Even lawyers who obey the law often seem to act unethically–interfering with the discovery of truth, subverting justice, and inflicting harm on innocent people. Standard arguments within legal ethics attempt to show why it is permissible to do something as a lawyer that it would be wrong to do as an ordinary person. But in the view of most critics these arguments fail to turn wrongs into rights. Even many lawyers think legal ethics is flawed because it does not accurately describe the considerable moral value of their work. In Lawyers and Fidelity to Law, Bradley Wendel introduces a new conception of legal ethics that addresses the concerns of lawyers and their critics alike.

W. Bradley Wendel is professor of law at Cornell Law School.

We invite you to read the introduction online at:
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9330.html

Lawyers and Fidelity to Law
By W. Bradley Wendel
Read the introduction online at:
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9330.html

Here’s another two-fer: a look at the outer appearance and the internal skeleton of the Raptorex kriegstenis, from Gregory S. Paul’s The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs. The detailed illustrations allow us to see the dinosaur’s long legs and well-developed leg muscles, perfect for pursuing and ambushing prey at high speeds. Scroll down to read more about Raptorex or click here to see more Daily Dinosaurs!

This image is taken from The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs by Gregory S. Paul. It may not be reproduced elsewhere without permission.

This image is taken from The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs by Gregory S. Paul. It may not be reproduced elsewhere without permission.

In the season premier of The Simpsons last night, no fewer than 4 Princeton University Press authors received shout outs. In the opening scene where Lisa and her friends are watching the Nobel Prize announcements, they announce Jagdish Bhagwati as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. Then they flash to their betting pool of nominees:

Who else makes the cut in this animated universe? PUP authors Avinash Dixit, Elhanan Helpman, and Amos Oz. What else do Jagdish Bhagwati, Avinash Dixit, and Elhanan Helpman have in common besides being favored economists of The Simpsons? Their PUP titles are included in our great online book sale. Click here for details.

This week’s book giveaway is The Brain and the Meaning of Life by Paul Thagard. All Facebook followers are automatically entered to win. The random drawing is this Friday.

The Brain and the Meaning of Life shows how brain science helps to answer questions about the nature of mind and reality, while alleviating anxiety about the difficulty of life in a vast universe. The book integrates decades of multidisciplinary research, but its clear explanations and humor make it accessible to the general reader.

Want to put a little more meaning into your life? Make sure you follow (LIKE) PUP on Facebook so you have a chance to win this book.

The Brain and the Meaning of Life by Paul Thagard

The Yangchuanosaurus dongi, believed to be a species of Sinraptor, is a fierce member of the Carnosaurs, the large predatory avetheropods that roamed most continents from the Middle Jurassic to the end of the Dinosaur Era. With its jagged teeth and powerful neck muscles, Yangchuanosaurus dongi was able to cripple prey with slashing bites. Scroll down to learn more about this dinosaur, and check out the other Daily Dinosaurs here.

This image is taken from The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs by Gregory S. Paul. It may not be reproduced elsewhere without permission.

This image is taken from The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs by Gregory S. Paul. It may not be reproduced elsewhere without permission.

Today’s Daily Dinosaur, taken from the introduction of Gregory S. Paul’s The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, showcases the skeletons of several gigantic dinosaurs and compares them to the skeletons of mammals. The human in the center is dwarfed by these gargantuan beasts! Scroll down for a brief excerpt about dinosaur gigantism from the book, and check out the other Daily Dinosaurs here!

This image is taken from The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs by Gregory S. Paul. It may not be reproduced elsewhere without permission.

Although dinosaurs evolved from small protodinosaurs, and many were small—birds included—dinosaurs are famous for their tendency to develop gigantic forms. The average mammal is the size of a dog, whereas the average dinosaur was bear-sized. But those are just averages. Predatory theropods reached as much as 10 tonnes, as big as elephants and dwarfing the largest carnivorous mammals by a factor or ten or more. Sauropods exceeded the size of the largest land mammals, mammoths, and the long-legged indricothere rhinos of 15 to 20 tonnes, by a factor of at least five.

Norman M. Naimark’s provocative new book STALIN’S GENOCIDES argues for a reassessment of Stalin’s brutal war crimes. Naimark, one of the most respected authorities of the Soviet era, provides details of Stalin’s chilling crimes, and challenges the widely held notion that the crimes do not constitute genocide, as defined by the United Nations. Cynthia Haven posted a terrific profile of Naimark and his new book on the Stanford University News site, and on her her own blog, The Book Haven. And Marshall Poe just posted a podcast with Professor Naimark and a short discussion of the book on New Books in History site.

FACT: Some of the most conspicuous and easy to identify seeds of the Amazon are those dispersed by the wind. The first step toward their identification is to determine if they have wings or hairs.

Imagine yourself as an Amazonian seed. Better hope you’re not having a bad hair day when the wind takes you to your destination. You could end up in a really bad spot.

Seeds of Amazonian Plants by Fernando Cornejo & John Janovec

This weekend marks the beginning of the first new weekly book review in years. The Wall Street Journal will premiere a new book review section in its weekend edition, opening with a 2000-word essay by James Grant on the Library of America’s new edition of writings by John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society and Other Writings, 1952-1967 (Princeton University Press published one of Galbraith’s books in 2007, entitled The New Industrial State.)

This new section, which is to be called “Books,” will run across six broadsheet pages and will feature several long articles of about 900 to 1,600 words every week. It will also reserve space for shorter reviews. Robert Messenger, the new editor of Books, said that the section would likely focus on nonfiction more than fiction, but would also group together reviews of recent or recommended books. Bestseller lists for fiction, nonfiction, e-books, and business, along with lists tracking popularity and sales records, will also appear in the Books section.

Mostly, Messenger said, he wants to “bring novels to readers’ attention.” We are all for that! Read more about the new section here, and be sure to look out for Books in your weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal.

On September 30, Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat, author of Create Dangerously, will read selections from her books and encourage donations to the fundraiser organized by the Caribbean Students Association and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority of New York. Professional photo portraits and autographed copies of Danticat’s works will be available for donations of $15 and $20.

Of Danticat’s new book, Dave Eggers, author of Zeitoun and What Is the What recently wrote, “This is the most powerful book I’ve read in years. Though delicate in its prose and civil in its tone, it hits like a freight train. It’s a call to arms for all immigrants, all artists, all those who choose to bear witness, and all those who choose to listen. And though it describes great upheaval, tragedy, and injustice, it’s full of humor, warmth, grace, and light.”

Ziba Mir-Hosseini, well-known Islamic feminist and author of Islam and Gender: The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran, recently participated in a question-and-answer session with Yoginder Sikand. Here is an excerpt from the interview:

In recent years, a number of Muslim women’s groups have emerged across the world, struggling for gender equality and justice using Islamic arguments. Most of them are led by women who come from elitist or, at least middle class, backgrounds. Many of them seem to lack a strong popular base. How do you account for this?

Ziba Mir-Hosseini: I think the majority of the women who are writing and publishing about what is popularly called ‘Islamic feminism’ are definitely from the elite or the middle class… I believe that Islamic feminism is, in a sense, the unwanted child of ‘political Islam’. It was ‘political Islam’ that actually politicized the whole issue of gender and Muslim women’s rights. The slogan “back to the shariah” so forcefully pressed by advocates of political Islam in practice meant seeking to return to the classical texts on fiqh, or Muslim jurisprudence, and doing away with various laws advantageous to women that had no sanction in the Islamists’ literalist understanding of Islam.

Click here to read the rest of Ziba Mir-Hosseini and Yoginder Sikand’s conversation.

We’ve explored the inside of a sauropod’s digestive tract; today, Daily Dinosaurs takes us under the skin of theropods and ornithischians to see how the skull structures and muscle configurations differ. Scroll down to read an excerpt from Gregory Paul’s The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, which discusses the construction of the teeth and the possibility of beaks in theropods and ornithiscians.

Left: Theropod skull & muscles; Right: Ornithischian skull & muscles.

These images are taken from The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs by Gregory S. Paul. It may not be reproduced elsewhere without permission.

Among amphibians, tuataras, lizards, and snakes, the teeth tend to be set close to one another along fairly sharp-rimmed jaws, and the mouth is sealed and the teeth covered by nonmuscular lips when closed. This arrangement appears to be true of most theropods, and sauropods as well. An exception among theropods would be the spinosaurs, which have a more crocodilian arrangement in which at least the front teeth are widely spaced in separate sockets, so they may have been lipless and their snaggly teeth exposed when the jaws were closed. Some theropods and ornithischians evolved beaks, and it has been suggested that prosauropods had incipient beaks.

Baryonyx with exposed front teeth.

This image is taken from The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs by Gregory S. Paul. It may not be reproduced elsewhere without permission.