Ron Liskey

A History of Western Philosophy

Generally considered flawed due to Russell's strong bias toward logical positviism, it's still a classic and well worth reading. We don't have to agree with every idea in order to consider it, and learn from it.

All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror

Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge

The biologist Edward O. Wilson offers an imaginative and intellectually stimulating romp through many aspects of modern science and society. He's not afraid to clearly express his opinions and let the chips fall where they may. I appreaciate this courage to speak his mind in a time of rampant intellectual relativism and ethical cowardice.

Making Math Meaningful: A Middle School Math Curriculum for Teachers and Parents

Written by an experienced Waldorf teacher, this book provides a clear overview of a typicalWaldorf middle school math curriculum. Filled with detailed examples and clear explanations. Unfortunately, it's somewhat dated due to ever increasing state pressures to teach complex skills at inappropriately young ages. This is an excellent book for home schoolers and others who are free to teach to the students rather than to politically-motivated  mandates.

Mark Twain on Religion: What is Man, The War Prayer, Thou Shalt Not Kill, The Fly, Letters from the Earth (Forgotten Books)

Most of Mark Twain's most important works have been systemactially ignored due to their uncompromising truthfulness and passion. This collection contains many of the best.
Another great anthology is, Mark Twain in Eruption. This book is no longer in print, but used copies can still be found.

Mein Kampf (German)

To understand what leads people toward fascism in all its varied forms, it's important to understand the fears, frustrations, hopes, and dreams of those who fall under the spell of overly-simplistic dogmas. Ignorance is no defense against the approach of night.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Should be required reading for all educators.

Protocol: How Control Exists after Decentralization (Leonardo Books)

Is the Internet a vast arena of unrestricted communication and freely exchanged information or a regulated, highly structured virtual bureaucracy? In Protocol, Alexander Galloway argues that the founding principle of the Net is control, not freedom, and that the controlling power lies in the technical protocols that make network connections (and disconnections) possible. He does this by treating the computer as a textual medium that is based on a technological language, code. Code, he argues, can be subject to the same kind of cultural and literary analysis as any natural language; computer languages have their own syntax, grammar, communities, and cultures. Written for a nontechnical audience, Protocol serves as a necessary counterpoint to the wildly utopian visions of the Net that were so widespread in earlier days.

The Complete Book of Woodworking: Detailed Plans for More Than 40 Fabulous Projects

Great book with plenty of breadth, depth and detail. The projects are a little simple, but they are good starting points.

The Gnostic Gospels

An easy introduction to many of the lost books of the early Christians. Shows what Christianity might have become if it's early history had not be so brutally controlled by gangs of bitter old men.

The Pursuit of Loneliness

Contrary to the distortions of the corporate media, the sixties generation stood for much more that "sex, drugs and rock 'n roll." The counterculture they devised, was first and foremost an intellectual, philosophical, and even spiritual movement against the bankrupt morals, ideas, and lifestyles of dominant society. One of the predominating characteristics of the counterculture was its sense of moral outrage at blatant racism.
Philip Slater details how and why the two cultures clashed, and what the likely results would be. Unlike his younger admirers, Slater understood the power of the dominant culture, and just how perilous the position of the counterculture was growing to be. In this sense, he anticipated the kinds of events--such as the shootings at Kent State and in the Deep South--that began the reaction and eventual distruction of the counterculture.
To read this book is to take a step back into the maelstrom that whirled around us in the sixties, and to see the nature of contemporary society in an even clearer light than is possible without it.

THE WORLD TREASURY OF PHYSICS ASTRONOMY AND MATHEMATICS

Includes original essays by Einstein, Hawking, Dillard, Updike, Heisenberg, Planck, Russell, Mandelbrot, Neumann, Asimov, Goethe, and many more. Eloquent and inspiring.

Illustrated Dictionary of Math (Illustrated Dictionaries)

Covers Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry. Grady, one of our previous star students, introduced me to this book, and it may be among the best of the lot. Small format, jam-packed, full-color, richly illustrated, and with clear explanations. A very well organized book with inspiring examples and illustrations.