Pittsburgh Freethought Community - Freethinkers Book Club List

2024

January Song of the Cell: Exploration of Medicine and the New Human Siddhartha Mukherjee
February The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma Mustafa Suleyman with Michael Bhaskar
March The Hundred Years' War on Palestine Rashid Khalidi

2023

January The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World Jeff Goodell
February American Crusade: How the Supreme Court is Weaponizing Religious Freedom Andrew Seidel
March An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us Ed Yong
April Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America Stephen Bullivant
May Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law Mary Roach
June Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari
July Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA Neil Shubin
August The Premonition: A Pandemic Story Michael Lewis
September Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond
October Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution Elie Mystal
November The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History Elizabeth Kolbert

2019

September Enlightenment Now and the Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress Steven Pinker
July Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us Sam Kean
February Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
January Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst Robert M. Sapolsky

2018

December Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions Richard Harris
October Breaking the Spell Daniel C. Dennett
September The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World Michael Pollan
August How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence Michael Pollan
June In Pursuit of Memory: The Fight Against Alzheimer's Joseph Jebelli
May Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve or Ruin Everything Kelly and Zach Weinersmith
April The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark Carl Sagan
February Origin: A Novel Dan Brown
January The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Secrets from a Hidden World Peter Wohlleben

2017

November / December The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature Steven Pinker
October Einstein's Heroes: Imagining the World Through the Language of Mathematics Robyn Arianrhod
September Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts About Alternative Medicine Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh
August Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Mary Roach
July The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer Siddhartha Mukherjee
June The Most Perfect Thing: Inside (and Outside) a Bird's Egg Tim Birkhead
May The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World Andrea Wolf
April Five Equations that Changed the World: The Power and Poetry of Mathematics Michael Guillen
March I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life Ed Yong
February The Age of Wonder: The Romantic Generation and the Discovery of the Beauty and Terror of Science Richard Holmes
January The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future Gretchen Bakke

2016

DecemberAre We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?Frans de Waal
NovemberFree WillSam Harris
OctoberGuns, Germs, and SteelJared Diamond
SeptemberStumbling on HappinessDaniel Gilbert
AugustThinking, Fast and SlowDaniel Kahneman
JulyThe Upright Thinkers: The Human Journey from Living in Trees to Understanding the CosmosLeonard Mlodinow
JuneThe Social Conquest of EarthEdward O. Wilson
MayWhy Evolution is TrueJerry Coyne
AprilFive Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the StarsLee Billings
MarchThe Wright BrothersDavid McCullough
FebruaryStorms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save HumanityJames Hansen
JanuaryStuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made WorldMark Miodownik

2015

DecemberThe Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our LivesLeonard Mlodinow
NovemberHow We Got To Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern WorldSteven Johnson
OctoberSapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Parts III and IVYuval Noah Harari
SeptemberSapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Parts I and IIYuval Noah Harari
AugustWeed the People: The Future of Legal Marijuana in AmericaBruce Barcott
JulyMother Nature Is Trying to Kill You: A Lively Tour Through the Dark Side of the Natural WorldDan Riskin
JuneLife Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of EvolutionNick Lane
MayBreasts: A Natural and Unnatural HistoryFlorence Williams
AprilThe Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in NatureDavid George Haskell
MarchSupersense: Why We Believe in the UnbelievableBruce M. Hood
FebruaryThe PlanetsDana Sobel
JanuaryLongitude: The Story of a True Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His TimesDana Sobel

2014

NovemberHow Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical ThinkingJordan Ellenberg
OctoberThe Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern GeologySimon Winchester
SeptemberThe First Americans: Archaeology's Greatest MysteryJames Adovasio
AugustSpook: Science Tackles the AfterlifeMary Roach
JulyMistakes Were Made (but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful ActsCarol Tavris and Elliot Aronson
JuneDo You Believe in Magic: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative MedicinePaul Offit, MD
MayThe Atheist and the Bonobo: In Search of Humanism Among the PrimatesFrans de Waal
AprilThe Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural HistoryElizabeth Kolbert
MarchSweet Heaven When I DieJeff Sharlet
FebruaryOriginsNeil deGrasse Tyson
JanuaryAttack of the TheocratsSean Faircloth

2013

DecemberAbominable ScienceDaniel Loxton
NovemberBetter Angels of Our NatureSteven Pinker
OctoberMasters of the Planet / Last Ape StandingIan Tattersall and Chip Walter
SeptemberOrigins of the Modern WorldRobert B. Marks
AugustLast Chance to SeeDouglas Adams and Mark Carwardine
JulyA Short History of Nearly EverythingBill Bryson
JuneLetter to a Christian Nation and LyingSam Harris
MayPortable AtheistChristopher Hitchens
AprilThe Swerve: How the World Became ModernStephen Greenblatt
MarchThe Ghost MapSteven Johnson
FebruaryThe InformationJames Gleick
JanuaryWhy Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the GodlessGreta Christina

2012

NovemberAmerican Genesis: Evolution Controversies from Scopes to Creation ScienceJeffrey P. Moran
OctoberMerchants of DoubtNaomi Oreskes
SeptemberPerfect SoldiersTerry McDermott
AugustYour Inner FishNeil Shubin
JulyThe Righteous MindJonathan Haidt
JuneA Universe from NothingLawrence Krauss
MayGenius in All of UsDavid Shenk
AprilWhat Is This Thing Called ScienceA. F. Chalmers
MarchPlastic OceanCapt. Charles Moore and Cassandra Phillips
FebruaryInfidelAyaan Hirsi Ali
JanuarySeven Daughters of EveBryan Sykes

2011

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