2 comments about Breaking Ground: Pioneering Women Archaeologists.

1. The book Breaking Ground: Pioneering Women Archaeologists contains the biographies of twelve female archaeologists who worked and achieved great success in the field of archaeology before, during or after World Wars I and II. Although this book examines only female archaeologists, these women were not just the top female archaeologists of their time. Instead, these people (who just happened to be female) were among the top, pioneering archaeologists (male or female) in their fields and their knowledge, research, excavations, and methods have added significantly to modern archaeology.
   
   This book is multileveled. The contributing author's describe in various amounts of detail important contributions, excavations, and personal research undertaken by these archaeologists before, during, and after the war years. Since, much of this work is either unpublished or underpublished, such information is a fascinating slice of little known archaeological history.
   
   Furthermore, this book also examines how women of the time felt and dealt with important life changing events and issues such as the tragedies of war, suffrage, marriage, and family. Many of these views and answers are entertaining, somewhat shocking, and extremely enlightening.
   
   Moreover, this book also gives insight into the way archaeologists lived, worked, and died during the early years of this field. In these days, when many complain about the poor wages and working conditions of archaeology or the needless destruction of archaeological sites, it is interesting to note how far the field of archaeology has really come in the last one hundred years.



2. Women have held an important place in the history of archaeology. Sadly, many these women have been all but erased from scholarly discussions - such as the role Getrude Bell played in founding the Baghdad Museum. That is, until now. The biographies gathered in this volume are an inspiration for modern adventurers, female archaeologists and even your 'ordinary' woman. These pioneering Victorian women helped shape our 21st century, Western understanding of the world and their voices can now be heard.

1 comments about Becoming William James.

1. Psychologically informed, but with no psychobabble -- respectful of James, and of other members of that famous family -- but not uncritical. This is a terrific biography, which deserves many readers.

No comments about Searching for Yellowstone: Race, Gender, Family and Memory in the Postmodern West.

3 comments about Moral Theory.

1. This is a solid introduction to the different major ethical theories. While no means a page-turner, it is clearly written, well-organized, and rigorous without being overly technical. Highly recommended for those looking for an introductory text.



2. Moral Theory which is an excellent text for students of ethics was written by Mark Timmons, a philosophy professor at the University of Memphis. Nine moral theories are clearly presented (Chs. 2-10) as well as a chapter showing the value of using a moral theory when making a decision (Ch. 1) and a conclusion showing the author's preference for Ross' moral theory (Ch. 11).
   
   The examples used to illustrate each moral theory are accurate and helpful, the bibliography at the end of each chapter is valuable, and Timmons' discussions of the confusing parts in each moral theory are greatly appreciated. If a student of philosophy wishes to understand and appreciate the various moral theories and "decision procedures" (p. 3), then he or she would greatly benefit from Timmons' Moral Theory.



3. This is really an excellent book in every way that an ethics text can be good. It would be perfect for any mid-level course in ethical theory or the history of ethics.

   Students and ideally, general readers, who just want to learn what some of the best thinkers have thought about right & wrong and good & bad will learn a lot from this book. They will also also (and more importantly), learn careful philosophical methodology--that is, learn how to think about and critically evaluate ethical theories. The book is clear and concise, careful and precise but not overly technical to a fault, and enjoyable to read.

   Also, the price simply cannot be beat, especially for a text. Poor students will be grateful and they might even hold onto it after class is over.

4 comments about Darkness to Sunlight.

1. Having the size and skill to succeed never guarantees one will. "Darkness to Sunlight: The Life-Changing Journey of Zaid Abdul-Aziz" is the story of a man who formerly went by the name of Don Smith. It follows his life from a fledgling kid in Brooklyn to the NBA Hall of Fame, and recounts all of the racial, professional, and spiritual obstacles he overcame along the way, all to become the legend that he is known as today. "Darkness to Sunlight: The Life-Changing Journey of Zaid Abdul-Aziz" is highly recommended for community library biography collections.



2. I was called to read Darkness to Sunlight after meeting Zaid and his beautiful family. I was drawn to read about his life story not because I am a basketball fan, but becauase of his deep-hearted spirit. Our human family needs more stories like this one.
   
   That a woman like myself with no interest in sports would find this book a pleasure to read speaks volumes. His story is inspirational, accessible, enjoyable, and timely. I look forward to enjoying this book in movie form. It will do much to help bridge understanding between Muslim and Christian faith communities. Thank you, Zaid, for writing this book.
   
   Lisa Iversen, MSW, LCSW



3. Zaid's story is uplifting,interesting and an easy read. Basketball fans who want to know more behind one of the game's most unselfish players should read this book. Zaid's life story is much different than the stories of the NBA players of today. He was a great defensive player, leaper and rebounder who has been unnoticed by many.



4. Zaid Abdul-Aziz (formerly Don Smith) was a stand out basketball player at Iowa State, and played for several years in the NBA, including several years with the Seattle Supersonics. However, the book is really about his life journey from the rough neighborhoods of Brooklyn to life in the NBA and beyond.
   
   The book is written entirely in first person narrative, and reads in a manner which gives the reader the experience of sitting down with Zaid over a cup of coffee and hearing the stories. As such, it can be at times a bit choppy from an editing standpoint, but is wonderful in how it captures the mood and tone of the experiences.
   
   Of particular importance are the depictions of how Zaid struggled with racism, specifically in nearly 100% white Iowa, and how this struggle defined many of his views to this day. I was personally very struck by how Zaid viewed these experiences, and how he handled the vast contrasts between his home in Brooklyn and the corn fields of Iowa. He managed to steer clear of many of the challenges with drugs and gangs that derail way too many lives then and now. The emotions of these times were depicted exceptionally well. A story in Sports Illustrated in 1969 brought much of these issues to the public eye and helped raise awareness for race issues in sports.
   
   The chapters about his life in the NBA were great. The politics of the NBA are not often discussed, but are depicted well here. Zaid was a truly under-rated player whose rebounding skills and scoring touch would earn him millions if playing today. He averaged numbers that would rank him in the top 3 of rebounders in today's game, and he put up headline kind of numbers against some of the all-time greats.
   
   The story has a personal touch for me. I met Zaid when I was about 5 or 6 years old. My father went to Iowa State when Zaid was there and reached out to him when he came to town to play Seattle, and when he was a player here. It was a fascinating realization for me that in an ironic twist, while Zaid was experiencing life as a minority, he was in fact the only African American person I knew for many years, and he formed many of my perceptions as well. I still remember him coming over to the house for dinner on several occasions and playing basketball with my brother and me in the back yard. When he was with the Houston Rockets we went to see him play and he had all the Rockets sign my cast for my broken ankle after the game. As a young child and an NBA fan, I felt quite special to count a real NBA player as a friend.
   
   I really appreciate his views about people and about life. While he did not get the credit he deserved in the NBA, his attitude today serves to show that life is indeed a journey. His views on theology and his faith are interesting to read as well. While I do not agree with him on several key theological areas, the story of how he came to his faith and what he experienced by being an NBA star and making this change in the public eye were powerful. Whether or not you are a fan of basketball, I recommend the book and thank him for writing it.

2 comments about A Mind of Her Own: The Life of Karen Horney (Radcliffe Biography Series).

1. This book is not only well-researched and referenced, but written in a pleasant narrative style that takes the reader through key events in the life of psychoanalyst and neoanalyst Karen Horney. Deft use of quotations from journals, letters, and interviews brings to life not only Horney herself as she moves through the stages of her life, but the historical background in which she taught, analyzed, loved, and struggled to trust the voice (in Carol Gilligan's sense of that word) which even Freud tried to disparage, emanating as it did from a woman--or as many of Horney's opponents were forced to acknowledge, from THAT woman.

   Horney, a brilliant analyst, did stupid things on occasion, as all of us do. She could be impatient, unempathic, and impulsive. Her cheery humanistic view of human nature may have led her at times to underestimate what Jung called the shadow side of psyche. Nevertheless, the impact and originality of her ideas inspired generations of analysts and sympathetic readers all over the world. She refused to keep silent in the face of dissent, and thousands, perhaps millions, of us are the better for her courage.

   The author mentions that Horney had a gift for inspiring the feeling, "She's talking about me!" More than twenty years ago, I picked up a book more or less at random one day, read it, and have been training in psychology--my own therapy, BA, MS, and now PhD--ever since. The book was Karen Horney's SELF-ANALYSIS. This fine biography helped me understand more about the analyst who stood by spiritually at the start of my own vocation.




2. There are two particularly interesting points of focus in Quinn's book, the more obvious being the development of Horney's work as the first feminist psychiatrist (and Freudian psychoanalyst) at a time when psychoanalysis was not acceptable to the new specialty of psychiatry (that itself had only just become acceptable to neurology by declaring itself to be a specialty of brain diseases). The second theme, a natural concomitant of the first, is the revelation that Europe just before the turn of the century--the time and place where Horney was coming of age and beginning her study of medicine--was, contrary to popular belief, rather sexually open (at least among the intelligentsia) and a time of great advances in women's rights. Her life, from her first diary entries in 1898 at age 13 to her death in 1942, was a struggle to dissect herself to achieve self-understanding. Her earliest work was a slight divergence from pure Freudian theory; her later work was a true Horneyan theory, derived less from the brilliant organization of Freud and more from her life experience as a woman and a human being. From the beginning, Horney measured the validity of Freud's theories against her own experience, concluding that the female experience was worthy of its own body of theoretical work. Quinn has allowed Horney to be human, painstakingly documenting her genius, as well as her chaotic personal life that clearly furnished much of the material for developing her own psychoanalytic theory.

No comments about To Cherish the Life of the World: The Selected Letters of Margaret Mead.

3 comments about Acts of Will: The Life and Work of Otto Rank.

1. Acts of Will is not only a brilliantly written biography, it is a journey of hope for both therapist and patient. As the new century draws near, it is profoundly telling that now more than ever, the psychology of Otto Rank is so relevant to the world today. Obviously, Rank was far ahead of his time. His teachings of "psychological rebirth" and "concept of will" should be mandatory reading for all mental Health professionals and their patients. Rank's honesty in dealing with his own depression and suicidal thoughts will give the reader much hope that even the most brilliant person can face death, choose life, and make living an Act of Will.



2. Dr. E. James Lieberman's Acts of Will: The Life and Work of Otto Rank is one of the finest histories of the development of psychoanalysis ever written. His meticulous research provides the reader with an opportunity to look into the personal and intellectual life of Otto Rank,the most overlooked and underrated disciple of Sigmund Freud. What I found to be most informative was Dr. Lieberman's description of the interpersonal dynamics among the Committee, Freud's closest colleagues. Dr. Lieberman's masterful work brings the reader into the every day world of the pioneers in the field of psychoanalysis. His descriptions of the personal agendas, politics,personalities, and disagreements among the "Ring" of psychoanalytic pioneers helps those interested in the field of psychotherapy clearly understand the intellectual and political foundations of modern psychology. Acts of Will is superb in its description of the intellectual, economic, and political milieu of Vienna during the first two decades of this century and the influences of these forces on Freud and Rank. The author's treatment of the issue of Rank's own "birth trauma" before and after Rank's departure (exile) from Freud's inner circle allows the reader to come to his or her own conclusions with respect to the genesis of the controversy concerning Rank's "mental health". Acts of Will should be read by every student of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Social Work, as well as anyone interested in the fascinating history of modern psychology.



3. Lieberman masterfully illuminates the life and work of Otto Rank, Freud's most brilliant student and co-worker. This book expalins why Ernest Becker and Rollo May consider Rank to be the most dazzling thinker in the early circle around Freud

No comments about Matilda Coxe Stevenson: Pioneering Anthropologist.

5 comments about John Maynard Keynes: Volume 1: Hopes Betrayed 1883-1920 (John Maynard Keynes).

1. This book is an excellent choice for a potential reader who is searching for a general overview of Keynes's early life.Like Moggridge's one volume study,Skidelsky's first volume(of three)has many interesting anecdotes and discussions of Keynes's interactions and involvement with a wide range of people.Unfortunately,Skidelsky drops the ball when he tries to evaluate the technical and intellectual contributions that Keynes made to applied probability,statistics and decision science in the period from 1904 to 1920. Keynes finally published his pathbreaking work in 1921 in his A Treatise on Probability(TP).A specialist can only come to the conclusion that Keynes made no breakthroughs in his TP after reading Skidelsky's bare bones treatment.This is most likely due to the fact that Skidelsky is a historian who has no training in the fields of mathematics, probability and statistics.It is true that Skidelsky limits his discussion of the TP in his first volume because he wanted to make an extended discussion of it in the second volume.Unfortunately,the treatment of the TP in volume II is badly marred by a number of mathematical errors.The interested potential book buyer is advised to read my review of volume II.Skidelsky fails to mention anywhere in Volume I that Keynes is the founder of the interval estimate approach to probability.In general,excluding the cases of symmetry and series or sequences composed of homogeneous frequency data,it takes two numbers,not one,to correctly specify an estimate of probability.A probability estimate is thus made up of a lower bound and an upper bound.Further,Keynes specified a clearcut approximation method based on the original work of George Boole in chapters 15 and 17 of the TP.The reader should note that all of this material is present in Keynes's 1907 and 1909 fellowship theses that he submitted to Cambridge University.Also present in these theses is an index created to measure the weight of the evidence,w.Keynes used different terms to describe weight,such as value,before settling for the term weight in the final published 1921 version.w measure the completeness of the relevant, potential evidence upon which a decision maker is going to base an estimate of probability.w is defined on the unit interval between 0 and 1,i.e.,0<=w<=1.Finally,Skidelsky ignores Keynes's conventional coefficient of risk and weight,c.Keynes presented this coefficient in both the 1907 thesis and the 1909 thesis ,which was accepted.This coefficient is the first time in history that a decision rule incorporated nonlinear probability preferences, as well as the weight of the evidence ,or what D.Ellsberg later called the ambiguity of the evidence in a 1961 Quarterly Journal of Economics article.



2. This profoundly researched and uncensored (sexually speaking) biography gives us a fascinating look into a highly privileged group of people in England when the British Empire was at its zenith. Half (sic) of the world's trade was financed by British credits in 1914.
   It pictures the education of young Keynes, groomed by his parents for the highest civil duties, his acceptance in the exclusive Cambridge Apostles Circle (a main discussion point was Higher Sodomy) and his membership of the, in all aspects, anarchic Bloomsbury group. It shows without restaint Keynes' (homo)sexual awakening and his conventional (based on the Gold Standard) beginnings as an economist.
   In the meantime, this book reveals the functioning of the British elitist School system (Eton, Cambridge) as well as the 'moral' environment of this period: the death of God and the birth of mass democracy.
   Prof. Skidelsky's book contains a wealth of information on e.g. the conservative reasoning behind the Gold Standard, Utilitarianism or Moore's essentialistic, but influential, ethic system.
   He shows us Keynes as a fundamental nationalist: 'it is better to have Englishmen running the world than foreigners'.
   But nothwithstanding his exhausting efforts, he saw Britain and mainland Europe sinking under the war debts and being taken over by the US as world power, which was effectively controlled by one man, J.P. Morgan.
   He attacked severely the Versailles Treaty but was devastated that politicians preferred suicidal short-time revenge and election success rather than long-time beneficial solutions.
   This book is sometimes too detailed with extensive letter excerpts. Nonetheless, it is a fascinating read.



3. John Maynard Keynes' life faithfully portrayed by Robert Skidelsky, is a life of a man grown up amidst the intelectual aristocracy of his time, which coincided with the beginning of the downfall of the Victorian age and was to culminate in the First World War. His father John Neville Keynes was a famous economist of his time and had many other intelectual atributes which he didn't want to put up to test in the academic arena, despite a lot of incentives by the famous economist Alfred Marshall, the most proeminent thinker of the neo-classics school of thought. Neville Keynes was determined instead to follow closely and have influence upon the professional careers of his most inteligent son. To anyone who whished to compare this situation to the education the philosopher James Mill gave to his son John Stuart Mill, I would warn he/she to be cautious cause the result is very much different than could be foresaw.
   What the book shows is the fascinating formative years of one of the most influential men of all times, who had a strong appetite for getting all the knowledge he could get and who didn't hide behind his geniality. Quite to the contrary, Keynes was up for everything he could grab, be it different sexual male partners, a lot of trips to Italy and a lot of academic prizes, estimulated by the spirit of competion his father tried to assert on him, at the end to no avail. Also, the pace of his intelectual output is outstanding, being Keynes almost always pushed to the limit to do a lot of different things at the same time.
   Some crude aspects of Keynes sexual life are also all there via the transcriptions of the many letters he exchanged with his male lovers and friends of the many different intelectual cycles he was part of.
   His education at the noblest institutions in England (Eton and Cambridge)where he got the opportunity to intermingle with the likes of Bertrand Russell, Virginia Wolf, Whitehead and the philosopher Moore, the latter certainly the most fundamental influence he had in these formative years, provided the social and intelectual backgrounds needed to awake the geniality of the most brilliant economist of the last century.



4. Hopes betrayed is an exceptionally well researched and insightful book. The author goes into detail, and confirms previously unspoken truths about Keynes early life. It pays particular attention to Keynes homosexuality, such as his long held affections for Duncan Grant, and also his relationships, coiteries, and philosophies. Personally I found the chapters deailing Keynes' influence in the war most interesting.

   Although the book goes into ample detail, it is a little dry, and possibly lacks a little life. One sometimes feels as if there are a few too many quotes, names and places. This somewhat detracts from the interest of the book.

   However, overall anyone who is curious as to what made father of modern economics ought to read this book.




5. Robert Skidelsky provides a punctilious account of the most influential economist of the 20th century and the intellectual and social milieu's that shaped him. Keynes is easily the most recognizable name in 20th century economics, followed somewhat closely by John Kenneth Galbraith and Milton Friedman.

   In the book's preface, Skidelsky claims he was the first biographer to attempt to go into detail about Keynes' hitherto undiscussed homosexual relationships. The most notable and emotionally involved of these affairs occured with painter and fellow Bloomsbury member Duncan Grant. Skidelsky confirms that Keynes also slept with Bloomsbury biographer Lytton Strachey. Several corresponding letters between Keynes and Strachey not only confirm this, but a subsequent sexual rivalry over the affections of Grant. G.E. Moore's 'Principia Ethica' unquestionably wrought out a strong influence on Keynes and Strachey's radical sexual attitudes after they had read it. Some unfastidious anti-Keynesians have tried to tie in Keynes' early predispositions to homosexuality (he later in life married a Russian Ballet dancer named Lydia Lopokova) with his rejection of the gold standard. This probably isn't a valid argument, given the level of abstraction Keynes' mind reached at an early age to develop and entertain such unorthadox methods.

   Keynesian economics has been repudiated by many laissez-faire proponents over the past two decades. The most well reasoned of these critiques have come from Friedman and Robert Lucas; who have each received Nobel Prizes for their work. Notwithstanding, both pale in comparison with the impact Keynesianism has had on post-WW2 macroeconomics.

   Whether or not you're an unyeilding Keynesian or a free market capitalist, you'll find it impossible not to marvel at this remarkable biography of a remarkable man. Keynes should be included at the top of anyone's list of the 20th century's most important intellectuals.