12:00PM

AUG 12 2007

Miscellaneous

Stefano DellaVigna and Ethan Kaplan (UC-Berkley): The Political Impact of Media Bias. The Next Nobel? How upstart philanthropist Fred Kavli found a way to rev up tomorrow's hottest fields of inquiry. The first chapter from Mothers and Children: Jewish Family Life in Medieval Europe by Elisheva Baumgarten. Single-sex classes may come soon to a school near you: Experiments are worthy approach for many students, particularly boys.  Earth Speaks in an Inaudible Voice: You can’t hear it, but our planet’s ultradeep hum could save your life. The introduction to American Machiavelli: Alexander Hamilton and the Origins of U.S. Foreign Policy by John Lamberton Harper. 

Prime Vertebrae: PZ Myers discusses the critical difference between having six or seven cervical vertebrae.  In dusty archives, a theory of affluence: Gregory Clark believes that the Industrial Revolution occurred because of a change in the nature of the human population.  The first chapter from War, Wine, and Taxes: The Political Economy of Anglo-French Trade, 1689-1900 by John V. C. Nye. A look at why guilt doesn't keep some of us from making the same mistakes twice.  A review of History of Madness by Michel Foucault. The introduction to Postal Systems in the Pre-Modern Islamic World by Adam J. Silverstein. A Brief History of Infinity: The paradoxical twists and turns of infinity have baffled many great thinkers.

Is anybody out there? Calling all aliens, we want to hear from you … or do we? With plans afoot to transmit new interstellar messages, some say it's foolhardy to broadcast our presence. What if ET wants to eat us? Good Old Cal? A review of The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes. Medical sleuth reveals what killed Poe, Columbus: Mysteries solved by combining detailed histories and modern knowledge. David Warsh reads Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers and Warriors Shaped Globalization and, side-by-side, the June issue of the American Economic Review. The introduction to Chases and Escapes: The Mathematics of Pursuit and Evasion by Paul J. Nahin.