100 Books Like The Pursuit of Harmony

This book is a pleasure to read as it narrates the interlinks between geography, cosmography, and astronomy in simple language. It takes the reader through an exciting journey from antiquity to the 19th-century developments of astronomy and geography, examining the links and struggles between the sciences and humanities. It exhorts educators and researchers to advocate a truly humanistic science.

It is not surprising that there exists a tension between science, humanities, and other professions today. Astronomy has many narrations of its links to navigation and geography. This book traces these links from antiquity to the 19th century in one place. The quest to map out the stars has not been just for knowledge's sake, after all. 

This book is the result of a collaboration between a professional science journalist and a practicing astronomer. The authors lead us through the research activities of stellar astronomy, reminding us of the questions posed by the scientists at each stage, examining the limitations and the excitement scientists find as they reach their goal, which brings the next question(s), sending the teams on an endless expedition to explore further.  

Quite often, science journalists write on a subject that they are not totally sure of, but they do so as told to them by a science practitioner, who performs many of their chores routinely and does not seek to answer some simple questions.

To me, this book is quite refreshing in that a science journalist who can relate to questions likely to occur to a non-specialist collaborates with an astronomer to whom these questions may not occur. They collaborated, and the result… show more.

This book by a life-long astronomer is a nice, successful attempt to humanize natural philosophers since classical times. It is rare that we find books that dig deeper into the personal struggles, false starts, and wrong conclusions of philosophers (scientists) as they strive at their research incessantly. A recommended read to all astronomy educators and those youth aspiring to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos.

Societies tend to portray high achievers of the past, whether in science, art, or otherwise, as special beings who were infallible genii of their times and that today’s generations may not reach those heights. To me, this is a very negative approach that discourages the youth from striving for higher goals. Prof. Hirshfeld, a career astronomer, does an excellent job of presenting the human faces of the giants of the past.

Science meets Religion and Art is an apt summary of this delightful work of Mendillo, an astronomy professor. In a couple of hundred pages, the author shares his knowledge accumulated over a few decades of his studies by analyzing the centuries of work by astronomers, artists, and theologians. This book would be of interest to practicing astronomers as well as casual stargazers.

Having lived on three continents, I am always fascinated by the way religion and the art that goes with it have influenced societies’ thinking and narratives of stellar objects and cosmology. This influence is reflected in the art and images artists create to express their faith. Professor Mendillo has summarized his decades-long exploration of these connections as found in cathedrals, museums, etc., in this book.

Tyson has done a wonderful job taking over as the layman’s communicator about science after his mentor, Carl Sagan, returned to the stars. This book in particular explains a plethora of scientific questions while showcasing Tyson’s humor and overall science acumen. I enjoy anything he writes and always find his books informative and witty.

This groundbreaking work, published posthumously, is the first attempt to explain consciousness as the product of the evolutionary process. In doing this, Teilhard de Chardin outlines many characteristics of the evolutionary process that have never been described before. It is his effort to unite evolutionary theory, a Marxist view of evolution, and….Christianity.

The final chapter trying to drag Christ into this scientific work did not impress me, but it does not detract from the earlier chapters either.

My favorite professor once told me that this book is an essential staple of any respectable ecologist’s bookshelf. And after savoring it for myself (and re-reading it many times since), I couldn’t agree more. Since being penned by a conservation writer exploring his home farm, this environmental classic has contributed significantly to the foundation of modern stewardship narratives. 

The book brims with short chapters that read less like ecological essays and more like diary entries overflowing with intellectual depth and nature-loving philosophy. Through artistic prose, you’ll accompany the author as he listens to early morning birdsongs, goes fishing for wild trout, studies roadside plants, follows tracks by a river, and chops trees for firewood.

After pondering these humble practices, you’ll see even the most mundane garden weeds with wonder-filled eyes.

I love reading books on the history of science in its social and cultural context if they are well-written and the author is truly knowledgeable. In my opinion, no one alive does this better than Stephen Gaukroger. This first of the four volumes Gaukroger has written on this subject covers the Medieval and Renaissance run-up to modern science and is my favorite, though the other three are equally excellent.

I like how Gaukroger traces the emergence of modern science from the philosophical ideas of St. Augustine through the creation of the universities and Renaissance magical philosophy to the creation of a materialistic, mathematics—and experiment-based science of nature. I cannot fault either the writing or the scholarship.

Faith journeys fascinate me. I love the dramatic tales of how we come to religious faith, or more commonly today, how we lose that faith. Our individual stories of loss are microcosms of the 19th-century loss of faith, which saw so many Europeans lose their belief in God but not their need for something transcendent to ground their understanding of reality.

I love the way A.N. Wilson tells this story as a sobering tale of loss rather than liberation. He dispels the notion that external forces like science are the full or even most important part of the story. Biblical scholarship was casting doubt on the veracity of the Bible long before Darwin challenged Genesis with his theory of evolution.

Alister McGrath is one of the most readable authors on difficult areas. Here, he deals with some very general issues of religious faith in a scientific age and addresses the personal side of the equation.

Religion won’t go away, and McGrath tells us how and why this is so, bringing in some important philosophical questions that he explains in a very down-to-earth way. Whether we realize it or not, we all have a personal philosophy, and science and faith can help each other. I found it hard to put this book down.