Something Old, Something New

"There is a tendency in contemporary life to privilege the scientific analysis of every aspect of human life, and to discount philosophical, artistic, and religious thinking as archaic or irrelevant in a scientific age. As Glausser shows, this is a profound mistake. In a series of excursions from Starbucks coffee cups and the New Atheism to LSD and the Seven Deadly Sins, he demonstrates the intricate threads that entangle seemingly unrelated aspects of popular, political, and scientific culture. Be prepared for a book that will surprise, delight, and even annoy you - in a most remarkable and rewarding way."--Kenneth R. Miller, Professor of Biology, Brown University "I admire the voice that I hear running through this book, naming and probing a whole range of tangles chapter by chapter. That voice is as honest and even-handed as the subject requires. It's perhaps at its most persuasive when, from a perspective won from a life-time of working with the young, it fosters a melancholy that is appreciated in maturity."--Dayton Haskin, Professor of English, Boston College "With insight, nuance, and evident good humor, Glausser analyzes intertwining secular and religious claims about cosmic origins, the functioning of the brain and awareness, and the meaning of life and death, among others. Alternately down to earth and erudite, consistently well researched and meticulously documented, Something Old, Something New guides the reader on an analytical journey through atheism, faithful science, the editions of the Norton Anthology, declarations of Pope Francis, the Seven Deadly Sins, and last rites - both religious and psychedelic. A tour de force."-- Neal Abraham, Five College Professor of Physics, Whately, MA "The book is written in a very appealing style and is accessible to a larger public." -- Reading Religion