Episode · Conversations with Tyler · 2024-09-04
Books mentioned on Philip Ball on the Interplay of Science, Society, and the Quest for Understanding
Register for our LA Listener Meetup Philip Ball is an award-winning science writer who has penned over 30 books on a dizzying variety of subjects. Holding degrees in chemistry from Oxford and physics from the University of Bristol, Ball's multidisciplinary background underpins his versatility.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Brave New World
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a dystopian classic that envisions a futuristic society controlled by technological distraction, pharmacological hedonism, and engineered social conditioning.
Discussed“Brave New World which essentially talks about this sort of invetro gestation of of whole populations”
Where to get it
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The Invisible Man
Discussed“and the the the message that Plato wanted us to to get from that story and that HG worlds wanted us to get when he rewrote it as the Invisible Man is invisibility corrupts the”
Where to get it
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The Republic
The Republic by Plato is a foundational philosophical text exploring justice, the ideal political state, the nature of reality through the allegory of the cave, and the evolution of various political regimes including democracy.
Discussed“um a myth of the of of a chap called GES who is a Shepherd who finds a ring of invisibility”
Where to get it
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The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.
Discussed“I mean look it's that's of course that's what happened in The Lord of the Rings right um that was the uh entirely the metaphor of the the you know the rig of power there”
Where to get it
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Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe is an enduring adventure novel published in 1719 about a castaway who spends decades isolated on a remote tropical island facing numerous perils.
Discussed“now you've written a book about myths do you think there are myths from the last 10 or 20 years that will stick say the way Robin Caruso is still around as a story or Sherlock Holmes is still around”
Where to get it
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Dracula
Dracula by Bram Stoker is a classic 1897 epistolary horror novel that established the modern literary vampire and the archetype of Count Dracula.
Discussed“so they were things like Frankenstein Dracula Jael and Hyde Sherlock Holmes”
Where to get it
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Frankenstein
Frankenstein by Mary W.
Discussed“so they were things like Frankenstein Dracula Jael and Hyde Sherlock Holmes”
Where to get it
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes [12 stories]
Discussed“so they were things like Frankenstein Dracula Jael and Hyde Sherlock Holmes”
Where to get it
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The Selfish Gene
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins is a foundational popular science work that presents a gene-centric view of evolution, arguing that natural selection operates primarily at the level of genes rather than individuals or species.
Discussed“tell us why you reject Richard Dawkins his vision of The Selfish Gene as his book was titled”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“but most notably he has a new book out this year a major work called how life Works a users's guide to the new biology”
“ah well there's um the way I presented it in in in my book I've my book Universe of stone and the idea behind that title was that in some sense the gothic Cathedrals and chhatra is it's certainly my favorite”