Book description
Drawing from his long experience as a naturalist, the author responds to the unexpected and symbolic aspects of a wide spectrum of phenomena throughout the universe.Scrupulous scholarship and magical prose are brought to bear on such diverse topics as seeds, the hieroglyphs on shells, lost tombs, the goddess Circe, city…
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Why read it?
2 authors picked The Unexpected Universe as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Eiseley first became known for his book The Immense Journey. I enjoyed that book, but I enjoyed this one considerably more, perhaps because its context was closer to my interests.
There were paragraphs within this book where my thoughts were right there on the page. I found that to be very exciting.
From Eric's list on humbly learning our place in the universe.
The great divide between the humanities and the sciences can be traced to the power of mathematics to measure and describe the universe in a way qualitatively different from traditional humanistic explorations of reality.
The power that mathematics provided us led to what has been called a "drunken adolescence" with respect to the other, heart-centered ways of understanding. The great exception to this dualism can be found in the works of Loren Eiseley, who was as much a poet as a scientist.
When I discovered Eiseley, I found in his books a new genre of writing, one that I named…
From Brian's list on science books on the universe with a spiritual inclination.
If you love The Unexpected Universe...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
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