Customer Reviews

Tales of the Rational : Skeptical Essays About Nature and Science

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Scientists often seem remote, speaking an esoteric language whose precision increases its inaccessibility to the general public. Scientists also learn to avoid straying beyond the narrow regions of their expertise. That's good for science, but unfortunately leaves the public susceptible to those who speak whatever language will sell their arbitrary ideas. It also leaves the thoughtful, but non scientific, public without a guide to the issues on which science can and should inform.

How refreshing it is, then, to read Dr. Pigliucci's essays! A well-published biologist and an experienced debator, Dr. Pigliucci brings a careful, analytical mind to a wide range of topics in science, society, and religion. He argues with clarity and elegance in favor of using rational methods to understand our world and to evaluate the claims of those trying to sell arbitrary or evidenceless ideas as truth.

Dr. Pigliucci is especially strong in reviewing debates he's had with creationists. Having seen him debate with great style and success, I still find that a book is a better medium for presenting the thoughtful developments of arguments; his rebutals and further insights in 'Tales of the Rational' leave no further room for the pseudoscientific silliness of the creationists.

The book is a delightful journey through the methods and philosophies of science, the application of science and reason to religious claims, the foibles and frauds of proponents of mindless faith, the pseudoscience of anti-evolutionists, and an examination of other scientific ideas often misunderstood by the general public.

It's trendy presently to claim a growing connection between religion and science; this book is the antidote to those who think that science can be watered down sufficiently to force a fit with superstition and baseless speculation.

What Carl Sagan and his 'Cosmos' was for general science, Dr. Pigliucci and 'Tales of the Rational' is for the rich nexus of science and theology. That is, he gives the reader the careful analytical tools of an experienced and scientifically skilled mind and does so in an exciting and entertaining way.

Dr. Pigliucci, whom I met in August at the first annual Secular Student Alliance conference (where he debated "intelligent design theorist" Walter Ramine, handily debunking the eccentric fellow's absurd and nonsensical rantings), has written a most laudable and entertaining book. In his TALES, he not only supplies skeptics/freethinkers with a veritable arsenal of incredibly cogent (both scientifically and philosophically) arguments against creationism and similar pseudoscience, but builds one of the strongest cases yet against superstition and irrationalism in general (e.g., religion). He also presents an overwhelmingly powerful, cumulative case for evolution, as well as some very intriguing (and enlightening) insights into recent developments within biochemistry, cosmology, and that exceedingly incorrigible sphere of study known as "chaos theory." Highly readable, thoroughly researched, and invariably scholarly (if sometimes rather provocative), Pigliucci's work is truly a delight to read. I whole-heartedly recommend it to all. (Incidentally, I myself am debating a creationist on my college campus next week, and TALES proved utterly invaluable to my research and preparation. Thanks, Massimo... I promise to quote you at least a dozen times :).

Dr. Pigliucci's book does an excellent job of bringing the current debate between science and religion to the layman. This is not a work that tries to overwhelm you with big words or concepts that would lead to confusion. This is a direct, simple without being simplistic book where the good Doctor lines up the arguments for creationism, Intelligent Design, "God" being proven by science, etc. and shoots down each one with clear, concise explanations based on our current understanding of the universe. He also points out the continued flaws being expounded upon by those whose openly admitted position is to push for a theistic worldview, science be damned.

This book is excellent for those who want a one-volume overview of the current debate on science vs religion. I think it is a more valuable book for those who cling to the idea that everything, including science, comes from a supernatural being. I would hope that an honest reading of this book would awaken these people to the fact that there is not one iota of scientific evidence for any type of deity. I agree this does not rule out the possible existence of such a being (or that of the unicorn), it just means that extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence and theists have as yet to produce such evidence.

I don't want to sound too redundant compared to the other reviews, so I'll keep this somewhat short. As far as building a case for modern scientific theories is concerned, this book did rather well. As far as refuting pseudo-science goes, I sincerely doubt any stone has been left unturned. Not only did Dr. Pigliucci refute the cases of a few different creationists, he also weeded-out some of the confusion in (and misuse of) frontier sciences, including (off the tip of my brain) chaos theory, abiogenesis, and the possibility of contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence.

If you had to pick only one book to represent skepticism, I think you should definitely go with this one.

Creationists often make claims that are hard to counter without knowledge of evolution and science. This books takes the creationists claims and destroys each of them.

This book also explains the debating techniques of the creationists. Showing how they use half-truths and made-up science to explain creationism, this book is required reading for anyone who has listened to creationist B.S. and did not have all the answers.

This book is a must for any Freethought library.

I found "Tales" to be a wonderfully engaging account of the author's efforts to demonstrate the need for more rational and skeptical thinking in the world. The importance of critically evaluating all ideas was brought home time and time again throughout the essays, and left me with a deep sense of respect for, among other things, the author's (generally) scientifically-based views on morals and ethics.

The book had a very "Saganesqe" quality to it, and in many ways reminded me of the way I felt after reading "Cosmos" for the first time.

This book is a superb introduction to thinking about issues related to science and the philosophy of science. The essays will interest both the professional and the lay reader. If you are interested in a readable critique of creationist rhetoric it is there; if you are interested in the debate over philosophical issues in the biological sciences it is there; if you are looking for a realistic skeptical approach to these issues, it is there as well.

In short, this is a good introduction to understanding the role that biology plays in our lives and how the non-specialist should go about sorting through those issues.

Highly recommended!!!

Tales of the Ration is truly that; rational tales. The book is a collection of essays and articles written by Dr. Pigliucci that convey his views of the rational and irrational world that we live in.

Dr. Pigliucci provides outstanding and rational arguments for many issues that affect us today in the world of pseudoscience, irrationalism, and religion.

The book is a must-have in the library of every freethinker, rationalist, secularist, skeptic, atheist, agnostic, and liberal theist.

The book is definitely a must-read for those people that do not fall into one of those categories.

In the realm of clear-thinking scientific rationalism, Massimo Pigliucci has few equals. He is articulate, creative, kind, frank, amusing and fearless. He writes informally, but is able to explain deep and difficult concepts without trivializing or oversimplifying them. From his position as a university professor and evolutionary biologist, Dr. Pigliucci reaches out to the general public with articles and essays on a broad range of subjects including philosophy, religion, the limits of science and the incomparable value of intelligently-grounded skepticism.

'Tales of the Rational' is a collection of 14 essays arranged as consecutive chapters under five organizing categories: Philosophical tales, Tales of science and religion, Creation tales, Tales of the personal, and Tales at the frontier of science. I found all of the book very interesting, but for brevity I'll limit my comments to several parts that struck me as particularly significant and edifying.

The second chapter compares methodological and philosophical naturalism. We should care about these stuffy-sounding terms, says Pigliucci, because behind them lie important reasons to be skeptical of religion. The author makes his points by contrasting the views of two well-known commentators on science/religion issues. Party A, invoking methodological naturalism, maintains that science merely ASSUMES a strictly natural (material) world in order to function, hence can't comment at all on purported supernatural phenomena. Party B, following philosophical naturalism, holds that the universe really IS material through and through, so science is perfectly well justified in skeptically examining any supernatural claims which have physical consequences, as nearly all of them do (for example, pick any of the 35 New Testament miracles). The crux of Pigliucci's argument is that both parties are actually philosophical naturalists in that they recognize the overwhelming plausibility and observational dominance of natural causes in all aspects of existence. But only Party B seems willing to concede that methodological naturalism IMPLIES philosophical naturalism, thereby enabling a sincere scientist to include within her reach any claim which can be checked for plausibility, regardless of the beliefs of the claimant. Pigliucci sides with party B in affirming that religious assertions, many of which are eminently checkable, should be treated no differently from the general run of far-fetched notions.

Chapter 4 neatly refutes the famous "wager" in which Blaise Pascal offered shallow and cynical encouragement to believe in god simply because it's a safe strategy. A glaring non-sequitur in this advice is that it requires deceiving a supposedly omniscient being while simultaneously trashing blind faith's only admirable feature -- its sincerity. Pigliucci mentions this but moves on to a more technical objection based on probability. He points out that Pascal's implicit assumption of a 50-50 likelihood for god's existence is dead wrong, and from this basis constructs a devastating critique based on simple reasoning supported by universally accepted scientific evidence.

Chapter 5 details the author's preferred case against the existence of any type of personal, interactive, theistic god. Although he is both interested in and knowledgeable about philosophy, Pigliucci makes it very clear that he has little use for formal philosophical proofs which attempt to emulate mathematics by ending in a triumphant "QED." As a biologist, he is dedicated to the natural scientist's view that the non-existence of ANYTHING is beyond absolute proof. So gods are properly classified as no more than routine examples of dubious concepts awaiting rational evaluation based on the credibility of the claims and evidence supporting them. Contrary to the position of Stephen Jay Gould and other "non-overlapping magisteria" adherents, religions do make (and always have made) countless claims for their supernatural figures which imply direct interaction with the physical world. In other words, gods ARE falsifiable, and the more completely they are described, the more testable they become. It was a pleasure to read Pigliucci's application of these principles to his sensible and powerful arguments against what are historically the most widespread, puzzling and harmful superstitions ever devised.

It has often been said that religion is helpful even if it's false. Pigliucci critiques this assertion in chapter 7, using an article by P. F. Fagan of the American Heritage Foundation as a representative source of evidence supporting religious ideas as socially and psychologically beneficial regardless of validity. Pigliucci (having himself spent some early years under the spell of "mild Catholicism") agrees that churchgoing, like any communal activity, confers the obvious advantages of belonging and sharing mutual concerns. But he does not buy most of Fagan's more substantive claims. In fact, he provides a convincing set of reasons for being skeptical even of the "hard" data which seems to show that a religious lifestyle confers statistical benefits in overall happiness, career success, family cohesion, reduced suicide rates, etc. His objections are based on logical failures like confusing correlation with causality, and (in the case of double-blind prayer studies) procedural oversights such as neglecting to provide proper control groups and allowing slips in the blinding protocol.

Chapters 10 and 11, categorized as Tales of the Personal, are first-person accounts of the author's public contests with Christian apologist William Lane Craig and young-earth creationist Duane Gish. Both are experienced, nationally-known speakers with a reputation for demolishing unprepared opponents, including scientists. In even attempting to take on a "world class" creationist, Pigliucci went against the advice of many scientific and educational organizations which worry a) that debates provide creationists with implicit issue-acceptance as well as the "worthy opponent" status they crave, and b) that the evolutionist might lose! Pigliucci is in the rather small class of scientists who have the breadth of knowledge and natural skills to survive, and are willing to research the opponents beforehand. Learning how the author made out, and how he dissected the strategies of his adversaries, makes fascinating reading.

At the end, Pigliucci steps away from issues directly involving religion to take up extraterrestrial intelligence in chapter 13 and the use (and abuse) of chaos, fractals and complexity in chapter 14. The author's thoughtful, lucid and penetrating treatments of these often-misunderstood subjects form a fitting conclusion to a truly outstanding book.

Pigliucci's book gives a superb philisophical and practical discussion of the downsides to believing in theistic faiths. He also shows quite clearly why Darwinian Evolution is not "just a theory" - but one grounded in every fact we known about our physical world.

Mathematics, for instance, is also "just a theory." The only reason we KNOW that 1+1=2 is because we use our brain: the certainty of the conclusion is based on rational thought alone. The same is true for biology and Darwinian evolution.

Pigliucci shows the absurdity of adherence to religious "faith" in the face of solid scientific evidence. If you don't believe in the utter complete lack of "Intelligent Design" in evolution, then you may as well not believe in medicine, physics, bio-chemistry, genetics and every other science. For that matter, you may as well believe in ghosts, the tooth-fairy, leprechauns, ESP, alien abductions, and Santa Claus - they are all equally absurd!

Here's a suggestion: for those religious apologists who want to blindly deny Darinian evolution and all of it's firm ties to every physical science we know, next time you're sick, forget going to your doctor - just stay home and pray. The only reason to see a doctor is because you believe he or she has some knowledge about biology. Otherwise, your priest will do.

If you're afraid to be intellectually challenged .... if you prefer to be blinded by faith, and not ever critically or skeptically examine life around you, then don't read this book. Instead, just watch TV.

Be warned: this book will make you THINK!!