The website of John C. Snider
In this book from 2003, philosopher Daniel Dennett (Breaking the Spell) tries to reconcile free will and Darwinian theory. [Originally posted October 2004 at SciFiDimensions.com; re-posted on February 3, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Does free will exist? It’s a thorny issue that philosophers have tangled with for millennia. And despite the occasional claim of victory, the …
A review of Peter Nichols’ biography of Robert Fitzroy, captain of the H.M.S. Beagle [Originally posted in February 2004 at SciFiDimensions.com; re-posted on February 2, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Every schoolchild and amateur scientist knows (or should) that Charles Darwin began developing his ideas about evolution and the origin of species while on a round-the-world voyage aboard …
[Originally posted on January 3, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com. A slightly different version appeared in 2006 in Volume 12, No. 3 of the magazine Skeptic.] It has been nearly four centuries since Galileo Galilei lost his legendary showdown with the Catholic Church’s Court of the Inquisition. Threatened with imprisonment, torture and certain death, Galileo backed down—officially, at …
[Originally posted January 1, 2008 at AmericanFreethought.com.] Christopher Hitchens seems to revel in his role as the Bad Boy of Unbelievers. With books like The Missionary Position (a scathing criticism of the late and soon-to-be-canonized Mother Teresa) and his recent bestseller God Is Not Great, Hitchens tweaks the conservative establishment, and he’s not afraid to engage in public debate …
[Originally posted in February 2007 at SciFiDimensions.com; re-posted on September 25, 2007 at AmericanFreethought.com.] It’s hard to believe, 82 years after the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial, that there are still Americans who really do believe that the earth is 6,600 years old (give or take a century) and that Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is just …
[Originally posted in March 2004 at SciFiDimensions.com; re-posted on September 24, 2007 as the first entry at AmericanFreethought.com.] What is “human nature”? How much of what we do is really “free will,” and how much of it is driven by deep genetic programming laid down even before there was such a thing as a human …
[This review originally appeared at SciFiDimensions.com in June 2004, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary edition published by Beacon Press. You can also read my interview with Ms. Butler here.] Life is good for Dana, a young black woman living in California. She and her husband have just moved into a new home, and …
[This interview originally appeared at SciFiDimensions.com in June 2004. Ms. Butler died in 2006. This interview was included in the 2009 book Conversations with Octavia Butler, edited by Consuela Francis, published by University of Mississippi Press. You can read my short review of Kindred here.] Octavia E. Butler has been an inspiration to a new generation of writers …
[Originally published in May 2000 at SciFiDimensions.com.] Ayn Rand’s magnum opus Atlas Shrugged turns 50 this month. Objectivists are celebrating, and CSPAN 2 recently devoted several hours of programming to discussions about the late Rand and her literary/philosophical influence. Nearly a quarter century after her death, Rand is still stirring up controversy, and despite her …
[Originally posted in March and April 2000 at SciFiDimensions.com. Dr. Bova died in November 2020. For more about Ben Bova and his lifetime of work, visit BenBova.com] Ben Bova is a busy man. He’s has been a journalist, a teacher, a marketeer, an editor, and, oh yeah…a writer. Having spent many successful award-winning years as …