New & Recommended New & Recommended (January 05, 2005)

This month's picks by Frank Sanchez, head book buyer at Kepler's Books, includes a look at Albert Einstein's best year, a story of three American sisters who each married British nobility, how ancient civilizations failed, and more.
"Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness" by John S. Rigdon is the story of physicist's greatest year, during which he came up with the theory that light is actually composed of particles, creating the equation which is now synonymous with his name: E=MC2. In just six months of the year 1905, from March through September, he published five papers which revised how we think of the world and the universe.
"The Titled Americans" by Elisabeth Kehoe is the story of the three Jerome sisters - Clara, Jennie and Leonie - who traveled to Europe as young women in the 1860s, each marrying a British noble. The best known of the three was probably Jennie, who married Lord Randolph Churchill and had a son, Winston. It's a tale of a bygone era, when three sisters captivated Victorian and Edwardian society.
"Collapse: How Societies Choose to fail or Succeed" by Jared Diamond looks at how some ancient societies failed to sustain themselves, and why. Diamond examines the Mayans, Polynesian societies, the Vikings' failed attempt to colonize Greenland, Easter Island, and more. Diamond is the author of the Pulitizer-Prize-winning book, "Guns, Germs and Steel," now a classic work of how Western societies succeeded through technological advances.
"Wodehouse: A Life" by Robert McCrum is a biography of P.G. Wodehouse, influential British humorist who wrote more than 90 novels and collections and influenced writers such as Dorothy Parker, John Updike, John le Carre, and others. Wodehouse was also controversial for his ill-fated radio broadcasts from Germany during World War II, earning him a reputation as a Nazi sympathizer. Wodehouse also had a long, difficult and apparently sexless marriage.
"The Record of the Paper: How the New York Times Misrepresents U.S. Foreign Policy" by Howard Friel and Richard A. Falk recounts how America's greatest newspaper failed badly in the reporting of the time to the invasion of Iraq.
"America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy" by Gar Alperovitz argues that the county is in the midst of a political, social and economic crisis, and that the rest of the decade will be one of profound change. The author is a University of Maryland political economist.
"Time's Magpie: A Walk in Prague" by Myla Goldberg is a travel essay about the enchanting city that has become a favorite of many travelers. The author lived in Prague in 1993 and returned in 2003 to see what changes had affected the city and its life.
"A New History of German Literature" edited by David Wellbery is a fresh and comprehensive look at German literary history, with 200 original essays. Goethe, Schiller, Rilke, Kant and others are re-examined for their lasting influence.
"Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior" by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson is a fascinating examination of animal behavior by Grandin, who is an animal behavior expert and autistic. She makes a case that autistic people and animals react similarly to various stimuli, so autistic people can more easily understand animal behavior.

-- Don Kazak

E-mail a friend a link to this story.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]