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Books: Text Books: History and Theory
A Short History of Nearly Everythingby Bill Bryson List Price: $16.95 Available from Amazon $11.02 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page Product Review From primordial nothingness to this very moment, A Short history of Nearly Everything reports what happened and how humans figured it out. To accomplish this daunting literary task, Bill Bryson uses hundreds of sources, from popular science books to interviews with luminaries in various fields. His aim is to help people like him, who rejected stale school textbooks and dry explanations, to appreciate how we have used science to understand the smallest particles and the unimaginably vast expanses of space. With his distinctive prose style and wit, Bryson succeeds admirably. Though A Short History clocks in at a daunting 500-plus pages and covers the same material as every science book before it, it reads something like a particularly detailed novel (albeit without a plot). Each longish chapter is devoted to a topic like the age of our planet or how cells work, and these chapters are grouped into larger sections such as "The Size of the Earth" and "Life Itself." Bryson chats with experts like Richard Fortey (author of Life and Trilobite) and these interviews are charming. But it's when Bryson dives into some of science's best and most embarrassing fights--Cope vs. Marsh, Conway Morris vs. Gould--that he finds literary gold. --Therese Littleton --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Publishers Weekly As the title suggests, bestselling author Bryson (In a Sunburned Country) sets out to put his irrepressible stamp on all things under the sun. As he States at the outset, this is a book about life, the universe and everything, from the Big Bang to the ascendancy of Homo sapiens. "This is a book about how it happened," the author writes. "In particular how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since." What follows is a brick of a volume summarizing moments both great and curious in the history of science, covering already well-trod territory in the fields of cosmology, astronomy, paleontology, geology, chemistry, physics and so on. Bryson relies on some of the best material in the history of science to have come out in recent years. This is great for Bryson fans, who can encounter this material in its barest essence with the bonus of having it served up in Bryson's distinctive voice. But readers in the field will already have studied this information more in-depth in the originals and may find themselves questioning the point of a breakneck tour of the sciences that contributes nothing novel. Nevertheless, to read Bryson is to travel with a memoirist gifted with wry observation and keen insight that shed new light on things we mistake for commonplace. To accompany the author as he travels with the likes of Charles Darwin on the Beagle, Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton is a trip worth taking for most readers. Copyright 2003 Reed business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. |
Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestorsby Nicholas Wade List Price: $24.95 Available from Amazon $15.72 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly Scientists are using DNA analysis to understand our prehistory: the evolution of humans; their relation to the Neanderthals, who populated Europe and the Near East; and Homo erectus, who roamed the steppes of Asia. Most importantly, geneticists can trace the movements of a little band of human ancestors, numbering perhaps no more than 150, who crossed the Red Sea from east Africa about 50,000 years ago. Within a few thousand years, their descendents, Homo sapiens, became masters of all they surveyed, the other humanoid species having become extinct. According to New York Times science reporter Wade, this DNA analysis shows that evolution isn't restricted to the distant past: Iceland has been settled for only 1,000 years, but the inhabitants have already developed distinctive genetic traits. Wade expands his survey to cover the development of language and the domestication of man's best friend. And while "race" is often a dirty word in science, one of the book's best chapters shows how racial differences can be marked genetically and why this is important, not least for the treatment of diseases. This is highly recommended for readers interested in how DNA analysis is rewriting the history of mankind. Maps. (Apr. 24) Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Genetics has been intruding on human origins research, long the domain of archaeology and paleoanthropology. Veteran science journalist Wade applies the insights of genetics to every intriguing question about the appearance and global dispersal of our species. The result is Wade's recounting of "a new narrative," which also has elements of a turf war between geneticists and their established colleagues. He efficiently explains how an evolutionary event (e.g., hairlessness) is recorded in DNA, and how rates of mutation can set boundary dates for it. For the story, Wade opens with a geneticist's estimate that modern (distinct from "archaic") Homo sapiens arose in northeast Africa 59,000 years ago, with a tiny population of only a few thousand, and was homogenous in appearance and language. Tracking the ensuing expansion and evolutionary pressures on humans, Wade covers the genetic evidence bearing on Neanderthals, race, language, social behaviors such as male-female pair bonding, and cultural practices such as religion. Wade presents the science skillfully, with detail and complexity and without compromising clarity. Gilbert Taylor Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved |
The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post-Modernby Carol Strickland and John Boswell List Price: $22.95 Available from Amazon $14.92 On 7-21-2006
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A Little History of the Worldby E. H. Gombrich List Price: $25.00 Available from Amazon $15.75 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. This is an unusual work for Yale: a children's history originally published 70 years ago. But it is a work one can quickly come to love. Gombrich, later known as an art historian, wrote this primer in 1935, when he was a young man in Vienna (it was soon banned by the Nazis as too "pacifist"). Rewritten (and updated) in English mainly by Gombrich himself (who died in 2001, age 92, while working on it), the book is still aimed at children, as the language makes clear: "Then, slowly the clouds parted to reveal the starry night of the Middle Ages." But while he addresses his readers directly at times, Gombrich never talks down to them. Using vivid imagery, storytelling and sly humor, he brings history to life in a way that adults as well as children can appreciate.The book displays a breadth of knowledge, as Gombrich begins with prehistoric man and ends with the close of WWII. In the final, newly added chapter, Gombrich's tone sadly darkens as he relates the rise of Hitler and his own escape from the Holocaust—children, he writes, "must learn from history how easy it is for human beings to be transformed into inhuman beings"—and ends on a note of cautious optimism about humanity's future. (Oct. 13) Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist This is the first English translation of a book written in 1935 in German and translated into 18 languages. Thirty years later, a second German edition was published with a new final chapter. In 40 brief chapters, Gombrich relates the history of humankind from the Stone Age through World War II. In between are historic accounts of such topics as cave people and their inventions (including speech), ancient life along the Nile and in Mesopotamia and Greece, the growth of religion, the Dark Ages, the age of chivalry, the New World, and the Thirty Years' War. Much of this history is told through concise sketches of such figures as Confucius, Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Jesus Christ, Charlemagne, Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon, and Columbus. Gombrich was asked to write a history geared to younger readers, so the book is filled with innumerable dates and facts, yet it is one to be read by adults. With 41 black-and-white woodcut illustrations and nine maps, it is a timeless and engaging narrative of the human race. George Cohen Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved |
Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory (Modern Library Chronicles)by Edward J. Larson List Price: $22.95 Available from Amazon $14.92 On 7-21-2006
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly Larson, a Pulitzer-winning historian (Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion), traces the history of the contentious concept of evolution from Darwin's predecessors, like Cuvier and Lyell, to his early advocates, like Asa Gray (who tried to keep God in the mix) and Thomas Huxley, and "postmodern" advocates such as Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins. Larson reminds readers that Darwin hasn't always been held in as high esteem as he is today, even among scientists: at the beginning of the 1900s, the concept of evolution was widely accepted, but natural selection was not. Larson demonstrates that only through advances by mid-century population geneticists like Haldane, Fisher and Wright and sociobiologists like the late William Hamilton have most scientists come to accept all of Darwin's theories. Larson devotes chapters to dark episodes in evolution's history like the early 20th-century eugenics movement and the Scopes trial, where, Larson proposes, Clarence Darrow's theatrics may have done the cause more harm than good. This latest entry in Modern Library's Chronicles series isn't "evolution for dummies"â€"it requires concentration and some effortâ€"but Larson's survey should make valuable reading for young people going into the sciences and other science buffs. Illus. not seen by PW. Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From AudioFile As a concept, evolution has a hotly contested history, due to its implications with regard to religion, politics, ethics, and human self-definition. Edward Larson traces this complexity with fairness and accuracy, summarizing the battles and providing selections from thinkers on all sides of the debates. John McDonough's rich voice and measured delivery lend support to Larson's fairness. His gravity allows listeners to better understand the weight of older debates and gain objectivity on contemporary ones. Finally, McDonough's skill helps distinguish among the various highly charged voices active in the debate, greatly aiding comprehension. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. |
How to Read a Film: The World of Movies, Media, Multimedia: Language, History, Theoryby James Monaco List Price: $27.50 Available from Amazon $17.33 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page Book Description First published in 1977, this popular book has become the source on film and media. Now, James Monaco offers a revised and rewritten third edition incorporating every major aspect of this dynamic medium right up to the present. Looking at film from many vantage points, How to Read a Film: Movies, Media, Multimedia explores the medium as both art and craft, sensibility and science, tradition and technology. After examining film's close relation to such other narrative media as the novel, painting, photography, television, and even music, Monaco discusses those elements necessary to understand how films convey meaning and, more importantly, how we can best discern all that a film is attempting to communicate. In a key departure from the book's previous editions, the new and still-evolving digital context of film is now emphasized throughout How to Read a Film. A new chapter on multimedia brings media criticism into the twenty-first century with a thorough discussion of topics like virtual reality, cyberspace, and the proximity of both to film. Monaco has likewise doubled the size and scope of his "Film and Media: A Chronology" appendix. The book also features a new introduction, an expanded bibliography, and hundreds of illustrative black-and-white film stills and diagrams. It is a must for all film students, media buffs, and movie fans. |
J. S. Mill: 'On Liberty' and Other Writings (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)by John Stuart Mill and Stefan Collini Available from Amazon $11.99 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page Book Description John Stuart Mill is one of the few indisputably classic authors in the history of political thought. On Liberty, first published in 1851, has become celebrated as the most powerful defense of the freedom of the individual and it is now widely regarded as the most important theoretical foundation for Liberalism as a political creed. Similarly, his The Subjection of Women, a powerful indictment of the political, social, and economic position of women, has become one of the cardinal documents of modern feminism. This edition brings together these two classic texts, plus Mill's posthumous Chapters on Socialism, his somewhat neglected examination of the strengths and weaknesses of various forms of Socialism. The Editor's substantial Introduction places these three works in the context both of Mill's life and of nineteenth-century intellectual and political history, and assesses their continuing relevance. |
Leadership: Theory and Practiceby Peter G. Northouse List Price: $48.95 Available from Amazon $45.98 On 7-21-2006
See Item's Page Product Review Dr.Thomas E. Matthews, Director : "Northouse's third edition of Leadership: Theory and Practice is one of the clearest presentations of the major theories and concepts of leadership available in print anywhere. It should be required reading for every leadership program." Roger Smitter, Ph.D., Director : "The third edition of leadership by Northouse provides students with a powerful introduction to the strengths and limits of the social science strand of research in leadership. It provides application for undergraduates while for graduate students, it provides the context needed to plunge into reading research and developing research questions. At the same time, the book raises significant questions about the link between leadership and ethics and values." Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. : "Peter Northouse has produced a leadership textbook that is accessible to students, but solidly grounded in theory and research. He avoids the ‘trap’ of making leadership appear too easy or trite, keeping his book serious and scholarly, but still interesting and enjoyable to read. I would feel confident that a student assigned Leadership: Theory and Practice is getting a sound introduction to the field." Lynn Hertrick Leavitt, Director : "I have used Leadership: Theory and Practice for the past four years as the primary text for an undergraduate leadership course that I teach. The comprehensive nature of the chapters, critiques, exercises, self-assessment instruments, and case studies make it very user-friendly for students and faculty." Christine D. Townsend, Professor : "In his Third Edition, Northouse continues to update and enhance his leadership book. As a textbook for college students, the author provides an outstanding bridge between the research developments and the practical uses for leadership theory. His case study examples are contemporary, intriguing, and enticing to students and teachers who seek enhancement to their study of leadership." The Bookwatch : "Leadership, Theory and Practice is very highly recommended -- whether for both academic study concerning leadership behavior and concrete, or for practical use by any aspiring or practicing leader in the business community today." Product Review "In his Third Edition, Northouse continues to update and enhance his leadership book. As a textbook for college students, the author provides an outstanding bridge between the research developments and the practical uses for leadership theory. His case study examples are contemporary, intriguing, and enticing to students and teachers who seek enhancement to their study of leadership." |
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