| | | | Web Exclusives | | Editors’ Picks. Choice, v.47, no. 04, December 2009. |
To highlight the wide range of publications reviewed in Choice, each month Choice editors feature some noteworthy reviews from the current issue. Barash, David P. How women got their curves and other just-so stories: evolutionary enigmas, by David P. Barash and Judith Eve Lipton. Columbia, 2009. 210p index afp; ISBN 9780231146647, $29.95. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-1973 GN281 2008-40139 CIP In this provocatively titled book, the authors provide an excellent window into the nature and process of science and evolutionary biology. Husband-wife team Barash (evolutionary biologist, Univ. of Washington) and Lipton (clinical psychiatrist specializing in women’s health), are well-qualified authors with several books to their credit. Here, they focus on enigmas such as how women got their curves, why they have breasts, why women menstruate, why ovulation is hidden, and why female orgasm exists. A unique feature of this book is the use of hypotheses in science–some theories are based on sound empirical evidence, others on speculation. The authors attempt to distinguish between what is true and what remains uncertain. Science is not just about answers; it is the process of searching for them. Some evolutionarily hypotheses are testable; others are more difficult. The authors provide support both for and against each hypothesis presented, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions. Barash and Lipton weave together scientific insights from biology, psychology, animal behavior, and anthropology to create an evolutionary suspense story that captures the excitement and thrill of learning about human biology. This book would make a wonderful supplement for college-level courses in human or evolutionary biology. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All undergraduate students and general readers. — S. M. Paracer, Worcester State College
Berlin, Isaiah. Enlightening: letters, 1946-1960, ed. by Henry Hardy and Jennifer Holmes with Serena Moore. Chatto & Windus, 2009. 844p indexes; ISBN 9780701178895, $50.00. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-1795 B1618 MARC Bernard Shaw–who, like Berlin, was a prolific and consummate writer of missives–once observed that individuals’ virtues and vices come mixed. This applies to pretty much everyone, including the towering Berlin, whose compassionate humanity, incorrigible loquaciousness, sweeping intellect, acidic animadversions, picayune animosities, ironic aperçus, baroque circumlocutions, brazen gregariousness, gnawing anxieties, and compelling advocacy of freedom are amply displayed in this substantial volume of letters, the second to appear under Hardy’s editorial stewardship (the first volume, CH, Feb’05, 42-4335, canvasses the years 1928-46). The present meticulously compiled and contextualized collection, necessarily selective in scope and judiciously pruned in content, invokes a galaxy of luminaries–correspondents and named others alike–and chronicles some of the most significant events in Berlin’s distinguished life: his Oxford years, his marriage, his migration from philosophy to the history of ideas, his renowned radio broadcasts for the BBC, his celebrated lectures, and the publication of some of his best-known works, to list a few of the most salient. Enriched with appendixes, illustrations, a chronology, and a select biographical glossary, this is a revelatory work. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — H. I. Einsohn, Middlesex Community College
The Black condition, ed. by Howard Dodson and Colin Palmer. New York Public Library/Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture/ProQuest/Michigan State, 2009. 272p bibl afp; ISBN 9780870138386 pbk, $24.95. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2304 E184 2008-17052 CIP This volume begins to realize the “dream deferred” of one of the editors, Howard Dodson of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture http://www.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html (CH, Feb’06, 43-3596): to publish a series of books that provide a solid grounding of reference works for the field of black studies and a base of solid information, interpretive essays, bibliographies, time lines, and glossaries to guide future research. This is the fourth volume in this ongoing series copublished with ProQuest, following Ideology, Identity, and Assumptions (2007), Cultural Life (CH, Apr’08, 45-4164), and Origins (CH, Jun’09, 46-5815). The works, together with the supplementary ProQuest online resources and databases http://bsc.chadwyck.com/marketing/ will, one hopes, finally realize Dodson’s delayed vision. The book provides five helpful general review essays on economic inequality, black politics, education, African Americans in the military, and the African American religious experience. Each essay has accompanying time lines, bibliographies, and other supplementary material. The essays are solid and informative. It is not obvious why these particular disparate topics are grouped together; regardless, all research libraries will be glad to have this important reference series. Michael Gomez’s essay on African American religion, which focuses heavily on the transmission of African-based religions in the Americas generally, is particularly innovative. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — P. Harvey, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Grinols, Earl L. Health care for us all: getting more for our investment, by Earl L. Grinols and James W. Henderson. Cambridge, 2009. 276p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780521445665, $85.00; ISBN 9780521738255 pbk, $29.99. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2114 RA410 2008-45749 CIP Noted economist Thomas R. Saving says that Grinols and Henderson (both, Baylor Univ.) “have produced a package for understanding and solving the complex issues in health care market.” The plan the authors present will probably seem unusual to readers; it will certainly not be like any plan that politicians have been promoting recently. They call their plan a “targeted intervention plan.” The Grinols and Henderson solution rests on addressing three problems with current practices: “too little insurance,” “too little income,” and “too little market.” Their suggestions for health care reform do not merely “order people about,” but rather use incentives to intervene in the economy to urge individuals to take the “coordinated steps they need to take.” Economists will recognize the obvious reliance on incentives, as opposed to the heavy hand of government direction apparent in most political “solutions” being debated. The use of incentive to achieve a desired outcome makes use of the power of markets, rather than attempting to bypass them. This book is a must read for all in the health care policy area. It is also a useful read for economics students who wish to see economic principles in action. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduate students, graduate students, and research faculty. — B. P. Keating, University of Notre Dame Hagopian, Patrick. The Vietnam War in American memory: veterans, memorials, and the politics of healing. Massachusetts, 2009. 553p index afp; ISBN 9781558496934, $49.95. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2196 DS559 2008-53928 CIP The central focus of this book is the story of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM, aka “The Wall”) in Washington, DC, but the author branches out from there to examine many large, controversial questions concerning the place and influence of the Vietnam War in US culture and foreign policy to the present day. This is by far the most complete examination of the complex, hotly contested story of the VVM extant. Hagopian (American studies, Lancaster Univ., UK) offers a particularly compelling critique of the “apolitical” healing and reconciliation themes associated with the memorial, arguing cogently that this result was achieved at the cost of avoiding, forgetting, or covering up many of the most important aspects of the war, including the virtually complete exclusion of the people and culture of Vietnam from US memorials. Overall, this is among the most important books on the Vietnam War published in the past decade. About the only downside is the book’s length and that much of the book, the early chapters especially, is slow and difficult reading. Nonetheless, for anyone seriously interested in the Vietnam War era and recent US history and willing to put in some time and effort, this should be a challenging, rewarding work. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — K. Blaser, emeritus, Wayne State College Koepsell, David. Who owns you?: The corporate gold-rush to patent your genes. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. 187p index afp; ISBN 9781405187312, $79.95; ISBN 9781405187305 pbk, $24.95. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2275 K1519 2008-41638 CIP Via reflective consideration of secondary sources, attorney and philosopher Koepsell (Technology Univ. of Delft, The Netherlands) explores economic, ethical, legal, and scientific questions raised by the patenting of one-fifth of the human genome. After two chapters that provide a usefully comprehensive introduction, subsequent chapters address his ontologically informed ethical approach; the evolution of genetic and genomic research; the role of DNA in distinctions among species and individuals; and the legal evolution of patents regarding genes and other natural substances. Koepsell advocates a more limited scope for genome-related patents on the basis of intellectual property case law. He argues against the existing state of genome patent law, and further argues that existing genome patent protections harm science and economic innovation. This readable book covers a lot of ground, but it could benefit from greater incorporation of existing economic, legal, and philosophical inquiry. Recent legal decisions in Europe and North America suggest that Koepsell’s emphasis on the demonstration of both an innovation and a commercial use ultimately may prove central to future jurisprudence in cases involving these patents. Koepsell’s timely book is highly recommended for all reading levels. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. — C. H. Blake, James Madison University LeCain, Timothy J. Mass destruction: the men and giant mines that wired America and scarred the planet. Rutgers, 2009. 273p index afp; ISBN 9780813545295, $26.95. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2029 TN443 2008-35434 CIP LeCain (history, Montana State) writes skillfully and eloquently about the history, the engineering challenges, the successes of production and resulting consumption, and the environmental consequences of open-pit copper mining, mainly in the first half of the 20th century. He begins with the saga of Daniel Jackling, the legendary mining engineer who dared to change from the traditional underground excavation mining method to unprecedented open-pit massive removal of copper ore at the Bingham Pit near Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Berkeley Pit at Butte, Montana. The author portrays the incredible machines of rock removal and transport, the towering stacks for smoke dispersal, and the energy and scale of production in the context of the human and environmental impact of producing copper–and, significantly, other metals as well–for an increasingly addictive technological society the world over. With clarity and reason, LeCain analyzes this undeniable and inextricable connection between the technology of producing nature’s raw materials and human and environmental imperatives. This book provokes serious second thoughts about the future of the exploitation of nature’s bounty, and it should appeal to a wide audience, especially modern resource companies and conservationists. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals; two-year technical program students; general readers. — T. L. T. Grose, emeritus, Colorado School of Mines Levi, Mark. The mathematical mechanic: using physical reasoning to solve problems. Princeton, 2009. 186p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780691140209, $19.95. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2059 QA63 2009-4861 CIP The Mathematical Mechanic is a pleasant surprise. From the book’s description, this reviewer expected a series of application problems that might have been of some use in academic coursework. Instead he found a very engaging set of exercises that he will definitely use in classes and will do on his own for some time to come. Levi (math, Penn State) gives physical examples (e.g., “Saving a Drowning Victim by Fermat’s Principle,” “The Cheapest Can,” “How Much Gold Is in a Wedding Ring?”) that demonstrate a large array of mathematical proofs. Though, as he indicates, his physical examples do not constitute rigorous proofs, they do give insight and allow for intuition to guide readers to mathematical relations. For example, he finds the center of mass of an object by calculating the work done by two different methods–avoiding the messy integrals. He examines a wide range of physics and addresses most topics covered in an undergraduate’s first year. Though much of the mathematics does not go beyond precalculus, students who have finished a year of calculus would benefit the most from the book. The appendixes provide quick reviews of the physics used. Valuable to engineers, physicists, and mathematicians at all levels. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners. — E. Kincanon, Gonzaga University
Martin, Jay. Live all you can: Alexander Joy Cartwright and the invention of modern baseball. Columbia, 2009. 155p index afp; ISBN 9780231147941, $22.95. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2069 GV865 2008-53267 CIP Two fine baseball scholars/historians, Alan Schwarz and John Thorn, named Cartwright (1820-92) one of top 100 people in baseball history. Yet Cartwright is arguably one of the least-known significant figures in the evolution of the sport. As a young New York City tradesman and club member, he loved the various games of bat and ball played everywhere in the 1840s. To play against other organizations, Cartwright believed that a few common rules were required; his decision to codify the shape and dimensions of the playing field, the distance between bases, and the number and location of players gave “the New York game” the fundamentals that remain (for the most part unchanged) to this day. If there ever was a genuine “father of baseball,” that man is Cartwright. Martin (humanities and government, Claremont McKenna College) effectively debunks all other claims and shows how Cartwright’s travels, eventually to Hawai’i, spread his version of the game before the Civil War. Accordingly, Cartwright can be considered the Johnny Appleseed of baseball. Martin does a fine job of telling his story. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. — S. Gittleman, Tufts University
Miller, Geoffrey. Spent: sex, evolution, and consumer behavior. Viking, 2009. 374p bibl index ISBN 0-670-02062-1, $26.95; ISBN 9780670020621, $26.95. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2098 HB801 2008-51554 CIP Miller (evolutionary psychology, Univ. of New Mexico) provides a brilliantly illuminating lens into the “swamps and jungles of modern consumerism.” His incisive, eloquent writing makes the ideas come alive as he cleverly argues that marketing is the central, most dominant force in human culture today. At the same time, he crafts a convincing, clear message that physical attractiveness, physical health, mental health, intelligence, and particular personality qualities are the most desirable of traits. He continues that people (after millions of years of biological adaptation) are quite good at displaying and assessing these traits through such means as greeting, eating together, and having ordinary human conversation. Yet consumerism works to downplay our natural adaptations for presenting desirable traits and instead incessantly works to delude people into thinking that artificial products work better as displays. Miller’s account of this is exceptionally written. He uses fun examples, witty commentary, and an easy-to-read writing style while producing a tremendously serious and important work. He ends the book with a useful section on further reading and viewing. Summing Up: Essential. General readers, undergraduate and graduate students, researchers/faculty, and practitioners. — J. J. Bailey, University of Idaho Neal, Jocelyn R. The songs of Jimmie Rodgers: a legacy in country music. Indiana, 2009. 318p bibl discography index afp; ISBN 9780253353153, $55.00; ISBN 9780253220820 pbk, $21.95. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-1911 ML3524 2008-43989 CIP The title of this book suggests it covers all the songs Rodgers (1897-1933) performed and wrote. This is not the case. Instead Neal (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) gives the reader an overview of the career and music of this remarkable “father of country music,” paying considerable attention to musical genres he represented and influenced. The book’s in-depth studies of three of Rodgers’s most famous songs, “Mule Skinner Blues,” “In the Jailhouse Now,” and “T for Texas,” include helpful musical analysis. The author’s research is admirable and carefully documented. She shows how Rodgers, credited as composer of many songs he performed, actually made arrangements of songs he learned from various traditions, a practice not unusual for early recording artists. Neal also provides a sometimes-surprising look at the wide influence some of these songs have exerted on people who never even heard of Jimmie Rodgers. What is perhaps most significant is the author’s deep love of the music she writes about, which brings her subject matter to life for readers as no mere scholarly exercise can. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. — D. Arnold, University of North Texas
Prokhovnik, Raia. Sovereignty: history and theory. Imprint Academic, 2008. 234p bibl index; ISBN 9781845401412, $80.00; ISBN 9781845401146 pbk, $34.90. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2264 JC327 MARC This is a well-researched, clearly written intellectual history of an idea that lies at the heart of political theory at every level: sovereignty. Through the description and analysis of paired thinkers (i.e., “Bodin and Before,” “Hobbes and Spinoza,” “Locke and Rousseau,” “Kant and Hegel,” “Schmitt and Foucault”), Prokhovnik (Open Univ., UK) expounds on the various meanings and implications of sovereignty historically while demonstrating the profoundly political and contingent nature of the concept: it is reflective of, as well as deterministic of, the political currents and intellectual possibilities of the time. By promoting a view of sovereignty that is less teleological, Prokhovnik explicitly raises the concept for reanalysis in our own times. In this sense, as she says, there are descriptive, analytic, and normative dimensions of this work. Each of the chapters can stand alone as an exploration of the particular and historical aspects and associations of sovereignty and its related concepts (power, authority, institutional order, etc.). Together, they position the work well within the large current scholarship on sovereignty and political theory more generally, and provide a useful, important service for scholars of ideas, politics, and political theory. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. — S. P. Duffy, Quinnipiac University
Rumney, Avis. Dying to please: anorexia, treatment, and recovery. 2nd ed. McFarland, 2009. 190p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780786443789 pbk, $35.00. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2045 RC552 2009-10506 CIP This long-awaited second edition (1st, CH, May’84) has been considerably updated with new references to books and articles published as recently as 2009; a new chapter on the use and misuse of the Internet; material on developing assessment tools; added therapies and medications; sample case studies; listings of treatment centers, resources, organizations, and programs; an expanded index; and an improved arrangement that highlights the author’s personal struggles and extensive experience both as client and licensed therapist. Part 1 is a succinct summary of this complicated disease and its causes, the role of brain chemistry, multiple disorders that may accompany anorexia (e.g., anxiety, depression), and key attributes (perfectionism, unresolved grief, competition, distorted body image, and sexual immaturity). Part 2 covers treatment and recovery, including settings, psychotherapeutic and experiential (art, music, poetry, movement, guided imagery, psychodrama, etc.) modalities, family therapy, 12-step programs, and intervention. The author emphasizes the importance of self-development for both the anorexic person and the mother, and promotes special support for mothers by working with them individually in person and by phone, and by leading in-person groups. This book is an excellent overview from a uniquely knowledgeable, qualified, and hopeful perspective. Summing Up: Essential. Upper level undergraduates, graduate students, faculty/researchers, and professionals. — E. R. Paterson, SUNY College at Cortland Smarthistory: A Multimedia Web-Book about Art and Art History. Internet Resource. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-1815
http://smarthistory.org/ [Visited Sep’09] Begun as a blog by art historians Beth Harris and Steven Zucker (Fashion Institute of Technology), this site initially provided free audio guides for visitors to the Metropolitan Museum and MoMA. Now an impressive group of scholars contribute content to this free Web site, which functions as a multimedia art history resource and adjunct to college art history survey texts. In addition to receiving a grant from the Kress Foundation, the site has accumulated a number of prestigious awards, including the 2009 Webby Award for best education site and the International Council of Museums’ gold prize. Smarthistory has an open-minded approach to the history of art based on the philosophy that dialogue can create disagreement without fear, and that the use of videos and podcasts allows students to concentrate on the image, rather than go back and forth between text and image–a flaw the authors consider inherent to art history textbooks.
The site consists of two parts: a database of information about individual works of art and a substantial offering of videos to download. Users may browse the database by time period, style, artist, or theme, or use a basic search engine. The text accompanying each image is concise, engaging, and well written (often with an appealing element of humor), and a map and link to appropriate videos are offered. Users may also click on a time line to connect with works of art from a particular period. Numerous downloadable videos/podcasts cover a wide range of subjects, providing educators with high-quality resources for students at no cost. At present the site’s strength is in the content featured in the second half of the typical Western art survey course. Site authors plan to add pre-Renaissance and non-Western art. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general audience. — E. M. Hansen, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Smith, Patricia K. Obesity among poor Americans: is public assistance the problem?. Vanderbilt, 2009. 197p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780826516350, $49.95; ISBN 9780826516367 pbk, $22.95. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2127 RC628 2008-24088 CIP This book investigates the controversial claim that public assistance programs are at the root of the obesity epidemic among the poor, particularly poor women, in the US. Smith (Univ. of Michigan, Dearborn) offers, and then investigates in great detail, four hypotheses and pathways within each that might explain the relationship between obesity and public assistance. The four key chapters test whether “public assistance causes obesity,” “obesity causes public assistance,” “poverty causes both public assistance and obesity,” or “factor X causes both.” Possible x factors include stress, disability, and physical abuse. The author reviews empirical evidence from disciplines such as anthropology, economics, epidemiology, medicine, nutrition science, marketing, psychology, public health, sociology, and urban planning to determine if this claim is valid or if there is some other explanation for the rising obesity problem among the poor. This is a very interesting and informative book that perhaps opens up more questions than it answers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — K. J. Buhr, University of Maine Tehranian, John. Whitewashed: America’s invisible Middle Eastern minority. New York University, 2009. 246p index afp ISBN 0-8147-8306-6, $35.00; ISBN 9780814783061, $35.00. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2322 E184 2008-27819 CIP This book is a compelling study of one of the critical issues of our time: the debate regarding the issues of assimilation, immigration, and national identity. Tehranian (Chapman Univ.) is a professor of law, a litigator, and a Middle Eastern American who has experienced the stigma of his origins and thus writes knowledgeably about the problem. Citing numerous court cases, Tehranian leads readers through the labyrinth of white identity in the US and discusses where Middle Eastern citizens fit in this puzzle. He challenges the civil rights problems that still exist and offers some possible solutions, such as reforming media images of Middle Eastern people. The increasing interaction between the Middle East and the US indicates that it is crucial to recognize the social forces that drive people and to deconstruct those images in order to free members of the public to create their own images based upon individual impressions. Tehranian raises many questions concerning Americans’ identity and racial consciousness. A well-written and extremely readable book suited to general readers as well as faculty and researchers. Summing Up: Recommended. Most levels/libraries. — S. J. Zuber-Chall, Washburn University An Unconventional history of Western philosophy: conversations between men and women philosophers, ed. by Karen J. Warren with Audun Solli. Rowman & Littlefield, 2009. 554p afp ISBN 0-7425-5923-8, $95.00; ISBN 9780742559233, $95.00. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-1932 BD21 2008-14126 CIP Warren (Macalester) describes this book as part of a project to recover the names, lives, texts, and perspectives of women philosophers over the past 2,600 years. Warren’s work builds on the groundbreaking A History of Women Philosophers, ed. by Mary Ellen Waithe; many of the 15 substantial chapters are by scholars who contributed to Waithe’s work. Each deals with a male philosopher of the canonical tradition along with a woman who otherwise contributed to his thought. The list of authors considered warrants repetition here: “Plato and Diotima”; “Aristotle and the Late Pythagorean Women”; “Augustine and Hildegard”; “Abelard and Heloise”; “Descartes and Elizabeth”; “Hobbes and Macaulay”; “Locke and Masham”; “Leibniz and Conway”; “Rousseau and Wollstonecraft”; “Kant and van Schurman”; “Mill and Taylor”; “Heidegger and Arendt”; “Dewey and Addams”; “Wittgenstein and Anscombe”; and “Sartre and Beauvoir.” Along with a very thoughtful leading essay, Warren contributes a brief introduction to each chapter. Chapters include concise selections from the philosophers’ works and biographical notes. The useful appendixes include a list of (deceased) women philosophers and a glossary. Designed for introductory philosophy courses, An Unconventional History is so thorough and substantial in style and content that it could be the backbone for major programs in philosophy and women’s studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. — H. J. John, emerita, Trinity University (DC) You’ve come a long way, baby: women, politics, and popular culture, ed. by Lilly J. Goren. University Press of Kentucky, 2009. 289p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780813125442, $32.50. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE. 47-2287 HQ1421 2009-2854 CIP Goren (Carroll Univ.) and the contributing authors offer a broad yet deep analysis through multiple feminist positions (i.e., second- and third-wave feminist, as well as postfeminist) of those sites wherein politics and popular culture intersect. From television to movies to music to literature, the contributing authors consistently question the current experiences of women and how their lives impact and are impacted by the politically infused popular culture that is all around them. For instance, third-wave feminist notions of choice in the modern workplace are problematized by an analysis of self-help books, magazines, and political campaigns focused on “family values” to find that gender-divisive corporate policies and approaches are largely reinforced. While theoretical and historical analysis aligns this book well with advanced undergraduate and graduate work, consideration of popular culture and current trends creates ample interest for general readers. Lauraine Leblanc’s Pretty in Punk (1999), which analyzes women’s active presence in punk culture through a feminist lens, is one work among many that could accompany Goren’s book to consider particular themes in depth. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduate students, graduate students, and research faculty. — C. L. Lalonde, D’Youville College
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