Book Description
What role has photography played in shaping our ideas about race, nation, and selfhood? How has the camera been used to construct and contrast images of racial difference? To create or debunk stereotypes and romantic myths about specific ethnic groups? This groundbreaking book is the first to thoroughly investigate the impact that photography has had on race and racial identity in America-among the most profound and explosive issues in our nation's history and everyday life.
From Dorothea Lange's portrait of Mexican braceros brought to the United States as farm workers, to Anthony Aziz & Sammy Cucher's digitally manipulated, idealized nudes, Only Skin Deep presents historical and contemporary images and embraces a wide range of genres and movements, including portraiture, social documentary, ethnographic photography, fine-art photography, and photojournalism. Complementing the images are four original essays on race and photography, eight reprint essays that have served as foundational documents in the discussion of race, and five case studies that focus more narrowly on representations of specific cultural groups. The book will accompany a national touring exhibition prepared by the International Center of Photography in New York.
Customer Reviews:
GRAND VISION/HARD VIEWING.......2004-02-28
An enormous and fasinating series of discussions surrounding "raced looking" in America's history of photography is central to this group of essays by many of the cultural critics working today. A massive tome with outstanding visuals, some not seen in the exhibition, provide extensive background and analysis to the area of how race has intervened in American culture today. For museums who felt the race subject had been addressed in the 90s post-Quincentennary exhibition, it is obvious that much more in depth examination is necessary and relevant. An outstanding effort for a museum catalogue and exhibition. All should be commended. Required reading for anyone working and teaching in cultural studies, ethnic studies, humanities, and the arts.
Customer Reviews:
Cream of the Crop.......2006-07-09
I read Koestler's "Darkness at Noon" way back yonder and was impressed with it. This work far surpasses that book and is one of the most lucid I have read about the giants of astronomy. This book ought to be required reading!
A Masterwork.......2006-01-23
Koestler has written a superb summary of the early history of science. The views expressed are certainly partial but it is almost impossible not to be transported by Koestler's prose into a world inhabited by Aristotle, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler and Galileo. It is a wonderful exploration of the progress of science and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the history and philosophy of science.
A GREAT INTELLECT, PERHAPS, BUT A HIGHLY PREJUDICED ONE!.......2005-10-04
Arthur Koestler was touted throughout his life by many for his courage, insight and style, qualities he exhibited in works such as Darkness At Noon. But in this book, he appears more interested in swiping at great scientists with a broad axe than in providing unbiased insight regarding their works and achievements.
He has a special enmity for Galileo, whom he accuses of arrogance, ego-centricity, outright falsehoods, and a wide range of various admirable qualities. The author uses Galileo as a poster boy for everything he dislikes or mistrusts about scholars, stating "... scholars have always been prone to manias and obsessions, and inclined to cheat about details; but impostures like Galileo's are rare in the annals of science." He launched into this tirade simply because Galileo was mistaken in his theory of the cause of tides, almost ignoring the fact that Galileo was correct about everything else.
Keep in mind that Koestler wrote this in 1958, 320 years after Galileo's trial and 35 years BEFORE the Catholic Church admitted that Galileo was correct about supporting Copernicus.
Several books have been written since that treat the Galileo situation in a much more enlightened manner, especially Galileo, Science & The Church and Galileo Heretic. Both are at least as readable as Koestler, fare more broad-minded and much more intellectually honest.
Finally, I found it both amusing and frustrating that much of Koestler's attacks on Galileo et al is based on their arrogance and self-confidence; I have never read a text more arrogant in its tone than this one, and Galileo, Kepler, Newton and the rest possessed far greater qualifications for their statements and opinions, in the scientific arena, than Koestler. As someone pointed out, Koestler was a great advocate of ESP, a belief that still retains far less evidence of its existence than the most imaginative conclusions and theories of Galileo and the rest.
If this is Koestler's best example of intellectual honesty and perception, the rest of his works are surely easily dismissed.
How did I miss this book?.......2005-05-09
How did I miss this masterpiece? Perhaps, because it is not referenced in all the histories of astonomy and cosmology I have read; it gets short shrift from the academics. Koestler was not an astronomer. Thank heavens! May we have more such amateurs!
This is the best history of asronomy and one of the wisest books I have ever read. . Koestler applies his knowledge, his life, his experiences, to this topic, and places the astonomy of each period beautifully within the context of the politics, religion and philosophy of the time. And shows, with crystalline clarity, how one (philosophy) could pollute the rest.
It is the best written book I have ever read on a scientific topic. On almost every page, the eloquence, intelligence and skill of Koestler illuminates a point obscured or ignored in other treatments. He brilliantly shows how astonomy suffered the same decline as the other sciences and technologies, for the same reasons, and puts this in the context of a collapsed Grecian and a collapsing Roman world seeking refuge in religious obscurantism for 1,200 years.
He laments the same point Carl Sagan makes in "Cosmos"; Plato and Aristotle cost us a thousand years of technical progress..Sagan points out that the people who built the medieval cathedrals lived in housing and health conditions worse than the Greeks. Koestler wryly observes that we were delayed the benefits of Satellites and Hydrogen bombs for the same interval.
He treats evenly with all the icons we have learned to revere. Copernicus was a coward and a lecherouos churchman, who opens his great book with a clumsy lie. Kepler was almost a raving lunatic (for good reason). Galileo is described as one of the truly offensive and annoying men of science, rarely giving credit, treated better than he deserved by the Church, and finally caught up by his defence of a book which he probably did not read. Amazingly, Galileo was no astonomer at all; just one who happened to do some early telescopic observations, and then attempted to establish a monopoly on observations for himself.
My eternal thanks to Owen Gingerich for his reference to this book. The jury is out, in my mind, on the other two volumes of his technical triptych, but this is an undoubted masterpiece.
Everyone should read it.......2003-01-09
Fascinating account of the history of astronomy through the discovery of classical mechanics by Kepler, Galileo and Newton. We may see it as the history of the replacement of religious-based dogmatism by what physicists today call the Galilean approach: the discovery and consequent mathematical description of nature throughy repeated, identical experiments or observations. This is the book that wheted my appetite for the history of physics. For the serious reader, there are also Julian Barbour's Absolute or Relative Motion and Fred Hoyle's history of Copernicus's contribution. Of interest as well, if less exciting, are Galileo's Dialogues.
Book Description
Despite years of reform, a persistent achievement gap remains between students in urban schools and elsewhere. Recognizing that goal setting and good intentions cannot close the gap, the authors provide a research-based synthesis of the dynamics that contribute to urban students' academic achievement patterns. An overview of human development in the urban context sets the stage for outlining what needs to be done to improve teaching and learning. Themes the authors develop and explore include historical and present social dynamics, cultural differences, pedagogy, opportunity to learn variables, physical and social environments, and the need to change our perception of at-risk students to students with resiliency.
Urban school reform strategies are being developed by legislators, educators, educational researchers, teacher preparatory institutions, community leaders, and parents. The reform strategies that we adopt must address all pertinent issues if these urban students are to fully contribute to a democratic society.
Customer Reviews:
Suggestions for bridging the cultural divide.......2004-07-05
Compiled and edited by Belinda Williams, and now in an updated and revised second edition, Closing The Achievement Gap: A Vision For Changing Beliefs And Practices focuses on the necessity for educators becoming more sensitive to the worldviews of disadvantaged students and incorporating this awareness into their curriculums and teaching strategies for such students. The contributors persuasively argue that teachers, principals, and policy makers must learn about cultural perceptions of human development; apply this knowledge to professional development and comprehensive reform; and then aligning political and educational policies accordingly. Very strongly recommended reading for the frontline classroom teacher, Closing The Achievement Gap also offers specific suggestions for bridging the cultural divide through vocabulary instructions, opportunity-to-learn strategies, and school-level organizational reform.
Customer Reviews:
A must to read........2007-01-12
One of the most interesting book in the field of vision, behavior, posture and
much more.
Thousand thanks to Dr M.KAPLAN.
See to Learn, See to Work, See to Play .......2006-02-20
Seeing Through New Eyes is an introduction to the treatment of visual conditions that go beyond 20/20 eyesight. Developmental or behavioral vision care can have a significant impact on behavioral, social and learning problems associated with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities. Poor eye contact and other behaviors are often the result of difficulty with "ambient vision" that drives spatial awareness, visual organization and balance/coordination. Dr. Kaplan gives guidance on how to identify the visual deficits of nonverbal children, select performance lenses that will alter ambient vision and how to create individual vision management programs in order to assist each individual in achieving maximum success in life. This book is essential reading for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and professionals in the fields of autism, optometry, ophthalmology, psychology and education.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book on leadership in the smaller church.......2007-09-30
McMullen's Unleashing the Potential of the Smaller Church is recommended for any and all those in the smaller church who are interested in making a vital impact within their church and community. Written by many different small church leaders, the reader gets a first-hand look at how God has used each of these small churches effectively to reach others for Him. This book is a great encouragement to anyone ministering in the smaller church. Enjoy.
Book Description
The first book in Julie Czerneda's acclaimed Web Shifters series made the Nebula preliminary nomination list in 1998. Changing Vision continues the story of Esen, the last survivor of an alien race with the ability to assume the form of any creature. Now Esen must break her species' rule of noninterference-to keep interspecies tension from escalating into all-out war....
#2 in the Web Shifters Series
Download Description
Esen-alit-Quar had violated the First Rule of her species when she revealed her existence to a human named Paul Ragem. and though both Paul and Esen had survived, others of Esen's Web had not been so fortunate. Es could hardly believe that fifty years had passed since the terrifying event which had nearly cost her her life and which had forced Paul to give up everything a human treasured-family, friends, even his own identity-to protect the secret of her continued survival. In that time, they had built a new life together out on the Fringe. They had a successful export company, friends and associates.
Esen, now known as Esolesy Ki and wearing the form of a Lishcyn-a species rare enough in the Commonwealth and never seen in the Fringe-was perfectly content to remain on the world of Minas XII, leaving it to Paul to travel the starways on company business. Meanwhile, she used their vast information resources to search for any signs that others of her kind had found their galaxy.
What neither Es nor Paul could foresee was that a simple "vacation" trip would plunge the two of them into the heart of a diplomatic nightmare-and threaten to expose both Es and Paul to the hunters who had never been convinced of their destruction....
Customer Reviews:
Worthy Sequel.......2007-03-24
The fascinating story of Esen-alit-Quar, introduced in "Beholder's Eye" continues 50 years after the end of book one. Coaxed on a vacation by Paul, Es finds herself embroiled in a species conflict which sees her confronted with the darkest secret of Ersh, the Oldest of her Web. An element of menace is included early on with the re-appearance of Kearn, the shifter hunter, who wants to destroy Esen, and who is now backed by a mysterious and dangerous entity. The main plot, meanwhile, centers on the adventures of the webshifter and her only true friend. The relationship between Paul and Esen is drawn wonderfully, I especially enjoyed the contradiction between both personas' actual and relative ages - a contradiction which contributes nicely to the development of story and characters.
After finishing this sequel I am still fascinated by a being capable of changing shape, particularly since the author has created consistent and (in the context of a Science Fiction story) logical rules governing the web shifters' existence. Her universe, populated by numerous intriguing species, is well drawn and provides a satisfying background to the tale.
Deserving of negative comment is only the uneven pacing, evident in my view especially in the slow start. However, this might be a characteristic of Julie Czerneda's style, as I have encountered this also in her Trade Pact series.
In all, the story of Esen continues to fascinate me and I am looking forward to read the third book in the series, "Hidden in Sight". This is an enjoyable if not very fast read and the writer's ideas interesting enough that I will seek out her other books.
Great story. Read it 4 times now........2004-05-07
This has become one of my favorite bedtime stories that I have read several times. I loved the story, and it's nice to have a story I like that since I know how it goes, I can put down and go to sleep.
I've read it 6 times now.
Pretty good follow up to "Beholder's Eye".......2003-06-23
"Changing Visions" is a better than average novel, full of lots of derring-do, action, and suspense. It has some great characters in Esen the shapeshifter and Paul the human, and their interaction is interesting and well done.
So, why does it mostly leave me cold, when I otherwise like Ms. Czerneda's writing? I'm not sure. I really like Paul and Esen -- their development here makes sense, is well thought out, and it's an enjoyable relationship all the way around. And I felt sorry for Largas, Kearn, and most of the other characters that Paul and Esen are unfortunately forced to outfox during this book.
Still, this book is not as strong as the first (granted, the first was exceptional). It's a good novel, but it's not up to the standard of "Beholder's Eye" or "A Thousand Words for Stranger." I'm not sure what's up with that; it seems that Ms. Czerneda gets a really good concept, writes a book about it, then writes a few sequels because the concept isn't exhausted. Nothing wrong with that, but the quality dips consistently in follow-up books -- and especially here moreso than in the Trade Pact universe setup.
Of course, when your first book is one of my top twenty all time books, it's pretty hard to live up to that standard, too. ;-) Revisiting this review, I realized something; I hold Ms. Czerneda, along with a few other favorite writers like eluki bes shahar (also known as Rosemary Edghill), Mercedes Lackey, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, and Lois McMaster Bujold, to a higher standard than others.
With some other writer, I might give this a higher rating; my original rating was three stars (wanting to give it three and a half, but not knowing that I could say so here). For another writer writing the very same book, I'd probably give it four or four and a half, which is why the newly adjusted rating.
Esen is extremely interesting, and I like to see her interact with others. She's written well; she's an innocent child _and_ a Stranger in a Strange Land, all in one. And I like Paul, who's interesting, flawed, and an overall meaty character.
But there's just something about this book that nags at me, that says it should have been better than it is. Probably the fact that the first was so outstanding; no matter how well written this book is, and it is very well done, it can't compare with the originality of the first because that's where I met the vast majority of these characters.
But that's not Ms. Czerneda's fault; she wrote an interesting world and wanted to play some more. This is a good book, and as such, I've adjusted the rating accordingly, to a four star effort.
Barb Caffrey
Oh, and yes, I'd definitely recommend this series to anyone. It's very well done. (Even though I hate Skalet, mind you.)
A False Friend and a True Enemy.......2003-04-18
Changing Vision (2000) is the second SF novel in the Web Shifters series, following Beholder's Eye. In the previous volume, the Web of Ersh has been destroyed and Esen-alit-Quar has baited and terminated Death. Acting Captain Kearn thinks Paul Ragem is dead, but still searches for the Esen Monster. However, Esen has relocated to Minas XII in the Fringe and, to her surprise, is soon followed by Paul. The Garson's World survivors led by Joel Largas have also settled on Minas XII.
In this novel, fifty years have passed since these events. Paul has become Web-kin to Esen and they are now using the names Paul Cameron and Esolesy Ki. They have started a small business, Cameron & Ki Exports, on Minas XII and have close business and personal ties with Largas Freight. Their company is having a small party for employees and business associates, and a few of Meony-ro's friends, to celebrate their fiftieth anniversity. They are called out of the party to attend to a dying Ganthor mercenary whose Herd has been abandoned by their employer; Esen shifts to her Ganthor form and convinces the Ganthor to join their small Herd, thereby easing his dying.
Later that evening, the staff surprises Esen with a gift: tickets to the Panacia Hiveworld, D'Dsel. Since Esen hasn't gone offworld since her arrival, Paul thinks a vacation will be good for her, but Esen hates surprises and doesn't want to go. After returning home, they exchange gifts: Esen gives Paul a medallion with the company logo containing a small piece of Web-form in cyro storage and Paul gives her a holoshow containing vids of 110 different humans.
The next morning, they meet with Captain Janet Chase, who is chasing Paul, to learn about the boarding of her ship by Tly inspectors and the confiscation of her cargo. Paul also asks about the contents of the courier pouch, which the Tly have taken, but only after Chase had transferred the contents to another case, which she gives to Paul. Chase also has news of a new sentient species, the Feneden, which have come to D'Dsel to negotiate a trade agreement. Esen does not like Chase, who has tried to break up the Cameron & Ki partnership, but is pointly polite in the meeting until Chase tries to kiss Paul, whereupon one of Esen's large Lishcyn feet strikes a table leg and spills hot pyati with cream all over Paul and Chase.
Esen flees this fiasco to their private greenhouse over the warehouse. While sulking there, Joel Largas arrives to putter around with the plants and gives Esen a figurative shoulder to cry on and some paternal advice. He also spoils Paul's surprise: they are leaving for D'Dsel that night on the Galactic Goddess. Esen hates surprises ... and the stupid hat that everyone on the tour has to wear. Nevertheless, they are off to Panacia and Esen hopes that they will meet the Feneden, for she hasn't encountered an unknown sentient species in seventy-four standard years.
As usual, things don't work out quite as simply as Esen wishes. They encounter Rudy Lefebvre, Captain of the Russell III and Paul's cousin, who is hunting evidence of Paul's innocence of aiding the Esen Monster. Project Leader Kearn is also on the Russell III and he is looking for the Esen Monster itself and finds kindred souls in the Feneden. Tly Inspector Logan is on the the Black Watch and he is looking for a superweapon to use against Inhaven. Somehow, the common factor in all these ships and persons is the need to find Esen.
This novel continues the bureacratic theme with Quebit manuals: when Quebits were first discovered, linguists spend a lifetime translating a sewage system installation manual. Moreover, there is even more about architects on D'Dsel.
This novel introduces Esen's Human-self to Paul. While too small and weak for most purposes, it makes an admirable ghost, with a few dashes of a red juice for blood, to use against the superstitious Tly.
Recommended for Czerneda fans and anyone who enjoys zany adventures with likeable people in a SF setting.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Some of the best alien cultures ever depicted in SF........2001-04-24
As with "Beholder's Eye," in "Changing Vision" Czerneda creates and describes beautifully detailed alien biologies, cultures, and languages (the Ganthor and Ket species remain my personal favorites). It was a stroke of genius to create Esen, a shape-shifter WITH LIMITS. Every time Esen becomes Human, for example, she becomes the SAME Human, and will retain any scars incurred while in that form. In addition, she must consume living mass in order to shift from shape to shape. Without these limitations, she would be too powerful to be an interesting character, and would be able to shape-shift into a table or a vase, like Odo on "Deep Space Nine", which is a little too silly to be believeable.
Plotwise, this book became slightly confusing at the end, with crosses and double-crosses and triple-crosses. At first I wasn't sure whether or not to be pleased about Paul's resolution, but it has been growing on me since I finished the book and have given it more thought. There is also a nice cliffhanger teaser that doesn't make the reader feel cheated -- "Changing Vision" is still a complete story within itself.
Book Description
The work of Douglas Harper has for two decades documented worlds in eclipse. A glimpse into the life of dairy farmers in upstate New York on the cusp of technological change, Changing Works is no exception. With photographs and interviews with farmers, Harper brings into view a social world altered by machines and stuns us with gorgeous visions of rural times past. As a member of this community, Harper relates compelling stories about families and their dairies that reveal how the advent of industrialized labor changed the way farmers structure their work and organize their lives. His new book charts the transformation of American farming from small dairies based on animal power and cooperative work to industrialized agriculture.
Changing Works combines Harper's pictures with classic images by photographers such as Gordon Parks, Sol Libsohn, and Charlotte Brooks-men and women whose work during the 1940s documented the mechanization and automation of agricultural practices. Part social history and part analysis of the drive to mass production, Changing Works examines how we farmed a half century ago versus how we do today through pictures new and old and through discussions with elderly farmers who witnessed the makeover. Ultimately, Harper challenges timely ecological and social questions about contemporary agriculture. He shows us how the dissolution of cooperative dairy farming has diminished the safety of the practice, degraded the way we relate to our natural environment, and splintered the once tight-knit communities of rural farmers. Mindful, then, of the advantages of preindustrial agriculture, and heeding the alarming spread of mad cow and foot-and-mouth disease, Changing Works harks back to the benefits of an older system.
Customer Reviews:
Review of Changing Works .......2005-11-05
I found "Changing Works" to be a very informative text in the area of technological advances in the dairy industry. Harper uses SONJ pictures to highlight wonderful interviews with various dairy farmers that farmed in the generations before World War II. These interviews bring the past back to life as the reader goes through the mechanization introductions such as replacement of horses and the reconstruction of the milking process. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the dairy industry and to future dairymen. As an agricultural student, I was enthralled throughout the entire book. Harper tends to be less descriptive when it comes to the actual workings of the machinery, but it does not take much away from the rich narrative he weaves with the farmers' interviews. The reader gets a feeling of loss for the traditional ways that Harper projects throughout the book and it only enhances the content.
Book Description
What does it mean today to "think like a lawyer"? Drawing on extensive interviews with men and women attorneys, the authors explore how moral reasoning affects lawyers' understanding of justice and their own role in promoting it. This examination of personal and institutional imperatives in the legal profession, illustrated with quotations from the lawyers themselves, raises questions that transcend traditional discussions of legal ethics. The authors examine: the relationship between gender and patterns of moral thinking; the ways that personal morality affects public and professional responsibility; the legal system's response to social changes in public ethics and in women's roles. For example, has the recent influx of women to the legal profession brought moral views that challenge the traditional defining characteristics of a lawyer's job? What happens when a lawyer's personal morality conflicts with the role demands of the profession? In conclusion the authors offer suggestions for constructive changes in legal education and the code of professional ethics to foster morally responsive democracy. All those concerned with moral reasoning, gender roles, and the evolution of the legal system will find this stimulating and timely reading.
Book Description
We all carry a picture of the world in our mind, but is that "map" an assuredly true layout of the reality that surrounds us? If not, how can we use it to guide our steps toward the 21st century and beyond without creating shocks and surprises that impair our well-being and threaten our survival? We shall not survive, either as individuals or as a species, if our maps fail to reflect accurately the nature of the world that surrounds us. The authors attempt, through reviewing the origins, development, and current changes in individual and social cognitive maps, to prompt readers to become more conscious of their own map, and hence be better able to adapt it to the exigencies of our changing world. The book ends with a vision of the global bio- and socio-sphere: the unified cognitive map which is emerging in laboratories and workshops of the new physics, the new biology, the new ecology, and the avant-garde branches of the social and historical sciences. But Changing Visions recognizes that these sciences alone cannot promote the formation of faithful maps of lived reality, and that religion, common sense, and even art can fill in and sharpen one's world-picture.
Books:
- Rise Above: God Can Set You Free from Your Weight Problems Forever
- Riven Rock
- Rocket Propulsion Elements, 7th Edition
- Rogue Planet (Star Wars)
- Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt: Awakening the Healing Power of the Heart
- Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems (Caldecott Honor Book, BCCB Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award)
- Star Wars Complete Cross-Sections: The Spacecraft and Vehicles of the Entire Star Wars Saga
- Star Wars, Episode IV - A New Hope (Junior Novelization)
- Stargate SG-1: The Ultimate Visual Guide
- Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Teacher Man: A Memoir
- Harry Potter Schoolbooks Box Set: From the Library of Hogwarts: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find T
- Wagner's Ring: Turning the Sky Round
- Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens
- Aquatic Entomology: The Fishermen's Guide and Ecologists' Illustrated Guide to Insects and Their Rel
- Foundations of Earth Science
- Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II
- American Architecture: A Vintage Postcard Collection
- A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East
- Antilles
Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Race-ing Art History: Critical Readings in Race and Art History
Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White (Positions: Education, Politics and Culture)
Colored Pictures: Race and Visual Representation
Who Is White?: Latinos, Asians, And the New Black/nonblack Divide
Anatomy of Racism
