false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1236228896m/76732.jpg 76732 3 As a poet, novelist, and farmer, Wendell Berry has worked and written in favor of tried and tested ways, rejecting the notion that the modern is always to be preferred over the old. Technology may have its uses, he has insisted in books like <I>The Gift of Good Land</I>, but what matters more is the crafting of sound human communities and of self-reliant living. Religious faith lies at the heart of Berry's unapologetically old-fashioned program. Faith, which supposes that life is full of unpredictable mysteries, stands against much of modern science, an opposition that Berry explores in <I>Life Is a Miracle</I>. Taking particular issue with entomologist E.O. Wilson's recent book, <I>Consilience</I>, which maintains the supremacy of scientific explanation over religious conjecture and supposes that science will one day be able to answer every question about the hows and whys of life, Berry revisits C.P. Snow's "two cultures" thesis to observe that science and religion address different kinds of necessary questions. "Science cannot replace art or religion," he writes, "for the same reason that you cannot loosen a nut with a saw or cut a board in two with a wrench." Against science's "false specification and pretentious exactitude," Berry notes quietly that the more he observes his own little corner of the planet, a small Kentucky farm, the less patient he is with reductionist, materialist explanations of the way things work--for here, and everywhere, "life ... is unique, given to the world minute by minute, only once, never to be repeated."<br><br> Berry's slender essay offers a thoughtful repudiation of an increasingly technological--and, some would say, soulless--culture. <I>--Gregory McNamee</I> 74220 2000 Life Is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition total:191|5:61|4:88|3:32|2:7|1:3| 191 770 305 37 5 1 false false Wed Feb 06 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 17:30:44 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 06 08:37:46 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Dec 19 17:51:41 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 18:31:40 -0800 2008 Consilience in his sights. Berry suggests that something is lost when we only focus on the reductionist perspective at the root of ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Nov 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 06 15:00:13 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 28 07:57:16 -0800 2008
He writes a critique of rationalism and scientific though...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Apr 20 13:45:14 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 14 20:09:02 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sat Feb 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 05:03:10 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 08:56:40 -0800 2009
This book is a response to Edward O. Wilson's Consilience. Berry disagrees strongly with Wilson's belief that everything can become known...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Sat Apr 26 17:17:30 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 17:22:50 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 15 09:33:45 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 10 06:56:36 -0700 2008 Life Is a Miracle is actually an essay against E. O. Wilson's Consilience, and as such it does not do a fantastic job. As usual for Wendell Berry, however, there is much to earn this book a spot on one's shelves.

Berry primarily takes issue with Wilson's championing of science as the cur...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 29 07:23:33 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 07:29:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Feb 14 09:00:11 -0800 2008 Wed Apr 16 13:41:13 -0700 2008
A farmer, poet, and thinker, Berry argues page after page agai...more...]]> 4 0 true false Wed May 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jan 25 04:56:36 -0800 2008 Mon Jul 07 19:11:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 true false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 03 12:02:02 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 12:05:45 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Fri Oct 30 19:08:39 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 02 05:27:47 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jan 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 07:45:59 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 08:49:21 -0800 2009 1 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Mon Dec 01 15:32:27 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 01 15:33:01 -0800 2008 1 4 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 13:18:45 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 13:22:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 13 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 12 22:18:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 19 16:01:00 -0700 2008
Over all, I'd recommend this book to people who believe that science isn't the only path...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 18 23:04:13 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 07 20:55:27 -0800 2008 1 5 0 false false Fri May 02 19:27:01 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 27 18:38:34 -0700 2007 Fri May 02 19:27:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 11 19:04:52 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 19:08:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 03 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 25 06:53:36 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 25 11:13:52 -0700 2008
On the bright side, the last 1/4 when Berry sheds off Wilson and riffs on issues of art (something he ...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=76732