Just finished reading Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, by Daniel Dennett. (Citing this book is an alliterative joy. So many Ds.)

This book might as well have been designed for me, since it’s a sort of review and critical commentary on the works of Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker and other favorites of mine. Dennett is simultanously bold and reasonable: he tries to rise above the fray, sort out all the available works, and construct a reasonable synthesis. This is difficult, especially when he moves into sociobiology, which is a frightening battlefield full of highly amplified, polarized arguments.

The best part of books is the bibliography. Dennett’s discussion of memes reminds me to actually read Dawkins’s The Selfish Gene. Meanwhile, his discussion of Penrose’s The Emperor’s New Mind helps confirm my initial impression that Penrose has gone into philosopause.