Princeton University Press Blog
Mind over chatter since 1905
We just surpassed 5,000 fans on the Facebook page for The Ultimate Quotable Einstein. To celebrate, we’re giving away 5 copies autographed by editor Alice Calaprice. Enter the sweepstakes before April 19 using the form below.
Join in the fun on Facebook where Calaprice posts regular Einstein quotes and answers readers questions!
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What is wrong with today’s banking system? The past few years have shown that risks in banking can impose significant costs on the economy. Many claim, however, that a safer banking system would require sacrificing lending and economic growth. The Bankers’ New Clothes examines this claim and the narratives used by bankers, politicians, and regulators to rationalize the lack of reform, exposing them as invalid. Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig argue we can have a safer and healthier banking system without sacrificing any of the benefits of the system, and at essentially no cost to society.
Learn more about it from Anat Admati’s interview from NPR’s Morning Edition:
http://n.pr/YwxWQK
Anat Admati argues that banks carry too much debt and have too little equity.
We invite you to read a book excerpt at npr.org at:
http://n.pr/16xGA8Q
The Bankers’ New Clothes:
What’s Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It
by Anat Admati & Martin Hellwig
“Crucial . . .”–Jim Surowiecki, NewYorker.com
“Ms. Admati and Mr. Hellwig, top-notch academic financial economists, do understand the complexities of banking, and they helpfully slice through the bankers’ self-serving nonsense. Demolishing these fallacies is the central point of The Bankers’ New Clothes.”–John Cochrane, Wall Street Journal
We also invite you to try your luck and enter for a chance to win a copy of The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking & What to Do about It at Goodreads:
http://bit.ly/ZNAI66
This week we have a special book giveaway on Twitter for Ai Weiwei’s new book, Weiwei-isms. We are giving away one book along with a signed bookplate from Ai Weiwei. Yes, he really did sign it!
Follow us on Twitter and re-tweet any @PrincetonUPress tweet by noon on Friday and you will be automatically entered into our random drawing. We’ll pick the winner on Friday at noon EST.
WEIWEI-ISM #166 “Before blogging, I was living in the Middle Ages. Now my feelings for time and space are entirely different.”
Find us on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/princetonUpress
Good luck!
Weiwei-isms
Ai Weiwei
Edited by Larry Warsh
This collection of quotes demonstrates the elegant simplicity of Ai Weiwei’s thoughts on key aspects of his art, politics, and life. A master at communicating powerful ideas in astonishingly few words, Ai Weiwei is known for his innovative use of social media to disseminate his views. The short quotations presented here have been carefully selected from articles, tweets, and interviews given by this acclaimed Chinese artist and activist. The book is organized into six categories: freedom of expression; art and activism; government, power, and moral choices; the digital world; history, the historical moment, and the future; and personal reflections.
Together, these quotes span some of the most revealing moments of Ai Weiwei’s eventful career–from his risky investigation into student deaths in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to his arbitrary arrest in 2011–providing a window into the mind of one of the world’s most electrifying and courageous contemporary artists.
We invite you to read the introduction online:
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9924.html
Books make great gifts! They make especially great gifts if they are free because you won them in a Princeton University Press Book Giveaway. Check out our current book giveaways:
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At the Facebook page for The Crossley ID Guide, we are having a Now & Later giveaway. At 5 PM today, December 14, we will randomly select a fan of the facebook page to receive a free autographed copy of The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds “now” and a copy of The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors “later”. The Crossley ID Guide is unlike any other bird book or guide on the market and will help birds of all levels learn to look at birds in a new, better way. To be in the drawing, just become a fan of the page! |
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Deadline: December 14, 20125:00 PM EST |
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Fans of Albert Einstein will “ooh” and “ahh” over our giveaway of The Ultimate Quotable Einstein. When we reach 800 fans on The Ultimate Quotable Einstein facebook page we will select one lucky fan to receive a free copy of the most complete compendium of Einstein’s bons mots available. Enter the giveaway by becoming a fan of this site: https://www.facebook.com/QuotableEinstein. |
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Deadline: 800 fans |
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Literature and Poetry buffs will want to check out our Goodreads giveaway for a copy of the newly released 4th edition of The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Booklist called the previous edition “the standard source for information on the history and criticism of poetry and poetic technique and theory.” The drawing for the prize will take place on December 20th. |
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Deadline: December 20, 2012 |
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We’re also giving away a copy of our new Two Cheers for Anarchism: Six Easy Pieces on Autonomy, Dignity and Meaningful Work and Play on Goodreads! Author James Scott was recently featured in the New York Times and the book was reviewed in both the Wall Street Journal and The Independent. This is a hot book! The drawing takes place on December 17th, so check it out soon. |
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Deadline: December 17, 2012 |
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At the Princeton Birds and Natural History facebook page, we are hosting an Around the World Book Giveaway. One lucky, randomly selected fan of the site will receive their choice from our recently published international field guides. The drawing takes place at 5 PM today, December 14.
Possible prizes include: Animals of the Masai Mara: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9845.html |
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Deadline: December 14, 20125:00 PM EST |
Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD
by Peter Brown
“Every page is full of information and argument, and savoring one’s way through the book is an education. It is a privilege to live in an age that could produce such a masterpiece of the historical literature.”
—Gary Wills, New York Review of Books
Jesus taught his followers that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Yet by the fall of Rome, the church was becoming rich beyond measure. Through the Eye of a Needle is a sweeping intellectual and social history of the vexing problem of wealth in Christianity in the waning days of the Roman Empire, written by the world’s foremost scholar of late antiquity.
Peter Brown examines the rise of the church through the lens of money and the challenges it posed to an institution that espoused the virtue of poverty and called avarice the root of all evil. Drawing on the writings of major Christian thinkers such as Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome, Brown examines the controversies and changing attitudes toward money caused by the influx of new wealth into church coffers, and describes the spectacular acts of divestment by rich donors and their growing influence in an empire beset with crisis. He shows how the use of wealth for the care of the poor competed with older forms of philanthropy deeply rooted in the Roman world, and sheds light on the ordinary people who gave away their money in hopes of treasure in heaven.
Through the Eye of a Needle challenges the widely held notion that Christianity’s growing wealth sapped Rome of its ability to resist the barbarian invasions, and offers a fresh perspective on the social history of the church in late antiquity.
The random draw for this book with be Friday 9/28 at 11 am EST. Be sure to like us on Facebook if you haven’t already to be entered to win!
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: Fourth Edition
Roland Greene, editor in chief
Stephen Cushman, general editor
Clare Cavanagh, Jahan Ramazani & Paul Rouzer, associate editors
Through three editions over more than four decades, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics has built an unrivaled reputation as the most comprehensive and authoritative reference for students, scholars, and poets on all aspects of its subject: history, movements, genres, prosody, rhetorical devices, critical terms, and more. Now this landmark work has been thoroughly revised and updated for the twenty-first century. Compiled by an entirely new team of editors, the fourth edition—the first new edition in almost twenty years—reflects recent changes in literary and cultural studies, providing up-to-date coverage and giving greater attention to the international aspects of poetry, all while preserving the best of the previous volumes
At well over a million words and more than 1,000 entries, the Encyclopedia has unparalleled breadth and depth. Entries range in length from brief paragraphs to major essays of 15,000 words, offering a more thorough treatment—including expert synthesis and indispensable bibliographies—than conventional handbooks or dictionaries.
This is a book that no reader or writer of poetry will want to be without.
The random draw for this book with be Friday 9/21 at 3 pm EST. Be sure to like us on Facebook if you haven’t already to be entered to win!
How would you like to win a copy of The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward Burger and Michael Starbird? We have a great giveaway happening on Goodreads! Between now and September 14th you can enter to win a free copy of this inspiring book with just the simple click of a button. If you already have a Goodreads account, just click the “Enter to Win” button on our giveaway listing. If you’re not a Goodreads user, you can sign up for a free account here.
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking presents practical and lively ways for you to become more successful through better thinking. The idea is simple: You can learn how to think far better by adopting specific strategies. Brilliant people aren’t a special breed—they just use their minds differently. By using the straightforward and thought-provoking techniques in The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, you will regularly find imaginative solutions to difficult challenges, and you will discover new ways of looking at your world and yourself—revealing previously hidden opportunities.
If you’ve already read The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, we’d love to hear from you. You can rate and review the book on the 5 Elements book page on Goodreads.
For more information on The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, please visit http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9810.html. Be sure to check out our Q&A with the authors, some great videos with coauthor Edward Burger, and read the Introduction online.
Don’t forget—you have until September 14th to enter the Goodreads giveaway. Full details are here. Good luck!
We’re back with another giveaway! This will be our last giveaway during the month of August so we want to make it extra special for our readers. We have 3 copies of the new book, The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger & Michael Starbird to give away—1 copy to a Facebook winner, 1 copy to a Google+ winner, and 1 copy to a Twitter winner! All you have to do is like us on Facebook, add us to your circle on Google+, or follow us on Twitter to be entered to win.
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking
by Edward B. Burger & Michael Starbird
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking presents practical, lively, and inspiring ways for you to become more successful through better thinking. The idea is simple: You can learn how to think far better by adopting specific strategies. Brilliant people aren’t a special breed—they just use their minds differently. By using the straightforward and thought-provoking techniques in The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, you will regularly find imaginative solutions to difficult challenges, and you will discover new ways of looking at your world and yourself—revealing previously hidden opportunities.
The book offers real-life stories, explicit action items, and concrete methods that allow you to attain a deeper understanding of any issue, exploit the power of failure as a step toward success, develop a habit of creating probing questions, see the world of ideas as an ever-flowing stream of thought, and embrace the uplifting reality that we are all capable of change. No matter who you are, the practical mind-sets introduced in the book will empower you to realize any goal in a more creative, intelligent, and effective manner. Filled with engaging examples that unlock truths about thinking in every walk of life, The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking is written for all who want to reach their fullest potential—including students, parents, teachers, businesspeople, professionals, athletes, artists, leaders, and lifelong learners.
Whenever you are stuck, need a new idea, or want to learn and grow, The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking will inspire and guide you on your way.
We invite you to read the Introduction here: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i9810.pdf, and a Q&A with the authors here: http://press.princeton.edu/releases/m9810.html
The random draw for this book with be Friday 8/10 at 11 am EST. If you like us on Facebook, add us to your circle on Google+, and/or follow us on Twitter, you’re automatically entered to win! Good luck!
We’re back with another giveaway! We know everyone has their social media preference, so this week we’re giving you up to three ways to win! Like us on Facebook, add us to your circle on Google+, and/or follow us on Twitter to be entered to win a copy of How to Win an Election!
How to Win an Election: An Ancient Guide for Modern Politicians
by Quintus Tullius Cicero
Translated and with an introduction by Philip Freeman
How to Win an Election is an ancient Roman guide for campaigning that is as up-to-date as tomorrow’s headlines. In 64 BC when idealist Marcus Cicero, Rome’s greatest orator, ran for consul (the highest office in the Republic), his practical brother Quintus decided he needed some no-nonsense advice on running a successful campaign. What follows in his short letter are timeless bits of political wisdom, from the importance of promising everything to everybody and reminding voters about the sexual scandals of your opponents to being a chameleon, putting on a good show for the masses, and constantly surrounding yourself with rabid supporters. Presented here in a lively and colorful new translation, with the Latin text on facing pages, this unashamedly pragmatic primer on the humble art of personal politicking is dead-on (Cicero won)—and as relevant today as when it was written.
A little-known classic in the spirit of Machiavelli’s Prince, How to Win an Election is required reading for politicians and everyone who enjoys watching them try to manipulate their way into office.
“Were he alive today, no doubt, Quintus would be making big bucks as a political consultant. . . . Speaking to us from a distance of more than two millenniums, Quintus Cicero’s words are incisive and revelatory: They remind us that, when it comes to that strange beast known as politics, human nature hasn’t changed very much since then. The past, that’s right, isn’t even past.”—Nick Owchar, Los Angeles Times
We invite you to read the Introduction here: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i9658.pdf
The random draw for this book with be Friday 8/3 at 11 am EST. If you like us on Facebook, add us to your circle on Google+, and/or follow us on Twitter, you’re automatically entered to win! Good luck!
How to Be a Better Birder
by Derek Lovitch
This unique illustrated handbook provides all the essential tools you need to become a better birder. Here Derek Lovitch offers a more effective way to go about identification—he calls it the “Whole Bird and More” approach—that will enable you to identify more birds, more quickly, more of the time. He demonstrates how to use geography and an understanding of habitats, ecology, and even the weather to enrich your birding experience and help you find something out of the ordinary. Lovitch shows how to track nocturnal migrants using radar, collect data for bird conservation, discover exciting rarities, develop patch lists—and much more.
This is the ideal resource for intermediate and advanced birders. Whether you want to build a bigger list or simply learn more about birds, How to Be a Better Birder will take your birding skills to the next level.
“The goal of birding, of any hobby, is expertise gratia sua, and the only reason we do it is to do it better. This slender new volume by Derek Lovitch will help almost any birder do just that.”—Rick Wright, American Birding Association blog
We invite you to read the Introduction here: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i9671.pdf
The random draw for this book with be Friday 7/27 at 11 am EST. Be sure to like us on Facebook if you haven’t already to be entered to win!
We’re back with another giveaway! This week we’re giving our Twitter followers a chance to win 1 of 4 great books from our new Princeton Puzzlers series. The lucky winner will get to choose from Across the Board: The Mathematics of Chessboard Problems by John J. Watkins, Duelling Idiots and Other Probability Puzzlers by Paul J. Nahin, Slicing Pizzas, Racing Turtles, and Further Adventures in Applied Mathematics by Robert B. Banks, and Chases and Escapes: The Mathematics of Pursuit and Evasion by Paul J. Nahin.
All you have to do to win is follow Princeton University Press on Twitter and retweet one of our tweets beginning today until 10am EST Friday 7/20. We’ll select our random winner on Friday at 11am EST.
For more information on Princeton Puzzlers, please visit:
http://press.princeton.edu/catalogs/series/ppuz.html
Garden Insects of North America:
The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs
by Whitney Cranshaw
Garden Insects of North America is the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to the common insects and mites affecting yard and garden plants in North America. In a manner no previous book has come close to achieving, through full-color photos and concise, clear, scientifically accurate text, it describes the vast majority of species associated with shade trees and shrubs, turfgrass, flowers and ornamental plants, vegetables, and fruits—1,420 of them, including crickets, katydids, fruit flies, mealybugs, moths, maggots, borers, aphids, ants, bees, and many, many more. For particularly abundant bugs adept at damaging garden plants, management tips are also included. Covering all of the continental United States and Canada, this is the definitive one-volume resource for amateur gardeners, insect lovers, and professional entomologists alike.
To ease identification, the book is organized by plant area affected (e.g., foliage, flowers, stems) and within that, by taxa. Close to a third of the species are primarily leaf chewers, with about the same number of sap suckers. Multiple photos of various life stages and typical plant symptoms are included for key species. The text, on the facing page, provides basic information on host plants, characteristic damage caused to plants, distribution, life history, habits, and, where necessary, how to keep “pests” in check—in short, the essentials to better understanding, appreciating, and tolerating these creatures.
“Know thine enemy,’ a time-worn caveat lifted from Sun-tzu’s treatise, The Art of War, is sage advice for the organic gardener hoping to emerge victorious in the battle of the bugs. Acquiring such knowledge has just become easier with the release of Garden Insects of North America. . . . [Cranshaw] has packed his book with concise, organized information on all the common and not-so-common insect pests of turf, orchards and gardens in North America. The overwhelming emphasis is on recognizing and categorizing the insects themselves, using appearance, type of destructive damage encountered and target food hosts as clues. . . . With detailed, high-quality photographic plates conveniently adjacent to the standardized insect descriptions, identification of suspected insect enemies is straightforward.”—Jack Aldridge, San Francisco Chronicle
The random draw for this book with be Friday 7/13 at 11 am EST. Be sure to like us on Facebook if you haven’t already to be entered to win!
At Goodreads, enter for a chance to win Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age by W. Bernard Carlson.
This major biography sheds new light on Tesla’s visionary approach to invention and the business strategies behind his most important technological breakthroughs.
Enter by May 28, 2013 for a chance to win!
Good luck!
These are the best-selling books for the past week.
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The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order by Benn Steil |
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The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It by Anat Admati & Martin Hellwig |
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The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors by Richard Crossley, Jerry Liguori, & Brian Sullivan |
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The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger & Michael Starbird |
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Higher Education in the Digital Age by William G. Bowen |
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Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman by Jeremy Adelman |
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The Golden Ticket: P, NP, and the Search for the Impossible by Lance Fortnow |
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On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt |
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Einstein Gravity in a Nutshell by A. Zee |
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Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age by W. Bernard Carlson |
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