Looking at this page again in 2007 I see that it's quite out of date. I must have read at least a couple of books worth mentioning in the last 6 years :) For my friends who have encouraged me to maintain the list, I'll promise to update this sometime soon.
Note: This is a list of books that I've enjoyed and recommend (If one reads a book then one should be able to venture an opinion - or else, one is simply like John Searle's Chinese room. (In case you are troubled that some terms are used as if they were common knowledge (every schoolchild knows); the answer is to simply look it up on the net and stay with the argument.)) Therefore, this is really a list of what I think. The list is arranged chronologically in the order that I read the books. The most recent being at the top. Wherever I remember the publisher and date, I've included that to help people find the book.
2001
1. Gerald Edelman, Bright Light, Brilliant Fire: On the matter of the mind. (Basic Books, 1993.) This is Edelman's recent light version of his longer works on biology and consciousness. This is a very persuasive alternative to the hard AI as well as the airy fairy constructs of human consciousness. Edelman begins with the essentially biological nature of the central nervous system, which means that its evolutionary nature must be taken into account - i.e., no teleological or existential hand-waving must be allowed to sneak in. Edelman's use of natural selection to explain the organisation of the nervous system and thence consciousness he calls the Theory of Neuronal Group Selection. It is a theory still in its infancy with its details being worked out. I am sure that it is going to be important in future discussions of mind and consciousness.
2. Paul Theroux, Sir Vidia's Shadow: A friendship across five continents. (Houghton Miflin, 1999.) I've found Naipaul rather less enjoyable than his reputation gave me to believe. In his journalistic writing (Among the believers, for example) as well as in his fiction a nasty streak of misanthropism shows through. I've read less of Theroux (only his book with Bruce Chatwin about Patagonia and some miscellaneous articles). But Naipaul has always intrigued me because of his reputation; therefore, I picked this book up out of curiosity and found it to be quite engaging. Theroux was a young and yet to be known writer in Africa when he met Naipaul. Theroux acknowledges his deep debt to Naipaul in encouraging his writing. However, this is more of a study of Naipaul from close quarters. Naipaul's well known crankiness, rudeness, etc., are included often sympathetically, with some of Theroux's analysis thrown in. The last quarter of the book describes Naipaul's decline as well the dissolution of the friendship. Considering that Naipaul has just published a novel in 2001 after a long break, Theroux's analysis will no doubt feature in many of this year's reviews.
3. Dilip Hiro, Black British, White British: A history of Race Relations in Britain. (Grafton Books, 1993.) I found this a very informative book about the history of modern race relations in Britain. Hiro packs his arguments with factual detail. A number of standard arguments like "the cultural obduracy of immigrants", "reluctance to integrate", "essential Englishness", etc., are very neatly demolished using data about the experience of various immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean, India, and Pakistan.
4. Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow. (Allen Lane, 1998) This is Dawkins' answer to the modern purveyors of the 'Two Cultures' notion. As usual Dawkins writes very engagingly, and attempts to convey the aesthetic sensibility in science. However, I sometimes felt that Dawkins goes overboard in his criticism of those who are unable to be enthusiastic about scientific inquiry. He expends too much energy in saying that people ought to look for scientific truth and then they would find greater aesthetic pleasure. I doubt if we can say "ought to" in such a context; we must first understand what is. Indeed, if one considers the evolution of the nervous system where our aesthetic sensibilities arise, it might seem that delusionary ideas of the world are often useful devices of data reduction.
2000
1. Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel: The fates of human societies. (Norton, 1998). A very interesting book on geography and the evolution of civilizations around the world. Diamond explores the idea that specific geographic locations in the world had wild plants and animals that were particularly amenable to domestication, and people who lived in these areas were able to transcend quite quickly from hunter-gatherers to farmers. Once farming began, social organizations and institutions that could support artisans and administrators developed. The increased population densities also engendered survivors who were immune to many diseases. Whence the Guns, Germs and Steel of the title. People who lived in geographical areas that did not have such suitable wild plants and animals experienced greater difficulty. Thus Diamond argues (convincingly, most of the time) that these geographical differences were reponsible for cultural differences and consequently determined the outcome of clashes between cultures. This argument is a welcome change from others that have suggested inherent capabilities as being the primary reason for the present patterns of cultural domination across the world - that is, the usual racist argument. The most thorough exposition of the "racial difference" argument that I've read is in John Baker's book, Race. In that book Baker argues at length that measurable physiological differences exists among people from different parts of the world. Then he proceeds to say that if differences in intellectual or physical abilities corresponds with these geographical or surface racial differences, it is hardly surprising. It is a carefully written book and quite closely argued, although I disagree with his later conclusions that inherent distinctions among racial types can be freely extrapolated to all characteristics. One of the best known books debunking myths about racial differences is Stephen Jay Gould's Mismeasure of Man, (Norton, 1981). Gould presents a very nice history of how false scientific arguments have been used in support of racism. Although I very much agree with Gould's main point, I found the book made too many concessions for the casual reader. The arguments too often hold the opposite point of view to ridicule thereby dismissing them as being unworthy of serious consideration.
2. Richard Dawkins, Climbing Mount Improbable. (Penguin Books, 1997). In this book Dawkins continues his exposition of biological evolution. The Mt.Improbable of the title refers to the common notion that although natural selection may be a nice theory, the evolution of complex systems like mammalian eyes, and brains are extremely improbable by plain natural selection. Dawkins shows by simple illustration that the evolution of wings, eyes, etc., can occur by a series of fairly simple chance mutations. Indeed it has be shown by simulations that Dawkins describes that the evolution of streamlined shapes, wings and eyes can occur in a fairly small number of generations (about 400,000 in the case of an eye with a lens). Dawkins has the well earned reputation of being the foremost exponent of evolution for non-specialists. I read his early book, The Selfish Gene in 1980 (I remember the time well, I was in my second year of college) and it deeply informed my subsequent interest in biology. For those with a previous exposure to the idea of evolution, in River Out of Eden Dawkins' presents a very engaging description of evolutionary biology and its probabilistic aspects without using any mathematics.
3. Ray Monk. Wittgnstein: The Duty of Genius. (Jonathan Cape, London, 1990).This is a fascinating book about one of the most intriguing and certainly one of the most important philosophers of our time. Monk has done meticulous research into Wittgenstein's life, interviewing surviving friends and acquaintances as well as reaching deep into his philosophical writings, letters, etc. Monk also frequently interprets Wittgenstein's philosophy in terms of his life. This is bound to take the biographical writing on shaky ground and I suspect that Monk slips into such traps occasionally. As another reader of the book has commented (written in the margin of the copy I borrowed from the library), at one point Monk remarks that Wittgenstein's mentoring of Elizabeth Anscombe was an exception to his dislike of academic women, notwithstanding the fact that earlier in the book Monk has described at least two other serious academic collaborations that Wittgenstein had with women (two students at Cambridge and the Moscow professor of mathematical logic, Sophia Janovskaya). However, these are minor aberrations in an excellent book that I found quite engrossing. The famous debate with Turing and the argument with Popper are described quite nicely. However, several aspects of Wittgenstein's philosophy remain quite obscure to me. It was interesting to read of Wittgenstein brief interactions with Rudolf Carnap (and also Paul Feyarabend), although it was not at all surprising. Indeed my own introduction to language, representation and experience was through the writings of Carnap (and Watzlawick). It was, of course, Wittgenstein who radically redefined our understanding of these ideas. In the true spirit of an autobiography the book also fills in important details of Wittgenstein the man; Wittgenstein volunteering for war in Austria in 1914 and in England in 1940, Wittgenstein as a school teacher, his desire to give up a Cambridge professorship to work as a manual labourer, his remarkable engineering skills, his work as a lab technician during the war when he demonstrated extraordinary aptitude for physiological research, etc. In sum I found this a most enjoyable book.
1999
1. Nelson Mandela, Long walk to freedom. Much of Mandela's heroic life has been widely covered by journalists all over the world. I was somewhat reluctant to read his book thinking that it must be a mere shadow of the journalistic accounts, or if it wasn't, it must be ghost written. But I was wrong on both counts. It is a wonderful book, written with remarkable clarity about his early life, his family, rites of passage, African politics, and then onto his involvement with the ANC and the freedom struggle. A long book but wonderfully pleasant to read.
2. Oliver Sacks, An Anthropologist on Mars, (Picador). Sacks is a practicing neurologist and writes about neurological disorders from the point of view of the patients' perception of themselves and the nature of their personality which is often obscured by the overwhelming oddness of their disease. This in itself is a new idea, since it is often assumed that the patient's personality is inseparable from the nervous disease. Sacks' intention is not so much to provide answers but to ask questions. Sacks' most famous book is The man who mistook his wife for a hat. This book is entertaining in its description of curious nervous disorders,but that should not make us miss the more serious questions that Sacks poses. I found Awakenings extremely thought provoking and satisfying to read. This book is about patients treated for post-encephalitic Parkinsons' disease. I've read all of Sacks published books over the last few years and I recommend all of them highly. Don't be put off thinking that they may contain dry medical detail - I persuaded my wife, who claims ignorance of the natural sciences to read some of them and she has become quite a fan of Sacks.
3. Michael White and John Gribbin, Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science. This book has been called the required companion volume to A Brief History of Time. I would go so far as to say that the scientific explanations in this book are more lucid and better than in "Brief History ...". Coupled with a nice account of Hawking's life, this book is both biography and popular science.
4. Ray Monk, Bertrand Russell. Meticulously researched, and well organised, this is perhaps the best biography of Russell that I've read. No hagiography here, Russell the man and Russell the dabbler in socialism, and Russell the obsessive philosopher are all here higgledy-piggledy in a very believable assembly. I certainly felt that my understanding of Russell's life was better after reading this book. And yes, after reading this book I felt less hero-worship and more affection for Russell, so I guess this is a successful biography. The one problem is that the book covers only half his life, despite being too heavy to hold up with one hand.
Books read earlier that I particularly remember
Partha Dasgupta, The Control of Resources. A very lucid explanation of economic considerations in the management of natural resources and "commons" (atmosphere, forests, etc.). This is a pleasant departure from most other books on ecology in that assumptions and facts are clearly stated and conclusions are derived quite rigorously. This book is aimed at the non-specialist but serious r eader. Dasgupta has written another book with Donald Heal that develops these ideas in a more rigorous fashion, The Economics of Non-Renewable Resources.
Winin Pereira and Jeremy Seabrook, Asking the Earth. Winin Pereira who used to be a scientist with the Indian Nuclear establishment, found that he could not continue that work with a clear conscience. He gave up formal science in the fifties and was then earnestly engaged in studying sustainable development until his death in 1999. This book begins with a discussion of the history of colonial exploitation in India, and its natural heir the post-independence development model. He examines some indigenous practices, tribal lifestyles, etc., in his search for non-violent, eco-friendly living. The book challenges conventional readings of history and the authors ask questions that lead to what is sometimes called "deep ecology". The chapters of this book appeared earlier as individual tracts. This is still apparent in the book and makes it loosely strung together.
Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind. Penrose is a well-known mathematical physicist. In this book he draws from quantum mechanics, computation theory, mathematical logic, and neuroscience to discuss the issue of mind-matter duality. The sections on physics and computation are excellent for the non-specialist. The sections on neuroscience are sketchy. Although Penrose wishes to demonstrate mind-matter distinction, he only succeeds in showing that this is a very difficult question; the book makes it clear that the question cannot be isolated to metaphysical debate nor reduction in the laboratory. Perhaps the question needs to be better posed like Turing attempted to do. The sequel to this book is The Shadows of the Mind. It's in my bookshelf and I intend to complete reading it sometime. Another book on this subject is From Brains to Consciousness (Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 1998) edited by Steven Rose; this is collection of articles/essays about current research on neurobiology and its relation to the philosophical concept of mind. The essays contain nice summaries of current understanding of brain function, physiology of memory, etc., as well a few essays on the relation of artificial intelligence concepts to consciousness. In addition to a brief overview of his work by Penrose, there is a different perspective by Igor Aleksander who remarks that some of the debate about brains and consciousness arises from misundertanding about the use of words. Put differently, Aleksander says that by using a vague definition of "consciousness" you can make it impossible to conduct rational debate. As always the debate teeters dangerously on the invisible line between mysticism and science.
Other books on the Mind-Body problem. In the last ten years the mind-body problem has occupied many scientists sufficiently to prompt them to write books ranging from the popular to the fairly technical. Penrose himself has written the sequel to The Emperor's New Mind, titled Shadows of the Mind, in which he structures his arguments with extreme care, and elaborates further on how biology and quantum mechanics may determine free will. Karl Popper the late philosopher of science co-authored a book with the Nobel Laureate John Eccles called The Self and Its Brain. The book is in two parts written by each author and discusses the philosophical statement of the problem and physiological aspects of consciousness; not enough is done to link the two together. John Eccles wrote another book called The Evolution of the Brain, where he gives an excellent account of human evolution and particularly the evolution of human ability from fossil and archaeological evidence; he detracts somewhat in the last chapter into a less scientific personal statement of metaphysical belief. Francis Crick the Nobel Laureate has written a book called the Astonishing Hypothesis where he declaims his position of a mechanistic brain using rather simple arguments from cognitive psychology; it is a disappointing book, and Crick displays the characteristics of the archetypal narrow-minded scientist with little knowledge outside his chosen area of research.
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, The Woman that Never Evolved. An anthropologists account of gender roles among primates.The title is intended to recall that some feminists as well as their opponents have used anthropological data to support their opinions. But Hrdy doesn't wish to be lured into this dangerous ground. Hrdy is an anthropologist and presents information on social behavio ur among langurs and other anthropoids. This book is very well written, and the mating behaviour, child-rearing, etc., of these anthropoids make very interesting reading. Hrdy's studied refusal to project her observations to humans make the book all the more pleasant.
Frantz Fanon, Black Faces, White Masks. Fanon's inquiry into identity, particularly as an African educated in Europe. Fanon is well known for his book The Wretched of the Earth in which he examined post-colonial Africa. In his own words Black Faces, White Masks is a personal statement where he reflects on the question of his identity. Born an Algerian, Fanon studied medicine in France and qualified as a psychiatrist. He asks searching questions like whether only Europeans can really be proud of Greek literature and European culture; whether being an African means that he should search for a distinct African identity that draws upon ancient African culture. Written in the fifties this book raised questions that are still important today. Because of his professional training and the psychoanalytic opinions prevalent at that time, Fanon draws upon Freudian models extensively throughout the book; this makes parts of the book a little quaint. But as a whole this book is excellent.
Norman Bull, Moral Development in Childhood and Adolescence. Moral education attracts rather less attention among educators today than it did some time ago; but in the popular press moral education and its general failure obtains substantial copy. As in most developmental study Piaget is a good starting point. Although Piaget's conclusions of an almost automatic process from moral anomy (or inability to understand rules) in infancy to the final stage of moral autonomy (where the individual is able to make reasoned moral judgements) are not adequately substantiated by evidence, his framework for studying moral development is invaluable. In this book, Norman Bull begins with a critique of Piaget and goes on to examine the stages of moral development in children and adolescents through broad-based field studies. Unlike Piaget, he has chosen his subjects from different socio-economic classes and has also included girls. His data suggest that moral development in each stage has an important bearing on the next and does not come about automatically. Although the book was published in the late sixties, it forms a good basis for reading more recent studies on moral education.
Konrad Lorenz's "King Solomon's Ring" is essential reading for all animal lovers (and perhaps for others too). Stories of his experiments with animals from the famous ethologist, with wonderful drawings by the author. Man Meets Dog, is also an immensely enjoyable book.
I've removed all fiction from here, but here's a short list of authors I've enjoyed: Anthony Burgess, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Elie Wiesel, James Joyce, Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood, Athol Fugard, Nadine Gordimer, Chinua Achebe, Arundati Roy, Mark Haddon.