by William Byers
–Reviewed by James Romoser
William Byers opens his dense and detailed book on the philosophy of science with a provocative claim: Many of the most serious problems afflicting contemporary society have their roots in a fundamental misunderstanding of how science works. This misunderstanding is “the crisis of uncertainty” — the hyper-rational (yet impossible) expectation that science or mathematics can provide perfect knowledge and control over the world…
by Francis Fukuyama
–Reviewed by Jacob Heilbrunn
Francis Fukuyama, almost singlehandedly, belies the belief that the age of great books in the field of political science is a bygone one. He seeks not the flash of a shocking assertion, but the profundity of a genuine insight. His tone is lapidary and explanatory…
The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe
By Peter Godwin
–Reviewed by T.A. Frank
For a brief spell, starting in 1980, Zimbabwe looked like it might set an example for the world, its citizens united in a newly established multi-ethnic democracy undergirded by strong colonial-era British institutions. Rebel leader Robert Mugabe had peacefully assumed office, embraced the country’s minority tribes as well as its white citizens and all but assured everyone that business would pretty much go on as usual…
Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game
by John Thorn
–Reviewed by Joe Mathews
John Thorn’s Baseball in the Garden of Eden is much more than a history of the national pastime’s beginnings. It is an account of how and why Americans developed their special talent for self-delusion…
The Rights of the People: How Our Search for Safety Invades our Liberties
by David Shipler
–Reviewed by Adam Fleisher
One might get the wrong impression of an author who passionately argues the government is infringing the liberty and privacy of ordinary Americans, stoking that “red-blooded American revulsion” when our elected leaders trample our Constitution. It may not help matters to know that he sees potentially ominous parallels with the Soviet Union. Presumably, the author of The Rights of the People is an anti-government Tea Party sort, right? …
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