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NEW IN PRINT
Books released during the week of April 28 |  | Hedge Funds: An Analytic Perspective Andrew W. Lo
"Andrew Lo's Hedge Funds is likely to be the high-water mark in the analysis of hedge funds for years to come. Focusing on hedge fund returns and trading strategies, risk characteristics, and potential for illiquidity, Lo brings to bear his always fresh and insightful thinking."--Richard Bookstaber, author of A Demon of Our Own Design: Markets, Hedge Funds, and the Perils of Financial Innovation |
 | When I'm Sixty-Four: The Plot against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them Teresa Ghilarducci
"Teresa Ghilarducci's When I'm Sixty-Four is quite simply the best thing yet written on the retirement crisis facing baby boomers and the larger fragility of our retirement system. Far from defeatist, she proposes an ingenious national plan that will instantly become the reform against which all others must measure up. In clear prose, Teresa Ghilarducci cuts to the essence of an often bewildering subject that affects every American."--Robert Kuttner, American Prospect |
Books released during the week of April 21 |  | Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human Tom Boellstorff
"Tom Boellstorff describes Second Life warmly and intelligently, highlighting its issues in a thought-provoking manner that is always backed up with evidence. There's an almost tangible depth to his analysis that makes it really stand out. This is just the kind of portrait of a virtual world that I've been waiting to see for years: a full-blooded, book-length tour de force."--Richard A. Bartle, author of Designing Virtual Worlds |
 | Credit and Blame Charles Tilly
"Drawing upon sources as disparate as Dostoyevski, Darwin, water-cooler conversations and truth commissions, Tilly illustrated how assigning credit and blame stems from and redefines 'relations between the creditor and the credited, the blamer, and the blamed.' Tilly astutely analyzes how people accept credit and society assesses blame, and the commonalities between the two. With its most vivid examples drawn from the author's own life, this book is simultaneously highbrow and humble and a close analysis of social interaction."--Publishers Weekly |
 | Information and Learning in Markets: The Impact of Market Microstructure Xavier Vives
"When and how well do markets aggregate information spread among rational participants? Xavier Vives offers the first unified treatment of all major answers, some from his own recent research, to these important questions. Relying on elementary methods and linear-quadratic models, he succeeds in conveying even to the nonspecialist reader the essence of the most sophisticated results."--Bernard Lebrun, York University |
 | Picture Perfect: Life in the Age of the Photo Op (New Edition) Kiku Adatto
"Picture Perfect is perfect. The thoroughness and patience and precision of the research dumbfound me! Kiku Adatto has again provided us with a valuable tool for the continuing assessment of our media."--Walter Cronkite |
 | The Universe in a Mirror: The Saga of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Visionaries Who Built It Robert Zimmerman
"Spectacular images of the cosmos from the Hubble Space Telescope have become so routine that it's easy to forget the astronomical community's despair in 1990, when NASA discovered that the main mirror was improperly shaped. In The Universe in a Mirror, Robert Zimmerman brings the visionaries behind this most remarkable of instruments vividly to life, taking us artfully through the decades--long minefield of lobbying, funding, design, construction, delay after the Challenger explosion and launch--and then through the Hubble's near-death experience as astronomers realized to their horror that its mirror was ground to the wrong shape. His meticulously researched but engaging prose makes it clear how remarkable an achievement the telescope actually was, and how easily it might not have happened at all."--Michael D. Lemonick, contributing writer to Time and lecturer at Princeton University |
 | Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle over Our Ancient Heritage James Cuno
"James Cuno has written thoughtfully and responsibly on cultural property matters, and in this book he goes beyond the usual legal and ethical ground to address deeper philosophical issues. This is a must-read for all concerned with the fate of our ancient heritage, whether source countries, archaeologists, collectors, or museum curators. The topic is of the greatest importance to all of us."--Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Books released during the week of April 15 |  | The China Diary of George H. W. Bush: The Making of a Global President Edited and introduced by Jeffrey A. Engel
"When George Bush went to China in 1974, our two countries were still very much in the discovery stage of our relationship. His honest and personal reflections provide a rare, almost 'behind the scenes' window into that fascinating time period, and are a great reminder of how far we have come. The book is also a wonderful insight into the thought processes of a future president, who I believe history will judge as one of our greatest foreign policy presidents."--Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, USAF (ret.), former national security advisor to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush |
 | Chapman's Homeric Hymns and Other Homerica Homer Translation by George Chapman With a new introduction by Stephen Scully
"It should be very satisfying to sing hymns to gods whom everyone can agree exist, so tune up your pipes for Apollo, the archer and fair king of days, or for Venus, the soft skinned, because both beauty and sunshine deserve our adoration. How appropriate that the voice you can choose here should be Elizabethan, queen of the Enlightenment, and patron of the poets, George Chapman so much among them, who made the old world new, and heard the voice of heroes in all of Homer's songs."--William H. Gass |
 | Marketing Maximilian: The Visual Ideology of a Holy Roman Emperor Larry Silver
"Larry Silver, one of the foremost scholars of our generation, offers fascinating insights into Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, one of early modern Europe's most complex and intriguing individuals. Almost all rulers dream of glory, yet few have matched either Maximilian's delusions of greatness or, as Silver shows, his successful manipulation of media. This brilliantly researched book is much needed. There is no comparable text in any language."--Jeffrey Chipps Smith, University of Texas, Austin |
Books released during the week of April 7 |  | China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society Daniel A. Bell
"China's New Confucianism is a lively, informed, and very insightful look at modern China. Daniel A. Bell has an established reputation as an academic analyst. With this book he has accomplished something rarer and more impressive: combining his scholarship in an effortless way with keen observations of daily life, from the sports field to the karaoke bar to the classroom. He is the first to say that no one book, nor even a lifetime's experience, equips an observer to 'understand' China fully. But his book will give almost any reader a better understanding of the energy and contradictions of this country."--James Fallows, correspondent for Atlantic Monthly |
 | Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism Sheldon S. Wolin
"With his fundamental grasp of political theory and restless spirit to get at the essence of what threatens modern democracy, Wolin demonstrates that the threats to our democratic traditions and institutions are not always from outside, but may come from within. It is a book that policymakers and scholars of contemporary society should read and reflect upon."--Rakesh Khurana, Harvard Business School, author of From Higher Aims to Hired Hands |
 | The Judge in a Democracy Aharon Barak
"Aharon Barak [states] that it is precisely because judges are not politicians that they are the right people to undertake the constitutional role of ensuring that the legislature and the executive comply with legal requirements. . . . Barak points out that tension between the courts and other branches of government is natural and it is desirable. If the courts' decisions were always welcomed by the executive, judges would not be doing their job properly. Barak's thesis is . . . of fundamental importance."--David Pannick, Times of London |
 | Wine, Worship, and Sacrifice: The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani Darejan Kacharava & Guram Kvirkvelia With essays by Anna Chqonia, Nino Lordkipanidze & Michael Vickers Edited by Jennifer Y. Chi
Ancient Colchis, which was located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, is best known from Greek mythology as the land where Jason and the Argonauts went in search of the Golden Fleece and Jason fell in love with Medea, who helped the hero complete his legendary feat. Archaeological finds prove that Colchis was indeed rich in gold. But what defined Colchian identity beyond its wealth in this precious metal? Wine, Worship, and Sacrifice explores this question by providing an overview of life at Vani, an important administrative and religious center in Colchis. |
Books released during the week of April 1 |  | Einstein for the 21st Century: His Legacy in Science, Art, and Modern Culture Edited by Peter L. Galison, Gerald Holton & Silvan S. Schweber
"A stellar array of twenty historians and philosophers, artists and scientists, and writers and critics has contributed to this fascinating examination of Albert Einstein's legacy and its relevance for our times. We are presented with a multifaceted, interpretive effort to understand in novel terms Einstein's science, music, and politics, his relationship to God and aesthetics, and his unusual position at the divide between a now-vanished world and a future that will surely retain deep traces of his unique contributions and personality."--Diana K. Buchwald, Einstein Papers Project, Caltech |
 | Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago Douglas H. Erwin
"Theories and mysteries can be dispelled with good data from the geologic record, and Erwin (a paleobiologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History) offers an authoritative account of the search for these data and for the cause of the extinction. . . . Extinction provides a great reference for researchers and the interested lay reader alike."--Andrew M. Bush, Science |
 | Fateful Beauty: Aesthetic Environments, Juvenile Development, and Literature, 1860-1960 Douglas Mao
"Douglas Mao's Fateful Beauty is a compelling work of intellectual, social, and literary history that reclaims aestheticism as a revolutionary social as well as artistic creed. This magisterial and groundbreaking work should emerge as a standard one on the period. Mao is a writer who commands attention and respect through his scrupulous research, careful arguments, and eloquence as a cultural and literary critic."--Maria DiBattista, Princeton University |
 | Feedback Systems: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers Karl Johan Åström & Richard M. Murray
"This book is a significant contribution. It provides an accessible treatment for a wide audience who would otherwise have to labor through difficult mathematical or engineering treatments. The only prerequisite is a basic understanding of differential equations and linear algebra."--Brian Ingalls, University of Waterloo |
 | Guesstimation: Solving the World's Problems on the Back of a Cocktail Napkin Lawrence Weinstein & John A. Adam
"Guesstimation is a delightful book that, page after page, gleams with insight into the measure of all things--from house pets to lottery tickets and from the kitchen to the cosmos. Meanwhile, the authors cleverly teach you some fundamental chemistry, physics, and biology, leaving you enlightened and curiously comfortable with all that once seemed intractable in the world."--Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History, author of Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries |
 | How the Ocean Works: An Introduction to Oceanography Mark Denny
"An elegant presentation of how the ocean works. Denny's purpose is to review a selection of oceanographic topics to provide a background for considering such current public issues as climate change and marine fisheries. Accessible and enjoyable reading, and the scholarship is very sound."--Nicholas D. Holland, University of California, San Diego |
 | Impossible? Surprising Solutions to Counterintuitive Conundrums Julian Havil
"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 |
 | Introduction to Differential Equations with Dynamical Systems Stephen L. Campbell & Richard Haberman
Many textbooks on differential equations are written to be interesting to the teacher rather than the student. Introduction to Differential Equations with Dynamical Systems is directed toward students. This concise and up-to-date textbook addresses the challenges that undergraduate mathematics, engineering, and science students experience during a first course on differential equations. And, while covering all the standard parts of the subject, the book emphasizes linear constant coefficient equations and applications, including the topics essential to engineering students. |
 | Keep Watching the Skies!: The Story of Operation Moonwatch and the Dawn of the Space Age W. Patrick McCray
"Eagerly peering into the predawn skies of October 1957, amateur scientists kept watch for a glimpse of a faint dot in the sky: Sputnik! Patrick McCray tells us who these people were and how their observations helped Operation Moonwatch become a rousing success for Fred Whipple and the scientists of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Keep Watching the Skies! highlights this unique alliance of amateur and professional scientists at the dawn of the Space Age. If you are among those who remember the thrill of the first satellites--even more so if you are not--you need to read this book."--Robert P. Kirshner, author of The Extravagant Universe |
 | The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues in Presidential Campaigns D. Sunshine Hillygus & Todd G. Shields
"Hillygus and Shields cut through the increasingly stale debate about electoral polarization to show the real complexity of opinion. At the same time, they contest the false distinction between mobilization and persuasion. They do so with an innovative mix of research strategies."--Richard Johnston, University of Pennsylvania |
 | Political Hypocrisy: The Mask of Power, from Hobbes to Orwell and Beyond David Runciman
"David Runciman's great achievement is to take the notion of hypocrisy, well-known as a term of moral disapprobation, and to relocate it as a central concept in the history of rational liberal discourse. This illuminating, wide-ranging, and subtle study presents the exposing of hypocrisy, and its simultaneous retention, as an uncomfortable and largely deliberate feature of the writings of some major political theorists and disputants from Hobbes to the present, and argues persuasively and with characteristic elegance that hypocritical deception is necessarily embedded in political life and language."--Michael Freeden, University of Oxford |
 | The Politics of Presidential Appointments: Political Control and Bureaucratic Performance David E. Lewis
"In this impressive new book, David Lewis tells us why presidents often--but not always--rely on political appointees to staff bureaucracies. With its mixture of insightful theory, careful statistical tests, and a deep understanding of how bureaucracies work, this book represents the scientific study of bureaucracy at its finest."--Charles Shipan, coauthor of Deliberate Discretion? |
 | Split Decisions: How and Why to Take a Break from Feminism Janet Halley
"A groundbreaking book examining the contradictions and limitations of feminism in the law. . . . Halley is critical of feminists for relying primarily upon a 'prohibitionist' approach that identifies what's bad in the world and then writes a statute making it unlawful."--Michelle Bates Deakin, Harvard Law Bulletin |
 | Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton
"A great book for anyone wanting to know what it's like to be on the front lines of a mission to perhaps the most fascinating planetary body in the solar system. Lorenz and Mitton bring home the fact that planetary exploration is not a faceless enterprise done by anonymous men in white coats, but a personal adventure carried along by real people with real charisma, real quirks, and real lives."--Mike Brown, California Institute of Technology |
 | Wave Propagation: From Electrons to Photonic Crystals and Left-Handed Materials Peter Markos & Costas M. Soukoulis
"This book provides a valuable introduction to wave propagation, taking as its central theme the transfer matrix approach which has proved to be flexible in its application to a variety of problems, ranging from the electronic band structure of solids to studies of photonic crystals. This work is timely because of the need to document new advances in this active area of research. The authors are among the leaders in the field and it is gratifying to see their combined experience distilled for the benefit of a new generation of students."--J. B. Pendry, Imperial College London |
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