BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
- Darwin's Universe: Evolution from A to Z
Edited by Richard Milner, associate in anthropology, American Museum of Natural History. University of California Press, £23.95. ISBN 9780520243767
This reference book offers an overview of the life and thought of Charles Darwin and contains more than 100 new essays.
ECONOMICS
- Global Giant: Is China Changing the Rules of the Game?
By Eva Paus, professor of economics, Mount Holyoke College, Penelope B. Prime, professor of economics, Mercer University, and Jon Western, Five College associate professor of international relations, Mount Holyoke College. Palgrave Macmillan, £55.00 and £.50. ISBN 9780230615885 and 5892
This volume contains essays that cover topics from China's rapidly increasing energy demands to the question of whether it is becoming a world-class nation in military and "soft power" terms.
EDUCATION
- Race and Curriculum: Music in Childhood Education
By Ruth Iana Gustafson, assistant professor of education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Palgrave Macmillan, £55.00. ISBN 9780230608405
Gustafson focuses on the near-total attrition of African-American students from school music programmes and shows how understanding this makes space for change without resorting to the simplistic conclusion that schools and teachers are racist.
HISTORY
- Live All You Can: Alexander Joy Cartwright and the Invention of Modern Baseball
By Jay Martin, Edward S. Gould professor of humanities, Claremont McKenna College. Columbia University Press, £13.95. ISBN 9780231147941
Rejecting the notion that Abner Doubleday established baseball, Martin makes the case for A.J. Cartwright, an entrepreneur whose perception and spirit codified the rules of the sport and engineered its spread throughout the US.
LITERATURE
- Cross-Gender Shakespeare and English National Identity: Wearing the Codpiece
By Elizabeth Klett, assistant professor of literature, University of Houston-Clear Lake. Palgrave Macmillan, £50.00. ISBN 9780230616325
Klett examines contemporary female portrayals of male Shakespearean roles and shows how these performances invite audiences to think differently about the author, the English nation and themselves.
MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES
- Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace
By Mohammed el-Nawawy, assistant professor and Knight-Crane endowed chair in communication, Queens University of Charlotte, and Sahar Khamis, assistant professor in communication, University of Maryland, College Park. Palgrave Macmillan, £55.00. ISBN 9780230600355
This book analyses the discussion forums of three Islamic websites, looking at the extent to which they provide venues to discuss politics, economics, religion and society.
PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY
- The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics
By Martha C. Nussbaum, Ernst Freund distinguished service professor of law and ethics, University of Chicago. Princeton University Press, £17.95. ISBN 9780691141312
Nussbaum examines texts of philosophers committed to the therapeutic paradigm and recovers a source for moral and political thought today.
POLITICS
J - On Art and War and Terror
By Alex Danchev, professor of international relations, University of Nottingham. Edinburgh University Press, £60.00. ISBN 9780748639151
A collection of essays offering a demonstration of the way in which works of art can help us to explore the most difficult ethical issues of our time.
J = Review forthcoming.