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De Omnibus Dubitandum - Lux Veritas

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Reading is Fundamental

Dear Friends,

Those of us who are old enough will remember when the phrase, "Reading is Fundamental", was used extensively to encourage reading among the young....and probably everone else too.  I don't see it used any longer and that's disapointing because as a society we seem to read less than ever and understand less than ever while adamantly embracing the conclusions of our ignorance, which constitutes stupid - and stupid can't be fixed because stupid people refuse to learn, and that includes a great many over educated under smart people.   

However - ignorance only means we don't know.  Ignorance is fixable - all we have to do is be willing to find out what the facts really are.   And that starts with a good history lesson - none of which can be found in America's schools or universities. 

Over the years I foolishly thought just because I read something or knew something - everyone knew it also - and I didn't understand why they didn't come to my conclusions.  Talk about dumb! 

That's not the way the universe works.  Some people read and some people don't.   Some think deeply, some don't.  Some people watched Fred Friendly's Ethics in America series and .... well.... most didn't have a clue what I was talking about, and the rest only thought they might have heard about it - and they were a very small minority.  And I was stunned!

The fact of the matter is - some people are interested and some people aren't.  I hate doing mechanical work - others think that's the greatest thing since New York style cheesecake.   But - that's the way it is! 

However, that shouldn't mean abandoning the goal of encouraging everyone  to read books - articles aren't enough - we need books for depth.   Just discussing what you've read is an encouragement, and even if they don't read - at least people will get the knowledge through you. 

I don't buy into some of the views in some of the books listed here.  As example - Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals.  He's a loon - a frightening loon - but Hillary, Obama and a great many on the left in powerful positions are deciples of Alinsky.  We need to know what the other side says if we're to be able to overcome those views.  We need to be in this arena if we're to be worthwhile leaders of our industry. 

So, by way of encouragement to those who might be willing to jump into this arena I'm posting the last 50 books I've read over the last few years.

Best wishes,

Rich Kozlovich
  1. Are Children More Vulnerable to Environmental Chemicals? Scientific and Regulatory Issues in Perspective, American Council on Science and Health
  2. America's War on “Carcinogens”, Reassessing the Use of Animal Tests To Predict Human Cancer Risk, American Council on Science and Health (Editor's Note:  This no longer appears to be available in book form, but the link is to a PDF of the book.  This is a must read!  RK)
  3. Ecological Sanity, by Claus and Bolander
  4. The Excellent Powder, DDT's Political and Scientific History, by Donald Roberts, Rchard Tren with Roger Bate and Jennifer Zambone
  5. Intellectuals and Society, by Thomas Sowell
  6. Inside the Third Reich, Memoirs of Albert Speer
  7. A Man of Letters, by Thomas Sowell
  8. Interpreting the Precautionary Principle, by Tim O'Riordan and James Cameron
  9. Silent Spring at 50, The False Crisis of Rachel Carson, Edited by Roger Meiners, Peirre Desrochers, and Andrew Morriss
  10. Stalin's Secret Agents, The Subversion of Roosevelt's Government, by M. Stanton Evans and Herbert Romerstein
  11. Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson
  12. Silencing Science, by Steven Milloy and Michael Gouch (Editor's Note:  This is a booklet, so I don't know why the price is so high, so explore the "See Buying Options" link.   

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