books

Chats in the Stacks: Suman Seth on Difference and Disease: Medicine, Race, and the Eighteenth-Century British Empire

By Greg Keeler | 1 month ago

The evolution of medicine in the 18th-century British empire was deeply intertwined with constructions of race, according to Suman Seth, a professor of History and Science and Technology Studies. In a Chats in the Stacks talk, Seth will discuss his new book Difference and Disease: Medicine, Race, and the Eighteenth-Century British Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2018), where he explores the complex histories of tropical medicine and colonial politics. Apart from unveiling how medicine influenced ideas of race in early British colonialism, Seth’s book also shows how racial categories and binaries grew out of a view of the world as divided into tropical and temperate zones. This book talk is sponsored by Olin Library. Light refreshments will be served.

books

Chats in the Stacks: Steve Strogatz on Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe

By Greg Keeler | 2 weeks ago

Calculus, the mathematical study of continuous change, underpins some of the most fundamental and miraculous achievements of humankind, from determining the area of a circle to enabling innovations in modern medicine, computing, and space travel. It can also illuminate the patterns of the universe, according to Steven Strogatz. In a Chats in the Stacks talk, Strogatz will discuss Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019), his book that was listed as a New York Times Best Seller this year. The Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, Strogatz charts the thrilling multi-millennial history of calculus that’s filled with brutal competitions and glorious discoveries. This book talk is supported by the Mary A. Morrison Public Education Fund for Mann Library.

detail from the cover of The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon

In ‘The Book Of Collateral Damage,’ A New York Author’s Accounting Of What Baghdad Lost

By NPR News | July 9, 2019

The novelist and poet Sinan Antoon, raised in Iraq and now living in New York, returned home following the 2003 U.S. occupation. That experience inspired his new work of fiction.

Fred Bass, who passed away in 2018, and his daughter Nancy Bass Wyden sort used books at the Strand Bookstore on Feb. 21, 2007.

New York And The Strand Bookstore Are Not On The Same Page

By NPR News | June 16, 2019

Nancy Bass Wyden, the Strand’s owner, is protesting New York City’s decision to preserve the bookstore as a historic city landmark. She thinks the move will hurt, not help her business.

The sign for a Barnes & Noble bookstore hangs above the entrance to one of its locations in Brooklyn earlier this year. The book retailer and Elliott announced Friday that they have agreed to a sale price of about $683 million.

Barnes & Noble Set To Be Sold To New York Hedge Fund For $683 Million

By NPR News | June 7, 2019

That price tag includes all of the book megachain’s debt. Elliott’s acquisition of the largest retail bookseller in the U.S. comes less than a year after it bought Waterstones, the largest in the U.K.

In ‘City Of Girls,’ The Breezy, Bold Best Days Of Our Lives

By NPR News | June 5, 2019

Elizabeth Gilbert’s new novel is set in the New York theater community of the 1940s — an effervescent golden age for the women who congregate at the offbeat Lily Playhouse.

Theodor Geisel — Dr. Seuss --holds a toy of the Cat in the Hat, one of his most famous character creations.

‘Becoming Dr. Seuss’ Reveals Theodor Geisel As A Complicated New Yorker

By NPR News | May 7, 2019

Using personal papers, telegrams, biographies, unpublished interviews and letters, author Brian Jay Jones gives readers a comprehensive view of the complex, multifaceted creator who became a giant.

events

blog/20190401_195032_361779_vowell-speaker-banner-2016.jpeg

Sarah Vowell Speaker Series Live-stream

By NPR News | April 1, 2019

Acclaimed author to offer her unique take on changing literary and information landscape on eve of National Library Week. PBS Books and U-M Penny Stamps Speaker Series present the livestream Thursday, April 4, at 5:10 p.m.

In ‘The Dakota Winters,’ A New York Story About John Lennon

By NPR News | December 15, 2018

Tom Barbash’s new novel is set in the famed Manhattan apartment house where Lennon spent the last year of his life — and where, in this telling, he befriends a washed-up talk show host and his son.

agriculture

‘Farming While Black’: Cultivating Food And Racial Justice In Upstate New York

By Public Radio International | December 4, 2018

In her new book, “Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land,” Leah Penniman describes her journey as a woman of color reclaiming space in the agricultural world while providing a comprehensive guide for others who want to follow her path.