Books released during the week of April 16, 2018
An Essay on Man
Alexander Pope
Edited and with an introduction by Tom Jones
"An Essay on Man . . . was one of the most widely disseminated and well-known publications of the 18th century, notably impacting Enlightenment writers Voltaire, David Hume, Adam Smith, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Jones provides a reliable modern version."--Library Journal
Paperback | 2018
Hardcover | 2016
eBook available
Living on Paper
Letters from Iris Murdoch, 1934–1995
Iris Murdoch
Edited by Avril Horner & Anne Rowe
"An impressively edited, sharply revealing life in letters."--Kirkus
Paperback | 2018
Hardcover | 2016
eBook available
A Local History of Global Capital
Jute and Peasant Life in the Bengal Delta
Tariq Omar Ali
"Ali provides an accessible and highly original study of peasant involvement in jute production and its ramifications for agrarian culture and politics in eastern Bengal. Superbly written and thoroughly researched, A Local History of Global Capital brings a series of fresh insights to the agrarian history of colonial South Asia."—Douglas E. Haynes, author of Small Town Capitalism in Western India: Artisans, Merchants and the Making of the Informal Economy, 1870–1960
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Pricing Lives
Guideposts for a Safer Society
W. Kip Viscus
"From probably the world's leading thinker on the valuation of mortality risks, Pricing Lives makes a fundamental, enduring contribution."—Cass Sunstein, Harvard Law School
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Radical Markets
Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society
Eric A. Posner & E. Glen Weyl
"Both a savage critique of 'techno-feudalism' and an idealistic appeal to share the fruits of our collective intelligence more fairly."--John Thornhill, Financial Times
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
The Secret Life of Science
How It Really Works and Why It Matters
Jeremy J. Baumberg
"A uniquely original analysis of how the global scientific research ecosystem works. Baumberg divides researchers into ‘simplifiers' and ‘constructors' rather than the traditional ‘pure' and ‘applied' labels, and supports his findings with much fascinating data on emerging trends in the global science enterprise. He accurately describes how the publish-or-perish climate of research is just one of the many competitive challenges facing academic scientists on the long road to tenure."—Tony Hey, Chief Data Scientist, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Science and Technology Facilities Council
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Why Big Fierce Animals Are Rare
An Ecologist`s Perspective
Paul A. Colinvaux
With a new foreword by Cristina Eisenberg
"A rare achievement. . . . Colinvaux makes us marvel with him at the stability of nature and the incredible fit of every part of it."—New York Times Book Review
Paperback | 2018
Wildlife of Madeira and the Canary Islands
A Photographic Field Guide to Birds, Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians, Butterflies and Dragonflies
John Bowler
This beautifully illustrated photographic field guide is the first to focus on the identification of the fascinating, diverse and unique wildlife of Madeira and the Canary Islands--featuring the birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies and dragonflies that are most likely to be seen. Richly illustrated introductory sections cover the key wildlife sites to visit on each of the islands and provide an overview of the islands' geography, climate, habitat types and current conservation efforts.
Paperback | 2018
eBook available
Books released during the week of April 9, 2018
How Men Age
What Evolution Reveals about Male Health and Mortality
Richard G. Bribiescas
"The best short summation I've seen of a massive body of research."--Michael Shermer, Wall Street Journal
Paperback | 2018
Hardcover | 2016
eBook available
Life on Mars
What to Know Before We Go
David A. Weintraub
"The search for life on Mars is one of the great quests of our time. If you want to know where it stands today, read Weintraub’s fine book."—Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Listening to a Continent Sing
Birdsong by Bicycle from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Donald Kroodsma
"One of the fascinating aspects of both the book and the recordings is that, while chasing after birdsong, Mr. Kroodsma captures so much other detail as well. . . . Listening to a Continent Sing, along with its website, is both an inspiration and a bundle of gifts waiting to be unwrapped."--Julie Zickefoose, Wall Street Journal
Paperback | 2018
Hardcover | 2016
eBook available
Mechanical Design of Structural Materials in Animals
John M. Gosline
"Combining a limited number of basic components, animals have developed a tremendous diversity of materials, most of which have not been scientifically examined or understood fully. Even the most detailed information about their chemical composition and genetic background has not answered questions about mechanical performance. In this outstanding book, Gosline shows us how to analyze the relationship between structure and function and how to exploit this knowledge to design original bioinspired materials."—Stanislav Gorb, Kiel University
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Trouble in the Tribe
The American Jewish Conflict over Israel
Dov Waxman
"A meticulous, precise, well-organized survey that takes into account the many different views and will certainly facilitate the heated conversation."--Kirkus
Paperback | 2018
Hardcover | 2016
eBook available
The Work of the Dead
A Cultural History of Mortal Remains
Thomas W. Laqueur
"Hardly a sentence in Laqueur's long book is wasted."--John Gray, New York Review of Books
Paperback | 2018
Hardcover | 2015
eBook available
Books released during the week of April 2, 2018
Birds of Chile
A Photo Guide
Steve N. G. Howell & Fabrice Schmitt
"This is a thoughtfully constructed photographic guide. The photographs look superb and capture the species very well in their natural habitat. The writing is clear and focused, and the essay on habitat and bird distribution succinctly captures the topic, delving into enough detail to keep the reader engaged. Key features are highlighted and other useful tips are included that aid in identification."--Peter Burke, bird-guide illustrator and tour leader with Field Guides Inc.
Paperback | 2018
eBook available
California Greenin'
How the Golden State Became an Environmental Leader
David Vogel
"David Vogel’s thoughtful, engaging historical work explains how California evolved into an environmental policy leader, as competing economic interests and unusual alliances came together in reaction to serious pollution problems and threats to California’s scenic beauty. This is a timely book for all who want to understand why California is at the forefront of current national efforts to slow climate change and protect the environment."--Bruce Cain, Stanford University
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Citizen and Subject
Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism
Mahmood Mamdani
With a new preface by the author
"An original book that offers a new angle of vision and is likely to stir up lively debate."--Foreign Affairs
Paperback | 2018
eBook available
Citizenship, Inequality, and Difference
Historical Perspectives
Frederick Cooper
"In this broad and brilliant book, Cooper examines a politically burning issue and impressively shows that from the early Roman Empire onward, the solidarity of citizenship has always coexisted with social hierarchy and political oligarchy. All around the world today, citizenship and the idea of belonging to some sort of political collectivity continue to be subjects of debate and struggle."--Andreas Eckert, Humboldt University of Berlin
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Fundamentals of Microbiome Science
How Microbes Shape Animal Biology
Angela E. Douglas
"Highly recommended. Angela Douglas has produced a book of great scholarship, clarity, and intelligence--and with the loving touch of a biologist. Douglas has much to teach students and experts alike."--Martin J. Blaser, author of Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Islam in Pakistan
A History
Muhammad Qasim Zaman
"This book presents an unprecedented study of the sometimes violent debates about Islam in Pakistan. Zaman is refreshingly original in showing how such debates continue being shaped by modernist thinking, even among its enemies and while modernism’s liberal spokesmen have themselves been increasingly marginalized in Pakistani society."--Faisal Devji, University of Oxford
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Music by the Numbers
From Pythagoras to Schoenberg
Eli Maor
"A fascinating investigation of the relationship between math and music--what they have in common, how they differ, and how each has informed the other, from Pythagoras to Schoenberg, from violin strings to superstrings. A delightful examination of how math and culture interact."--Ian Stewart, author of Significant Figures
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Nation Building
Why Some Countries Come Together While Others Fall Apart
Andreas Wimmer
"Rich in historical detail, Nation Building explains--through theory, controlled comparison, and statistical tests--how states prosper and fail. With this book, Wimmer’s impressive corpus merits inclusion in the canon of great works in historical sociology."--David D. Laitin, Stanford University
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Perfect Me
Beauty as an Ethical Ideal
Heather Widdows
"Widdows brings much-needed subtlety to current conversations about the moral and social role of physical appearance in our daily lives."--A. W. Eaton, editor of Talk to Her
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
What Can Be Computed?
A Practical Guide to the Theory of Computation
John MacCormick
"This wonderful book explores the theory of computing from a practical viewpoint. John MacCormick covers the basic concepts of computability and complexity, what we can and cannot compute--keeping the material grounded by connecting it with Python--the popular programming language."--Lance Fortnow, author of The Golden Ticket: P, NP, and the Search for the Impossible
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
A World of Struggle
How Power, Law, and Expertise Shape Global Political Economy
David Kennedy
With a new afterword by the author
"David Kennedy's A World of Struggle describes our world more accurately than any book I have read this year."--Pankaj Mishra, New York Times Book Review
Paperback | 2018
eBook available
Books released during the week of Mar. 26, 2018
The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 15:
The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, June 1925–May 1927
Documentary Edition
Albert Einstein
Edited by Diana Kormos Buchwald, József Illy, A. J. Kox, Dennis Lehmkuhl, Ze'ev Rosenkranz & Jennifer Nollar James
Mark C. Serreze
This volume covers one of the most thrilling two-year periods in twentieth-century physics, as matrix mechanics—developed chiefly by W. Heisenberg, M. Born, and P. Jordan—and wave mechanics—developed by E. Schrödinger—supplanted the earlier quantum theory. The almost one hundred writings by Einstein, of which a third have never been published, and the more than thirteen hundred letters show Einstein’s immense productivity and hectic pace of life.
Hardcover | 2018
Humanity
Ai Weiwei
Edited and with an introduction by Larry Warsh
Praise for Ai Weiwei's Weiwei-isms: "Here is a man who understands how to get messages to people. His expertise in artful dissemination is the 21st-century equivalent of Andy Warhol's brilliant populism.... [E]pigrammatic, pungent, uncompromising."--Peter Aspden, Financial Times
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
On Gravity:
A Brief Tour of a Weighty Subject
A. Zee
"On Gravity . . . begins its tour of Einstein’s general theory of relativity with the discovery of gravitational waves, and lands the reader deep in the mysteries of dark matter and energy."--Liz Else and Simon Ings, New Scientist
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Books released during the week of Mar. 19, 2018
Brave New Arctic:
The Untold Story of the Melting North
Mark C. Serreze
"[Serreze] shares the story of how he entered the field of climate science by accident; why, at first, he thought the climate might be getting colder rather than warmer, based on measurements from complicated Arctic weather systems; how, year after year, he became further convinced about the reality of global warming due to slowly accumulating data; and why he began to participate avidly in a scientific consensus combating climate-change deniers, most of whom have been politically motivated. Ultimately, what Serreze produces is a kind of detective story; the major crime is the human causation of global warming. . . . An alarming, evidence-based book by a scientist who is not by nature an alarmist."--Kirkus
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Building Anglo-Saxon England
John Blair
"John Blair has a reputation for being one of the most original historians of Anglo-Saxon England, and he amply merits that with this amazing new book. This deft mixture of archaeology, history, and place-name studies shows us how Anglo-Saxon villages worked, in ways that have never been attempted before. Everyone in the future will have to start with this pathbreaking work."--Chris Wickham, author of Medieval Europe
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Currency Power:
Understanding Monetary Rivalry
Benjamin J. Cohen
"The ideas are clearly explained and speak directly to a broad spectrum of the existing international political economy literature."--Choice
Paperback | 2018
Hardcover | 2015
eBook available
The Impossibility of Religious Freedom
New Edition
Winnifred Fallers Sullivan
With a new preface by the author
"A smart--and in the present circumstances, sobering—little book."--Christopher Caldwell, Financial Times
Paperback | 2018
eBook available
Powerplay:
The Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia
Victor D. Cha
"Powerplay is an illuminating and important book that should help to guide policy makers as they try to cope with the greatest challenge to the American alliance system in Asia since it was created some seven decades ago: the rise of a power, China, that wants to shake it up."--Richard Bernstein, Wall Street Journal
Paperback | 2018
Hardcover | 2016
eBook available
Rome:
Day One
Andrea Carandini
Translated by Stephen Sartarelli
"Tradition assigns [the founding of Rome] to the year 753 B.C., when Romulus--who, according to legend, was rescued from infanticide with his twin brother Remus and suckled by a she-wolf--erected the first walls of the so-called Roma Quadrata, or 'square Rome.' It has been a very long time since anyone took this account as an accurate historical description, but Carandini provocatively suggests that it might be more or less true."--Adam Kirsch, New Yorker
Paperback | 2018
Hardcover | 2011
eBook available
Taken for Granted:
The Remarkable Power of the Unremarkable
Eviatar Zerubavel
"I dare Americans to read this revelatory book, and hope they will. For Eviatar Zerubavel shows us how we think and speak. We consider some things simply unremarkable, comfortably normal. But others are remarkable, uncomfortably abnormal. Often dangerously, we act on these assumptions. Lucidly, without any guilt-tripping, this leading thinker enables us to live together--with greater justice and understanding."--Catharine R. Stimpson, New York University
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
The Talmud:
A Biography
Barry Scott Wimpfheimer
"Wimpfheimer brilliantly opens the door into the complex and fascinating world of textual study, allowing readers to comprehend the origins, structure, and impact of this foundational Jewish text. Erudite and accessible, this is a book for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the centrality of the Talmud in Jewish scholarship and life."--Tova Mirvis, author of The Book of Separation: A Memoir
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Books released during the week of Mar. 12, 2018
An Academic Life
A Memoir
Hanna Holborn Gray
"Readers interested in academic administration or the history of American universities would do well to spend a couple hours in Gray’s edifying company."--Kirkus
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Butterfly Gardening
The North American Butterfly Association Guide
Jane Hurwitz
"This book stands alone. It gently guides you step-by-step on the path to creating an accomplished butterfly garden, and it makes you feel as though you have been welcomed into a group of butterfly-gardening friends. The presentation is clear and concise, the butterfly and plant charts are indispensable, and the photographs are incredible."--Rick Mikula, president of Butterfly Rescue International
Paperback | 2018
eBook available
Censored
Distraction and Diversion Inside China's Great Firewall
Margaret E. Roberts
"Sometimes you read a book where all you can do is hold your hand up and recognize that this is as good as it gets. Theoretically and empirically sophisticated, Censored is the new state of the art in research on the Chinese Internet censorship regime. Filled with eureka moments, this book helps readers make sense of the complex terrain of China’s authoritarian information order."--Jonathan Sullivan, University of Nottingham
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Envy in Politics
Gwyneth H. McClendon
"Envy in Politics gracefully mixes social science with political theory. The writing is elegant and incisive and the analysis penetrating and persuasive. This book proclaims the arrival of a major scholar."--Robert H. Bates, Harvard University
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Extended Heredity
A New Understanding of Inheritance and Evolution
Russell Bonduriansky & Troy Day
""Extended Heredity [shows] how far the mainstream has shifted to include epigenetic forces alongside genes as drivers of who and what we are."--Liz Else and Simon Ings, New Scientist
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Greek Art and Aesthetics in the Fourth Century B.C.
William A. P. Childs
"Greek Art and Aesthetics in the Fourth Century B.C. analyzes the broad character of art produced during this period, providing in-depth analysis of and commentary on many of its most notable examples of sculpture and painting.
Paperback | 2018
eBook available
Our Minds, Our Selves
A Brief History of Psychology
Keith Oatley
"Keith Oatley, a distinguished psychologist and prize-winning novelist, writes with concision and great brio in this wonderful introduction to psychology. The coverage of current research is just right, with simple and practical illustrations of a sort that only an expert can provide. It is a book that should attract smart school kids to study psychology--and help undergraduates find their way through the maze of modern cognitive science."--Philip Johnson-Laird, author of How We Reason
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
Speak Freely
Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech
Keith E. Whittington
"A timely defense of intellectual debate and critical thinking. . . . In the current divisive political climate, Whittington shows why safeguarding the civil exchange of diverse ideas is an urgent need."--Kirkus
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available
What School Could Be
Insights and Inspiration from Teachers across America
Ted Dintersmith
"What School Could Be shares thought-provoking stories about critical, positive changes happening in schools across the country. As Ted Dintersmith shows, and as I have seen in New Hampshire, empowering teachers in existing public schools allows them to arm students with the tools they need to succeed. These examples can help all policymakers focus on what actually works as we move this important discussion forward."--U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan
Hardcover | 2018
eBook available