World-traveler, scholar, mathematician, linguist, spy, prisoner and con-man--the eighteenth-century womanizer had a lot more depth than that for which he is remembered, so to speak. Robert Whitfield offers a spirited reading of Masters's detailed biography, bringing a lively sense of fun to the tale. His performance maintains the scholarly authority of careful research, but he clearly enjoys having an outrageous tale to tell.
The Mismeasure of Man, Stephen Jay Gould's masterful demolition of the IQ industry, should be required reading. Gould's brilliant, funny, engaging prose dissects the motivations behind those who would judge intelligence, and hence worth, by cranial size, convolutions, or score on extremely narrow tests. How did scientists decide that intelligence was unipolar and quantifiable, and why did the standard keep changing over time? Gould's answer is clear and simple: power maintains itself. European men of the 19th century, even before Darwin, saw themselves as the pinnacle of creation and sought to prove this assertion through hard measurement.
International Debate Education Association (IDEA) believes that free and open discussion is essential to the establishment and preservation of open, democratic societies, and its work supports initiatives promoting excellence and innovation in formal and informal education. IDEA cooperates and maintains contact with educational institutions in over 40 countries.
Added by: Maria | Karma: 3098.81 | Kids | 7 June 2009
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Gr. 1-3 A book on a library shelf explains its physical attributes (title page, copyright page, spine, covers) before launching into the tale of its transformation from a bunch of wood chips into its present form--with the help of an author, editor, illustrator, paper mill, printing press, and binding machine. Clear but not overly detailed, the text maintains a light tone, keeping the information accessible to beginning readers and even preschoolers listening to the book read aloud. The final page offers a few questions for class discussion.
