Latest titles for the week of June 17, 2019
The Calculus of Happiness
How a Mathematical Approach to Life Adds Up to Health, Wealth, and Love
Oscar E. Fernandez
"Surveys a wide variety of ways that mathematics can be used to improve decision making and general well-being."—Chris Wilson, TIME.com
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
City of Dreams
Dodger Stadium and the Birth of Modern Los Angeles
Jerald Podair
"[An] excellent new book."—Alexander Nazaryan, Newsweek
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Finding Fibonacci
The Quest to Rediscover the Forgotten Mathematical Genius Who Changed the World
Keith Devlin
"[A] jaunty book."—James Ryerson, New York Times Book Review
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
The Fourth Pig
Naomi Mitchison
With an introduction by Marina Warner
"Mitchison turns stories like ‘Hansel and Gretel,’ ‘The Little Mermaid,’ and ‘Brunhilde’ into trenchant commentaries on her times."—New Yorker.com
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
The Joy of SET
The Many Mathematical Dimensions of a Seemingly Simple Card Game
Liz McMahon, Gary Gordon, Hannah Gordon & Rebecca Gordon
"A model of mathematical exposition. The quality of writing is consistently high: clear but not condescending, humorous, chatty, and a genuine pleasure to read."—Mark Hunacek, MAA Reviews
Hardcover | 2016
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
The Myth of Independence
How Congress Governs the Federal Reserve
Sarah Binder & Mark Spindel
"Even for readers who get through the day without thinking about monetary policy, Ms. Binder and Mr. Spindel offer compelling insights. . . . [An] impressively researched and often riveting study."—Roger Lowenstein, Wall Street Journal
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
An Anthology of Magical Tales
Edited by Jack Zipes
Illustrated by Natalie Frank
"A comprehensive anthology. . . . Also of note are artist Frank’s gorgeous illustrations."—Library Journal
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Latest titles for the week of June 10, 2019
American Higher Education since World War II
A History
Roger L. Geiger
"Roger Geiger is the preeminent historian of American higher education and this book shows why. By absorbing the lessons of this authoritative and panoramic volume, we may find the wisdom to build on the accomplishments of the scientific and scholarly disciplines while treating the distempers that threaten higher education’s further progress."—Steven Brint, author of Two Cheers for Higher Education: Why American Universities Are Stronger Than Ever—and How to Meet the Challenges They Face
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
Drawing Down the Moon
Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World
Radcliffe G. Edmonds III
"By providing insightful analysis and marshaling an immense amount of information that covers a millennium of ancient culture, Drawing Down the Moon gives us a broad yet thorough overview of magic in Greek and Roman antiquity."—Sarah Iles Johnston, author of Ancient Greek Divination
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
Japanese Tales of Lafcadio Hearn
Edited and introduced by Andrei Codrescu.
With a foreword by Jack Zipes.
"Lafcadio Hearn’s writing is very important as literature and has long been critically recognized for its presentation of Japanese folklore and culture. With a clear, crisp foreword and an enticing introduction that contextualizes Hearn’s life, this book brings together some of his most significant and enjoyable works in a convenient format for a broad audience."—Michael Dylan Foster, author of The Book of Yōkai
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
The Way of Nature Zhuangzi
Illustrated by C. C. Tsai
Foreword by Edward Slingerland
Author of Trying Not to Try
"[C. C. Tsai's] books are awe-inspiring. His line is elegant; his characters are sharply drawn; his humor is sly and appropriate; and his subject is profound. This is cartooning of the highest order."—Larry Gonick, author of The Cartoon History of the Universe
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Latest titles for the week of June 3, 2019
Digital Cash
The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency
Finn Brunton
"On rare occasions a book comes along whose contents are too extraordinary to be believed. It may be the characters, the narrative or perhaps its evocative prose. . . . Digital Cash will raise as many questions as it answers. You may feel elated, amused and even depressed in turn. But like any good book it will lead you to further reading, to new ideas and eventually, perhaps, to enlightenment."--Gregory Dobbs, Good Reading
Hardcover | 2019
Audiobook available
eBook available
Dinosaur Facts and Figures
The Theropods and Other Dinosauriformes
Rubén Molina-Pérez and Asier Larramendi
Illustrated by Andrey Atuchin and Sante Mazzei
The theropod dinosaurs ruled the planet for millions of years, with species ranging from the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex to feathered raptors no bigger than turkeys. Dinosaur Facts and Figures is a stunningly illustrated book of records for these marvelous creatures—such as the biggest, the smallest, and the fastest theropods, as well as the ones with the most powerful bite
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
The Drama of Celebrity
Sharon Marcus
"[An] insightful and often entertaining take on celebrity. . . . The linchpin of the author's study is French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt, a master of self-promotion. To the shelves of works about Bernhardt, Marcus brings a singular take—richly illustrated throughout by reproduced drawings, paintings, and photographs—that fascinates as it explains her concepts of celebrity."—Kirkus
Hardcover | 2019
Audiobook available
eBook available
The Dynamics of Risk
Changing Technologies and Collective Action in Seismic Events
Louise K. Comfort
"By examining how some countries develop earthquake modeling systems that work while others don’t, this book illuminates how coherence and resilience are designed."—Jane E. Fountain, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Hardcover | 2019
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Europe's Sea Mammals
Including the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde
A field guide to the whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals Robert Still, Hugh Harrop, Tim Stenton, and Luis Dias
This cutting-edge photographic identification guide to Europe’s sea mammals—the only such guide of its kind—covers the 39 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises and 9 species of seals found in the region, which spans the eastern Atlantic from Iceland to Macaronesia, and the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic seas.
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
The Future of Immortality
Remaking Life and Death in Contemporary Russia
Anya Bernstein
"Bernstein's radiant ethnography captures the intensity and ingenuity of people striving to conquer personal mortality via cryogenic freezing of the body or antiaging procedures, and connects such singular efforts to broader anxieties about the death of the planet, global extinction, and the loss of all human futures."—Alaina Lemon, University of Michigan
Hardcover | 2019
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
The Last Butterflies
A Scientist's Quest to Save a Rare and Vanishing Creature
Nick Haddad
"The Last Butterflies tells the story of six rare insects and the specific challenges they face. But its lessons are broader than that. The book offers case studies in how conservation efforts can succeed and—just as significantly—how they can fail."—Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
More Things in the Heavens
How Infrared Astronomy Is Expanding Our View of the Universe
Michael Werner and Peter Eisenhardt
"Had we known how wonderful the infrared is, we would have been born with infrared-sensitive eyes. Fortunately, NASA gave us just that with the Spitzer Space Telescope, and it is a joy to have Werner and Eisenhardt share with us what astronomers have discovered with it and how. From the black hole at the center of the Milky Way to the farthest galaxies and quasars, this insightful book describes how these infrared observations are revealing exciting celestial objects."—Jay M. Pasachoff, coauthor of The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millennium
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
A Taste for the Beautiful
The Evolution of Attraction
Michael J. Ryan
"A hugely enjoyable book written with authority, easy charm and a great deal of wit. . . . This is science communication as it should be done: authoritative but never dull, engaging but never dumbed down. . . . [A] beautiful book."—Times Higher Education
Hardcover | 2018
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Latest titles for the week of May 27, 2019
American Covenant
A History of Civil Religion from the Puritans to the Present
Philip Gorski With a new preface by the author
Essential reading for this moment."—David Brooks, New York Times
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
At Home in the World
Women Writers and Public Life, from Austen to the Present
Maria DiBattista & Deborah Epstein Nord
"In their re-evaluation of the past 200 years of women’s writing, DiBattista and Epstein Nord position Austen as the forerunner of an alternative, public-facing sisterhood in which anti-domestic heroines, wanderers, visionaries and dreamers voyage out."—Frances Wilson, Times Literary Supplement
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
The Beginning of Politics
Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel
Moshe Halbertal & Stephen Holmes
"A brilliant analysis."—Marvin Olasky, World
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
The Burr Conspiracy
Uncovering the Story of an Early American Crisis
James E. Lewis Jr.
"[A] remarkable book."—Edward G. Gray, Times Literary Supplement
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Fairy Tales for the Disillusioned
Enchanted Stories from the French Decadent Tradition
Edited by Gretchen Schultz & Lewis Seifert
"In these deliberately tarnished tales … wondrousness mainly shines through in their often beautiful imagery"—Michael Dirda, Washington Post
Hardcover | 2016
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
The House of Government
A Saga of the Russian Revolution
Yuri Slezkine
"Magisterial."—Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
How to Think Like an Anthropologist
Matthew Engelke
"An excellent overview of the debates and issues that have shaped this hugely influential social science. . . . Using an eclectic range of examples, including ‘bridewealth’ in modern China and the role of social values in Downton Abbey, [Engelke] shows how anthropology reveals both the limits of common sense and the universal lessons that can be drawn from communities everywhere."—P. D. Smith, The Guardian
Hardcover | 2018
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Kierkegaard's Muse
The Mystery of Regine Olsen
Joakim Garff
"Garff is both a punctilious scholar and superb writer."—Frank Freeman, Commonweal Magazine
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Lina Bo Bardi, Drawings
Zeuler R. M. de A. Lima
"Garff is both a punctilious scholar and superb writer."—Frank Freeman, Commonweal Magazine
Hardcover | 2019
Measuring Poverty around the World
Anthony B. Atkinson
"Tony Atkinson did everything he thought he should do to help others and to help the world, while being robustly engaged in solving the problems that could tempt and engage an outstanding economist. The impact of his contribution to economics can be seen in a great many different areas in the subject, but our understanding of poverty and inequality in particular has been totally transformed by his foundational work."—Amartya Sen, Harvard University, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
Not Working
Where Have All the Good Jobs Gone?
David G. Blanchflower
"In this thought-provoking study of the functioning—and malfunctioning—of the labor market, David Blanchflower presents a powerful analysis of one of the most important issues facing our society today: the quest for good jobs. This is a book that will be of interest to economists and policymakers around the world."—Mohamed A. El-Erian, author of The Only Game in Town: Central Banks, Instability, and Avoiding the Next Collapse
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
The Technology Trap
Capital, Labor, and Power in the Age of Automation
Carl Benedikt Frey
"Will machines equipped with artificial intelligence render the human race redundant? Is work as we know it about to end? The Technology Trap draws on the experiences of the first and second Industrial Revolutions, and the first Computer Revolution, to answer some of the burning questions of our time. Frey’s key point—that technological disruption of the labor market is usually painful in the short run, whatever innovation’s long-run benefits—is of vital importance to voters and policymakers alike." —Niall Ferguson, author of The Square and the Tower
Hardcover | 2019
Audiobook available
eBook available
Unsolved!
The History and Mystery of the World's Greatest Ciphers from Ancient Egypt to Online Secret Societies
Craig P. Bauer
"The Da Vinci Code has nothing on this exhaustive collection of cryptographs and codes—because these are real."—Discover Magazine
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Latest titles for the week of May 20, 2019
The Crisis of Multiculturalism in Europe
A History
Rita Chin
"Chin analyzes the current debates in Europe over immigration and Western values to create a vivid picture of a continent consumed by social tensions. The questions [she] poses have never seemed more urgent."—Radhika Jones, New York Times Book Review
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Protestants Abroad
How Missionaries Tried to Change the World but Changed America
David A. Hollinger
"Protestants Abroad is one of those rare books that slices American society in a way that hardly anyone—certainly no one of Hollinger’s intellectual breadth—has thought to cut the cake before."—Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Protestants Abroad
How Missionaries Tried to Change the World but Changed America
David A. Hollinger
"Protestants Abroad is one of those rare books that slices American society in a way that hardly anyone—certainly no one of Hollinger’s intellectual breadth—has thought to cut the cake before."—Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Decolonization
A Short History
Jan C. Jansen & Jürgen Osterhammel
Translated by Jeremiah Riemer
"For those looking for a compact and lucid account of why decolonization occurred, and what it meant, this is the place to start."—Krishan Kumar, Times Literary Supplement
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Art Rebels
Race, Class, and Gender in the Art of Miles Davis and Martin Scorsese
Paul Lopes
"Accessible, appealing, and persuasive. Lopes has written a knowing history of the creative and commercial paths blazed by Scorsese and Davis, showing how their art, ideas, and public images are registers of important cultural and social changes."—George Lipsitz, author of Midnight at the Barrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
The Norm Residue Theorem in Motivic Cohomology
Christian Haesemeyer and Charles A. Weibel
This book presents the complete proof of the Bloch-Kato conjecture and several related conjectures of Beilinson and Lichtenbaum in algebraic geometry. Brought together here for the first time, these conjectures describe the structure of étale cohomology and its relation to motivic cohomology and Chow groups.
Hardcover | 2019
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Calculus Simplified
Oscar E. Fernandez
"This reader-friendly book is specifically designed for first-year calculus students. Fernandez writes in a welcoming style and the text is neither repetitive nor jargon-laden. With a strong presentation, well-chosen examples, and useful exercises, he does a marvelous job distilling the subject down to the essentials."—David R. Dorman, Middlebury College
Paperback | 2019
eBook available
Faces of Muhammad
Western Perceptions of the Prophet of Islam from the Middle Ages to Today
John V. Tolan
"John Tolan sets aside the historical Muhammad and Muslim portraits of God's beloved Messenger to focus on Mahomet as European men have depicted him over the centuries. He shows how wildly varied versions of Islam's prophet emerge and how they make sense within their own social, intellectual, and theological contexts. Nuanced and fascinating, Faces of Muhammad is a terrific read."—Kecia Ali, author of The Lives of Muhammade
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
The Crime of Aggression
The Quest for Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents, and Autocrats
Noah Weisbord
"With the rules-based global order under siege, The Crime of Aggression is a timely and valuable reminder of the powerful potential of international law. Weisbord's realistic but optimistic grasp of world politics offers a better way to deal with the worst of the worst, even as he argues for us all to fashion strong institutions for a more just world."—Guy Lawson, New York Times bestselling author of War Dogs
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila
A Biography
Carlos Eire
"Eire provides an enthralling exploration of the life and influence of an important historical work."—Publishers Weekly
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
Latest titles for the week of May 13, 2019
Basquiat-isms
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Edited by Larry Warsh
"A wonderful book, Basquiat-isms brings us closer to understanding Basquiat's experiences as an artist and as a black man. We see glimpses of the artist's wit and his ideas about painting in equal measure."—Jordana Moore Saggese, author of Reading Basquiat
Hardcover | 2019
A Dynamical Systems Theory of Thermodynamics
Wassim M. Haddad
"Haddad develops an original mathematical framework for thermodynamics deeply rooted in modern systems theory, threading postulates and analyses of a science that has evolved from the seemingly mundane quest for efficiency in steam engines to the flow of time and the workings of the cosmos and life itself. He succeeds in presenting an all-encompassing treatise, from the early works of Carnot and Clausius to the insights of relativity and the conundrum of the time arrow, in a lucid exposition that systematically details a rigorous base for future generations of scientists and theorists."—Tryphon Georgiou, University of California, Irvine
Hardcover | 2019
eBook available
The Infidel and the Professor
David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought
Dennis C. Rasmussen
"A wonderfully written book about a beautiful friendship."—Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg View
Hardcover | 2017
Paperback | 2019
eBook available