The Plausibility of Life by Kirschner & Gerhart OK, this is an oddball one, in that a book on Evo Devo is pretty far from CS, but reading it completely changed how I look at software architecture, protocols, formats, programming languages, and a whole range of other CS-related topics. Superficially, it is what it says on the tin: an examination of the mechanisms by which life manages to evolve at all, that keep most…
"The Plausibility of Life ends with a brief critique of intelligent design, suggesting that the concept of facilitated variation will provide a solid argument to rebut creationists. I applaud the authors' intention, as it seems to me that more scientists ought to face the realities of public misunderstanding of science. But their presentation is too brief, and a bit too simplistic. The "controversy" about evolution has nothing to do with the soundness of scientific explanations of the history of life: It's not a scientific controversy, but a social, cultural and political one. Creationism is the result of centuries of anti-intellectualism in the United States, coupled with sometimes cynical exploitation of the issue for political gain. In addition, many scientists have no interest in getting out of the ivory tower to talk to the very same public that pays their salaries and funds their precious research grants. The recent defeat of intelligent design at the trial in Dover, Pennsylvania—at the hand of a conservative judge appointed by George W. Bush—will do much more to promote sanity in public education than any theory about facilitated variation, as scientifically sound as the latter may be." http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/have-we-solve...