Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason

Recorded Books, 2008. Audio Cassette. Good. Descartes' Bones, by Russell Shorto. Published by Recorded Books. Unabridged audiobook on 8 cassettes, approximately 9.25 hours. Narrated by Paul Hecht. A retired library copy, with typical markings; case and cassettess in good condition. "On a brutal winter's day in 1650 in Stockholm, the Frenchman René Descartes, the most influential and controversial thinker of his time, was buried after a cold and lonely death far from home. At the root of Descartes’ “method” was skepticism: "What can I know for certain?" Like-minded thinkers around Europe passionately embraced [his] book--the method was applied to medicine, nature, politics, and society. The notion that one could find truth in facts that could be proved, and not in reliance on tradition and the Church's teachings, would become a turning point in human history. The great controversy Descartes ignited continues to our era: where Islamic terrorists spurn the modern world and pine for a culture based on unquestioning faith; where scientists write bestsellers that passionately make the case for atheism; where others struggle to find a balance between faith and reason. Descartes’ Bones is a historical detective story about the creation of the modern mind, with twists and turns leading up to the present day — to the science museum in Paris where the philosopher’s skull now resides and to the church a few kilometers away where, not long ago, a philosopher-priest said a mass for his bones.