This extremely useful book concentrates more on Bell's work as an educator and inventor than on his personal life. Two-to-three page inserts explain the various scientific principles discussed in the main text. For example, Bell was intensely involved in teaching the deaf. As this part of his life is discussed, an insert explains sound, speech, and hearing, and how all three are intertwined. Glimpses of the man behind the scientist are given in a lively, yet informative fashion. Black-and-white photos and reproductions enhance the presentation and bring the personal details to life.
This book is about personal names, something of abiding interest to specialists and lay readers alike. Over a million people have checked the American Name Society website since 1996, for instance. Many philosophers and linguists suggest that names are ‘just’ labels, but parents internationally are determined to get their children's names ‘right’. Personal names may be given, lost, traded, stolen and inherited. This collection of essays provides comparative ethnography through which we examine the politics of naming; the extent to which names may be property-like; and the power of names themselves, both to fix and to destabilize personal identity.
Political Will and Personal Belief: The Decline and Fall of Soviet Communism
A brilliant and original analysis of the fall of communism that focuses on the impact of its cumulative failures on the communist elite.
Despite its arid title, this is a significant and interesting book. Hollander, well known for his excellent study of Western champions of the Soviet system (Political Pilgrims: Travels of Western Intellectuals to the Soviet Union, China and Cuba, 1927-1978), here examines 22 members of the ruling elite in the USSR and Eastern Europe who lost their faith. How, he wonders, was the determination to rule gradually undermined. He explores this question through interviews with defectors, exiles, high-ranking current political functionaries, and police officials and a careful reading of a collection of memoirs. While not minimizing the effects of economic collapse, Hollander rightly stresses the human component in communism's fall: the elites' loss of confidence in its right to govern played a vital part in the utterly unforeseen denouement. A worthy volume for academic and major public libraries.
The great "angst" of life has seemingly gripped us all, and there seems
to be no limit to the number of writers offering answers to the great
perplexities of life. Covey, however, is the North Star in this field.
Following his successful Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (S.
& S., 1989), Covey now responds to the particular challenges of
business leaders by applying his natural laws, or principles, of life
to organizations. Covey explains these laws (security, guidance,
wisdom, and power), and discusses how seven-habits practice and focus
on these principles will result in personal and organizational
transformation. He reminds us that personal and organizational success
is hard work, requires unwavering commitment and long-term perspective,
and is achievable only if we are prepared for a complete paradigm shift
in our perspective. Without hesitation, strongly recommended for all
management collections.
