Theory of Knowledge Summer Reading and Video Assignment

This summer assignment requires you to watch at least one video and read
one book. The video and the book must, in some way, address Theory of Knowledge
topics. This assignment is designed to keep TOK topics in your mind during the
summer months, or at least to review the concepts before school starts in August.
You may also choose to use a book from your EE research over the summer.
Assignment: Take notes on the video and the book and turn those notes into a
short one page write-up. So, complete one write-up for the video and one write-up for
the book. Focus the notes and write-ups on how the video and book reflect WOK and
AOK and KQs. Notes and write-up for the video and the book should be about one
to two pages each. The video write-up is worth 20 points and the book write-up is
also worth 20 points for a total of 40 points. We will discuss and collect this work
on our first day back in August. If you need ideas, the following is but a brief list.
You do not need to select your books or film from this list.
Two Highly Recommended Books:
Reinventing Knowledge: From Alexandria to the Internet Ian F. McNeely
The Search For Meaning Dennis Ford
List 1: This list generally contains lighter, free-reading, books:
The Giants Novels James P. Hogan
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert Pirsig
Flow My Tears the Policeman Said Philip K. Dick
Minority Report Philip K. Dick
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Philip K. Dick
This book inspired the film, Bladerunner
Mind Over Matter (a book about science) K. C. Cole
The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver
Mostly Harmless Douglas Adams
Porcupines (a philosophical anthology) ed. Graham Higgin
Ishmael Daniel Quinn
City Clifford Simak
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
The Alchemist Paul Coehlo
Stranger in a Strange Land Robert Heinlen

1
The Plato Papers Peter Ackroyd
Einstein's Dreams Alan Lightman
An Anthropologist on Mars Oliver Sacks
Invisible Cities Italo Calvino
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Jean-Dominique Bauby
The Cyberiad Stanislaw Lem
The Broken God David Zindell
List 2: This list contains slightly deeper content-oriented books that can really
aid you in preparing to write a great TOK Essay:
Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz Burger and Starbird
How Doctors Think Jerome Groopman
Powers of the Mind Brian Innes
The Black Swan Gregory Russell
Brain, Symbol, and Experience Charles D. Laughlin
An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis John Hospers
The Pig That Wants to be Eaten and 99 Other Experiments Julian Baggini
Emotion: The Science of Sentiment Dylan Evans
Discovering Geometry: An Inductive Approach Michael Serra
Critical Thinking Alec Fisher
Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs Adrienne Mayor
The Closing of the Western Mind Charles Freeman
The Symbolic Species Terrence Deacon
Rethinking Life and Death Peter Singer
101 Philosophical Problems Martin Cohen
What Is This Thing Called Science? A.F. Chalmers
The Language Instinct Stephen Pinker
Inevitable Illusions Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini
Inventing The Flat Earth Jeffrey Burton Russell
Ethics: A Contemporary Introduction Harry Gensler
Exploring How Texts Work Beverly Derewianka
Emotion: A Very Short Introduction Dylan Evans
Beyond Numeracy John Allen Paulos
The Social Construction of Reality Peter Berger & Thomas Luckman
The Ascent of Man J. Bronowski