Here are 100 books that Forgotten Creators fans have personally recommended if you like
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As a professional, scientific researcher in astrophysics and philosopher, I have been observing many unfair situations in science: hard-working, talented scientists with bright and challenging ideas who get no attention and bureaucrats or administrators of science (I call them “astropolitics” within my field of research) who have no talent, have neither time nor interest to think about science, and however are visible as the most eminent scientists of our time.
A classical book on anarchy within science. I find the proposed pluralist approach as the right way to avoid the monopolies of truth in present-day science. Feyerabend identified science as an ideology, which I might have found exaggerated and difficult to understand when I started to study science, but I understand it much better now, after 30 years of working as a researcher.
Forgetting about the relativism implicit in his proposal, focusing on the sociological aspect, I think there are many good and brave observations there that can enlighten us.
Contemporary philosophy of science has paid close attention to the understanding of scientific practice, in contrast to the previous focus on scientific method. Paul Feyerabend's acclaimed work, which sparked controversy and continues to fuel fierce debate, shows the deficiencies of many widespread ideas about the nature of knowledge. He argues that the only feasible explanation of any scientific success is a historical account, and that anarchism must now replace rationalism in the theory of knowledge. This updated edition of this classic text contains a new foreword by Ian Hacking, a leading contemporary philosopher of science, who reflects on Feyerabend's life…
As a professional, scientific researcher in astrophysics and philosopher, I have been observing many unfair situations in science: hard-working, talented scientists with bright and challenging ideas who get no attention and bureaucrats or administrators of science (I call them “astropolitics” within my field of research) who have no talent, have neither time nor interest to think about science, and however are visible as the most eminent scientists of our time.
I learned a lot from this book, especially about areas of physics far from my field of research. It also contains many anecdotes and affairs related to closer areas within astrophysics. The descriptions of string theory research and other fields within physics seem to me similar to descriptions of a mafia or a sect.
After reading this book, I was under the impression that physics is declining and that we cannot trust much of the news about fantastic discoveries nowadays.
The recently celebrated discovery of the Higgs boson has captivated the public's imagination with the promise that it can explain the origins of everything in the universe. It's no wonder that the media refers to it grandly as the "God particle." Yet behind closed doors, physicists are admitting that there is much more to this story, and even years of gunning the Large Hadron Collider and herculean number crunching may still not lead to a deep understanding of the laws of nature. In this fascinating and eye-opening account, theoretical physicist Alexander Unzicker and science writer Sheilla Jones offer a polemic.…
As a professional, scientific researcher in astrophysics and philosopher, I have been observing many unfair situations in science: hard-working, talented scientists with bright and challenging ideas who get no attention and bureaucrats or administrators of science (I call them “astropolitics” within my field of research) who have no talent, have neither time nor interest to think about science, and however are visible as the most eminent scientists of our time.
Apart from offering a particular perspective on cosmology and extragalactic astrophysics, the well-known heterodox astrophysicist Halton Arp offers some observations on the corruption of academic science and the difficulties scientists claiming new ideas face.
I do not think what he says about astronomy is right, but certainly his complaints on how physics and astronomy gets done contains valuable wisdom on sociology of science.
As a professional, scientific researcher in astrophysics and philosopher, I have been observing many unfair situations in science: hard-working, talented scientists with bright and challenging ideas who get no attention and bureaucrats or administrators of science (I call them “astropolitics” within my field of research) who have no talent, have neither time nor interest to think about science, and however are visible as the most eminent scientists of our time.
This is a good attempt to teach some rules on how to survive as a scientist under the miseries of scientific research nowadays. I agree with many of his conclusions: integrity and freedom in science are not usual in academia, and one has to be away from official centers to develop creativity and innovative dissenting ideas or otherwise suffer brainwashing, politicization, social conflict, and ostracism.
Despite its technical sophistication, scientific research often has flaws in procedure, logic, and language that undermine its value. In Essentials of Scientific Research, Devon D. Brewer covers indispensable principles and practices for conducting sound scientific research that are rarely taught or mentioned in textbooks. These frequently overlooked principles and practices are based on common sense and logic. In this book, Brewer focuses on four aspects of doing scientific research: steps and procedures common to all fields, communicating research, working and interacting with others in scientific settings, and intellectual and ethical matters. Brewer highlights the timeless nature of the Essentials with…
My passion for economics began during my first semester of college when I enrolled in a principles of macroeconomics course only because the professor was my father’s friend. The power of economic reasoning to explain the world around me has held my fascination every since. After graduate school, my interests turned to encourage others to use the economic way of thinking to better their lives. My life as an economic educator spans more than 40 years, having taught thousands of college students across several universities, from first-semester freshmen to matriculating doctoral candidates. My work has taken me around the world and back to my undergraduate alma mater in Pittsburg, Kansas.
This thin volume is subtitled101 Lessons You Can Use Everyday and is jam-packed with simple-to-understand explanations about how economics can help you make better personal choices while also providing an understanding of the way the world works – or doesn’t work.
Madariaga takes on important economics decisions like choosing a college or a career or getting married. He also tackles pervasive myths such as “economics is all about money” and “monopolies can charge any price they want and are always bad.”
The most fun in this book are the thirty entries on economic riddles and mysteries, where Madariaga addresses topics ranging from why students get discount movie tickets to the intriguing question of why he voluntarily cut his salary in half to change careers.
ECONOMICS FOR LIFE 3e is a book about real-world applications for economics. In addition to applications, the text contains critiques of common economic fallacies, paradoxical economic results, and solutions to economic mysteries that are sure to interest students. Tied through its Appendices to all South-Western principles texts, Economics for Life helps students use economic concepts to better understand the world around them. The book serves as a valuable resource for delivering a more applications-based Principles (or Economics 101) course and can be bundled at no additional charge.
I'm the New York Times' Global Economics Correspondent. Over the course of three decades in journalism, I have reported from more than 40 countries, including a six-year stint in China for the Washington Post and five years in London for the Times. I have ridden with truck drivers from Texas to India, visited factories and warehouses from Argentina to Kenya, and explored ports from Los Angeles to Rotterdam.
This potent book provides a critical historical perspective on the contemporary reality of giant corporations left to dominate markets by regulators who have set aside traditional antitrust enforcement to impede the magical notion of efficiency.
The result is consumers and working people getting fleeced while a handful of dominant companies rake in the profits.
"Every thinking American must read" (The Washington Book Review) this startling and "insightful" (The New York Times) look at how concentrated financial power and consumerism has transformed American politics, and business.
Going back to our country's founding, Americans once had a coherent and clear understanding of political tyranny, one crafted by Thomas Jefferson and updated for the industrial age by Louis Brandeis. A concentration of power-whether by government or banks-was understood as autocratic and dangerous to individual liberty and democracy. In the 1930s, people observed that the Great Depression was caused by financial concentration in the hands of a few…
I’ve always had a soft spot for pirates. The romanticized version, of course. They epitomize everything I want in a story: adventure, romance, humor, drama, and danger. As for my life story, I’ve traveled around the world (22 countries in 3 months), am married (got it right the second time), find something to laugh at every day (myself, usually), have a five-year-old (plenty of drama), and the most danger I’ve ever been in was climbing into the bed of a pick-up truck to avoid a grizzly bear and her cub at 3:00 A.M. in Alaska.
In a world where having any powers could get you exploited or killed, Kestrel has managed to successfully hide her magical abilities and find a pirate captain willing to take her on as part of his crew. When the captain is taken, though, Kestrel vows to repay his mentorship by rescuing him, and to do that she needs McAvery as a bargaining chip. Even when McAvery isn’t stealing ships, he’s annoying. Kestrel doesn’t trust him, and needing his help was never part of her plan.
In a world where infants with magical powers are torn from their parents to be raised by the mysterious and powerful Danisoba, who have a monopoly on magic, Kestrel has managed to keep her abilities concealed-and herself free. First hiding in back alleys as a street urchin, she hid when they killed her parents, then served as a young tavern maid before escaping to sea, where magic is canceled by water. Now an adult, as the quartermaster of a pirate ship, Kestrel loves the freedom of living on the seas. But her way of life could end if anyone on…
After college, I studied economics and law. Working in antitrust lets me use what I’ve learned about both fields. I’ve been a professor at a law school and a business school and worked on competition issues while serving in senior government positions in multiple federal agencies, including both antitrust agencies. I also like working in antitrust because fostering competition is important to our economy. Competition encourages firms to pursue success by developing and selling better and cheaper products and services, not by coordinating with their rivals or trying to exclude them. And I like antitrust because the cases can involve any industry—I might learn about baby food one day and digital platforms the next.
This detailed historical narrative ably recounts the zig-zags in government policy toward large firms during the New Deal and the concomitant debates among advocates of regulation, antitrust, and laissez-faire.
Modern antitrust can be understood as emerging during the 1940s to resolve the 1930s policy struggles successfully. Today’s antitrust policy debate may seem new and fresh, but it often echoes the divergent positions taken during the 1930s.
A re-issue of this classic study of President Roosevelt's adminstrative policy toward monopoly during the period of the New Deal, updated with a new introduction by the author.
I am Kevin Dowd, a professor of finance and economics at Durham University. I co-authored Alchemists of Loss with Bear’s Lair journalist and ex-merchant banker Martin Hutchinson. Our book discusses the cause of the Global Financial Crisis. Looking over this and many other historical booms and busts, the point that jumps out at me is that the lesson man draws from history is that man learns nothing from it. For it is the doom of men (and women) that we forget.
A classic account of an extraordinary 18th-century British financial and political scandal. The South Sea Bubble centred on the joint-stock South Sea Company, which was founded in 1711. The South Sea Bubble was an ambitious scheme to simultaneously pay off the British government's enormous debts while simultaneously getting rich in London's newly created stock market. The company was given a monopoly of trade with South America but had little prospect of success. The Bubble was an early Ponzi scheme that promised vast returns to early and well-connected investors.
Its collapse in 1720 ruined thousands of shareholders from all walks of life, many of whom had bought their shares on credit, and caused huge problems to banks and goldsmiths unable to collect the loans they had made to speculators to purchase stock. A public uproar ensued and the subsequent investigation revealed widespread fraud by insiders and corruption in the Cabinet.
An authoritative account of this extraordinary 18th-century financial, political, and royal scandal, this book describes the drama of the promotion, the insane fever of speculation, and the international impact of the final collapse.
Writing my first book, I found out how dependent my thinking about the world beyond my doorstep was on language made up by engineers (“Please don’t block the driveway”). Engineering language defined how I saw the street. It was a shock to realize how severely this had limited my thinking about public space but also a liberation to become aware of this: now I could perceive streets in completely new and different ways. The books I recommend all have made me perceive the world differently. I hope they do the same for you. Also, see the recommendations by my co-author, Marco te Brömmelstroet.
This little book from 1973 made me realize I wrongly believed that all technological advancement was progress. Why should it be? With every invention that promises to make life easier, ask this question, says Illich: "Will this make me a more independent, capable human being? Or will human qualities be made obsolete?"
In the Middle Ages, people built cathedrals without burning fuel. We have since lost this ability. Is that progress? Ivan Illich introduces the concept of radical monopolies: industrial processes that make non-industrial activities impossible. "Cars can [...] monopolize traffic [...] practically ruling out locomotion on foot or by bicycle in Los Angeles." Likewise, funeral systems rule out the possibility of burying a loved one ourselves.
Illich is a radical philosopher of thin books, best read slowly.
Ivan Illich argues for individual personal control over life, the tools and energy we use. A work of seminal importance.
The conviviality for which noted social philosopher Ivan Illich is arguing is one in which the individual’s personal energies are under direct personal control and in which the use of tools is responsibly limited. A work of seminal importance, this book claims our attention for the urgency of its appeal, the stunning clarity of its logic and the overwhelmingly human note that it sounds.
