Reediana Briefs

The Inquisition of Climate Science by Jim Powell [president 1988–91]. (Columbia University Press, 2011) In what is deemed the first book to comprehensively take on the climate science denial movement and the deniers themselves, Jim presents the most prominent deniers while dissecting their credentials, arguments, and lack of objectivity. Written for the general reader and non-scientist, this book is carefully researched and fully referenced. Jim is executive director of the National Physical Science Consortium, a partnership among government agencies and laboratories, industry, and higher education dedicated to increasing the number of American citizens with graduate degrees in the physical sciences and related engineering fields. He was president of Reed from 1988–91.

Callaway

Joan Campbell Snodgrass Callaway ’54 published the memoir It’s An Ill Wind, Indeed . . . That Blows No Good (CreateSpace, 2011), relating her climb out of the abyss after the sudden death and loss of her husband and son through a fire in their home. The memoir is a hopeful exploration of grief from the vantage point of a widow and her teenaged children, who lost not only a father and brother, but also a mother as they had always known her.

An essay by Cliff Sather ’61, “Mending Nets of Relatedness,” appeared in Anarchic Solidarity (Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, Monograph 60, 2011).

Rheingold

Howard L. Rheingold ’68 published Net Smart: How to Thrive Online (MIT Press, 2012). Knowing how to make use of online tools without being overloaded with too much information is an essential ingredient of personal success in the 21st century. Howard instructs readers on how to use social media intelligently, humanely, and, above all, mindfully.

Bijou

Jude Bijou ’69 completed a book documenting her journey to create a unified theory of human behavior based on six primary emotions, Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life (Riviera Press, 2011). Everyone yearns for more joy, love, and peace, but can too often be mired in cycles of sadness, anger, and fear, Jude says. “Despite the desire for emotional health, individuals can fashion their emotions into weapons that hurt themselves, others, and their chances for a harmonious life. Dealing with our emotions constructively is the key to living better.” The book addresses topics such as coping with unsolicited advice, dealing with indecision, and clarifying priorities. Jude is a marriage and family therapist and a student of Eastern philosophy who developed the ideas for the book while helping her clients find more fulfilling lives.

The Systematic Screening and Assessment Method: Finding Innovations Worth Evaluating, coedited by Laura Leviton ’73, examines the rationale, application, and outcomes of the Systemic Screening and Assessment (SSA) method, an innovative and cost-effective way to assist program funders, practitioners, and researchers in selecting promising innovations and then preparing them for further, more rigorous evaluation. The book won an outstanding publication award from the  American Evaluation Association in 2011.

Wiener

When Lauren Ruth Wiener ’75 was six, her mother died without warning. More interested in dating than childrearing, her father left her in the care of a violent, unhinged nanny. A riveting first-person account, Riding the Cyclone, careens like the Coney Island roller coaster from gut-wrenching sadism to hilariously caustic commentary as Lauren tries to make sense of her world. Growing up in extreme isolation amid suburban affluence, she suffers from the profound disconnect between appearance and reality. Seeking freedom from her terrifying home in an idyllic private high school, Lauren finds her inner chaos mirrored in the upheavals of the ’60s.

Wang

In his book, Romantic Sobriety: Sensation, Revolution, Commodification, History (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011), Orrin N.C. Wang ’79 explains how themes of sensation and sobriety, along with Marxist-related ideas of revolution and commodification, set the terms of narrative surrounding the history of romanticism as a movement. The book is both polemical and critical, engaging in debates with modern thinkers such as Paul de Man, Jacques Derrida, Walter Benn Michaels, and Slavoj Žižek, and it presents fresh readings of writers such as Wordsworth, Kant, Shelley, Byron, Brontë, and Keats. Orrin is professor of English and Comparative Studies at the University of Maryland.

Rosenthal

Before and Beyond Divergence: The Politics of Economic Change in China & Europe (Harvard University Press, 2011) was written by Jean-Laurent Rosenthal ’84 and Bin Wong, who argue that political differences were responsible both for China’s early and more recent prosperity and for Europe’s difficulties after the fall of the Roman Empire and during early industrialization. Drawing on 20 years of research, the authors provides an historical perspective on institutional change that has surprising implications for understanding modern transformations in China and Europe and also yields insights in comparative economic history.

Kemmerer

Lisa Kemmerer ’88, associate professor of philosophy and religions at Montana State University, Billings, published an astonishing five books in 2011–12. “I never dreamed I would write even one book, but Reed has a way.” In Animals and World Religions (Oxford University Press), Lisa explores animal-friendly teachings in the world’s indigenous and dominant religious traditions, including Vedic/Hindu, Buddhist/Jain, Daoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. She writes with a keen eye to contemporary relevance, practical application, and moral hot spots (such as our relations with the natural world and dietary choice). Standing at the intersection of religion, ethics, and animal advocacy, Animals and World Religions demonstrates that rethinking how we treat nonhuman animals is essential for anyone claiming one of the world’s great religions.

Kemmerer

Lisa edited Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice (University of Illinois Press), addressing interconnections between species-ism, sexism, racism, and homophobia, clarifying why social justice activists in the 21st century must challenge intersecting forms of oppression. This anthology presents gripping personal narratives from 14 activists who have personally explored links of oppression between humans and animals such as cockfighting, factory farming, vivisection, and the bushmeat trade.

Kemmerer

Lisa also edited Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women’s Voices (Paradigm). While it is one thing to strive for a cause that primarily benefits you or your loved ones, it is quite another matter to take up the torch on behalf of others, especially pigs, dogs, gibbons, or lobsters. The book highlights 18 courageous members of a vibrant animal advocacy movement that is overwhelmingly powered by women. These activists take us with them as they lift factory-farmed chickens and cows from quagmires of filth, free gigantic sea lions caught in the death grip of fishing gear, and secure undercover footage of dogs crying for mercy on vivisection tables. In the process, they expose the many ways that most of us are complicit in the suffering and exploitation of nonhuman animals.

Kemmerer

Lisa also edited Call to Compassion: Religious Perspectives on Animal Advocacy (Lantern Books), a collection of stirring essays on the place of animals within the philosophical, cultural, and everyday milieus of spiritual practices both ancient and modern. From Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism, through the Abrahamic traditions, to contemporary Wiccan and Native American spirituality, Call to Compassion charts the complex ways we interact with the world around us.

Kemmerer

Finally, Lisa edited Primate People: Education, Advocacy, and Sanctuary on Behalf of Primates (University of Utah Press, 2012). In the last 30 years, the bushmeat trade has led to the slaughter of nearly 90 percent of West Africa’s bonobos, perhaps our closest relatives. Earth was once rich with primates, but every species, except one, is now extinct or endangered. How have our economic and cultural practices pushed our cousins toward destruction? Would we care more about their fate if we knew something of their individual lives and sufferings? Would we help nonhuman primates if we understood how our choices threaten their existence? To the latter two questions, this anthology answers yes.

Wild in the City

Notes and short features by Bob Sallinger ’91 contribute significantly to the second edition of Wild in the City: Exploring the Intertwine (Oregon State University, 2011), including a section on the Reed College canyon, cowritten with Zac Perry, Reed’s riparian restoration specialist. The book is an excellent resource for helping readers get out of the urban jungle and into 56 different greenspaces in Portland and Vancouver, Washington, and offers maps and directions to explore the sites by foot, bike, or paddle.

Lost Colony

Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory over the West, by Tonio Andrade ’92, was published by Princeton University Press in 2011. During the 17th century, Holland created the world’s most dynamic colonial empire, outcompeting the British and capturing Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Yet, in the Sino-Dutch War—Europe’s first war with China—the Dutch met their match in a colorful Chinese warlord named Koxinga. Part samurai, part pirate, he led his generals to victory over the Dutch and captured one of their largest and richest colonies, Taiwan. How did he do it? Examining the strengths and weaknesses of European and Chinese military techniques during the period, Lost Colony provides a balanced new perspective on long-held assumptions about Western power, Chinese might, and the nature of war.

Sierra Nevada Birds

David Lukas ’93 self-published Sierra Nevada Birds: A Compact Field Guide Companion in 2011. “I have authored or contributed to over 40 books and written over 200 newspaper and magazine articles, but this is my first foray into self-publishing and it’s been a blast.” This book provides information about all 322 species found in the Sierra Nevada and is designed for hiking and backpacking. David works as a freelance naturalist and teaches natural history programs all over California.

Cartoon Introduction to Economics, Volume 2: Macroeconomics

Yoram Bauman ’95 published The Cartoon Introduction to Economics, Volume 2: Macroeconomics (Hill and Wang, 2012), coauthored with and illlustrated by Gray Klein. “People don’t usually chuckle over unemployment, inflation, and recessions,” says Nobel laureate Eric Maskin. “But they’ll get plenty of laughs out of this book—and a good introduction to macro, too.” (Excerpts are available online.) In addition, translations of Volume 1: Microeconomics have been published in Korea, Taiwan, China, Japan, Italy, and Germany. Editions for Indonesia, Thailand, Poland, and France are scheduled for release later this year.

Cognitive Set Theory

In his book, Cognitive Set Theory (ArborRhythms, 2011), Alec Mead Rogers ’95 applies mereology and set theory to perception and thought. Using generic concepts such as part, whole, and reference, he explores the physical, perceptual, and conceptual universes. This book will appeal to those at the crossroads of psychology, linguistics, logic, mathematics, and philosophy, and provides hierarchy and diagrams to illustrate key points.

Walton

Jeremy Walton ’99 served as coeditor of Anthropology and Global Counterinsurgency (University of Chicago Press, 2010). The 21st century has placed new stress on the relationships among anthropology, governance, and war. Facing prolonged insurgency, the U.S. military has taken a new interest in anthropology, prompting intense ethical debate. This book investigates the shifting boundaries between military and civil state violence; perceptions and effects of American power around the globe; the history of counterinsurgency doctrine and practice; and debate over culture, knowledge, and conscience in counterinsurgency. It also sheds new light on the fraught world of Pax Americana and on the dilemmas faced by anthropologists and military personnel alike when attempting to understand and intervene in our world. Jeremy is assistant professor of religious studies at New York University.

My Sweet Saga

My Sweet Saga (Admiral J. Press, 2011), by Brett Sills ’01, relates the story of Brandon, a 30-something who is struggling to relate to the people and the events in his life. Weeks away from his wedding day, he is jolted by the sudden appearance of his estranged, erratic, and oddly eccentric father, who demands that he accompany him to Sweden. Escaping from reality in the U.S., Brandon reawakens to life through an encounter with a woman named Saga. Brett may have a second book up his sleeve, but meanwhile is busily engaged as a multioptioned screenwriter and freelance ad writer whose first feature film is scheduled to shoot this winter in Ontario, Canada. Brett's blog is Peeling Back the Skin.

Dubultnieki

Dubultnieki: Un Citi Stasti, a first book by Toms Kreicbergs ’07, was published in Latvia in 2011 and is winning rave reviews in Riga. Against the odds for a work of sci-fi and fantasy, mainstream critical reaction has been enthusiastic, resulting in extensive coverage across national print, radio, and television media. Dazed and happy, Toms remains hard at work on a dystopian young adult novel he hopes will be his first English-language book.