The Coles Center has new books! Take a look- I mean, everyone needs a diversion from midterms.
Rob R. Dunn. (2009). In Wilson E. O. (Ed.), Every living thing : Man's obsessive quest to catalog life, from nanobacteria to new monkeys. New York: New York : Collins.
“In a series of vivid portraits of single-minded scientists, Dunn traces the history of human discovery, from the establishment of classification in the eighteenth century to today's attempts to find life in space. The narrative telescopes from a scientist's attempt to find one single thing (a rare ant-emulating beetle species) to another scientist's attempt to find everything in a small patch of jungle in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. With poetry and humor, Dunn reminds readers how tough and exhilarating it is to study the natural world, and why it matters.”—Amazon.com
Patrick McDonagh. (2008). Idiocy : A cultural history. Liverpool England: Liverpool England : Liverpool University Press.
“Over time… the term idiot has shifted from that philosophically uncomplicated definition to an ever-changing sociological signifier, encompassing a wide range of meanings and beliefs for those concerned with intellectual and cognitive disability. Idiocy: A Cultural History offers for the first time a analysis of the concept, drawing on cultural, sociological, scientific, and popular representations ranging from Wordsworth’s “Idiot Boy” and Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge to Down’s “Ethnic classification of idiots.” It tracks how our changing definition of idiocy intersects with demography, political movements, philosophical traditions, economic concerns, and the growth of the medical profession.—Amazon.com
New waves in philosophy of technology(2009). In Olsen J. B., Selinger E. and Riis S. (Eds.), . Basingstoke England ; New York: Basingstoke England ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan.
“This collection of essays attempts something entirely novel: to provide a snapshot of the new work that is being conducted in political philosophy, written by up-and-coming figures in this area.”—Amazon.com