New Books
Welcome back! I'm sure your not looking into jumping straight back into all that school work. Well no worries, we have a whole new selection of new books that will help bridge the transition from a summer of TV re-runs and a return to academic pursuits.
Victorian Freaks by Marlene Tromp (Ohio State University Press)
(QM691 .V53 2008 )
“While there has been extensive work on American freak shows, less had been done on the significance of the freak in England. Scholars and students gain much insight from the essayists’ invocations of disability studies as a model for thinking about freakishness and freakishness as a model for contemplating disability. Victorian Freaks will therefore be a welcome addition to the growing body of works on freaks and disability studies from a literary perspective.” —Elsie Michie, associate professor of English, Louisiana State University—From Amazon.com
Protogaea by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz(University of Chicago Press)
(QE25 .L513 2008 )
"The Protogaea is a wonderful exemplar of post-Cartesian science, attempting to explain such phenomena as the Flood and fossils in physical terms, subject to the laws of nature, occurring in a historical time frame that stretches well beyond the account of Genesis. We are indebted to Cohen and Wakefield for producing a superior version of it, with an introduction and annotations setting the historical context, a new Latin edition, and the very first English translation."-Roger Ariew, University of South Florida --From Amazon.com
Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight by David A Mindell (The MIT Press)
(TA167 .M59 2008 )
"Digital Apollo takes the reader on a wild ride following the impact of the increasingly complex world of data processing, control, and display on space flight. The book traces the evolution of man's role aboard high speed aircraft, the hybrid X-15, and ultimately space flight and the lunar landing. This book is fascinating history and an important resource for future space explorers.--Robert C. Seamans, Jr., Former Deputy Administrator, NASA”—From Amazon.com
Flesh and Blood: Organ Transplantation and Blood Transfusion in 20th Century America by Susan E. Lederer (Oxford University Press )
(RD120.7 .L42 2008 )
“This book will be the first to bring together the histories of blood transfusion and organ transplantation. It will show how these two fields redrew the lines between self and non-self, the living and the dead, and humans and animals. Drawing on newspapers, magazines, legal cases, films and the papers and correspondence of physicians and surgeons, Lederer will challenge the assumptions of some bioethicists and policymakers that popular fears about organ transplantation necessarily reflect timeless human concerns and preoccupations with the body. She will show how notions of the body- intact, in parts, living and dead- are shaped by the particular culture in which they are embedded.”—From Amazon.com
Global Health: Why Cultural Perceptions, Social Representations, and Biopolitics Matter by Mark Nichter (University of Arizona Press )
(RA441 .N53 2008 )
“In this lesson-packed book, Mark Nichter, one of the world’s leading medical anthropologists, summarizes what more than a quarter-century of health social science research has contributed to international health and elucidates what social science research can contribute to global health and the study of biopolitics in the future. Nichter focuses on our cultural understanding of infectious and vector-borne diseases, how they are understood locally, and how various populations respond to public health interventions.”—From Amazon.com
Impossible?: Surprising Solutions to Counterintuitive Conundrums by Julian Havil (Princeton University Press)
(QA99 .H379 2008 )
“Julian Havil's Impossible? is a superb discussion of problems easily understood by a high schooler, yet with solutions so counterintuitive as to seem impossible. Topics include the notorious Monty Hall three-door problem, the Gamow-Stern elevator paradoxes, the Kruskal count card trick, Cantor's 'paradise' of alephs, and the mind-blowing Banach-Tarski paradox, all analyzed in depth by a master who does not hold back equations that provide elegant proofs. There are surprises on almost every page.(Martin Gardner )”—From Amazon.com
Archimedes and the Roman Imagination by Mary Jaeger (University of Michigan Press )
(QA29.A7 J34 2008 )
"This elegantly written and convincingly argued project analyzes Archimedes as a vehicle for reception of the Classics, as a figure for loss and recovery of cultural memory, and as a metaphorical representation of the development of Roman identity. Jaeger's fastening on the still relatively obscure figure of the greatest ancient mathematician as a way of understanding cultural liminality in the ancient world is nothing short of a stroke of genius. ---Christina S. Kraus, Professor and Chair of Classics, Yale University”—From Amazon.com
Information Technology and Moral Philosophy (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy)by Jeroen van den Hoven and John Weckert (Cambridge University Press)
(T58.5 .I53745 2008 )
“This book gives an in-depth philosophical analysis of moral problems to which information technology gives rise, for example, problems related to privacy, intellectual property, responsibility, friendship, and trust, with contributions from many of the best-known philosophers writing in the area.”—From Amazon.com
Oil, Water, and Climate: An Introduction by Catherine Gautier
(QC981.8.C5 G38 2008 )
“This book examines the powerful interconnections that link energy, water, climate and population, exploring viable options in addressing these issues collectively. Difficult political decisions and major reforms in resource governance, policies, market forces, and use are needed and this book provides excellent introductory material to begin to understand and to address these problems.”—From Amazon.com
Falling for Science: Objects in Mind by Sherry Turkle (MIT Press)
(Q181.3 .F35 2008 )
"We live in the era of big science, with teams of hundreds of scientists poring over data on computer screens. In this sparkling collection, gifted students and world-class scientists remind us of the irreplaceable role of tangible objects, sensory impressions, and powerful experiences in the formation of the scientist.--Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education”—From Amazon.com
Therapy After Terror: 9/11, Psychotherapists, and Mental Health by Karen M. Seeley(Cambridge University Press)
(RC552.P67 S394 2008 )
“Therapy After Terror examines the 2001 World Trade Center attack from the perspectives of New York City mental health professionals who treated the psychologically wounded following the attack. Therapists discuss the attack's effects on their patients, its personal and professional consequences for them, and the ways it challenged fundamental aspects of clinical theory and practice.” –From Amazon.com



