The Science of Liberty: Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature by Timothy Ferris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this intellectual history — it hit science, politics, and philosophy. It was definitely opinionated — Feyerabend, Lenin, Marx, etc got a major thumbs down! The last chapter hit on Islamism, Climate Change, and a nice conclusion of the book — it seemed like there were at least two full books compressed into the last chapter! Especially in the last two chapters, if felt like the writing became less focused and coherent; that is, there was more jumping between ideas. Despite this, I loved reading it. And, surprisingly, this book was dedicated to H.S.T. – I have to assume that is Hunter! It felt like quite a “non-Hunter” like read, but I also do thing it would resonate with deep themes in HST’s writing/life. I think the most important idea in the whole book was the “triangle” (and later “diamond”) representing the concept that liberalism is not the same as progressive. Thanks Chip for the recommendation!