RECOMMENDATIONS - Skeptic's Vocabulary

THE RISE OF THE WEST An Annotated review of Niall Ferguson's 'The West and the Rest

British historian Niall Ferguson’s book Civilization: The West and the Rest ( Alien Lane, Penguin Group, 2011) is an interesting survey of the history of the world over the last thousand years. It examines the rise of Western civilisation through [...]

Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life

Leviathan and the Air-Pump, is about the debate between English scientist, Robert Boyle, and English philosopher Thomas Hobbes on the validity of experiments on vacuum using a device called air-pump that was developed to create ‘vacuum’. The air-pump was called [...]

Army and Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy since Independence

Army and Nation by Steven Wilkinson is an important book that clarifies the tragetory India’s armed forces took vis-a-vis that of the Pakistan. Wilkinson addresses how Indian founding leaders systematically nullified the democracy destabilizing potential of the Indian Army. This they [...]

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

A Brief History of Humankind Sapiens is arguably the most comprehensive and even-headed survey of human history. Unlike traditional attempts at popular history, the author starts the journey from the prehistory fully exploring the transition of Homo sapiens from a [...]