on the history of medicine I’ve come across, and written by a person who couldn’t be better positioned to produce this work. Psychiatry is too often disparagingly referred to as the unwanted second cousin of medicine (or some other similar reference). But Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman chronicles the […]
18
Jan
Jan
The book is an argument against the notion that addiction should be classified under the same category as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and dementia. If you consider the history of how and why addiction became a disease as opposed to being classified as anything else, combined with the neuroscience of how addiction impacts the brain vs. […]
14
Jan
Jan
What does it feel like to be a doctor and a patient at the same time? This is the experience of a neurosurgeon as he came face to face with his mortality after he was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer that eventually metastasized to his brain. Paul Kalanithi writes in such tragically beautiful and […]
03
Jan
Jan
I read this right after reading Steve Silberman’s NeuroTribes, which I also highly recommend. In short, Prizant takes his 40 years of experience and presents his insights gained from the numerous cases he’s been exposed to or worked with. Two main themes that run in this book is first to ask “Why?” when it comes […]
27
Oct
Oct
CJ Werleman’s latest book The New Atheist Threat: The Dangerous Rise of Secular Extremists acts as a nice companion to Chris Hedges’ 2008 book I Don’t Believe in Atheists. In his latest treatise, Werleman takes the reader on an account of his emotional transformation from an atheist with a “live and let live” attitude about religion to a […]
12
May
May
Given the chosen title, let alone the specific content, it is not surprising that Mark Bauerlein did not garner a lot fans or high ratings for his book The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future. But that is precisely what he set out not to do. The Dumbest […]
20
Sep
Sep
In his book Knowledge and the Sacred, Seyyed Hossein Nasr has a blank page before the preface that only has the following lines written on it: يا مريم عليك السلام بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Ya Maryam ‘alayki’l-salām Bismi’Llāh al-rahmān al-rahīm While the second part was not especially out of the ordinary […]
10
May
May
After a slow start, Fuller does a very good job of taking down the facile “Islam is the problem” charge when it comes to addressing terrorism. Bringing together a history of social and political developments from across the globe was a good strategy to show with evidence how violence and geopolitical struggles can’t be reduced […]