New Book List

September 2005

NONFICTION

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century    -    Friedman, Thomas L.

Starred reviews in Booklist and Publisher's Weekly .   Although it may be catchy, the title of Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Friedman's latest book needs explaining. "Flat" here means "level," as in the level playing field on which virtually any nation can now compete, thanks to the explosion of global telecommunications, including the Internet as well as the transfer of information from First World to Third--and back. There's also a leveling of hierarchies within organizations, thanks to the increasing democratization of information from sources such as the Web. Friedman cites 10 forces that have caused this "flattening," including the fall of the Berlin Wall ("We could not think globally about the world when the Berlin Wall was there," said one economist), the emergence of Netscape as an Internet platform, workflow software, open sourcing, outsourcing, the streamlining of the supply chain (witness Wal-Mart), the organization of information on the Internet (Google, Yahoo), and the ubiquity of powerful personal telecommunications devices. Friedman is very thorough at projecting the consequences of these changes, noting the benefits we all share from this hyper-globalization, while realistically addressing, for example, the challenges American workers will face in the coming decades from talented, highly motivated workforces in such countries as India and China. Friedman brings coherence and a workable plan of action to the fundamental changes our world is experiencing.   - Booklist

Contents:   Introduction --                   PART ONE: THE FLATTENING -- While You Were Sleeping -- The Ten Forces That Flattened The World -- 1. 11/9/89 -- 2. 8/9/95 -- 3. Workflow -- 4. Open Source -- 5. Y2K -- 6. When China Joined the WTO -- 7. Wal-Mart -- 8. UPS -- 9. Google -- 10. The Steroids -- PART TWO: THE TRANSITION TO A FLAT EARTH -- The Dual Convergence -- PART THREE: BEING AN AMERICAN ON PLANET FLAT -- The Untouchables: Individuals -- Dirty Little Secrets -- This Is Not A Test -- PART FOUR : RUNNNIG A COMPANY ON PLANET FLAT -- DOScapital 2000: Companies   -- PART FIVE: DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND PLANET FLAT -- The Virgin of Guadalupe   -- PART SIX: THE POLITICS AND GEOPOLITICS OF FLATNESS -- No Guns or Cell Phones Allowed -- The Great Sorting Out -- The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention -- PART SEVEN: IMAGINATION -- To The Class Of 2005: 11/9 or 9/11 -- Index.

College Knowledge:   What It Really Takes for Students to Succeed and What We Can Do to Get Them Ready    -    Conley , David T.

Although more and more students have the test scores and transcripts to get into college, far too many are struggling once they get there. These students are surprised to find that college coursework demands so much more of them than high school. For the first time, they are asked to think deeply, write extensively, document assertions, solve non-routine problems, apply concepts, and accept unvarnished critiques of their work. College Knowledge confronts this problem by looking at the disconnect between what high schools do and what colleges expect and proposes a solution by identifying what students need to know and be able to do in order to succeed. The book is based on an extensive three-year project sponsored by the Association of American Universities in partnership with The Pew Charitable Trusts. This landmark research identified what it takes to succeed in entry-level university courses. Based on the project's findings - and interviews with students, faculty, and staff - this groundbreaking book delineates the cognitive skills and subject area knowledge that college-bound students need to master in order to succeed in today's colleges and universities. These Standards for Success cover the major subject areas of English, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, second languages, and the arts. - from the publisher

Contents: PART ONE: From the Current System and the High School of Today to an Aligned, Coherent Program -- Understanding the System -- What High School Students Know About College Readiness -- The Old and New Criteria for College Success -- Current Strategies to Increase College Readiness -- What Does a High School That Prepares Its Students for College Success Look Like? -- Designing High Schools for Intellectual Coherence -- PART TWO The First Year Experience and Beyond -- Experiencing Success in the First Year of College -- What Really Happens in the First Year of College -- What We Must Do to Create a System That Prepares Students for College Success -- PART THREE Knowledge and Skills for Success -- Standards for Success -- English Knowledge and Skills -- Mathematics Knowledge and Skills -- Natural Sciences Knowledge and Skills -- Social Sciences Knowledge and Skills -- Second Language Knowledge and Skills -- Arts Knowledge and Skills -- University Work Samples -- APPENDIX A Checklist for College Readiness.

Twilight at Little Round Top: July 2, 1863--The Tide Turns at Gettysburg    -    LaFantasie, Glenn W.  

Acclaimed author Glenn LaFantasie sheds new light on this legendary battle by telling the story as it really happened, through the eyes of the courageous men who fought there. Written by one of the most respected historians of the Civil War period, Twilight at Little Round Top uses the celebrated "face of battle" technique to paint a vivid portrait of the second day's fight at Gettysburg. Told through the experiences of both high-ranking officers and low-ranking privates, LaFantasie's meticulously researched book is based on newly discovered documents as well as other rare firsthand sources-some of which were mined for the first time from the Oates Family Papers and other private collections-to reconstruct this decisive battle with dramatic intensity. Brimming with memorable stories of quick wits and formidable courage, Twilight at Little Round Top recounts one day in a brutally devastating war, where grim-faced soldiers gritted their teeth, braved thunder and flames, and followed their officers' commands as much as human endurance allowed for the sake of their fluttering flags. - from the publisher

Vital Signs (2005)       -    Worldwatch Institute

The award-winning Worldwatch Institute reveals the often overlooked key trends that define the true health of our planet. This annual volume distills the "vital signs" of our times, which often escape the attention of the media, world leaders, and economic experts, from thousands of government, industrial, and scientific documents. It tracks the major indicators that show social, economic, and environmental progress, or the lack thereof. Vital Signs 2005 presents up-to-the-minute information on environmental and sustainable development topics, such as climate change, world population, energy, transgenic crops, HIV/AIDS, trade, and Internet use. Each trend is presented in text and graphics, providing a thorough, well-documented, and accessible overview. - from the publisher

Madness: A Brief History    -    Porter, Roy

This fascinating story reveals radically different perceptions of madness and approaches to its treatment, from antiquity to the present day. Roy Porter explores what we really mean by 'madness', covering an enormous range of topics from electric shock therapy to sexual deviancy, witches to creative geniuses, and psychoanalysis to Prozac. The origins of current debates about how we define and deal with insanity are examined through eyewitness accounts of writers, artists, those treating patients, and the mad themselves. - from the publisher

Contents:   Introduction -- Gods and demons -- Madness rationalized -- Fools and folly -- Locking up the mad -- The rise of psychiatry -- The mad -- The century of psychoanalysis? -- Conclusion: modem times, ancient problems?

Unknown Darkness: Profiling the Predators Among Us   -    McCrary, Gregg O.

Many of us may think we know quite a lot about FBI profilers, but, says the former supervisor of the bureau's behavioral science unit, our knowledge comes almost entirely from fictionalized portrayals in films like Silence of the Lambs and television series like Profiler . The truth, he tells us, is rather different from fiction. This book, cowritten with forensic psychology professor Ramsland, puts profiling in the context of a more comprehensive program called Criminal Investigative Analysis. (Some readers may wonder why the FBI gives its behavioral-assessment program a name whose acronym is CIA.) Using actual cases in which he participated, McCrary demonstrates how profiling is but one part of this multifaceted crime-solving program. His explanation of the nuts and bolts of it all is surprisingly lively and will captivate true-crime fans with a yen to know more about profiling and related investigative practices. - Booklist

Why Elephants Have Big Ears: And Other Riddles from the Natural World    -    Lavers, Chris

The result of one man's lifelong quest to understand why the creatures of the earth appear and act as they do. In a wry manner and personal tone, Chris Lavers explores and solves some of nature's most challenging evolutionary mysteries, such as why birds are small and plentiful, why rivers and lakes are dominated by the few remaining large reptiles, why most of the large land-dwellers are mammals, and many more. - from the publisher

Beyond the Visible Terrain: The Art of Ed Mell    -    Hagerty, Donald J.

Introduces one of America's best and most innovative contemporary painters of the American Southwest. This compendium of Mell's visions of the landscape, flora and fauna, and people of the Colorado Plateau evoke both an esthetic and an emotional response that make him one of the most popular artists with some of his canvases being translated into limited edition lithographs and quality posters. Enhanced with insightful commentary on Ed Mell's life and work by Donald Hagerty, Beyond The Visible Terrain is a remarkable, beautiful, enduring testament to a uniquely talented artist. - Internet Book Watch

We Shall Overcome:   A Living History of the Civil Rights Struggle Told in Words, Pictures and The Voices of the Participants

Book and CD

Beginning with the murder of Emmett Till in 1955, and concluding with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, Boyd chronicles the history of the civil rights struggle in America. The writing is clear, understated, and journalistic. This style is well chosen, as it allows the words of the participants themselves, and multiple black-and-white archival photographs, to tell the stories and to provide strong emotional impact. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific person or event. Many of them will be familiar to students, such as Brown v. Board of Education or Rosa Parks. Perhaps less familiar is the story of the Freedom Riders, or the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The book includes two audio CDs, narrated by Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, that provide recordings of protest songs, speeches, and commentary from the Little Rock Nine as well as segregationist and Klan leaders, and more. These recordings bring history to life in ways that text cannot. A few of the photographs appear grainy-this may be due to the fact that some are reproduced from newspapers. This important book is recommended for mature students because of the unflinching language, the need to put the historical events in context, and the ability to understand the anger and sorrow that one feels after reading it. - School Library Journal

"To the Best of My Ability": The American Presidents    -    McPherson, James M., editor

A lavishly illustrated overview of the presidency sponsored by the Society of American Historians. General editor (and Pulitzer Prize winner) McPherson supplies a historiographical introduction and a Lincoln essay; other contributors include academics (among them, Gordon Wood on Washington, Joseph Ellis on Jefferson, Robert Remini on Jackson, Robert Dallek on Hoover and LBJ) and journalists (Richard Reeves on JFK, Tom Wicker on Nixon, Evan Thomas on Clinton). Some 300 pages are devoted to essays that "focus on the dominant themes and achievements of each presidency" within its personal, ideological, and political contexts. Each 6-to 10-page essay provides biographical data, lists major events during the president's term(s), and includes vivid illustrations (including a portrait of the president's spouse). The rest of the book supplies brief descriptions of the campaigns that elected each of the 41 presidents and the full texts of their inaugural addresses. The high quality of text and visuals will make this a popular resource. - Booklist

Understanding Iraq: The Whole Sweep of Iraqi History, of Outside Rule from Genghis Khan to the Ottoman Turks to the British Mandate to the American Occupation    -    Polk, William R.

Unlike many single-state histories that take the reader from the dawn of history to modern times in a scant page or so, Understanding Iraq begins with two substantial chapters entitled "Ancient Iraq" and "Islamic Iraq." They set the stage for the treatment of Iraq from the time it got its modern name. A chapter entitled "British Iraq" (covering 1917 to 1958) is followed by "Revolutionary Iraq" (1958 to 1991) and then "American Iraq" (1991 to the present). These diverse adjectives bespeak a country that has long been dominated by outsiders or homegrown strongmen, and Polk's history depicts as much. Britain burst into Iraq but failed to put together an effective state. A nominally sovereign ruling elite during the years of the Iraqi monarchy accomplished little. Then, after 1958, came sundry revolutionary leaders from Abdul Karim Kassem to the long, brutal tenure of Saddam Hussein. Now Iraq faces up to yet another outside invader. Polk's final chapter is entitled — what else? — "Whose Iraq?" There are no heroes here, only a sober and informed account of Iraq's history. - Foreign Affairs

Archaeologists (Oxford Profiles)

A collection of essays on antiquarians and archaeologists from early figures to recent notables. The book is divided into four chronological sections, each beginning with an introduction that sets the scene for the biographies that follow and ending with paragraph sketches of other archaeologists from the same period. Individual entries investigate each subject's major contributions to archaeology as a science and to knowledge of the past in general. Fagan does not hesitate to criticize the scientists' failings or to highlight their strengths. His writing style is clear and interesting, making these essays much more enjoyable reading than encyclopedia articles. Each entry also includes black-and-white photographs or reproductions, a sidebar of facts, and suggestions for further reading. - School Library Journal

Oxford History Of Ancient Egypt

The only book available providing detailed historical coverage of Egypt from the early Stone Age to its incorporation into the Roman Empire. The lively essays and beautiful illustrations portray the emergence and development of the distinctive civilization of the ancient Egyptians covering the period from 700,000 BC to AD 311. Against the backdrop of the rise and fall of ruling dynasties, this book also examines cultural and social patterns, including stylistic developments in art and literature. The pace of change in such aspects of Egyptian culture as monumental architecture, funerary beliefs, and ethnicity was not necessarily tied to the rate of political change. Each of the authors--working at the cutting edge of their particular fields--has therefore set out to elucidate, in both words and pictures, the underlying patterns of social and political change, and to describe the changing face of ancient Egypt, from the biographical details of individuals to the social and economic factors that shaped the lives of the population as a whole. - from the publisher

Contents: Introduction : chronologies and cultural change in Egypt / Ian Shaw -- Prehistory : from the Palaeolithic to the Badarian culture (c. 700,000-4000 BC / Stan Hendrickx and Pierre Vermeersch -- The Naqada period (c. 4000-3200 BC) / Béatrix Midant-Reynes -- The emergence of the Egyptian state (c. 3200-2686 BC) / Kathryn A. Bard -- The Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2125 BC) / Jaromir Malek -- The First Intermediate period (c. 2160-2055 BC) / Stephan Seidlmayer -- The Middle Kingdom renaissance (c. 2055-1650 BC) / Gae Callender -- The Second Intermediate period (c. 1650-1550 BC) / Janine Bourriau -- The 18th dynasty before the Amarna period (c. 1550-1352 BC) / Betsy M. Bryan -- The Amarna period and the Later New Kingdom (c. 1352-1069 BC) / Jacobus Van Dijk -- Egypt and the outside world / Ian Shaw -- The Third Intermediate period (1069-664 BC) / John Taylor -- The Late period (664-332 BC) / Alan B. Lloyd -- The Ptolemaic period (332-30 BC) / Alan B. Lloyd -- The Roman period (30 BC-AD 395) / David Peacock.

The Supreme Court In Conference (1940-1985): The Private Discussions Behind Nearly 300 Supreme Court Decisions

Offers a fascinating and unprecedented look at the private debates between Justices on nearly 300 landmark cases from 1940-1985. Major decisions such as Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of Education are covered and the notes of Justices Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Frank Murphy, Robert Jackson, Harold Burton, Tom Clark, Earl Warren and William Brennan are opened to shed light on what goes on behind the closed doors of the secretive conference room. In this unique and revealing work on some of the most profound rulings made at a turbulent time in American history, the reader is given insight into how and why certain decisions were reached. With expert editing by Del Dickson--who provides annotations and an introduction to each case, placing them in legal and historical context--cases on issues such as free speech, the rights of the accused, religion, Presidential power, equal protection, affirmative action and the death penalty are discussed. Dickson also includes a lively and incisive history of the Supreme Court, from its beginning to the present, illuminating how the conference works, how it has evolved, its various animosities, triumphant successes and glaring failures. As the first major reference work on this subject, this easy-to-use book offers the most reliable evidence available on the internal workings of the Supreme Court. It is the ideal source for scholars, law students, historians and anyone interested in how Supreme Court decisions are truly made. - from the publisher

Choice and Coercion: Birth Control, Sterilization, and Abortion in Public Health and Welfare    -    Schoen, Johanna

In August 2003, North Carolina became the first U.S. state to offer restitution to victims of state-ordered sterilizations carried out by its eugenics program between 1929 and 1975. The decision was prompted by newspaper stories based on the research of Johanna Schoen, who was granted unique access to summaries of 7,500 case histories and the papers of the North Carolina Eugenics Board. In this book, Schoen situates the state's reproductive politics in a national and global context. Widening her focus to include birth control, sterilization, and abortion policies across the nation, she demonstrates how each method for limiting unwanted pregnancies had the potential both to expand and to limit women's reproductive choices. Such programs overwhelmingly targeted poor and nonwhite populations, yet they also extended a measure of reproductive control to poor women that was previously out of reach. Drawing on the voices of health and science professionals, civic benefactors, and the women themselves, Schoen's study allows deeper understandings of the modern welfare state and the lives of American women. - from the publisher

Contents:   A Great Thing for Poor Folks -- Teaching Birth Control on Tobacco Road and in Mill Village Alley: The History of Public Birth Control Services --Nothing Is Removed Except the Possibility of Parenthood: Women and the Politics of Sterilization -- I Knew That It Was a Serious Crime: Negotiating Abortion before Roe v. Wade -- Taking Foam Powder and Jellies to the Natives: Family Planning Goes Abroad -- Epilogue. From the Footnotes to the Headlines: Sterilization Apologies and Their Lessons -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction    -    Miller, Brenda

Creative nonfiction is the fastest-growing segment in the writing market. Yet, the majority of writing guides are geared toward poetry and fiction writers. Tell It Slant fills the gap. Designed for aspiring nonfiction writers, this much-needed reference provides practical guidance, writing exercises, and a detailed discussion of the range of subcategories that make up the genre, including memoir, travel writing, investigative reporting, and more.   The award-winning authors of Tell It Slant stretch your writing muscles as they reveal the specialized art of creative nonfiction. Whether you are writing a memoir or researched essays, the authors will guide you along your journey, using intensive instruction and an abundance of writing exercises to show you how to gain access to your own memories, l ook for material outside of yourself, address ethical issues when writing about other people, tackle (and enjoy) background research, avoid clichés and discover fresh language, and keep the passion of writing alive. - from the publisher

Contents:   Where to Begin? -- Unearthing Your Material -- The Body of Memory -- Writing the Family --"Taking Place": Writing the Physical World -- Writing the Spiritual Autobiography -- Gathering the Threads of History -- Writing the Arts -- Writing the Larger World -- The Forms of Creative Nonfiction -- The Particular Challenges of Creative Nonfiction -- The Personal Essay -- The Lyric Essay -- The Elements of Personal Reportage -- Honing Your Craft -- The Basics of Good Writing -- The Writing Process and Revision --The Writing Group -- Last Words -- Appendix A: "What Do I Read Now and Where Do I Find It?": A Selective Bibliography -- Appendix B: Publishing Creative Nonfiction

Falling Stars: A Guide to Meteors and Meteorites    -    Reynolds, Michael D.

A straightforward, thorough look at all aspects of meteors and meteorites, including how and where meteors originate, when and where to watch for them, and how to classify, collect, and preserve meteorites. Meteor showers, interesting meteorite craters, and tektites are all discussed in detail. Also contains a comprehensive listing of meteorite organizations, dealers, museums, and references. - from the publisher

Haints of the Hills      -    Barefoot, Daniel W.

From the mountains to the sea, North Carolina's 100 counties have a wealth of creepy stories to tell. Though folklore fans may recognize a few new twists on old favorites, the great majority of the stories have not previously been told in print. Haints of the Hills features 28 counties in North Carolina's mountainous west. If you walk the right road in Avery County, you might meet the ghost of seven-foot-tall Revolutionary War hero Robert Sevier, as related in "The Long Trek Home." If you climb the right mountain in Macon County, you'll reach the former stomping ground of the notorious witch Old Nance, as told in "Mile-High Witch." - from the publisher

Living in the Appalachian Forest: True Tales of Sustainable Forestry     -    Bolgiano, Chris

A thought-provoking look at how man and nature coexist, somewhat uneasily, within the Appalachian Forest, the world's most diverse temperate woodlands, 80 percent of which is privately owned-by the ancestors of homesteaders, outsiders who've bought large and small tracts, absentee landlords and landowners, private groups and institutions, and giant corporations. Interviews with a diverse group of landowners-a horse logger, a selective cutter, a ginseng grower, a clear cutter, a forest steward, a summer-camp owner, and others-and the author's own experiences as a landowner illustrate the private forest's past, present, and future. - from the publisher

Mount Mitchell and the Black Mountains: An Environmental History of the Highest Peaks in Eastern America    -    Silver, Timothy

Environmental historian Timothy Silver explores the long and complicated history of this intriguing landscape, drawing on both the historical record and his experience in the Black Mountains as a backpacker and fly fisherman. He chronicles the geological and environmental forces that created the mountains, then traces their history of environmental change and human intervention from the days of Indian-European contact to today. Among the many tales Silver recounts is that of Elisha Mitchell, the renowned geologist and University of North Carolina professor for whom Mount Mitchell is named, who fell to his death there in 1857. But nature's stories--of forest fires, chestnut blight, competition among plants and animals, insect invasions, and, most recently, airborne toxins and acid rain--are also part of Silver's narrative, making it the first history of the Appalachians in which the natural world gets equal time with human history. It is only by understanding the dynamic between these two forces, Silver says, that we can begin to protect the Black Mountains for future generations. - from the publisher

Drawing the Line: Jules Feiffer, David Levine, Edward Sorel, Ralph Steadman

Interviews drawn from the Utne Award-winning magazine's archives, this volume gathers together the epic, exhaustive interviews with four of the sharpest social commentators of our times: Ralph Steadman, Jules Feiffer, Edward Sorel, and David Levine. Steadman is the caustic illustrator of classic works like George Orwell's Animal Farm and Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 . Feiffer is the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the comics classics Munro, Tantrum and Sick, Sick, Sick and author of the seminal history of comics, The Great Comic Book Heroes , as well as screenplays for Carnal Knowledge, Little Murders and Popeye . Sorel is the co-founder of the world-famous Pushpin Studio and illustrator whose work has appeared regularly in publications like The Village Voice and The Atlantic and books like Moon Missing and Making the World Safe for Hypocrisy . Levine is of course the keen-eyed caricaturist whose work has lent dignity and consistency to the pages of The New York Review of Books every issue for nearly 40 years. Each definitive conversation boasts the generous amounts of illustration as well as a full-color gallery of rarely seen work. - from the publisher

Reaching for Glory : Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964-1965    -    Bescholoss, Michael

Many of the most important events of President Johnson's administration e.g., passage of the Voting Rights Act and Great Society legislation and the decision to escalate the war in Vietnam took place in 1964-65. Beschloss splendidly edits and annotates Johnson's secret telephone recordings. Much of the book describes Johnson's decision to expand the Vietnam War, but it also includes lengthy sections on the Dominican Republic crisis and the civil rights battle in Alabama, vignettes of his ongoing fight with Senator Robert Kennedy, and examples of his distrust of Vice President Hubert Humphrey, "just a big damn fool." Also included are examples of Johnson's deteriorating mental state because of Vietnam and of his wheeler-dealer badgering of Martin Luther King Jr. Frequent entries from Lady Bird Johnson's tape-recorded diary provide a welcome sense of decorum not usually associated with the "Johnson treatment." Beschloss provides an engrossing personal portrayal of Johnson that breathes life into Robert Dallek's Flawed Giant , an important investigation of LBJ's administration. - Library Journal

Contents: 1. Mudslinging Campaign   -- 2. Sex Scandal in the Throne Room   -- 3. A Landslide Can't Buy Happiness   -- 4. Girding for Battles   -- 5. "I Don't See Any Way of Winning" -- 6. "It May Look Like I'm Stirring Up These Marches" -- 7. "The Kids Are Led by Communist Groups" -- 8. "Do We Let Castro Take Over?" -- 9. "I Don't Believe They're Ever Going to Quit" -- 10. "We Know It's Going to Be Bad" -- EPILOGUE: Riding on a Crest -- EDITOR'S NOTE -- CAST OF CHARACTERS -- APPENDIX -- l : ACKNOW LEDGMENTS -- INDEX .

How Computers Work    -    White, Ron

If you're even slightly curious about how your computer (and the networks it's connected to) actually work, How Computers Work, 7th Edition will show you -- in grand style. Author Ron White and illustrator Timothy Edward Downs take you under the hood of virtually every contemporary computer technology, explaining it all in plain English. Oh, heck, that's wrong. Not “plain” English. Splendidly written, fun-to-read English. The first time you open this book, it's the splendid full-color imagery that'll strike you. As it should. Illustrator Timothy Edward Downs has developed a strikingly powerful style for simplifying and visually explaining even the most complicated technology. This book has hundreds of his images, many of them large enough to dominate their two-page “spreads.” But please don't scant the text. The marvelous chapter introductions, which give you the context you need to make sense of all this stuff. Or the image callouts, which explain what's going on about as concisely as humanly possible. How Computers Work, 7th Edition illuminates processors and memory; disks (including compression and defragging); software and programming languages (even compilers). You'll go inside your DVD-ROM, your joystick, your mouse or touchpad. You'll learn how the Web, email, and streaming media work; ditto for LANs, PDAs, color printers, scanners and OCR, speech recognition, uninterruptible power supplies...we could go on. - Barnes & Noble

In Retrospect : the Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam    -    McNamara, Robert S.

Former defense secretary McNamara seeks "to put Vietnam in context" and counter "the cynicism and even contempt with which so many people view our political institutions and leaders." The two administrations McNamara served made their "terribly wrong" decisions, he argues, because of "an error not of values and intentions but of judgment and capabilities." Though one brief chapter sketches McNamara's life before 1961, In Retrospect is more than memoir: Annapolis history professor VanDeMark--author of Into the Quagmire (1990)--supplied thorough research files, including newly declassified documents, and reviewed McNamara's drafts for historical accuracy. McNamara maintains that U.S. Vietnam policy rested on contradictory premises: a "domino" theory that, in retrospect, overstated the threat to U.S. security and world peace if Ho Chi Minh's forces won; and recognition that if the South Vietnamese were not committed to defending themselves, no other nation could do it. McNamara assumes responsibility for failing to address that contradiction and other unexamined assumptions and undebated disagreements that plagued decision making in these years. He identifies "eleven major causes for our disaster in Vietnam" and six points when the U.S. could legitimately have withdrawn. - Booklist

Chinese Porcelain    -    Du Boulay, Anthony

A history of Chinese porcelain from the 3rd century BC to the 20th century, with numerous illustrations.

Venus in Transit    -    Maor,   Eli

On June 8, 2004, Venus crossed the sun's face for the first time since 1882. Eli Maor tells the intriguing tale of the five Venus transits previously observed and the fantastic efforts made to record them. This is a story of heroes and cowards, of reputations earned and squandered, all told against a backdrop of phenomenal geopolitical and scientific change. With a novelist's talent for the details that keep readers reading late, Maor tells the stories of how Kepler's misguided theology led him to the laws of planetary motion; of obscure Jeremiah Horrocks, who predicted the 1639 transit only to die, at age 22, a day before he was to discuss the event with the only other human known to have seen it; of the unfortunate Le Gentil, whose decade of labor was rewarded with obscuring clouds, shipwreck, and the plundering of his estate by relatives who prematurely declared him dead; of David Rittenhouse, Father of American Astronomy, who was overcome by the 1769 transit's onset and failed to record its beginning; and of Maximilian Hell, whose good name long suffered from the perusal of his transit notes by a color-blind critic. Moving beyond individual fates, Maor chronicles how governments' participation in the first international scientific effort--the observation of the 1761 transit from seventy stations, yielding a surprisingly accurate calculation of the astronomical unit using Edmund Halley's posthumous directions--intersected with the Seven Years' War, British South Seas expansion, and growing American scientific prominence. Throughout, Maor guides readers to the upcoming Venus transit in 2012, opportunities to witness a phenomenon seen by no living person and not to be repeated until 2117. - from the publisher

War in the Pacific: Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay

This is a joint effort by ten professional military historians under the direction of Bernard Nalty of the Air Force History Program. Each of the contributors furnished a chapter on some aspect of the war; several are the authors of well-regarded military histories in their own right. Although the result is a sound and readable overview of the Pacific War, the book is really a showcase for an extensive collection of military memorabilia. Numerous full-page color photographs display an exhaustive array of the uniforms, weaponry, and assorted combat equipment used by both sides in the Pacific Theater. In addition, the book features a great many action photos, posters, and full-page drawings of airplanes and soldiers, as well as an array of colorful and simplified maps. - Kliatt

Early Christian and Byzantine Art and Architecture    -    Hutter, Irmgard

A fully illustrated guide to this art, showing how the two halves of the Roman Empire, Christian and Orthodox, adapted the art of classical antiquity to new conditions as they produced their architecture, icons, mosaics, and other works. 189 illustrations in color and black and white. Scholar's Bookshelf

Shadow Divers : The True Adventure of Two American Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II    -    Kurson, Robert

Even the most thoroughly landlocked reader will feel drenched (in sweat!) encountering Kurson's heart-pounding debut. For in Shadow Divers, Kurson descends to the depths of the ocean to tell the story of two courageous divers who made a stunning discovery. Six years in the making, the book unravels so much more than just a diving experience, for in exploring this historical moment, the author reveals the high-seas rivalries, the bitter feuds, and the cost of "membership in an obsessed culture of immensely brave men." When shipwreck divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler first told their story to Kurson, he thought it was too good to be true: "two ordinary men who confronted an extraordinarily dangerous world and solved a historical mystery that even governments had not been able to budge." To say the least, it "raised intriguing possibilities." But in Kurson's capable hands, their discovery of a mysterious German U-boat, over 200 feet beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, explodes off the page with spellbinding suspense. The remarkable journey to the shipwreck is recounted with palpable tension, a reminder that "on a deep-wreck dive, no one is ever truly safe until he is back on the deck of the dive boat." When Chatterton first spied the shipwreck, he couldn't believe his eyes. When readers crack open Shadow Divers, they won't believe theirs. Kurson is that talented a storyteller. - Barnes & Noble

Jihad:   The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia    -    Rashid, Ahmed

Central Asia is coming to play a vital strategic role in the war on terrorism, but the region also poses new threats to global security. The five Central Asian republics-Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan-were part of the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. Under Soviet rule, Islam was brutally suppressed, and that intolerance has continued under the post-Soviet regimes. Religious repression, political corruption, and the region's extreme poverty (unemployment rates exceed 80 percent in some areas) have created a fertile climate for militant Islamic fundamentalism. Often funded and trained by such organizations as Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda and the Taliban, guerrilla movements like the IMU (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan) have recruited a staggering number of members across the region and threaten to topple the governments of all five nations. Based on groundbreaking research and numerous interviews, Jihad explains the roots of militant rage in Central Asia, describes the goals and activities of these militant organizations, and suggests ways in which this threat could be neutralized by diplomatic and economic intervention. Rich in both cultural heritage and natural resources-including massive oil reservoirs-Central Asia remains desperately poor and frighteningly volatile. In tracing the history of Central Asia and explaining the current political climate, Rashid demonstrates that it is a region we ignore at our peril. - from the publisher

The Fringes of Power:   The Incredible Inside Story of Winston Churchill during World War II    -    Colville, John

At the outset of the Second World War, John Colville, a young diplomat, was seconded from the foreign office to Number 10 Downing Street. For nine of the next sixteen years, he served three prime ministers - briefly Neville Chamberlain and Clement Attlee - but for much of that time as Private Secretary to Winston Churchill. During those momentous years Colville kept a diary, though this was forbidden by wartime regulations, locking it nightly into his desk at Number 10. Colville seldom left Churchill's side and the insights and observations he records paint an invaluable portrait of the nation's most famous leader both in times of war and peace. - from the publisher

The Ghost Dance    -    Mooney, James

First published a century ago, The Ghost Dance is a unique first-hand account of a messianic movement against white subjugation that arose among Native Americans of the West and the Plains in the latter part of the 19th-century.

Perfect Copy: Unravelling the Cloning Debate    -    Agar, Nicholas

Cloning represents some of the most exciting - and some of the most morally complex - science of our time. Philosopher Nicholas Agar explores the scientific and ethical issues in this most vexed of subjects. - from the publisher

Contents: INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENCE AND ETHICS OF HUMAN CLONING -- Perils and possibilities -- Hollywood misses the point -- 1 THE RULES OF ETHICAL ENGAGEMENT -- The intrinsic value of human life -- Two ways to be inconsistent about human cloning -- Why appeals to God, or to 'our guts', won't work -- 2 EXPLAINING SOMATIC CELL NUCLEAR TRANSFER (SCNT) -- What is a clone? --                   How would clones be made? -- Two barriers in the way of cloning humans -- Turning back the biological clock -- Cloning or clowning? Two false alarms -- Well hello, 6LL3! -- Mice, cows, pigs, goats, cats, rabbits...and a gaur -- 3 CLONING AFTER DOLLY -- Cloning and error -- Cloning is inefficient and clones are sickly -- Are clones unhealthy because they have shorter telomeres?   -- Are clones unhealthy because nuclear transfer does not properly reprogram genes? -- Are clones unhealthy simply because they are created without sex? -- What does the 'too dangerous' objection show? -- Using abortion as a means of reducing the risks associated with reproductive cloning -- How effective would selective abortion be, anyway? -- Is it possible to harm someone by bringing them into existence as a clone? -- 4 THERAPEUTIC CLONING -- Two reasons to clone humans -- A new kind of transplant medicine? -- Practical problems with therapeutic cloning -- Therapeutic cloning and the annihilation of human potential -- Natural and artificial potential -- Building a human kidney...or finding one in a pig -- The human spare-parts body -- 5 CLONINGAND IMMORTALITY -- Three senses of identity -- Would my clone be identically similar to me? -- Just how similar would my clone be to me? -- Would my clone be metaphysically identical to me? -- What remains of the quest for immortality? -- Does cloning harm our subjective senses of who we are? -- 6 JUST ANOTHER REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY? -- Making babies -- The clone-family? -- Biological and social parenthood -- Cloning for the clinically infertile -- Valuing the genetic link -- Cloning might produce 'replacement' children for bereaved couples -- Cloning might allow lesbians to reproduce without men -- Cloning might provide a child who can also be an organ donor -- Making moral judgements about the reproductive choices of others -- Replacing a lost child? -- Cloning as a means of improving the human species? -- Clones as means to other ends? -- 7 FEAR ITSELF CAN BE FRIGHTENING --   Clones in the popular imagination -- Liberal optimism about the truth -- Not surrendering to irrational prejudice? -- The future of human cloning -- FURTHER READING --   GLOSSARY -- INDEX.

The Writer's Chapbook:   A Compendium of Fact, Opinion, Wit, and Advice from the 20th Century's Preeminent Writers    -   Plimpton, George, editor

The first issue of The Paris Review in 1953 included an interview on the craft of writing with E. M. Forster, perhaps the greatest living author of the time. Subsequent issues carried interviews with, among others, François Mauriac, Graham Greene, Irwin Shaw, William Styron, Ralph Ellison, and William Faulkner; in the intervening years, many of the world's most significant writers (Ezra Pound, Robert Frost, Ernest Hemingway, John Updike, and John Dos Passos) sat down with The Paris Review . Many of the interviews have been collected in a series of volumes entitled Writers at Work. From these interviews, The Paris Review's editor, George Plimpton, has selected the best and most illuminating insights that the writers have provided and arranged them by subject rather than by author. The book is divided into four parts: "The Writer: A Profile" (including the sections "On Reading," "On Work Habits," On the Audience," etc.); Part II is "Technical Matters" ("On Style," "On Plot," etc.); Part III is "Different Forms" ("On Biography," "On Journalism"); and Part IV is "The Writer's Life," covering topics like conferences, courses, and teaching, along with a section in which writers provided portraits of other writers. The Writer's Chapbook is a fund of observations by writers on writing. These range from marvelous one-liners (Eugene O'Neill on critics: "I love every bone in their heads"; T. S. Eliot on editors: "I suppose some editors are failed writers—but so are most writers") to expositions on plot, character, and the technical process of putting pen to paper and doing it for a living. "I don't even have a plot," says Norman Mailer; Paul Bowles describes writing in bed; Toni Morrison talks about inventing characters; and Edward Albee and Tom Wolfe explain where they discovered the titles for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and The Bonfire of the Vanities . This book is a treasure. But beware: What is true for the Writers at Work series holds for The Writer's Chapbook even more—a reader who picks it up, intending just to dip into it, might not emerge for days. - from the publisher

Contents:   PART I: The Writer: A Profile -- On reading -- On first efforts -- On motivation: why I write -- On work habits -- On inspiration: the starting point -- On the audience -- On performance -- On revising: self-evaluation -- On editors --On publication: success, failure, etc. -- On critics -- PART II: Technical Matters -- On beginnings and endings -- On names and titles -- On style -- On plot -- On character -- On symbols -- On dialogue -- On sex -- On experimental writing -- On humor -- On writer's block -- On artificial stimulants -- PART III: Different Forms -- On biography -- On children's books -- On criticism -- On films-- On journalism -- On potboilers -- On short stories -- On theater -- PART IV: The Writer's Life -- On social life: writers' colonies, salons, literary communities, etc. -- On security: grants, prizes, honors, etc. -- On readings: seminars, conferences, etc. -- On politics -- On teaching: advice, writing courses, etc. -- On peers: portraits -- On the future--Index.

The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilization; from the Vatican Museums

Catalogue of an exhibition along with essays about Etruscan life presented by WONDERS, the Memphis international cultural series, a division of the City of Memphis, Tennessee, in cooperation with Memphis Museum Systems, Inc.

Contents:   The house -- The kitchen -- The family -- The banquet -- Agriculture -- The raising of livestock -- Hunting -- Fishing -- The cult of the dead -- Glossary -- Suggestions for further reading -- Bibliography.

The Eyewitness Guide to Ancient Egypt    -    Hart, George

A profusely illustrated look at life in Egypt - from the pharaoh and his courtiers, through the mystical rites of the priests, to the world of the workers in the fields. Featuring stunning items from the tomb of Tutankhamun and jewelry from the royal palaces, Eyewitness Ancient Egypt shows how Egyptian palaces, Eyewitness Ancient Egypt shows how Egyptian nobles lived. Find out how they prepared for the afterlife and what food, clothes, weapons, and even toys ordinary people enjoyed. See the mummies of priests and kings, fruit that is more than 3,000 years old, the treasures of the pharaohs and the weapons of an Egyptian soldier. Learn why even cats and dogs were mummified, why the pharaohs were buried with boats and statues, why brave Egyptian soldiers had medals in the shape of flies and how the doctors of Egypt healed the sick. Discover what was inside the Great Pyramid at Giza, how Tutankhamun's tomb was found, what games Egyptian children played, what went on in the temples of Ancient Egypt and how hieroglyphics were deciphered. - from the publisher

The Egyptian Book of the Dead    -    translated by Raymond O. Faulkner ; edited by Carol Andrews

This volume integrates text translation and full color photographs of the Papyrus of Ani (commonly referred to as the Egyptian Book of the Dead -- a collection of writings that were placed in tombs as a means of guiding the ancient Egyptian soul on its journey to the afterlife), an almost 3,500 year old scroll of ancient Egyptian spiritual and philosophic teachings. Since its discovery in 1888, the papyrus fragments have been studied intently by a limited number of researchers, whose finding have remained, for the most part, private. This volume marks a significant shift, allowing public consideration of a most ancient text. The English text is placed immediately underneath the corresponding hieroglyphs, and the reproductions are faithful to the originals in all their glowing color.

We have three new donations to our set of   the acclaimed Time-Life's World War II series.

The Rising Sun    -    Zich, Arthur

Contents: Countdown for war -- Surprise attack -- Outposts overwhelmed -- Strike to the South -- Under the conqueror's rule -- Midway: Turning point -- Picture Essays: A Doomed Way of Life --   Gearing for Battle --   Good Duty in the Islands -- Target: Pearl Harbor -- In the Wake of the Raid -- Tragedy in the Philippines -- The Doolittle Raid --   Nippon's Adaptable Army --   The First Carrier Clash -- A New Order in Asia -- The Patriotic Art of War -- Japan's Audacious Gambler -- An All-Out Thrust at Home -- Bibliography -- Index.

Blitzkrieg    -    Wernick, Robert

Contents: Hitler weather -- Season of blunders -- Iron hands of Scandinavia -- First blood in the West -- Deliverance at Dunkirk -- Fall of France -- Picture essays: Epochal weekend -- First flash of lightning war -- Frolic on the Western Front -- Winter war -- Brilliant exiles -- Passage of the Panzers -- War clouds over America -- Rushing to an army's rescue -- Aryans by the ton -- Dictator's dream tour -- Index.

The Battle of Britain    -   Mosley, Leonard

Contents: Britain at bay -- Prefight odds -- Day of the Eagle -- Attack on London -- Crucible of the Blitz -- Finale for the bombers -- Picture Essays:   Hitler's nibble at the channel -- Ready for Jerry -- The redoubtable Mr. Churchill -- The Grandiose Her Goring -- Exodus from the cities -- Waiting for the scramble -- Ordeal by fire -- Rallying the home front -- Germany's fallen eagles -- Bibliography   -- Index.

 

The American Heritage Book of the Pioneer Spirit  

More than 480 pictures - 150 in full color - plus 150,000 words of narrative tell the story of the villains and heroes, square pegs and round who helped to shape our national character.   Contemporary portraits and paintings, crude pioneer drawings, photographs, and rare early maps illumine nearly every page.   In addition, three covlorful 16-page picture portfolios are included:   the early, often distorted European view of America, the pioneer's idea of the land between the Atlantic and Mississippi, and the old Wild West. - from the publisher

Diabetes: The Science Inside    -   American Assn. for the Advancement of Science

Summarizes what health professionals know about type 2 diabetes — what it is, who is at risk for it, how it can be prevented, and how it is treated. It describes how researchers study the disease and what individuals can do to help reduce the rising number of diabetes cases now affecting millions of children and adults around the country.

HIV and AIDS:   The Science Inside    -   American Assn. for the Advancement of Science

Helps to explain what doctors and scientists know about the HIV and AIDS epidemic. It summarizes what HIV and AIDS are and what happens when HIV becomes AIDS, including the health problems that can result. The e-book explains how the diseases are spread, what groups suffer most from them, how they may be prevented, how they are treated, and what the latest research reveals.

The Science Inside: Asthma and Allergies    -     American Assn. for the Advancement of Science

Explains what asthma and allergies are, how they are related, who suffers most from them, how they are prevented, and how they are treated. It also discusses the current research being conducted on these conditions, as well as the important role volunteers play in clinical trials.

High Blood Pressure: The Science Inside    -    American Assn. for the Advancement of Science

Explains what health professionals know about high blood pressure or hypertension, one of the leading causes of heart disease and stroke. It shows how to prevent high blood pressure, as well as how to care for yourself if you have been diagnosed with the disease.

Having Healthy Babies:   The Science Inside    -    American Assn. for the Advancement of Science

Summarizes what health professionals know about healthy babies and mothers. It shows women how to avoid or reduce the health risks of pregnancy, provides information about the development of healthy infants and toddlers, and outlines the steps of pregnancy from conception to labor and delivery to postnatal care.

FICTION

The Truth About Forever    -    Dessen, Sarah

Award-winning author Sarah Dessen offers up another generous helping of finely crafted storytelling about real teens dealing with real life. When asked how she is coping with her father's death, invariably seventeen year old Macy Queen's answer is "fine," when nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality, she is drowning in grief while maintaining a flawless façade of good grades and unblemished behavior. Though she feels lost when her boyfriend heads to "Brain Camp" for the summer, she finds herself a job with the quirky Wish Catering crew, and meets "sa-woon"-worthy Wes, whose chaotic lifestyle is in direct opposition to her own. As the two share their stories over the summer, Macy realizes she can no longer keep her feelings on ice. Though it feels like her future endedwith her dad's death, Macy's learns that forever is all about beginnings. Dessen charts Macy's navigation of grief in such an honest way it will touch every reader who meets her. All of the Dessen trademarks are here: a girl in transition, a wonderfully fleshed out cast of secondary characters, and of course, the luminous, powerful writing itself. The Truth About Forever will more than satisfy Dessen's legion of fans, and will win her countless more as well. Highly recommended. - Amazon.com

The Key to the Golden Firebird    -    Johnson, Maureen

Booklist Starred review. May is the middle sister, intelligent and responsible, surrounded by her two beautiful, athletic sisters, Brooks and Palmer. All three girls were named after baseball players by their larger-than-life father. Then their father suddenly dies, and the girls' lives are forever changed. Brooks quits baseball and begins to hang out with Dave, who introduces her to alcohol and sex. Palmer becomes sullen and more baseball driven. And May tries to hold herself and her siblings together as their grieving mother supports the family. Told alternately by all three girls, with May as the primary narrator, Johnson's novel will pull readers in with its quietly complex story. May, Palmer, and Brooks each respond in separate but absolutely authentic ways, and Johnson takes readers beyond the predictable coping story by beautifully articulating each daughter's pain, gradual healing, and acceptance. The romantic subplots are deftly handled as well. One sister is disillusioned by her foolishness at "giving it all up for a man," while another slowly realizes that her antagonistic friendship with a boy has the potential to be so much more. A very special, unexpected coming-of-age novel. - Booklist

20 Under 30: Best Stories by America's New Young Writers   -    Spark, Debra

Contents: Judgment / Kate Wheeler -- Shoe / Heidi Jon Schmidt -- The gittel / Marjorie Sandor -- The raising / Leigh Allison Wilson -- A model family / Ron Tanner -- This plumber / Bret Lott -- Aliens / David Leavitt -- The stone inscription of Caleb Pellor / Rand Burkert -- Riding the whip / Robin Hemley -- Teacher / Michelle Carter -- Underground women / Jesse Lee Kercheval -- Summer / David Updike -- Amahl and the night visitors : a guide to the tenor of love / Lorrie Moore --   Approximations / Mona Simpson -- Natalie Wood's amazing eyes / Ehud Havazelet -- Honeymoon / Dean Albarelli -- Auslander / Michelle Herman -- All little colored children should play the harmonica / Ann Patchett -- Porcupines and other travesties / Emily Listfield -- Thanksgiving Day / Susan Minot.

Medieval Romances    -    Loomis,   Roger Sherman, editor

Contents:   Introduction -- The origins of romance -- Perceval, or the story of the grail / Chretien de Troyes -- Tristan and Isolt / Gottfried von Strassburt -- The youth of Alexander the Great -- Aucassin and Nicolete -- Havelok the Dane -- Sir Orfeo -- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight -- The book of Balin / Sir Thomas Malory -- List of suggested readings.

REFERENCE

The New Oxford American Dictionary    -    McKean, Erin, editor

This new dictionary has more than 300,000 entries, compiled using the expertise of Oxford University Press's renowned dictionary department. Oxford's specialty is etymology, and this dictionary provides some of the best word histories available. It also features precise usage guidance, such as Informal, Derogatory, Humorous, and Dated. - Barnes & Noble

Novels for Students volume 21

Analysis, context, and criticism on commonly studied novels.   New entries include:   Emma, I, Claudius, and The French Lieutenant's Woman.

Poetry for Students, volume 22

Analysis, context, and criticism on commonly studied poems.   New entries include:   If, Metamorphoses, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.

Encyclopedia of World Biography, supplement 25

New additions or updates:   Akhenaten, Tom Brokaw, Laura Bush, Corrie Ten Boom, J. K. Rowling, Chaim Potok, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Paterno, Willie Nelson, Michael Moore, Ann Landers, John Kerry, Danny Kaye, Peter Jackson, George Harrison, Gus Grissom, Anita Desai, Edward de Vere, Julie Andrews.

Ancient Greeks (Oxford Profiles)

Using a combination of lively writing, numerous illustrations, and solid background information, the authors profile 37 men and women of ancient Greece. Chosen because of their impact on Greek society and the ongoing influence of their accomplishments, the individuals come from all walks of life and span the years 700-200 B.C. Each profile contains extensive biographical information and a fascinating discussion of the significance of the individual's achievements. With the added bonus of a time line, a guide to Roman and Greek spelling and pronunciation, a glossary, a reading list, and an index of ancient Greeks by profession, this is an excellent resource for high school collections. - Booklist

Ancient Romans (Oxford Profiles)

Drawing on the work of Plutarch, Livy, Tacitus, and Suetonius, the authors recount the history of Rome's rise to power through brief biographies of 39 notable Romans. The five periods covered span the years 400 B.C.E. to A.D. 350. Many of the names will be familiar, Julius Caesar, Constantine, etc., but other lesser-known figures are also included. Spartacus, leader of a successful slave revolt, is profiled along with the poets Virgil and Ovid. Only two women appear: Livia, wife of the emperor Augustus, and Agrippina the Younger, mother of Nero. The authors tend to shy away from some of the unsavory aspects of certain personages such as Nero. Each section concludes with a two-page summary entitled "More Ancient Romans to Remember," which briefly depicts others who had an impact on their times. - School Library Journal

VHS

Breaking the Code: Sequencing the Arabidopsis Genome    -    National Science Foundation

Produced by the National Science Foundation, the materials describe the Arabidopsis Thaliana Multinational Genome Research Project. The project is seeking solutions to the problem of food crop production in climates that are unsuitable for traditional crop growth. The video, available through Video Placement Worldwide, describes how scientists from around the world are working on the project and why the Arabidopsis serves as the model for higher-order plants. The video is close-captioned and appropriate for grades 9 to college.

ks 9-23-05