The Science of Liberty, Timothy Ferris
The Science of Liberty, Timothy Ferris
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The Science of Liberty
Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature

Author: Timothy Ferris

Narrator: Fred Stella

Unabridged: 12 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 02/08/2011

Categories: Nonfiction, Science

Synopsis

"Ferris is a master analogist who conveys his insights on the history of cosmology with a lyrical flair." —The New York Times Book Review In The Science of Liberty, award-winning author Timothy Ferris—called "the best popular science writer in the English language today" by the Christian Science Monitor and "the best science writer of his generation" by the Washington Post—makes a passionate case for science as the inspiration behind the rise of liberalism and democracy. In the grand tradition of such luminaries of the field as Bill Bryson, Richard Dawkins, and Oliver Sacks—as well as his own The Whole Shebang and Coming of Age in the Milky Way—Ferris has written a brilliant chronicle of how science sparked the spread of liberal democracy and transformed today's world.

About Timothy Ferris

Timothy Ferris's works include Seeing in the Dark, The Mind's Sky (both New York Times best books of the year), and The Whole Shebang (listed by American Scientist as one of the one hundred most influential books of the twentieth century). A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Ferris has taught in five disciplines at four universities. He is an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley and a former editor of Rolling Stone. His articles and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, National Geographic, Scientific American, The Nation, The New Republic, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Book Review, and many other publications. A contributor to CNN and National Public Radio, Ferris has made three prime-time PBS television specials: The Creation of the Universe, Life Beyond Earth, and Seeing in the Dark. He lives in San Francisco.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Prooost on March 04, 2011

I hesitate to recommend any book as a "must read," because, if you're like me, hearing a book described as such makes me want to avoid reading it. But I've gotta take the risk. "The Science of Liberty" is a must read. Timothy Ferris's argument is that science tends to debunk received authority, making......more

Goodreads review by David on September 16, 2010

What an excellent book! Very entertaining, and full of a very unique point of view. I enjoyed most of all, the descriptions of how the American Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are written in language that only a scientist would use. The author's point of view is very convincing. Mai......more

Goodreads review by Philip of Macedon on December 23, 2021

Reading this book was enjoyable, in that I learned a lot of details and enlightening, connected threads of history I didn't already know, but it was in a sense kind of preaching to the choir. I didn't have to be convinced of Ferris's thesis, it is one I have accepted for a long time. The thesis he i......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on June 25, 2010

"It seems we need to fight the battle for Enlightenment all over again." This quote by Salman Rushdie is perfect. This is hands down the best written and understandable science book I have read since The Demon Haunted World. This book should be taught in a mandatory Critical Thinking/History of Scie......more

Goodreads review by Raphael on July 06, 2012

This is a profoundly interesting book. In it, Ferris argues that the more-or-less simultaneous rise of liberal democracy and modern science is not a coincidence: both thrive on the open exchange of ideas and an experimental spirit. If you like the history of ideas, this is the book for you.......more

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