ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

New Publications

George M. Eberhart

Apparitions, Healings, and Weeping Madonnas: Christianity and the Paranormal,by Lisa J. Schwebe! (209 pages, November 2003), examines mystical phenomena in the light of parapsychology, not in order to minimize a theological explanation but to show how, from a Catholic standpoint, a miraculous intervention can coexist with anomalous yet explainable events. Hie author specifically looks at postmortem survival, poltergeists, precognition, and healing miracles and concludes (relying extensively on the writings of German theologian Karl Rahner) that while science might explain the mechanism behind such phenomena, religion offers the meaning. $16.95. Paulist Press. ISBN 0-8091-4223-6.

Archaeological Anomalies: Small Artifacts,compiled by William R. Corliss (319 pages, November 2003), is the third volume in a series devoted to archeological mysteries. This book focuses on unusual bone, stone, cloth, ceramic, metal, or wooden artifacts. Each anomaly is rated in terms of the quality of the reported data and the degree from which it deviates from accepted historical or scientific nonns. The vast majority of examples are taken from archeological, historical, and anthropological journals and books. Corliss examines such objects as per-Clovis bone tools in the New World, fossilized human footprints, pre-Columbian metal artifacts and Old World pottery found in North America, sophisticated stone artifacts more than 40,000 years old, evidence for advanced knowledge of chemistry and metallurgy in ancient times, and ancient lenses and other scientific instruments. $24.95. Sourcebook Project, P.O. Box 107, Glen Arm, MD 21057. ISBN 0-915554-46-1.

Baghdad battery, from Archaeological Anomalies: Small Artifacts.

George M. Eberhart is senior editor of American Libraries, e-mail: geberhart@ala.org

Babylon to Voyager and Beyond: A History of Planetary Astronomy,by David Leverington (558 pages, June 2003), charts the scientific knowledge of moons, planets, asteroids, and comets from ancient times to the space program. Now that NASA’s Spirit Mars rover has been sending new pictures back from the surface, interest in the topic may well increase. In addition to concepts that have proven accurate, Leverington points out the mistaken ideas and erroneous observations that makes the history of astronomy so fascinating. $95-00. Cambridge University. ISBN 0-521-80840-5.

A Brief History of Disease, Science and Medicine: From the Ice Age to the Genome Project,by Michael Kennedy (528 pages, January 2004), is a broad review of the discoveiy of the nature of disease and the evolution of the medical profession. Kennedy, a retired surgeon, offers a scholarly yet readable review of topics often overlooked in medical school classes. Included are sections on the restoration of mutilated noses in ancient India, Florence Nightingale as the founder of biostatistics and hospital infection control, the discoveiy of insulin, the development of intensive care units, a history of HMOs and medical economics, and the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill. $29-95-Writers’ Collective. ISBN 1-932133-59-3.

A useful companion volume is World Epidemics, by Mary Ellen Snodgrass (479 pages, January 2004), a chronological list of disease outbreaks from Homo erectusto SARS. Contains an extensive bibliography and index that’s useful for pinpointing epidemics in specific cities or countries. $75.00. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-1662-9.

Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music, 1800-2000,by Maiy A. Buíwack and Robert K. Oermann (607 pages, July 2003), examines the history of a broad range of female folk, country-western, and Southern gospel musicians from the pre-Carter Family days up to Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks. Well-documented and with many photographs of the performers, this volume adds a much-needed balance to the often maledominated literature. One chapter on radical Depression-era singers (the female equivalents of Woody Guthrie) resurrects a nearly forgotten legacy. $39-95. Vanderbilt University. ISBN 0-8265-1432-4.

Green Eggs and Ham in Latin: Virent Ova! Viret Perna!,by Dr. Seuss, translated by Jennifer and Terence Tunberg (71 pages, 2003), offers a special way to celebrate Ted Geisels 100th birthday in March. After their successful translations into Latin of The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Tunbergs used an octosyllabic, trochaic verse form popular in the Middle Ages to mimic the idiosyncratic rhythm in Seuss’s bestselling I960 tale. One problem was how to translate the “Sam-I-Am” character, whom they made into Pincema, or servant: “Non mi placet, O Pincerna.” A note on the verse form and a Latin vocabulary accompany the text. $22.50. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 1000 Brown St., Unit 101, Wauconda, IL 60084. ISBN 0-86516-555-6.

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia,series editor Michael Hutchins (17 vols., 2d ed., December 2003), has now been published in its entirety, including an index volume. An essential upgrade to the 1970s edition, this set is filled with excellent drawings, photos, distribution maps, and descriptive and ecological information on thousands of animal species from sponges to the higher primates. $1,750.00. Thomson/Gale. ISBN 0-7876-5362-4.

The Quiet Man,by Luke Gibbons (121 pages, September 2003), is one of seven studies of Irish film published jointly by Cork University and tire Film Institute of Ireland. This analysis of John Ford’s 1952 film reconciles the conflicting opinions of critics who variously condemn it as the worst of stereotypical Irish cinema and praise it as a powerful evocation of Irish romanticism. Gibbons points out that the subtleties and symbolism in the film are designed to question the boundaries of reality and memories. $15.00. Cork University Press. ISBN 1-85918-287-9.

Unconditional Defeat Japan, America, and the End of World War II,by Thomas W. Zeiler (207 pages, October 2003), chronicles the savage final two years of the Pacific War when the United States took the offensive and the Japanese mounted a fanatic defense, despite dwindling supplies and human resources, that ensured the unconditional defeat of the empire. Zeiler concisely charts the course of American progress from tire Marshall Islands and New Guinea to the Marianas, die Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Hiroshima. $65.00. SR Books. ISBN 0-8420-2990-7. ■