UK-Skeptics bookstore

Jinn From Hyperspace
Category: Science
Author: Martin Gardner
Publisher: Prometheus books
ISBN number: 9781591025658
Price: £ 18.99

This new collection of Gardner gems takes its name from an essay on a mathematical theme, about a jinn (or genie) trapped in a 'Klein Bottle' -- an amusing tale that also teaches the maths phobic something interesting about a theoretical one-sided object with no distinction between inside and outside.

Other topics in maths and physics include speculations about universes where time runs in reverse; the Banach-Tarski paradox (whereby a sphere, after being deconstructed, can be reassembled at twice its size); and a vigorous defence of the objective reality of mathematical theorems independent of human culture.

On the literary side, Gardner discusses two neglected works by G K Chesterton, one of which concerns an imaginary but now very topical war between Islam and Christianity. He also considers the fantasies of L Frank Baum that don't take place in Oz, Clement Moore's ever-popular 'The Night Before Christmas', and the many fascinating books by Lewis Carroll that are sometimes overshadowed by his famous 'Alice in Wonderland'.

A treat for longtime Gardner readers or the perfect introduction for newcomers, THE JINN FROM HYPERSPACE offers a rich selection of stimulating intellectual wonders.

Paperback Apocalypse
Category: Religion
Author: Robert M Price
Publisher: Prometheus books
ISBN number: 9781591025832
Price: £ 13.99

The author traces the origin and scriptural basis for such beliefs as the Rapture, Second Coming, Antichrist and Messianic Prophesy. He emphasises that the writers of the new Testament consistently set a 1st century deadline for the return of Jesus Christ and yet the stubborn fact that the Second Coming obviously did not occur has not deterred fundamentalist Christians from blindly predicting the event throughout the centuries up to the present day. Price then critiques the raft of previous apocalyptic novels before turning to the 'Left Behind' series. He offers both literary and theological criticism, while explaining the psychological appeal of the books.

Joy of Physics
Category: Physics
Author: Arthur W Wiggins
Publisher: Prometheus books
ISBN number: 9781591025900
Price: £ 19.50

For those who have always wanted to discover the joy of physics, this is the book for you. Many people remember their struggles with the topic in school and have wished for the right opportunity to gain an appreciation of this significant area of knowledge. Here the chance to understand physics and also to do physics.

The book offers the general reader a fun-filled, entertaining and truly educational tour of this all-important science. It is an easy and practical way that connects the ideas of physics with the reality of the universe.

C S Lewis & the Search for Rational Religion
Category: Religion
Author: John Beversluis
Publisher: Prometheus books
ISBN number: 9781591025313
Price: £ 14.50

C. S. Lewis was one of the most influential Christian apologists of the 20th century. An Oxford don and former atheist who converted to Christianity in 1931, he gained a wide following during the 1940s as the author of a number of popular apologetic books such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain in which he argued for the truth of Christianity. Today his reputation is greater than ever -- partly because of his books and partly because of the movie 'Shadowlands', starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger.

In advocating Christianity, Lewis did not appeal to blind faith, but to reason. Convinced that Christianity is rationally defensible, he boldly declared: "I am not asking anyone to accept Christianity if his best reasoning tells him that the weight of the evidence is against it." But do Lewis's arguments survive critical scrutiny? In this revised and expanded edition of his book originally published in 1985, philosopher John Beversluis takes Lewis at his word, sympathetically examines his "case for Christianity", and concludes that it fails. Beversluis examines Lewis's argument from desire -- the "inconsolable longing" that he interpreted as a pointer to a higher reality; his moral argument for the existence of a Power behind the moral law; his contention that reason cannot be adequately explained in naturalistic terms; and his solution to the Problem of Evil, which many philosophers regard as the decisive objection to belief in Christianity. In addition, Beversluis considers issues in the philosophy of religion that developed late in Lewis's life -- such as Antony Flew's criticisms of Christian theology. He concludes with a discussion of Lewis's crisis of faith after the death of his wife and answers the question: Did C. S. Lewis lose his faith? Finally, in this second edition, Beversluis replies to critics of the first edition.

As the only critical study of C. S. Lewis's apologetic writings, this readable and intellectually stimulating book should be on the bookshelves of anyone interested in the philosophy of religion.

New Encyclopedia Of Unbelief
Category: Skepticism
Author: Tom Flynn, Editor
Publisher: Prometheus books
ISBN number: 9781591023913
Price: £ 142.50

With a foreword by evolutionary biologist and best-selling author Richard Dawkins, this unparalleled reference work provides comprehensive knowledge about unbelief in its many varieties and manifestations.

Successor to the highly acclaimed 'Encyclopedia of Unbelief' (1985), edited by the late Gordon Stein, the 'New Encyclopedia of Unbelief' is a comprehensive reference work on the history, beliefs, and thinking of America's fastest growing minority: those who live without religion. All-new articles by the field's foremost scholars describe and explain every aspect of atheism, agnosticism, secular humanism, secularism, and religious scepticism.

Topics include morality without religion, unbelief in the historicity of Jesus, critiques of intelligent design theory, unbelief and sexual values, and summaries of the state of unbelief around the world. Over 130 respected scholars and activists world-wide served on the editorial advisory board and over 100 authoritative contributors have written in excess of 500 entries. In addition to covering developments since the publication of the original edition, the 'New Encyclopedia of Unbelief' includes a larger number of biographical entries and much-expanded coverage of the linkages between unbelief and social reform movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, including the labour movement, woman suffrage, anarchism, sex radicalism, and second-wave feminism.

The distinguished contributors are philosophers, scientists, scholars, and Nobel Prize laureates.

Stephen Hawking: A Biography
Category: Science
Author: Kristine Larsen
Publisher: Prometheus books
ISBN number: 9781591025740
Price: £ 12.50

Stephen Hawking is arguably the most famous physicist since Albert Einstein. His decades-long struggle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), combined with his singular brilliance as a cosmologist, has fascinated both the public and his colleagues in science.

In this engagingly written biography, Kristine Larsen, a physicist and astronomer herself, presents a candid and insightful portrait of Hawking's personal and professional life. Avoiding the hero-worship sometimes found in popular works on Hawking, Larsen emphasises that Hawking is first and foremost a scientist whose work has made significant contributions to our understanding of the nature and origins of the universe. Writing in non-technical language for the lay reader, Larsen clearly explains Hawking's complex scientific accomplishments, while telling the story of his challenging life.

Topics include Hawking's early lack of focus as a college student; the impact of ALS on his career and personal life; his groundbreaking work on radiating black holes; his later cutting-edge theories of black holes, cosmology, and the anthropic principle; the amazing publishing success of 'A Brief History of Time'; and his status as a pop icon and spokesperson for the interplay of science and society.

Larsen situates Hawking's sometimes-controversial work within the broader context of scientific peer review and public debate, and discusses his personal life with compassion, respect, and honesty.

Evil Genes
Category: Science
Author: Barbara Oakley
Publisher: Prometheus books
ISBN number: 9781591025801
Price: £ 20.99

Takes readers inside the head of the kinds of malevolent people you know all too well, but could never understand. Starting with psychology as a frame of reference, it uses cutting-edge images of the working brain to provide startling support for the idea that 'evil' people act the way they do mainly as the result of a dysfunction. It is a tour de force of popular science writing that brilliantly melds scientific research with intriguing family history and puts both a human and a scientific face to evil.

Bad Faith
Category: Religion
Author: Neil J Kressel
Publisher: Prometheus books
ISBN number: 9781591025030
Price: £ 17.50

What separates constructive religious impulses from destructive ones? How does someone who begins by contemplating his relationship with God end by committing an act of murder?

Some argue that religiously motivated evil always represents a corruption of true religion. Others are quick to suggest that religion itself -- all religion -- is the root of extremist violence.

This is the first book to journey to the heart of religious militancy. Dr Neil J. Kressel, who has spent decades researching genocide, terrorism, and anti-Semitism, brings to bear the insights of psychology and social science on this significant and critical problem. For those tired of simplistic bromides and obfuscating talk about the causes of religious terrorism, Kressel offers a clear and enlightening analysis of when and how religions become capable of inspiring evil. Specifically, he addresses the following key issues: Are some religions, religious doctrines, and religious practices more apt to inspire hatred and extremism than others? Are people who commit evil acts in the name of their faith always corrupting the true message of religion and, if so, what is that message? Do other members of the same faith bear any responsibility for misdeeds carried out in the name of their religion? Which sorts of people are most prone to extremism? Which types of societies are most likely to become breeding grounds for extremists? Can (or should) anything be done to combat the various forms of religious extremism? What limits, if any, can (or should) be placed on religious practice in America and elsewhere?

Beyond analysing the nature of religious militancy, Kressel offers sensible recommendations for addressing what is to date the 21st century's most serious challenge.

Freedom Of Thought
Category: Logic
Author: J B Bury
Publisher: Prometheus books
ISBN number: 9781591025191
Price: £ 9.99

Most people who live in open societies, especially in the West, take freedom of thought and the right to express that thought for granted. But through most of history, independent thinking, outside of the framework of social or religious convention, was discouraged and often actively persecuted. It is only recently that rational critiques of traditional perspectives have become an accepted part of public discourse. The struggle for independence of mind was many centuries in the making and involved repression, bloodshed, and martyrdom as well as breakthrough discoveries and heroic individuals who changed the way we look at the world, many times at risk to their own lives.

One of the best surveys of this dramatic intellectual history is J. B. Bury's "Freedom of Thought". With striking eloquence and clarity of expression, Bury succinctly describes the struggle of reason in the search for truth from ancient times to the beginning of the 20th century. He leads the reader from the amazing florescence of rational inquiry in classical Greece, through the eclipse of free thought under the sway of religious authority during much of the Middle Ages, to the rediscovery of Greco-Roman philosophy in the Renaissance, and finally to the growth of rationalism during the Enlightenment and the scientific revolution. Along the way, Bury elucidates the key events that contributed to the modern rational comprehension of nature. He also provides thumbnail sketches of the many important persons -- philosophers, scientists, and writers -- who championed independent thinking and laid the groundwork for contemporary Western culture.

Though written over ninety years ago, this erudite yet very accessible intellectual history should be on the bookshelves of everyone who values reason and independent thinking.

The Agnostic Reader
Category: Religion
Author: ed. S T Joshi
Publisher: Prometheus books
ISBN number: 9781591025337
Price: £ 15.50

Agnosticism -- the philosophical argument that it is impossible to know whether God exists or not -- has been the point of view of many distinguished thinkers from the 19th century to the present.

In contrast to atheism, which asserts that God does not exist, agnosticism holds that reason and the best scientific evidence do not allow one to reach a decisive conclusion regarding the existence of God.

This reader prints selections of some of the most profound and pioneering discussions of agnosticism over the past two centuries. Beginning with early formulations of the agnostic perspective by Thomas Henry Huxley (who coined the term), Bertrand Russell, and others, editor S. T. Joshi shows how agnosticism received a strong boost in the later 19th century from the so-called higher criticism of the Bible.

Selections from Edward Burnett Tylor, Arthur Schopenhauer, Robert G. Ingersoll, and Edward Westermarck made a strong case that religion was a natural product of primitive development and that the Bible was the product of an age of scientific ignorance and superstition.

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Christianity in Europe was in a state of decline among the intellectual classes. The writings of W. E. H. Leckey, Leslie Stephen, and Walter Lippmann show that leading commentators were openly pondering a European society in which Christianity was a thing of the past. The increasing success of the natural sciences during this same time period supported the agnostic viewpoint by accounting for phenomena on a natural, rather than a supernatural, basis. Selections from John William Draper, Albert Einstein, Isaac Asimov, and others demonstrate the scientific respectability of agnosticism.

Finally, selections from such thinkers as Frederic Harrison, H. L. Mencken, and Corliss Lamont emphasise how living with agnosticism can be intellectually and morally satisfying, even exhilarating. Overall, "The Agnostic Reader" shows how agnosticism can provide a framework for living with courage and dignity.

Part I: Some Overviews; Part II: The Critical Study of Religion; Part III: Agnosticism and Science; Part IV: The Deficiencies of Religion; Part V: Christianity in Decline; Part VI: The Agnostic Way of Life.