What Should I Read Next?: 70 University of Virginia Professors Recommend Readings in History, Politics, Literature, Math, Science, Technology, the Arts, and More

Even the most well-read among us feel gaps in our knowledge. Former English majors or art students want to understand the monetary system; mathematicians or doctors just want a great novel. Travel sections in bookstores are full of authors ready to tell you the hundred places to visit before you die, but what about the best book to read on global warming?"What Should I Read Next?" taps seventy University of Virginia professors in an array of fields for suggestions on how to satisfy this nagging intellectual curiosity. Each contributor recommends five titles that speak to their area of inquiry, providing both a general introduction and commentary on each selection. The results read like a series of personal tutorials: Larry Sabato considers how political power is acquired, used, and held onto; climatologist Robert E. Davis provides a timely navigation of global-warming literature; and Michael Levenson offers five ways to approach James Joyce's Ulysses. Other topics include how computing changes thinking, the life and afterlife of slavery, understanding cities, and ecstatic poetry. The entries convey the contributors' expertise but also, more importantly, the enthusiasm, the original kernels of curiosity, that drew these scholars to their life's work.Designed for the lifelong learner who wants to branch out from his or her own profession or discipline, these explorations - of art, science, history, technology, politics, and much more - offer an inspiring place to start. The past as memory and oblivion / Alon Confino Human connections : history and the Latin American novel / Herbert Tico Braun Your culture or your rights? : women and the multicultural dilemma / Denise Walsh Best sellers and half-truths : misreading Iran in America / Farzaneh Milani How to understand 9/11, Iraq, and Bush's war on terrorism / William B. Quandt Writing self and society : East Asian women authors / Ellen V. Fuller Approaching China : philosophy, history, and politics / Brantly Womack Asian America : studying culture and ethnicity / Sylvia Chong Improvising america : rethinking the founding / Peter S. Onuf Discerning constitutional meaning / Daniel R. Ortiz The life and afterlife of slavery / Lawrie Balfour Ongoing struggle : the deeper history of the civil rights movement / Risa L. Goluboff "The cruel radiance of what is" : poverty in America since 1945 / Grace Elizabeth Hale Sex in the United States : some history / Cindy Aron New histories of the American West / Christian W. McMillen Political power : how to get it, use it, and avoid losing it / Larry Sabato Media and politics : media effects? media bias? / Paul Freedman Academic capitalism : the political economy of higher education / Brian Pusser Tintin and the American menace : French (mis)representations of the United States / Philippe Roger Catastrophes and commemorations : shaping nineteenth-century Chicago / Daphne Spain Urban plans and urban realities : understanding cities / Dell Upton Nations and nationalism / Krishan Kumar Light and life : the evolution of visual perception / Dennis Proffitt Everyday evolution / Edmund Russell An appreciation of reality : society and science / Reginald H. Garrett Starship Earth user's manual 2.0 : revising the balance of nature / Herman H. Shugart Perspectives on global warming science / Robert E. Davis The environmental other : finding and losing ourselves in nature / Jonathan Cannon The epic of the cosmos : space, time, and the universe / Trinh Xuan Thuan Doing science : physics, genius, and creativity / Paul Fendley Designing matter : molecules, materials, and their importance to society / Cassandra L. Fraser How computing changes thinking / David Evans Symmetry and group theory / Brian Parshall Arguments : exploring the history of logic / James Cargile At the edge of war : five from the 1850s / Stephen Cushman Mourning and modern poetry / Jahan Ramazani Doctors, lawyers, and the classics : reading for ethical values / Marcia Day Childress and Julia D. Mahoney Marketing fiction : Victorian serial novels / Stephen Arata Love, guilt, and reparation : fiction that guides us / Karen Chase Beside ourselves : ecstatic poetry / Lisa Russ Spaar The euphoric suffering of modern heroines / Alison Booth Abroad at home : contemporary interethnic fiction / Caroline Rody Women between cultures : Latina writers of the United States / María-Inés Lagos Where Spain is real : the nineteenth-century Spanish novel (and beyond) / Randolph D. Pope Joyce's Ulysses, five ways / Michael Levenson Ovid's Metamorphoses / Paul Barolsky Beyond Shakespeare : some other high points of English Renaissance drama / Clare R. Kinney Dangerous knowledge : Faust, Frankenstein, the golem, and the castle / Jeffrey A. Grossman Tolling the bells : liturgy and English literature / Bruce Holsinger Return to the word hoard / Elizabeth Fowler Literature as re-viewing / J. Paul Hunter Art and science in the Renaissance / Francesca Fiorani Maps, graphs, and icons : the art of visual knowledge representation / Johanna Drucker A pilgrim's guide : the visual world of medieval art / Lisa Reilly "One, two, three, four" : one hundred years of jazz and counting / Scott DeVeaux American art and material culture / Maurie McInnis "Reading" popular entertainment / John Frick Music and identity in the African diaspora / Melvin L. Butler The pleasures and terrors of speaking (and reading) aloud / Judith Reagan The beginning of wisdom : self-knowledge / Mitchell S. Green Babies, toddlers, and teens : how children develop / Judy DeLoache Illness narratives / David B. Morris Psychiatric anthropology : mental illness and cultural difference / Larry Merkel Exploring human diversity : an entrée into anthropology / Peter Metcalf Sex and morality / John Portmann For the sake of profit : self-interest, self-sacrifice, and corporate goals / Ira Bashkow The four goals of life in classical Hinduism / John Nemec Differing inequalities : considering India, Europe, and America / R.S. Khare Islam, Christianity, Judaism : reading across a difference / Peter Ochs The need to know Islam and Muslims / Abdulaziz Sachedina.

even The Most Well-read Among Us Feel Gaps In Our Knowledge. Former English Majors Or Art Students Want To Understand The Monetary System; Mathematicians Or Doctors Just Want A Great Novel. What Should I Read Next? Taps Seventy University Of Virginia Professors For Recommended Readings In History, Politics, Literature, Math, Science, Technology, The Arts, And More. Each Contributor Picks Five Titles That Speak To Their Area Of Inquiry, Providing A General Introduction And Commentary On Each Selection.

the Barnes & Noble Review

what A Great Idea: Ask Some 70 Colleagues At Your University -- In This Case The University Of Virginia -- To Provide A Short Essay With A List Of Five Books On A Subject In Their Fields. The Result Here Is Even Better Than The Premise, Since Each Prof Responds In His Or Her Own Way, Some Recommending Tried-and-true Canonical Works, Others Listing Books In Their Areas That Reach Out To General Readers, And Others Simply Suggesting Five Ways Of Sampling A Masterpiece. The Contributions Span The University Curriculum And Include Suggestions On Historical And Political Topics (the Founding Fathers, Poverty In Modern America, 19th-century Chicago); On Science And Mathematics (the Evolution Of Visual Perception, Symmetry And Group Theory, The History Of Logic); And On Literature And The Arts (the Poetry Of Mourning, 100 Years Of Jazz, The 19th-century Spanish Novel). Other Essays Explore Religious Ideas, Child Development, And Issues In Illness And Mental Health. In Short, It's A Real Educational Smorgasbord, Much Like An Annotated Course Guide. Some Authors Find Their Way Onto More Than One List, But Not Always For The Reason You Might Expect. Shakespeare Shows Up In Readings For A Study Of Ethical Values As Well On A More Conventional List For The English Word Hoard. Among Contemporary Writers And Scholars, Jared Diamond, Michael Klarman, E. o. Wilson, Julia Alvarez, And Michael Pollan All Make Multiple Appearances For Their Recent Work In A Wide Range Of Disciplines. The Delights Here Are Many, And The Intellectually Curious Will Consult This Clever Collection Time And Again. Let's Hope Other Universities Follow The Format -- A First-class Education At Your Fingertips. --thomas Depietro

" I cannot live without books." Thomas Jefferson Even the most well-read among us feel gaps in our knowledge. Former English majors or art students want to understand the monetary system; mathematicians or doctors just want a great novel. Travel sections in bookstores are full of authors ready to tell you the hundred places to visit before you die, but what about the best book to read on global warming? What Should I Read Next? taps seventy University of Virginia professors in an array of fields for suggestions on how to satisfy this nagging intellectual curiosity. Each contributor recommends five titles that speak to their area of inquiry, providing both a general introduction and commentary on each selection. The results read like a series of personal Larry Sabato considers how political power is acquired, used, and held onto; climatologist Robert E. Davis provides a timely navigation of global-warming literature; and Michael Levenson offers five ways to approach James Joyces Ulysses. Other topics include how computing changes thinking, the life and afterlife of slavery, understanding cities, and ecstatic poetry. The entries convey the contributors expertise but also, more importantly, the enthusiasm, the original kernels of curiosity, that drew these scholars to their lifes work. Designed for the lifelong learner who wants to branch out from his or her own profession or discipline, these explorationsof art, science, history, technology, politics, and much moreoffer an inspiring place to start. Even the most well-read among us feel gaps in our knowledge. This book recommends titles that speak to the contributors' area of inquiry, providing both a general introduction and commentary on each selection. It considers topics such as: how computing changes thinking, the life and afterlife of slavery, understanding cities, and ecstatic poetry.