This page lists selected new nonfiction books -- pertaining directly to science fiction, fantasy, and horror, as well as books of associational interest -- seen published this month, mostly via bookstores sightings (or received for review).
Key: * = first edition, + = first US edition. Date with publisher info is official publication month; date in parentheses at paragraph end is date seen or received.
10 - 31 July
* Coles, Robert The Secular Mind (Princeton 0-691-05805-9, $19.95, 189pp, hc, April 1999) A psychiatrist's philosophical consideration of the shift from religious thinking in 1900 to secular thinking in 2000. The last section, ''Where We Are Headed'', includes discussions of Looking Backward, 1984, Brave New World, and [as he calls it] Philip K. Dick's Blade Runner. (Fri 30 Jul 1999)
* Devlin, Keith InfoSense: Turning Information into Knowledge (W.H. Freeman and Company 0-7167-3484-2, $24.95, 10+215pp, hc, June 1999) Mathematician Devlin (author of Goodbye, Descartes and other books) elaborates ideas of ''situation theory'': how to turn information into knowledge. (Wed 21 Jul 1999)
* Wilson, A.N. God's Funeral (W.W. Norton & Company 0-393-04745-8, $27.95, 11+402pp, hc, June 1999) Scholarly consideration of the many ways intellectuals came to abandon faith in Christianity and belief in God by the end of the 19th century; Darwin was a major factor, but far from the only one. Wilson's prose is remarkably lucid and straightfoward. Of particular interest is the chapter titled "Science" which considers the current popularity of popular science books (Fri 23 Jul 1999)
1 - 9 July
* Ruse, Michael Mystery of Mysteries: Is Evolution a Social Construction? (Harvard University Press 0-674-46706-x, $27.50, 8+296pp, hc, April 1999) A prolific writer on evolutionary themes addresses the topic in light of recent postmodernist controversies, like the Sokal hoax, which question the objective or subjective nature of science. Various chapters discuss the philosophical approaches of Karl Popper, Charles Darwin himself, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, Edward O. Wilson, etc. (Mon 5 Jul 1999)
* Turney, Jon Frankenstein's Footsteps: Science, Genetics and Popular Culture (Yale University Press 0-300-07417-4, $30.00, 9+276pp, hc, June 1998) Study of how popular culture depicts science, in particular genetic experiments. Numerous examples from SF, though mostly limited to movie SF or stories from the Gernsback era. The book appeared a year ago, but Locus Online noticed it at a nearby Borders and thought it pertinent enough to list anyway. (Tue 6 Jul 1999)
