What legitimate form can history take when faced by the severe challenges issued in recent years by literary, rhetorical, multiculturalist, and feminist theories? That is the question considered in this long-awaited and pathbreaking book. Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr., addresses the essential practical concern of contemporary historians; he offers a way actually to go about reading and writing histories in light of the many contesting theories.
Modern Historiography is the essential introduction to the history of historical writing. It explains the broad philosophical background to the different historians and historical schools of the modern era. Dedicatedto Tark2007
More than fifty years after his death, Albert Einstein's vital engagement with the world continues to inspire others, spurring conversations, projects, and research, in the sciences as well as the humanities. Einstein for the 21st Century shows us why he remains a figure of fascination.
In this wide-ranging collection, eminent artists, historians, scientists, and social scientists describe Einstein's influence on their work, and consider his relevance for the future. Scientists discuss how Einstein's vision continues to motivate them, whether in their quest for a fundamental description of nature or in their investigations in chaos theory; art scholars and artists explore his ties to modern aesthetics; a music historian probes Einstein's musical tastes and relates them to his outlook in science; historians explore the interconnections between Einstein's politics, physics, and philosophy; and other contributors examine his impact on the innovations of our time. Uniquely cross-disciplinary, Einstein for the 21st Century serves as a testament to his legacy and speaks to everyone with an interest in his work.
The contributors are Leon Botstein, Lorraine Daston, E. L. Doctorow, Yehuda Elkana, Yaron Ezrahi, Michael L. Friedman, Jürg Fröhlich, Peter L. Galison, David Gross, Hanoch Gutfreund, Linda D. Henderson, Dudley Herschbach, Gerald Holton, Caroline Jones, Susan Neiman, Lisa Randall, Jürgen Renn, Matthew Ritchie, Silvan S. Schweber, and A. Douglas Stone.
From Booklist
Another in Greenwood's series of biographical dictionaries on women, this book details the lives of roughly 200 historians. Not all of them are academic historians; some are biographers (Catherine Drinker Bowen, Fawn Brodie) and others writers of popular history (Barbara Tuchman). While most of the women are deceased, many contemporary historians, such as Natalie Zeman Davis, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Gerda Lerner, Joan Wallach Scott, and Darlene Hine, are profiled. Since historians who are best known as administrators, such as Jill Ker Conway and Mary Frances Berry, are included, it is odd that there is no biography of Hannah Gray. Many of the subjects specialize in women's history, but there is a good distribution of scholars from all fields, from ancient history to modern U.S. and European history. The detailed index has entries for fields, so it is possible to find African or Asian historians, for example.Each entry is a page or two in length, and identifies the woman's field and her professional contributions. Apparently some of the living historians responded to a questionnaire from the editors, and their entries often contain personal information about spouses, children, and hobbies. Each entry concludes with a list of additional sources about the woman; some have a list of books by the woman. There is an insert of black-and-white portraits of 30 of the subjects. An interesting contribution to collections in history and women's studies.
The longevity of the Byzantine state was due largely to the existence of variegated and articulated economic systems. This three-volume study examines the structures and dynamics of the economy and the factors that contributed to its development over time. The first volume addresses the environment, resources, communications, and production techniques. The second volume examines the urban economy; presents case studies of a number of places, including Sardis, Pergamon, Thebes, Athens, and Corinth; and discusses exchange, trade, and market forces. The third volume treats the themes of economic institutions and the state and general traits of the Byzantine economy. This global study of one of the most successful medieval economies will interest historians, economic historians, archaeologists, and art historians, as well as those interested in the Byzantine Empire and the medieval Mediterranean world.
