Listmania!
What do we really know ?
By an Amazon.com customer
The Borderlands of Science: Where Sense Meets NonsenseThe Borderlands of Science: Where Sense Meets Nonsense by Michael Shermer
Buy new: $38.00 / Used from: $1.99
Shermer's treatment of the notion of "paradigm shifts" is particularly good
It Ain't Necessarily So: How Media Make and Unmake the Scientific Picture of RealityIt Ain't Necessarily So: How Media Make and Unmake the Scientific Picture of Reality by David Murray
Buy used from: $0.87
Excellent discussion of how science is altered from 'research' to 'news.' Also touches usefully on the vexed topic of studies that contradict each other.
The Evolutionists: The Struggle for Darwin's SoulThe Evolutionists: The Struggle for Darwin's Soul by Sifu Richard Morris
Buy used from: $0.42
Great case study for how science grows through technical controversy
What Remains to Be Discovered: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of Life, and the Future of the Human RaceWhat Remains to Be Discovered: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of Life, and the Future of the Human Race by John Maddox
Buy new: $28.95 / Used from: $0.01
The remaining mysteries of science
The View from Within: First-person Approaches to the Study of Consciousness (Consciousness Studies)The View from Within: First-person Approaches to the Study of Consciousness (Consciousness Studies) by Franciso J. Varela
Buy new: $26.91 / Used from: $13.34
An eloquent appeal for studying subjective experience as well as cognition and neuroscience.
The Unconscious Quantum: Metaphysics in Modern Physics and CosmologyThe Unconscious Quantum: Metaphysics in Modern Physics and Cosmology by Victor J. Stenger
Buy new: $26.39 / Used from: $15.75
A reasonable critique of some of the odd metaphysical interpretations explaining consciousness through quantum physics.
The Race for Consciousness (Bradford Books)The Race for Consciousness (Bradford Books) by John G. Taylor
Buy new: $75.00 / Used from: $3.99
Among the toughest questions in science is addressed admirably with great scientific depth.
Mystery of Mysteries: Is Evolution a Social Construction?Mystery of Mysteries: Is Evolution a Social Construction? by Michael Ruse
Buy new: $18.95 / Used from: $4.99
Deep insights into ideology and epistemology in science, viewed using evolution as a case study
How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New AgeHow to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age by Theodore Schick
Buy used from: $0.97
Imperfect but better-than-average practical guide to the principles of evidence and reasoning in evaluating claims.
Pseudoscience and the Paranormal: A Critical Examination of the EvidencePseudoscience and the Paranormal: A Critical Examination of the Evidence by Terence Hines
Buy used from: $1.88
Both deep and broad, a good overall skeptical treatment of fringe topics
An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and SupernaturalAn Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural by James Randi
Buy used from: $35.42
Broad but shallow coverage of debunked topics, focusing on humor and opinion but with enough of a smattering of factual data to make it a useful reference.
Encounters With the Paranormal: Science, Knowledge, and BeliefEncounters With the Paranormal: Science, Knowledge, and Belief
Buy new: $28.98 / Used from: $1.49
Some of the best from the CSICOP in their neverending search for fringe topics to debunk.
Critical Thinking, Consider the VerdictCritical Thinking, Consider the Verdict by Bruce N. Waller
Buy used from: $0.01
Applying critical reasoning to real social and political questions. Based on the courtroom model, but more widely applicable. The treatment of authority appeals is particularly good.
The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes and Its ImplicationsThe Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes and Its Implications by David Deutsch
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $4.85
An intriguing critique of inductivism and the interesting implications of the multiple worlds view of quantum physics. Maybe too ambitious, but at least far better than most of the New Age-ish folks
Impossibility: The Limits of Science and the Science of LimitsImpossibility: The Limits of Science and the Science of Limits by John D. Barrow
Buy new: $33.54 / Used from: $6.02
Difficult reading and could have been much better edited, but full of profound insights into the nature and limits of science. Interest contrast with Deutsch above.
PI in the Sky: Counting, Thinking, and BeingPI in the Sky: Counting, Thinking, and Being by John D. Barrow
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $1.96
Barrow's lucid and entertaining quest for the ultimate origins of mathematics.
Science as a Process: An Evolutionary Account of the Social and Conceptual Development of Science (Science and Its Conceptual Foundations series)Science as a Process: An Evolutionary Account of the Social and Conceptual Development of Science (Science and Its Conceptual Foundations series) by David L. Hull
Buy new: $31.50 / Used from: $16.97
A sophisticated and useful account of how selection operates on scientific knowledge
The Visible and the Invisible (SPEP)The Visible and the Invisible (SPEP) by Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Buy new: $19.77 / Used from: $19.49
Merleau-Ponty was among the few who philosophers who grasped the essential relationship of meaning and biological goal-seeking, and that awareness follows rather than precedes action.
Models of the SelfModels of the Self by Jonathan Shear
Buy new: $42.26 / Used from: $35.96
Our concept of "self" is unavoidable in any study of human awareness.
The Volitional BrainThe Volitional Brain by Anthony Freeman Benjamin Libet
Buy used from: $32.90
Libet's work reveals profound insights into the nature of volition.
Reclaiming Cognition: The Primacy of Action, Intention and Emotion (Journal of Consciousness Studies)Reclaiming Cognition: The Primacy of Action, Intention and Emotion (Journal of Consciousness Studies)
Buy new: $29.90 / Used from: $23.07
Challenging essays about the role of the physical body in the structure and function of the mind.
The Nature of Consciousness: Philosophical DebatesThe Nature of Consciousness: Philosophical Debates
Buy new: $42.93 / Used from: $15.75
Both comprehensive and technically detailed: one of the best single volumes on the subject.
Whispering Pond: A Personal Guide to the Emerging Vision of ScienceWhispering Pond: A Personal Guide to the Emerging Vision of Science by Ervin Laszlo
Buy used from: $0.77
Bold thinking from a brilliant mind. In places, Laszlo's later work runs precariously toward the "New Physics" sort of stuff that skeptics love to ridicule, but he covers it a lot better than most.
The Universe, the Eleventh Dimension, and Everything: What We Know and How We Know ItThe Universe, the Eleventh Dimension, and Everything: What We Know and How We Know It by Richard Morris
Buy new: $14.95 / Used from: $0.27
Outstanding non-technical overview of modern cosmology, subatomic physics, and the playful side of how science works.
Moral Imagination: Confronting the Ethical Issues of Our DayMoral Imagination: Confronting the Ethical Issues of Our Day by Edward Tivnan
Buy new: $22.95 / Used from: $0.74
Exemplary intellectual treatment of several crucial social issues. Shows how providing detailed background and really listening to an opponent's side can usefully inform an issue.
Mind: A Brief Introduction (Fundamentals of Philosophy)Mind: A Brief Introduction (Fundamentals of Philosophy) by John R. Searle
Buy new: $17.40 / Used from: $9.00
Searle is probably best known for his "Chinese Room" argument and his arguments against strong AI computer functionalism regarding the mind. I think this is the clearest non-technical statement of his ideas, but it is also a very good general introduction to modern naturalistic philosophy of mind.