The following is a list of books recently or soon-to-be published by members of the Yale community. Descriptions are based on material provided by the publishers.
To submit information about books for this column, send e-mail to opa@yale.edu.
Steven B. Smith's "Spinoza's Book of Life" serves as an introduction to the 17th-century Jewish philosopher's "Ethics," considered to be his masterpiece. Smith explores Spinoza's complex theories about substance, attribute, necessity and eternity, and suggests the philosopher held a combination of contrasting ideas: he was both medieval and modern, a materialist and a pantheist, an individualist and a communitarian. Smith contends that "Ethics" is a deeply personal, existential work, written out of the author's own confrontation with solitude, and through which Spinoza attempted to show the reader the moral and psychological conditions of liberty.
In "Living Outside Mental Illness," Larry Davidson demonstrates the importance of listening to what people diagnosed with schizophrenia have to say about their struggle, and shows the effect this approach can have on clinical practice and social policy. Davidson's in-depth investigation of experiences of illness and recovery is illuminated by first-person descriptions of these experiences. In the book, Davidson makes the case for the utility of qualitative methods in improving an understanding of the reasons for the success or failure of mental health services.
Barry Nalebuff and Ian Ayres titled their new book after Robert F. Kennedy's famous quote, in which he challenges people to "dream of things that never were and say, 'Why not?'" The two Yale professors claim in their book that the power to innovate is in all individuals, and they show how people can think in new ways about the things they see and do everyday. They outline simple methods for generating solutions to existing problems and for applying existing solutions to new problems. Using examples from business, law and everyday life, they ask the following: Why not have telemarketers pay for your time when they call? Why not offer mortgages that automatically refinance when interest rates fall? Why not sell pay-per-mile auto insurance to low-mileage drivers? Why not replace boycotts of companies that do wrong things with "buycotts" of companies that do things right? Great inventions, say the authors -- who are both inventors themselves -- may be right under the noses of anyone who is willing to apply a little bit of ingenuity when thinking about the commonplace.
In this new book, experts from around the world in areas of psychiatry -- from epidemiology and neurobiology to genetics and psychotherapy -- bring together their current findings on the issue of suicide in children and adolescents. These essays explore whether there are perceptible patterns of risk and vulnerability, the role that families, gender, culture and biology play, and the treatments for and outcomes of suicide attempters.
In this study, David Greenberg -- a Bancroft Prize winner who collaborated with Bob Woodward on "The Agenda" -- offers a view of Richard M. Nixon's many images: "Tricky Dick," a conspirator, a scapegoat, a spin doctor, a statesman, etc. He analyzes what biographers, journalists, historians, artists and others have had to say about the former president and his actions and how the various images of him took hold in the American imagination. Greenberg also discusses how Nixon pioneered new methods of shaping his public persona, and how these attempts often backfired. Greenberg argues that the key to understanding the 37th president is "not in discarding the many images of him ... but [in] gathering and assembling them into a strange, irregular, mosaic."
T H I S
Spinoza's Book of Life: Freedom
and Redemption in the Ethics
Steven B. Smith, the Alfred Cowles
Professor of Political Science
(Yale University Press)
Living Outside Mental Illness:
Qualitative Studies of Recovery
in Schizophrenia
Larry Davidson, associate professor of
psychiatry and director of the Program
on Poverty, Disability and Urban Health at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies
(New York University Press)
Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big
and Small
Barry Nalebuff, the Milton Steinbach Professor of Economics at the School
of Management, and Ian Ayres,
the William K. Townsend Professor of Law
(Harvard Business School Press)
Suicide in Children and Adolescents
Edited by Dr. Robert King, professor
of child psychiatry, and Dr. Alan Apter
(Cambridge University Press)
Nixon's Shadow: The History
of an Image
David Greenberg, lecturer in political science and history
(W.W. Norton & Company)
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Groundbreakings celebrate construction of new chemistry andengineering buildingsFacility will support state-of-the-art research . . .
Building will house new Department of Biomedical Engineering
Eire autobiography wins National Book Award
Dyslexia has been hurdle for scientist and 'Ironman' competitor
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPSDiMaio is appointed as Von Zedtwitz Professor of Genetics
Hebert designated as C.N.H. Long Professor of Physiology
Somlo named as C.N.H. Long Professor in Internal Medicine
In Focus: Center for Faith and Culture
Center aims to ease patients' anxiety about breast cancer
Noël Valis' book awarded Modern Language Association prize
Journalist reports greater willingness to talk openly in China
City students to study Shakespeare in new Yale Rep program
Drama School to stage Wilder's play about 'First Family'
Human evolution preserved in 'pseudogenes,' say scientists
Study: Mother's anti-depressant doesn't affect her nursing baby
Study shows spiritual belief and prayer can aid high-risk youth
The Fine Art of Shopping
'Sacred spaces' on campus featured in new calendar
Alternative Gift Market allows shoppers to help the world's poor
Pepper Center awards will support research related to aging process
Scientists to refine literacy game with support from grant
Dr. Barry Kacinski dies; renowned for work in field of DNA repair
Leon Clark dies; his work enhanced understanding of other cultures
Yale Books in Brief
Campus Notes
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