One curious feature of our times is the co-existence of a nearly unimaginable rapidity of communications with an at-times slow, even glacial, movement of ideas. Narratives that have lost any genuine explanatory power, along with the biased historical scholarship of earlier centuries, have become entrenched in the minds of millions, seemingly immune from being dislodged. Such simplistic queries as "What about Galileo?" "What about the Crusades?" are still meant to draw Catholics up short, a conversation-stopper. Scholarship of recent decades, however, has thrown new light on these matters, and...

Life's Journey is a rich exploration not only of biology but also of the meaning of life and death. In addition to guiding the reader through the biological milestones marking a lifetime, the book is also a philosophical pursuit of the Great Questions that accompany our journey through life. Gerard Verschuuren describes in fascinating detail the six main phases of that journey: conception, life in the womb, infancy and childhood, adulthood, old age, and natural death. If you have children going through earlier phases, or parents experiencing later phases, this book offers a wealth of helpful...