A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Persig
I like to think of these books as explaining life on the large scale(Hawking), the small scale(Dawkins), and given the two former explanations how to go about living a quality life(Persig). Now, i say large scale and small scale, but I only mean them in the sense that 'A Brief History of Time' deals with the universe on a large scale and 'The Selfish Gene' is focused on life on this planet. One is in the realm of physics and the other biology.
And also, since I just finished reading 'The Selfish Gene', i have to go on record and recommend it to anyone willing to read it. Interestingly enough I found out about it while reading a book by Douglas Adams. Though not really by Douglas Adams. It's called 'The Salmon of Doubt' and was put together posthumously from various magazine articles he had written as well as tons of unpublished and unfinished writings lying dormant in his fleet of Macintosh computers. The two authors were friends and Adams goes on about how great Dawkins's books are, so I decided to check them out. Needless to say Adams was 100% correct. The Selfish Gene was one of the most interesting and enlightening books I have read in a while. Curiously, Dawkins is also the man who created the term Meme, which has made it's way around Hatrack quite a bit, courtesy of David Bowles. And after reading The Selfish Gene I now have a somewhat better understanding of the idea, though I'm not quite there yet.
[ April 26, 2005, 08:55 PM: Message edited by: Strider ]
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Ooh - I love the idea of a trilogy of books. That's cool. I've read Hawking and Pirsig (who is from my town - several of my acquaintances used to hang out with him) but not the other.
I'll definitely check it out. Your description reminds me of Genome by Matt Ridley, which I enjoyed immensely.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Actually, if I could throw a 4th book in there, I'd add 'Einstein's Dreams', by Alan Lightman. I don't know how exactly I'd describe that in association with the other books. But it just seems to fit.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Hmm. I think perhaps you may have impeccable literary taste.
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
*relieved this isn't ... oh, you know
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Thanks Annie, I was also going to add 'Britney Spears' Heart to Heart', with it's powerful message of family unity and motivation to succeed. What do you think?
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
I think Einstein's Dreams fits because it talks about different ways of perceiving life, through variations on the theme of "time."
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Did you start Eyre Affair yet, Annie? I just finished Well of Lost Plots, the third book in the series (which has four, currently) and i just loved it. you'll be hooked before long, you'll see! Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
You know, apparently I thought this idea was more interesting than it actually was.
Can we think of any other books that can combine into themed trilogies(that aren't already trilogies...)?
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
quote:The Selfish Gene, by Richard Hawking
Not that I would dream of nitpicking, but I do believe you mean Richard Dawkins.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
heh...whoops. Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :
I recently picked up The Selfish Gene after innumberable mentions on Hatrack and elsewhere, as well as after seeing a bit about Dawkins on Nova's evolution special. I haven't got around to reading it yet, but it's in the queue. People with an interest in this thread might also check out Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. Amazon linkage.
Hey Strider, did you see that episode 1 of season 4 of Family Guy is leaked on TorrentSpy? Thought you might want to download it before Sunday. I know I don't plan on waiting.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Oh I LOVE A Brief History of Time Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
No I didn't Fitz. But I would never do anything so underhanded and morally corrupt as download that early...
Ummm...excuse me...I have ummmm...a business meeting. yeah...
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Yeah, I had a recent . . . business meeting . . . like that too, Strider.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
How did it go? I'm still waiting for mine to begin. I hate getting to these things early. The anticipation is unbearable(I really like business meetings).
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
My business meeting hadn't quite hit the stride the old business meetings had, but had a few absolute hi-larious moments. I'm confident the, uh, new sequence of business meetings will shake out the kinks quickly.
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