Want suggestions for your personal reading list? Ask
an expert. Here, some of our Homewood
faculty weigh in with titles worth checking out.
Richard Conn Henry, Physics and Astronomy: Want to
get a better understanding of what the
universe actually is? Then read Quantum Enigma, by
Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner. The universe
is NOT what you think it is, believe me! Every person on
earth should read this book!
Edward Scheinerman, Applied Mathematics and Statistics:
Although it's not new, Moneyball by
Michael Lewis is a fun read about how mathematics can be
used to analyze the game of baseball with
dramatic results. Given many people's obsession with
baseball and its statistics, it's interesting that
the Oakland A's were the first team to use that data in a
meaningful and highly productive way.
Adam Riess, Physics and Astronomy: The Big
Bang by Simon Singh. It's the story of how we
discovered the universe. One part history, one part
detective story, and it's all true!
Howard E. Katz, Materials Science and Engineering:
The new Thomas Friedman book, Hot, Flat, and
Crowded, presents a persuasive scientific, economic and
ethical case for sustainability and is written
with great wit and skill.
Stephanie DeLuca, Sociology: Annette Lareau's
Unequal Childhoods. She conducts in-depth
ethnographies with families to examine how parents from
different social-class backgrounds raise
their children, and how their parenting practices reproduce
inequality. It's very well-written and
compelling, showcasing what sociology has to offer at its
best.
Douglas E. Hough, Business of Health: Stumbling
on Happiness, by Daniel Gilbert, a psychology
professor at Harvard. Gilbert addresses the issue of why
happiness is such an elusive concept to
measure, and why lottery winners and those who move to
California are — after a few years — not much
happier than those who didn't win the lottery or move to
California.
Mariale Hardiman, School of Education, Interdisciplinary
Studies: Jonah Lehrer's Proust Was a
Neuroscientist uniquely blends science and the arts,
showing how some of our favorite artists
intuitively knew about the workings of human thought and
human nature. My favorite artist, Cezanne,
is one of the eight artists featured. Others include Marcel
Proust, Walt Whitman and Igor
Stravinsky. This book is inspiring and insightful, even for
those of us who are not neuroscientists and
not artists.
Amy Wilson, School of Education, Teacher
Preparation: Paul Tough, a New York Times
reporter, wrote
a book released this summer called Whatever It
Takes. The book recounts the inspiring story of
Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone in New York,
which offers comprehensive social and
academic support for children and their families, with the
goal of eliminating the achievement gap. It
shows the power of what is possible when committed people
put their minds together to do the right
thing for children.
Celso Brunetti, Finance: The Coffee Trader
by David Liss depicts, in a funny and intriguing way,
the world of financial traders in Amsterdam in 1659. The
perfect novel for the current financial crisis!