Reading general science books especially those bordering on philosophy requires understanding basic principles of philosophy and its logic as well as possessing critical thinking skills. The following short book which I’m half way through seems to be good:
The Philosophers Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods
- Dmitry Vostokov @ LiterateScientist.com -
I’ve just finished reading this book and despite some bad reviews on Amazon I wasn’t disappointed. The author’s writing style is a bit unusual with some unknown words that you need a dictionary but after a chapter I became used to it and it wasn’t a problem anymore. If you heard about Gödel theorems before but cannot repeat precisely what they are about then this book is for you and you will find detail-free sketch of the proof very clear. I really liked the author’s attack on positivism and postmodernism especially in the light of previously read Fashionable Nonsense. I also liked the conclusion at the end of the book that the life of Gödel was “incomplete” too. The book discusses Vienna Circle and Wittgenstein, relationship between Einstein and Gödel and even some political issues in the Institute for Advanced Study related to Gödel’s life (this is why I included this book under Politics category too). One remark about bad review from the professor who participated in publishing edited works of Kurt Gödel: I can publish works of Aristotle nowadays without much efforts. Will it give me the right to judge other works and proclaim without sound justification that they don’t know philosophy?
Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Godel (Great Discoveries)
- Dmitry Vostokov @ LiterateScientist.com -
