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Catch, Release: Stories (Johns Hopkins: Poetry and Fiction)
by Adrianne HarunIt;€™s all about loss. Don;€™t kid yourself. Even a simple game of catch is hinged on the moment the ball leaves the glove, the moment it returns. Don;€™t even try to think this story or any other story is about something else.In Catch, Release, Adrianne Harun;€™s second story collection, loss is the driver. But it;€™s less the usual somber shadow-figure of grieving than an erratically interesting cousin, unmoored, even exhilarated, by the sudden flight into emptiness, the freedom of being neither here nor there. In this suspended state, anything might happen;¢;‚¬;€?and it does. Harun;€™s most realistic stories are suffused with mystery, while her more fantastic tales reveal startling truths within the commonplace. In diverse settings that include, among other places, a British Columbian island, a haunted Midwestern farmhouse, a London townhome, and a dementia care facility overpopulated with dangerously idle guardian angels, characters reconfigure whole worlds as they navigate states defined by absence. In "The Farmhouse Wife," a young couple, struggling financially, takes up residence in a near-abandoned farmhouse, only to be joined by an inconvenient roommate, a woman whose own bereft state proves perilously seductive. A kleptomaniac father gets caught in one of his petty thefts in "Pearl Diving," propelling his two sons out of one life into another, perhaps more appropriate, one. In "Madame Ida," a family of little girls steadily invades a woman;€™s life as she puzzles out the mysteries of a missing sheriff-turned-cult-leader and the absence of her own son. And in the title story, two teenagers face off against the hurtful lies of an ancient con woman who is mining a widow;€™s grief for her own ends.Adrianne Harun has been described as an exacting and attentive stylist whose stories are rendered in vivid language. The Los Angeles Review of Books wrote of her work: "Harun finds beauty in pitch black; she makes poetry out of brutality and grace out of terror. She is an alchemist, turning the worst aspects of life into gold." With Catch, Release, Harun upends the world once more.
Catch, Release (Johns Hopkins: Poetry and Fiction)
by Adrianne HarunIt;€™s all about loss. Don;€™t kid yourself. Even a simple game of catch is hinged on the moment the ball leaves the glove, the moment it returns. Don;€™t even try to think this story or any other story is about something else.In Catch, Release, Adrianne Harun;€™s second story collection, loss is the driver. But it;€™s less the usual somber shadow-figure of grieving than an erratically interesting cousin, unmoored, even exhilarated, by the sudden flight into emptiness, the freedom of being neither here nor there. In this suspended state, anything might happen;¢;‚¬;€?and it does. Harun;€™s most realistic stories are suffused with mystery, while her more fantastic tales reveal startling truths within the commonplace. In diverse settings that include, among other places, a British Columbian island, a haunted Midwestern farmhouse, a London townhome, and a dementia care facility overpopulated with dangerously idle guardian angels, characters reconfigure whole worlds as they navigate states defined by absence. In "The Farmhouse Wife," a young couple, struggling financially, takes up residence in a near-abandoned farmhouse, only to be joined by an inconvenient roommate, a woman whose own bereft state proves perilously seductive. A kleptomaniac father gets caught in one of his petty thefts in "Pearl Diving," propelling his two sons out of one life into another, perhaps more appropriate, one. In "Madame Ida," a family of little girls steadily invades a woman;€™s life as she puzzles out the mysteries of a missing sheriff-turned-cult-leader and the absence of her own son. And in the title story, two teenagers face off against the hurtful lies of an ancient con woman who is mining a widow;€™s grief for her own ends.Adrianne Harun has been described as an exacting and attentive stylist whose stories are rendered in vivid language. The Los Angeles Review of Books wrote of her work: "Harun finds beauty in pitch black; she makes poetry out of brutality and grace out of terror. She is an alchemist, turning the worst aspects of life into gold." With Catch, Release, Harun upends the world once more.
American National Security
by Michael J. Meese Suzanne C. Nielsen Rachel M. SondheimerAmerican National Security remains the ideal foundational text for courses in national security, foreign policy, and security studies. Every chapter in this edition has been extensively revised, and the book includes discussion of recent security policy changes in the Trump administration. Highlights include:;€¢ An updated look at national security threats, military operations, and homeland security challenges ;€¢ An analysis of the evolving roles of the president, Congress, the intelligence community, the military, and other institutions involved in national security;€¢ A revised consideration of the strengths, limitations, and employment of instruments of national power, including diplomacy, information, economic tools, and armed forces;€¢ An exploration of the economic and national security implications of globalization;€¢ An enhanced examination of the proliferation of transnational threats, including security challenges in space and in cyberspace;€¢ A new assessment of how international, political, and economic trends may change US leadership of the post;€“World War II international order;€¢ A comprehensive update on changing dynamics in key states and regions, including Russia, China, East Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin AmericaAn authoritative book that explains US national security policy, actors, and processes in a wide-ranging yet understandable way, American National Security addresses key issues, including challenges to the free and open international order, the reemergence of strategic competition among great powers, terrorism, economic and fiscal constraints, and rapid advances in information and technology.
Timelines of American Literature
by Cody Marrs Christopher HagerIt is all but inevitable for literary history to be divided into periods. "Early American," "antebellum," "modern," "post-1945";¢;‚¬;€?such designations organize our knowledge of the past and shape the ways we discuss that past today. These periods tend to align with the watershed moments in American history, even as the field has shifted its perspective away from the nation-state. It is high time we rethink these defining periods of American literary history, as the drawing of literary timelines is a necessary;¢;‚¬;€?even illuminating;¢;‚¬;€?practice.In these short, spirited, and imaginative essays, 23 leading Americanists gamely fashion new, unorthodox literary periods;¢;‚¬;€?from 600 B.C.E. to the present, from the Age of Van Buren to the Age of Microeconomics. They bring to light literary and cultural histories that have been obscured by traditional timelines and raise provocative questions. What is our definition of "modernism" if we imagine it stretching from 1865 to 1965 instead of 1890 to 1945? How does the captivity narrative change when we consider it as a contemporary, not just a "colonial," genre? What does the course of American literature look like set against the backdrop of federal denials of Native sovereignty or housing policies that exacerbated segregation? Filled with challenges to scholars, inspirations for teachers (anchored by an appendix of syllabi), and entry points for students, Timelines of American Literature gathers some of the most exciting new work in the field to showcase the revelatory potential of fresh thinking about how we organize the literary past.
Timelines of American Literature
by Cody Marrs Christopher HagerIt is all but inevitable for literary history to be divided into periods. "Early American," "antebellum," "modern," "post-1945";¢;‚¬;€?such designations organize our knowledge of the past and shape the ways we discuss that past today. These periods tend to align with the watershed moments in American history, even as the field has shifted its perspective away from the nation-state. It is high time we rethink these defining periods of American literary history, as the drawing of literary timelines is a necessary;¢;‚¬;€?even illuminating;¢;‚¬;€?practice.In these short, spirited, and imaginative essays, 23 leading Americanists gamely fashion new, unorthodox literary periods;¢;‚¬;€?from 600 B.C.E. to the present, from the Age of Van Buren to the Age of Microeconomics. They bring to light literary and cultural histories that have been obscured by traditional timelines and raise provocative questions. What is our definition of "modernism" if we imagine it stretching from 1865 to 1965 instead of 1890 to 1945? How does the captivity narrative change when we consider it as a contemporary, not just a "colonial," genre? What does the course of American literature look like set against the backdrop of federal denials of Native sovereignty or housing policies that exacerbated segregation? Filled with challenges to scholars, inspirations for teachers (anchored by an appendix of syllabi), and entry points for students, Timelines of American Literature gathers some of the most exciting new work in the field to showcase the revelatory potential of fresh thinking about how we organize the literary past.
A History of American Higher Education
by John R. ThelinColleges and universities are among the most cherished;¢;‚¬;€?and controversial;¢;‚¬;€?institutions in the United States. In this updated edition of A History of American Higher Education, John R. Thelin offers welcome perspective on the triumphs and crises of this highly influential sector in American life.Exploring American higher education from its founding in the seventeenth century to its struggle to innovate and adapt in the first decades of the twenty-first century, Thelin demonstrates that the experience of going to college has been central to American life for generations of students and their families. Drawing from archival research, along with the pioneering scholarship of leading historians, Thelin raises profound questions about what colleges are;¢;‚¬;€?and what they should be. Covering issues of social class, race, gender, and ethnicity in each era and chapter, this new edition showcases a fresh concluding chapter that focuses on both the opportunities and problems American higher education has faced since 2010. The essay on sources has been revised to incorporate books and articles published over the past decade. The book also updates the discussion of perennial hot-button issues such as big-time sports programs, online learning, the debt crisis, the adjunct crisis, and the return of the culture wars and addresses current areas of contention, including the changing role of governing boards and the financial challenges posed by the economic downturn. Anyone studying the history of this institution in America must read Thelin's classic text, which has distinguished itself as the most wide-ranging and engaging account of the origins and evolution of America's institutions of higher learning.
A History of American Higher Education
by John R. ThelinColleges and universities are among the most cherished;¢;‚¬;€?and controversial;¢;‚¬;€?institutions in the United States. In this updated edition of A History of American Higher Education, John R. Thelin offers welcome perspective on the triumphs and crises of this highly influential sector in American life.Exploring American higher education from its founding in the seventeenth century to its struggle to innovate and adapt in the first decades of the twenty-first century, Thelin demonstrates that the experience of going to college has been central to American life for generations of students and their families. Drawing from archival research, along with the pioneering scholarship of leading historians, Thelin raises profound questions about what colleges are;¢;‚¬;€?and what they should be. Covering issues of social class, race, gender, and ethnicity in each era and chapter, this new edition showcases a fresh concluding chapter that focuses on both the opportunities and problems American higher education has faced since 2010. The essay on sources has been revised to incorporate books and articles published over the past decade. The book also updates the discussion of perennial hot-button issues such as big-time sports programs, online learning, the debt crisis, the adjunct crisis, and the return of the culture wars and addresses current areas of contention, including the changing role of governing boards and the financial challenges posed by the economic downturn. Anyone studying the history of this institution in America must read Thelin's classic text, which has distinguished itself as the most wide-ranging and engaging account of the origins and evolution of America's institutions of higher learning.
Governing Health: The Politics of Health Policy
by William G. Weissert Carol S. WeissertIn this classic text, William G. Weissert and Carol S. Weissert describe how government and private interests help define health policy. Under the Obama administration, the federal government took a broadened role in setting health policy and insurance regulations. But the succeeding Trump administration and a Republican congress threatened to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its core tenets. Chronicling these recent important changes, Governing Health explores the political science theory behind this and other major shifts in national health policy.In this thoroughly updated edition, the authors describe how party polarization, a virulent anti-government movement, populist presidential politics, and the demise of "regular order" in Congress shape and define a new approach to health policy. This revised edition also;€¢ offers a comprehensive synthesis of Obamacare, touching on everything from Accountable Care and Pay for Performance to insurance industry reforms ;€¢ highlights the important role of social media in building opposition to universal coverage;€¢ tracks passage of the new Medicare physician payment reform, MACRA;€¢ analyzes presidential executive orders and administrative rulemaking in dismantling the Affordable Care Act;€¢ examines the implications of Supreme Court decisions on Medicaid expansion and state health policy ;€¢ updates all statistics, charts, and tablesThis new edition of a highly respected book guides readers toward a deep understanding of modern health policy's complexities. Drawing on compelling current examples, Governing Health is a timely and essential book.
Governing Health: The Politics of Health Policy
by William G. Weissert Carol S. WeissertIn this classic text, William G. Weissert and Carol S. Weissert describe how government and private interests help define health policy. Under the Obama administration, the federal government took a broadened role in setting health policy and insurance regulations. But the succeeding Trump administration and a Republican congress threatened to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its core tenets. Chronicling these recent important changes, Governing Health explores the political science theory behind this and other major shifts in national health policy.In this thoroughly updated edition, the authors describe how party polarization, a virulent anti-government movement, populist presidential politics, and the demise of "regular order" in Congress shape and define a new approach to health policy. This revised edition also;€¢ offers a comprehensive synthesis of Obamacare, touching on everything from Accountable Care and Pay for Performance to insurance industry reforms ;€¢ highlights the important role of social media in building opposition to universal coverage;€¢ tracks passage of the new Medicare physician payment reform, MACRA;€¢ analyzes presidential executive orders and administrative rulemaking in dismantling the Affordable Care Act;€¢ examines the implications of Supreme Court decisions on Medicaid expansion and state health policy ;€¢ updates all statistics, charts, and tablesThis new edition of a highly respected book guides readers toward a deep understanding of modern health policy's complexities. Drawing on compelling current examples, Governing Health is a timely and essential book.
The DOs: Osteopathic Medicine in America
by Norman GevitzOvercoming suspicion, ridicule, and outright opposition from the American Medical Association, the osteopathic medical profession today serves the health needs of more than thirty million Americans. Osteopathic medicine is now the fastest-growing segment of the US physician and surgeon population. In The DOs, historian Norman Gevitz chronicles the development of this controversial medical movement from its nineteenth-century origins in the American Midwest to the present day. He describes the philosophy and practice of osteopathy, as well as the impact of osteopathic medicine on health care.In print continuously since 1982, The DOs has now been thoroughly updated and expanded. From the theories underlying the use of spinal manipulation developed by osteopathy's founder, Andrew Taylor Still, Gevitz traces the movement's early success, despite attacks from the orthodox medical community. He also recounts the efforts of osteopathic medical colleges to achieve parity with institutions granting MD degrees and looks at the continuing effort by osteopathic physicians and surgeons to achieve greater recognition and visibility.Bringing additional light to the philosophical origins and practices of the osteopathic movement, as well as the historic debates about which degree to offer its graduates, this volume ;€¢ chronicles the challenges the profession has faced in the early decades of the twenty-first century ;€¢ addresses recent challenges to the osteopathic medical profession;€¢ explores efforts at preserving osteopathy's autonomy and distinctiveness;€¢ offers a new perspective on the future of osteopathic medicine Based on an extensive examination and evaluation of primary sources, as well as countless interviews with individuals both inside and outside osteopathic medicine, The DOs is the definitive history of the osteopathic medical profession.
The DOs: Osteopathic Medicine in America
by Norman GevitzOvercoming suspicion, ridicule, and outright opposition from the American Medical Association, the osteopathic medical profession today serves the health needs of more than thirty million Americans. Osteopathic medicine is now the fastest-growing segment of the US physician and surgeon population. In The DOs, historian Norman Gevitz chronicles the development of this controversial medical movement from its nineteenth-century origins in the American Midwest to the present day. He describes the philosophy and practice of osteopathy, as well as the impact of osteopathic medicine on health care.In print continuously since 1982, The DOs has now been thoroughly updated and expanded. From the theories underlying the use of spinal manipulation developed by osteopathy's founder, Andrew Taylor Still, Gevitz traces the movement's early success, despite attacks from the orthodox medical community. He also recounts the efforts of osteopathic medical colleges to achieve parity with institutions granting MD degrees and looks at the continuing effort by osteopathic physicians and surgeons to achieve greater recognition and visibility.Bringing additional light to the philosophical origins and practices of the osteopathic movement, as well as the historic debates about which degree to offer its graduates, this volume ;€¢ chronicles the challenges the profession has faced in the early decades of the twenty-first century ;€¢ addresses recent challenges to the osteopathic medical profession;€¢ explores efforts at preserving osteopathy's autonomy and distinctiveness;€¢ offers a new perspective on the future of osteopathic medicine Based on an extensive examination and evaluation of primary sources, as well as countless interviews with individuals both inside and outside osteopathic medicine, The DOs is the definitive history of the osteopathic medical profession.
Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity
by Jeffrey O. G. OgbarOutstanding Academic Title, ChoiceIn the 1960s and 70s, the two most important black nationalist organizations, the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party, gave voice and agency to the most economically and politically isolated members of black communities outside the South. Though vilified as fringe and extremist, these movements proved to be formidable agents of influence during the civil rights era, ultimately giving birth to the Black Power movement.Drawing on deep archival research and interviews with key participants, Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar reconsiders the commingled stories of;¢;‚¬;€?and popular reactions to;¢;‚¬;€?the Nation of Islam, Black Panthers, and mainstream civil rights leaders. Ogbar finds that many African Americans embraced the seemingly contradictory political agenda of desegregation and nationalism. Indeed, black nationalism, he demonstrates, was far more favorably received among African Americans than historians have previously acknowledged. It engendered minority pride and influenced the political, cultural, and religious spheres of mainstream African American life for the decades to come.This updated edition of Ogbar's classic work contains a new preface that describes the book's genesis and links the Black Power movement to the Black Lives Matter movement. A thoroughly updated essay on sources contains a comprehensive review of Black Power;€“related scholarship. Ultimately, Black Power reveals a black freedom movement in which the ideals of desegregation through nonviolence and black nationalism marched side by side.
Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity
by Jeffrey O. G. OgbarOutstanding Academic Title, ChoiceIn the 1960s and 70s, the two most important black nationalist organizations, the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party, gave voice and agency to the most economically and politically isolated members of black communities outside the South. Though vilified as fringe and extremist, these movements proved to be formidable agents of influence during the civil rights era, ultimately giving birth to the Black Power movement.Drawing on deep archival research and interviews with key participants, Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar reconsiders the commingled stories of;¢;‚¬;€?and popular reactions to;¢;‚¬;€?the Nation of Islam, Black Panthers, and mainstream civil rights leaders. Ogbar finds that many African Americans embraced the seemingly contradictory political agenda of desegregation and nationalism. Indeed, black nationalism, he demonstrates, was far more favorably received among African Americans than historians have previously acknowledged. It engendered minority pride and influenced the political, cultural, and religious spheres of mainstream African American life for the decades to come.This updated edition of Ogbar's classic work contains a new preface that describes the book's genesis and links the Black Power movement to the Black Lives Matter movement. A thoroughly updated essay on sources contains a comprehensive review of Black Power;€“related scholarship. Ultimately, Black Power reveals a black freedom movement in which the ideals of desegregation through nonviolence and black nationalism marched side by side.
The Year of Julius and Caesar: 59 BC and the Transformation of the Roman Republic (Witness to Ancient History)
by Stefan G. ChrissanthosThe year 59 BC—when Gaius Julius Caesar and Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus served as joint consuls—marked a major turning point in the history of the Roman Republic. It was a dramatic and momentous time of political intrigue, bloodshed, and murder, one that boasted some of the most famous personalities ever to grace the Roman historical stage. Arguing that this pivotal year demands extended study, Stefan G. Chrissanthos's The Year of Julius and Caesar is the first focused investigation of the period.Chrissanthos uses a single event as his centerpiece: the violent attack orchestrated by Caesar and the "First Triumvirate" on Bibulus and his followers in the Forum on April 4. Before that day, he reveals, 59 had been a typical year, one that provides valuable insight into Roman government and political gamesmanship. But the assault on Bibulus changed everything: the consul retired to his house for the rest of the year, allowing Caesar and his allies to pass legislation that eventually enabled Caesar to take complete control of the Roman state. This detailed reconstruction draws on archeological and literary evidence to describe a watershed year in the history of the late Roman Republic, establish an accurate chronology, and answer many of the important historical questions surrounding the year 59. Written in an engaging and accessible style, The Year of Julius and Caesar will appeal to undergraduates and scholars alike and to anyone interested in contemporary politics, owing to the parallels between the Roman and American Republics.
The Year of Julius and Caesar: 59 BC and the Transformation of the Roman Republic (Witness to Ancient History)
by Stefan G. ChrissanthosThe year 59 BC—when Gaius Julius Caesar and Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus served as joint consuls—marked a major turning point in the history of the Roman Republic. It was a dramatic and momentous time of political intrigue, bloodshed, and murder, one that boasted some of the most famous personalities ever to grace the Roman historical stage. Arguing that this pivotal year demands extended study, Stefan G. Chrissanthos's The Year of Julius and Caesar is the first focused investigation of the period.Chrissanthos uses a single event as his centerpiece: the violent attack orchestrated by Caesar and the "First Triumvirate" on Bibulus and his followers in the Forum on April 4. Before that day, he reveals, 59 had been a typical year, one that provides valuable insight into Roman government and political gamesmanship. But the assault on Bibulus changed everything: the consul retired to his house for the rest of the year, allowing Caesar and his allies to pass legislation that eventually enabled Caesar to take complete control of the Roman state. This detailed reconstruction draws on archeological and literary evidence to describe a watershed year in the history of the late Roman Republic, establish an accurate chronology, and answer many of the important historical questions surrounding the year 59. Written in an engaging and accessible style, The Year of Julius and Caesar will appeal to undergraduates and scholars alike and to anyone interested in contemporary politics, owing to the parallels between the Roman and American Republics.
My Lai: An American Atrocity in the Vietnam War (Witness to History)
by William Thomas AllisonOn March 16, 1968, American soldiers killed as many as five hundred Vietnamese men, women, and children in a village near the South China Sea. In My Lai William Thomas Allison explores and evaluates the significance of this horrific event. How could such a thing have happened? Who (or what) should be held accountable? How do we remember this atrocity and try to apply its lessons, if any? My Lai has fixed the attention of Americans of various political stripes for more than forty years. The breadth of writing on the massacre, from news reports to scholarly accounts, highlights the difficulty of establishing fact and motive in an incident during which confusion, prejudice, and self-preservation overwhelmed the troops. Son of a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War—and aware that the generation who lived through the incident is aging—Allison seeks to ensure that our collective memory of this shameful episode does not fade.Well written and accessible, Allison’s book provides a clear narrative of this historic moment and offers suggestions for how to come to terms with its aftermath.
Health Disparities in the United States: Social Class, Race, Ethnicity, and the Social Determinants of Health
by Donald A. BarrThe health care system in the United States has been called the best in the world. Yet wide disparities persist between social groups, and many Americans suffer from poorer health than people in other developed countries. In this revised edition of Health Disparities in the United States, Donald A. Barr provides extensive new data about the ways low socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity interact to create and perpetuate these health disparities. Examining the significance of this gulf for the medical community and society at large, Barr offers potential policy- and physician-based solutions for reducing health inequity in the long term.This thoroughly updated edition focuses on a new challenge the United States last experienced more than half a century ago: successive years of declining life expectancy. Barr addresses the causes of this decline, including what are commonly referred to as "deaths of despair"—from opiate overdose or suicide. Exploring the growing role geography plays in health disparities, Barr asks why people living in rural areas suffer the greatest increases in these deaths. He also analyzes recent changes under the Affordable Care Act and considers the literature on how race and ethnicity affect the way health care providers evaluate and treat patients.As both a physician and a sociologist, Barr is uniquely positioned to offer rigorous medical explanations alongside sociological analysis. An essential text for courses in public health, health policy, and sociology, this compelling book is a vital teaching tool and a comprehensive reference for social science and medical professionals.
Health Disparities in the United States: Social Class, Race, Ethnicity, and the Social Determinants of Health
by Donald A. BarrThe health care system in the United States has been called the best in the world. Yet wide disparities persist between social groups, and many Americans suffer from poorer health than people in other developed countries. In this revised edition of Health Disparities in the United States, Donald A. Barr provides extensive new data about the ways low socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity interact to create and perpetuate these health disparities. Examining the significance of this gulf for the medical community and society at large, Barr offers potential policy- and physician-based solutions for reducing health inequity in the long term.This thoroughly updated edition focuses on a new challenge the United States last experienced more than half a century ago: successive years of declining life expectancy. Barr addresses the causes of this decline, including what are commonly referred to as "deaths of despair"—from opiate overdose or suicide. Exploring the growing role geography plays in health disparities, Barr asks why people living in rural areas suffer the greatest increases in these deaths. He also analyzes recent changes under the Affordable Care Act and considers the literature on how race and ethnicity affect the way health care providers evaluate and treat patients.As both a physician and a sociologist, Barr is uniquely positioned to offer rigorous medical explanations alongside sociological analysis. An essential text for courses in public health, health policy, and sociology, this compelling book is a vital teaching tool and a comprehensive reference for social science and medical professionals.
The Collectors of Lost Souls: Turning Kuru Scientists into Whitemen
by Warwick AndersonWinner, William H. Welch Medal, American Association for the History of MedicineWinner, Ludwik Fleck Prize, Society for Social Studies of ScienceWinner, General History Award, New South Wales Premier's History AwardsWhen whites first encountered the Fore people in the isolated highlands of colonial New Guinea during the 1940s and 1950s, they found a people in the grip of a bizarre epidemic. Women and children succumbed to muscle weakness, uncontrollable tremors, and lack of coordination, until death inevitably supervened. Facing extinction, the Fore attributed their unique and terrifying affliction to a particularly malign form of sorcery.In The Collectors of Lost Souls, Warwick Anderson tells the story of the resilience of the Fore through this devastating plague, their transformation into modern people, and their compelling attraction for a throng of eccentric and adventurous scientists and anthropologists. Battling competing scientists and the colonial authorities, the brilliant and troubled American doctor D. Carleton Gajdusek determined that the cause of the epidemic—kuru—was a new and mysterious agent of infection, which he called a slow virus (now called a prion). Anthropologists and epidemiologists soon realized that the Fore practice of eating their loved ones after death had spread the slow virus. Though the Fore were never convinced, Gajdusek received the Nobel Prize for his discovery. Now revised and updated, the book includes an extensive new afterword that situates its impact within the fields of science and technology studies and the history of science. Additionally, the author now reflects on his long engagement with the scientists and the people afflicted, describing what has happened to them since the end of kuru. This astonishing story links first-contact encounters in New Guinea with laboratory experiments in Bethesda, Maryland; sorcery with science; cannibalism with compassion; and slow viruses with infectious proteins, reshaping our understanding of what it means to do science.
The Collectors of Lost Souls: Turning Kuru Scientists into Whitemen
by Warwick AndersonWinner, William H. Welch Medal, American Association for the History of MedicineWinner, Ludwik Fleck Prize, Society for Social Studies of ScienceWinner, General History Award, New South Wales Premier's History AwardsWhen whites first encountered the Fore people in the isolated highlands of colonial New Guinea during the 1940s and 1950s, they found a people in the grip of a bizarre epidemic. Women and children succumbed to muscle weakness, uncontrollable tremors, and lack of coordination, until death inevitably supervened. Facing extinction, the Fore attributed their unique and terrifying affliction to a particularly malign form of sorcery.In The Collectors of Lost Souls, Warwick Anderson tells the story of the resilience of the Fore through this devastating plague, their transformation into modern people, and their compelling attraction for a throng of eccentric and adventurous scientists and anthropologists. Battling competing scientists and the colonial authorities, the brilliant and troubled American doctor D. Carleton Gajdusek determined that the cause of the epidemic—kuru—was a new and mysterious agent of infection, which he called a slow virus (now called a prion). Anthropologists and epidemiologists soon realized that the Fore practice of eating their loved ones after death had spread the slow virus. Though the Fore were never convinced, Gajdusek received the Nobel Prize for his discovery. Now revised and updated, the book includes an extensive new afterword that situates its impact within the fields of science and technology studies and the history of science. Additionally, the author now reflects on his long engagement with the scientists and the people afflicted, describing what has happened to them since the end of kuru. This astonishing story links first-contact encounters in New Guinea with laboratory experiments in Bethesda, Maryland; sorcery with science; cannibalism with compassion; and slow viruses with infectious proteins, reshaping our understanding of what it means to do science.
Death by Regulation: How Bureaucrats Killed One of Obamacare's Promising Innovations
by Peter L. BeilensonIn the contentious run-up to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Congress passed a law to make nonprofit health insurance CO-OPs (formally known as Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans) a viable alternative to the public option. The idea was to create new competition in order to lower health insurance premiums and encourage innovation. Nearly two dozen such low-cost CO-OPs were launched in the wake of the ACA's passage; only four are in operation today.In Death by Regulation, Dr. Peter L. Beilenson tells the story of a group of Maryland-based public health professionals who launched the Evergreen Health Cooperative, only to discover that the ACA law encouraging CO-OPs was a "plastic plant"—a piece of legislation created for optics but never intended to be functional. Over most of its four years of existence, Evergreen succeeded against all odds, prevailing over naysayers, big insurance companies, Congress, and its founders' naïveté. But in an ironic twist, it was bureaucratic hostility from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—the very Obama administration agency responsible for the CO-OPs—that led to their collective demise.Beilenson traces the huge impact of seemingly small policy decisions on the work of his team and the people their CO-OP was built to serve. He recounts the excitement and satisfaction of launching such a valuable healthcare company, as well as the damage done to scores of employees and tens of thousands of satisfied healthcare customers when bureaucrats ran amok. The only book about these idealistic Obamacare CO-OPs and the obstacles they all faced, Death by Regulation offers an insider view of health policy and the reality of starting an insurance company from scratch.
Death by Regulation: How Bureaucrats Killed One of Obamacare's Promising Innovations
by Peter L. BeilensonIn the contentious run-up to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Congress passed a law to make nonprofit health insurance CO-OPs (formally known as Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans) a viable alternative to the public option. The idea was to create new competition in order to lower health insurance premiums and encourage innovation. Nearly two dozen such low-cost CO-OPs were launched in the wake of the ACA's passage; only four are in operation today.In Death by Regulation, Dr. Peter L. Beilenson tells the story of a group of Maryland-based public health professionals who launched the Evergreen Health Cooperative, only to discover that the ACA law encouraging CO-OPs was a "plastic plant"—a piece of legislation created for optics but never intended to be functional. Over most of its four years of existence, Evergreen succeeded against all odds, prevailing over naysayers, big insurance companies, Congress, and its founders' naïveté. But in an ironic twist, it was bureaucratic hostility from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—the very Obama administration agency responsible for the CO-OPs—that led to their collective demise.Beilenson traces the huge impact of seemingly small policy decisions on the work of his team and the people their CO-OP was built to serve. He recounts the excitement and satisfaction of launching such a valuable healthcare company, as well as the damage done to scores of employees and tens of thousands of satisfied healthcare customers when bureaucrats ran amok. The only book about these idealistic Obamacare CO-OPs and the obstacles they all faced, Death by Regulation offers an insider view of health policy and the reality of starting an insurance company from scratch.
A Monument to Dynasty and Death: The Story of Rome's Colosseum and the Emperors Who Built It (Witness to Ancient History)
by Nathan T. ElkinsEarly one morning in 80 CE, the Colosseum roared to life with the deafening cheers of tens of thousands of spectators as the emperor, Titus, inaugurated the new amphitheater with one hundred days of bloody spectacles. These games were much anticipated, for the new amphitheater had been under construction for a decade. Home to spectacles involving exotic beasts, elaborate executions of criminals, gladiatorial combats, and even—when flooded—small-scale naval battles, the building itself was also a marvel. Rising to a height of approximately 15 stories and occupying an area of 6 acres—more than four times the size of a modern football field—the Colosseum was the largest of all amphitheaters in the Roman Empire. In A Monument to Dynasty and Death, Nathan T. Elkins tells the story of the Colosseum's construction under Vespasian, its dedication under Titus, and further enhancements added under Domitian. The Colosseum, Elkins argues, was far more than a lavish entertainment venue: it was an ideologically charged monument to the new dynasty, its aspirations, and its achievements. A Monument to Dynasty and Death takes readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Colosseum from the subterranean tunnels, where elevators and cages transported gladiators and animals to the blood-soaked arena floor, to the imperial viewing box, to the amphitheater's decoration and amenities, such as fountains and an awning to shade spectators. Trained as an archaeologist, an art historian, and a historian of ancient Rome, Elkins deploys an interdisciplinary approach that draws on contemporary historical texts, inscriptions, archaeology, and visual evidence to convey the layered ideological messages communicated by the Colosseum. This engaging book is an excellent resource for classes on Roman art, architecture, history, civilization, and sport and spectacle.
A Monument to Dynasty and Death: The Story of Rome's Colosseum and the Emperors Who Built It (Witness to Ancient History)
by Nathan T. ElkinsEarly one morning in 80 CE, the Colosseum roared to life with the deafening cheers of tens of thousands of spectators as the emperor, Titus, inaugurated the new amphitheater with one hundred days of bloody spectacles. These games were much anticipated, for the new amphitheater had been under construction for a decade. Home to spectacles involving exotic beasts, elaborate executions of criminals, gladiatorial combats, and even—when flooded—small-scale naval battles, the building itself was also a marvel. Rising to a height of approximately 15 stories and occupying an area of 6 acres—more than four times the size of a modern football field—the Colosseum was the largest of all amphitheaters in the Roman Empire. In A Monument to Dynasty and Death, Nathan T. Elkins tells the story of the Colosseum's construction under Vespasian, its dedication under Titus, and further enhancements added under Domitian. The Colosseum, Elkins argues, was far more than a lavish entertainment venue: it was an ideologically charged monument to the new dynasty, its aspirations, and its achievements. A Monument to Dynasty and Death takes readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Colosseum from the subterranean tunnels, where elevators and cages transported gladiators and animals to the blood-soaked arena floor, to the imperial viewing box, to the amphitheater's decoration and amenities, such as fountains and an awning to shade spectators. Trained as an archaeologist, an art historian, and a historian of ancient Rome, Elkins deploys an interdisciplinary approach that draws on contemporary historical texts, inscriptions, archaeology, and visual evidence to convey the layered ideological messages communicated by the Colosseum. This engaging book is an excellent resource for classes on Roman art, architecture, history, civilization, and sport and spectacle.
Number Theory: An Introduction via the Density of Primes (De Gruyter Textbook Ser.)
by Benjamin Fine Gerhard RosenbergerNow in its second edition, this textbook provides an introduction and overview of number theory based on the density and properties of the prime numbers. This unique approach offers both a firm background in the standard material of number theory, as well as an overview of the entire discipline. All of the essential topics are covered, such as the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, theory of congruences, quadratic reciprocity, arithmetic functions, and the distribution of primes. New in this edition are coverage of p-adic numbers, Hensel's lemma, multiple zeta-values, and elliptic curve methods in primality testing.Key topics and features include:A solid introduction to analytic number theory, including full proofs of Dirichlet's Theorem and the Prime Number TheoremConcise treatment of algebraic number theory, including a complete presentation of primes, prime factorizations in algebraic number fields, and unique factorization of idealsDiscussion of the AKS algorithm, which shows that primality testing is one of polynomial time, a topic not usually included in such textsMany interesting ancillary topics, such as primality testing and cryptography, Fermat and Mersenne numbers, and Carmichael numbersThe user-friendly style, historical context, and wide range of exercises that range from simple to quite difficult (with solutions and hints provided for select exercises) make Number Theory: An Introduction via the Density of Primes ideal for both self-study and classroom use. Intended for upper level undergraduates and beginning graduates, the only prerequisites are a basic knowledge of calculus, multivariable calculus, and some linear algebra. All necessary concepts from abstract algebra and complex analysis are introduced where needed.