The book is Enlightment Now and the Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker. It’s a Big Book like Pinker’s others: over 500 pages. Bill Gates said this was his new favorite book of all time. (We’ve read Gates’ prior favorite book of all time!) In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing.
Our library system has 42 copies. About $11 at Amazon.
For a list of previously discussed books, see www.pghfreethought.org/book-club-list
