Honoring Our Faculty Achievements 2014 - Collections

Manufacturing Advantage: Why High-performance Work Systems Pay Off
Eileen Apelbaum, Thomas Bailey, Peter Berg, Arne Kalleberg

I first read the book Manufacturing Advantage as part of a seminar in graduate school. The book had a pronounced influence on the way I have come to think about employment relations and the link between work practices and organizational outcomes and it motivated me to pursue a PhD in industrial relations.

Biko
Donald Woods

The struggle for freedom in South Africa was what made me interested in Development Economics.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America
Barbara Ehrenreich

This book had a significant impact on my understanding of the working class and helped me to appreciate the freedom that can come from obtaining a degree in higher education. I am forever indebted to my parents who encouraged me to never stop learning.

You Come Too: Favorite Poems for Readers of All Ages
Robert Frost

I long felt that the title poem and the title of this collection summarized so much of university life: a lifetime of reading and a desire for both our faculty and students to teach and learn from one another.

Home with Hip Hop Feminism: Performances in Communication and Culture
Aisha Durham

Aisha Durham is a masterful writer and a brilliant, beautiful, generous, scholar-poet home girl. I chose this book thinking about future generations of scholars who will change the game and the system (for the better), because THIS book was published. Before, during, and after it all falls down—we remain kindred.

Volker-Psychologie Eine Untersuchung der Entwicklungsgesetze von Sprache, Mythus und Sitte
Wilhelm Wundt

Wundt’s ideas about language and the origins of speech provide the foundation of modern studies of language use.

The Racer
Tim Krabbe

Simply one of my favorite books. If youkan manage the original Dutch, do so. “Niet-wielrenners. De leegheid van die levens schokt me.”

Comparisons
the Diagram Group

As a child I received this book as a gift and spent countless hours flipping through its pages. I am sure it subconsciously played a large part in the development of my data-centric artwork. The concepts and graphics in the book break down intangible ideas from geography and science into comprehensible parts.

Mi Revalueshanary Fren
Linton Kwesi Johnson

Johnson writes in Jamaican Creole, the language in which I think and dream. His use of imagery and metaphor resonates with me. He addresses issues of race, class and religion, issues that are often at the forefront of my own mind.

Les Metiers et Corporations de la Ville de Paris XIVe-XVIIIe Siecle
Rene De Lespinasse

I chose thise book because it is a precious resource for my research on eighteenth-century France and testimony to the erudition of my predecessors in History. I also admire its physical beauty, a product of the skill of late nineteenth-century printers and publishers. The volumes are a historical artifact in their own right.

The Little Engine That Could
Platt and Munk

A favorite elementary school teacher gave me this book as a gift. The message stuck with me throughout life.

Foundations of Signal Processing
Vetterli, Kovacevic, and Goyal

This book provides a much needed contemporary treatise of signal processing.

Clavier-Ubung
Bach, Johann Sebastian/Wolff, Chrisoph

With its complex structures, layered voices, and stunning harmonies, the music of Bach is beautiful and moving. It can teach us much about life, that sometimes less is more and that sometimes one has to listen closely to hear what is really being said.

Instruction of Students with Severe Disabilities
Martha Snell

This text has been a core “staple” for practitioners who work with students with severe disabilities. It was the first text I purchased and each new edition becomes a permanent fixture on my bookshelf.

Flesh: Architectural Probes
Elizabeth Diler and Ricardo Scofidio

This monograph opened my eyes to architecture’s possibilities beyond the normative constructed environment.

State Organs: Transplant Abuse in China
David Matas, Torsten Trey

China’s organ transplant numbers are second only to the U.S, with most organs for transplants from prisoners of conscience. The killing of prisoners for their organs is a plain breach of the most basic medical ethics. In this book, authors from four continents share their views and insights on the ways to combat these violations.

Anti-Arab Racism in the USA: Where it Comes From and What it Means for Politics
Steven Salaita

Reasoned dissent is the core of the humanities.

Puerto Rico 1900
Jorge Rigau

My country has a rich and complicated history, best witnessed through the study of its arts and culture. I am grateful to Dr. Rigau for this book that includes the forgotten history of the most beautiful houses and interiors I have ever seen; masterful examples of island architecture around the turn of the 20th century.

This is Paris
Miroslav Sasek

My evening routine with my son is one of the favorite parts of my day. Since he was born three-and-a- half years ago, he has forced me to carve out time to truly relax everyday away from the grind of deadlines for work. This is Paris is his favorite book at bedtime.

Moo
Jane Smiley

A book on big state university in the Midwest. Enough said.

Momo
Julia Hockenmaier

Since you suggested children’s books, I selected Momo, a book I grew up with that has just been re-released in English. Momo is a simple fable about the importance of taking time, and of not valuing efficiency over everything. A useful reminder that there is more to life than work.

Lethal Genes
Linda Grant

This crime novel was written by the author after spending some time in a laboratory at UC Berkeley around the time I studied there. I am familiar with the laboratory, I recognize every building and some of the people. It is closely observed and an interesting historical record of plant molecular biology in the 1990s.

Silence: Lectures and Writings, 50th Anniversary Edition
John Cage

I read this book because it was discussed during lectures by Bridget Kelly (English Department). I was surprised by Cage’s ideas on silence and noise. My own research is on tinnitus, a phantom noise in your head. This book made me think of tinnitus in the context of silence and music, illusory or otherwise.

The Early Days of Yeast Genetics
Michael N. Hall/Patrick Linder

This book introduces fascinating stories of outstanding scientists who made foundations for modern genetics and genomics using yeast as a model system. While we think scientists need to be smart to be successful, the stories clearly demonstrate that curiosity, good observation, and perseverance are more important.

La Memoire et les Jours
Charlotte Delbo

Delbo is a beautiful writer who is both sensitive to many other survivors’ experiences of trauma during World War II and supremely illuminating about the process of living both then (during the worst) and now. I have returned to La memoire et les jours countless times and always found it gorgeous, compelling, and utterly moving.

The Shadows of Owls
John Keeble

The Shadows of Owls has been described as a “smart eco-thriller”, but its depth extends beyond that, exploring relationships between family, the land, and those who violate what we hold most dear. Written by my father following a life-threatening stroke, the novel provides an exhilarating affirmation of brilliance in the wake of deep personal challenge.

The SAGE Handbook of Family Communication
L.H. Turner & R. West

The study of family communication has grown by leaps and bounds since I was an undergraduate student, and this edited collection showcases the very best the field has to offer at the moment. Who knows what lies ahead?

Codex Seraphinianus
Luigi Seraphini

This book embodies the wonder, beauty, and strangeness that printed volumes can convey.

I AM Malala
Malala Yousafzai and Patricia McCormick

This is my daughter’s favorite book. I also admire her brave action.

Prairie Plants and Their Environment; A Fifty-Year Study in the Midwest
J.E. Weaver

I believe the wealth of Illinois is in her soil and the plants that grow on it. “Prairie Plants and Their Environment” by Dr. Weaver explains how wonderful and selfless our mother nature is. There is no discursiveness in nature, nothing unnecessary, all is quite raw and unique.

Man’s Search for Meaning
Victor E. Frankl

I discovered this book at age 13, and it lit a passion in me to understand the resilience of the human spirit. As Victor Frankl observed, between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

The Mysterious Island
Jules Verne

I still remember the excitement and inspiration I had when reading this book in 4th grade. Since then I always want to become someone like the people from this book who knows how to construct a battery and telegraph and how to make magic chemicals, i.e. engineers and scientists.

Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye
Rudolf Arnheim

Arnheim’s book helped launch a fascinating field and spurred the asking of wonderful new questions. Due to a small act of kindness, I can say Rudy helped me launch a fascinating career and spurred me in my own asking.

Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut

A book I loved since High School. I realized that science fiction can be used in a larger context and reflect today and tomorrow. I become unstuck in time. So it goes.

Digital Depression: Information Technology and Economic Crisis
Dan Schiller

Dan Schiller pulls no punches in his study that yokes the digital revolution with the economic collapse of the last decade. He demonstrates why we must always work to historicize the current moment, and inspires others to engage in similarly unrelenting critiques of past and present.

The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies
Richard Heinberg

The Party’s Over is one of the books that opened my eyes to the profound challenges humanity faces in terms of resource depletion, climate change, and sustainability. These books have opened a new chapter in the book of my career, in the form of my work at the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment.

The Design Way: Intentional Change in an Unpredictable World
Harold Nelson and Erik Stolterman

It is thought provoking and supports the value of Design Thinking within this interdisciplinary world we live within.

The Giving Tree
Shel Silverstein

The Giving Tree is a book I loved as a child and enjoy reading to my four boys. There are many different interpretations for the relationships between the boy and the tree, including the idea of unconditional love; this could lead to interesting discussion among children and adults.

A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu
Marcel Proust

This novel evokes turning point memories for me in two areas: memories of my French instructor who helped me connect one event to a world of events through time; and the power of language. Especially now, I really appreciate how our senses and language can evoke powerful memories.

The Modern Percussion Revolution: Journeys of the Progressive Artist
Kevin Lewis and Gustavo Aguilar

To illustrate and underscore the importance of thinking about what it is that we do and why.

Area Research, Theory and Practice
Julian H. Steward

A recurring theme in my research has been the politics of knowledge about “other” places and peoples. One example of this is in the interdisciplinary field of “area studies” and the ways different regions of the world come to be thought of as distinct coherent units. In the United States, the formalization of area studies scholarship occurred in the decades after the Second World War, with a call for interdisciplinary research on the component regional parts of a complex and increasingly interconnected world. The American anthropologist Julian Steward wrote this brief book on area studies in 1950 as part of an initiative on “world area research” by the Social Science Research Council. His mid-twentieth century observations remain instructive today for scholars conducting international and interdisciplinary work in the contexts of globalization. That Steward later went on to help found the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign makes this book even more meaningful to me.

Homotopy Limits, Completions and Localizations
K. Bousfield and D.M. Kan

This book was a great influence on me when I was first learning about my subject. Chosen in memory of Dan Kan (1927-2013), and the help and generosity he showed to me.

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
John Seinfeld and Spyros Pandis

Not only do I use this book on an almost daily basis, but John Seinfeld hosted me as a young student during my first visit in the US. This had a significant impact on my career, and little did I know at that time that the US would become my second home several years later.

The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Historiography
Thomas Postlewait

The book was written by my mentor and doctoral adviser, Thomas Postlewait. The book outlines the unique work of the theatre historian and offers specific strategies and methods for analyzing and writing theatre history. It is an essential and expertly written primer for students of theatre and performance.

Culture and Truth
Renato Rosaldo

This is the first book written by a Chicano intellectual that conveyed to me the possibilities of the life of the mind.

An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics
G.K. Batchelor

For seminal contributions in the field of fluid dynamics and transport, this is truly a text that has inspired multiple generations of researchers in chemical engineering.

Guide to Reference Books
Robert Balay

The 11th edition of this iconic reference source, compiled by librarians for librarians, was the last to appear in print. I honor Bob Balay’s role as my mentor in my first professional library position at Yale, celebrate my ongoing contribution to the subsequent Guide to Reference database, and affirm this resource’s enduring value.

On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin

With this book, Darwin introduced the theory of evolution by natural selection that has become the foundation of evolutionary biology. It’s a beautiful example of scientific prose, empirical evidence and personal humility in the context of intellectual revolution.

The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era- A Celebration of the Unfolding of the Cosmos
Brian Swimme & Thomas Berry

Alongside many others I share a deep concern for the future of our planet. This book offers profound insight into the universe story – one that the authors feel humans have to embrace if we are going to find the necessary ‘psychic energy needed for the renewal of the earth’. This book changed me.

The Failure of Presidential Democracy
Linz, Juan, and Arturo Valenzuela

Eye-opening is the phrase that encapsulates this book’s impact on me. It was in 1994, when I first read The Failure of Presidential Democracy as an undergraduate student in Argentina, that I realized the power that political institutions and rules have over political outcomes and individual behavior. I remember pondering whether institutions were the missing element needed to anchor Argentina’s then nascent democracy and ensure its consolidation. Today, over twenty years later, I still wrestle with these ideas. Indeed, the role of institutions in the political arena of democratic societies continues to fascinate me and inspire my research.

Nobel Laureate C.V. Raman’s Work on Light Scattering: Historical Contributions to a Scientific Biography
Rajinder Singh

Scientific pursuit, especially involving physical experiments is still limited to a miniscule and privileged population. I find Raman’s life and work a remarkable inspiration that the quest for understanding nature is not necessarily an enterprise restricted to wealthy nations. To enterprising minds in unheralded places?

Handbook of Alcoholism Treatment Approaches
Reid K. Hester, William R. Miller

This book propelled me into an academic career focused on treatment outcomes for disenfranchised individuals with alcohol and drug problems. Early in my career, I personally experienced the science-to-practice gap when simultaneously reading this book and observing colleagues using treatments with the least empirical support. May I always practice empirical self-reflection for the greater good.

The Ants
Bert Holldobler and Edward O. Wilson

This book was instrumental in sparking my interest in the ecology, evolution and behavior of ants. I first read it as a graduate student and it remains near my desk today.

The Sports Gene
David Epstein

This book provides an interesting look into world-class athletes and what it takes to be a champion. It is focused on athletics, but the concepts discussed have relevance outside of sports. Although genetics and upbringing provide everyone with a starting point and innate potential, nearly any goal may be achieved through hard work and perseverance.

From the Score to the Stage: An Illustrated History of Continental Opera Production and Staging
Evan Baker

Opera, a form of music theatre, is markedly shaped by its visual presentation. Baker contextualizes the development of opera, from its earliest stages, within evolving theatrical practices and approaches to scenography. His book is a tremendous contribution to English-language opera scholarship, which has tended to navigate the disciplinary divide between music/musicology and theatre uneasily.

Veeck-As in Wreck
Bill Veeck (w/Linn)

Bill Veeck was the consummate sport manager–imaginative, attentive and on occasion provocative. This choice is for my students past, present and future. May they all read this work from cover to cover, not because they think they should but because they want to.

A History of Immunology
Arthur M. Silverstein

A History of Immunology is an insightful account of the intellectual evolution of the field from the earliest concept of immunity to infection to our current understanding of this complex system. This book illustrates that many forces; technological, social and personal, that act to shape the course of scientific discovery and professional acceptance.

Concerto pour Flute (Reduction pour Flute et Piano)
Marc-Andre Dalbavie

Marc-Andre Dalbavie is one of today’s leading composers whose music is not yet well-represented in our library. As a composer and as a teacher, Dalbavie has been an important influence on my music and my teaching since I studied with him briefly in 2001.

Against The Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood
Bhob Stewart

I befriended Bhob Stewart, publisher of some of the first comics fanzines, in the last two years of his life. His rich knowledge of comics (especially EC), film, radio, and science fiction always made for rich conversations. He advocated for me and my work on comics. Most of all, Bhob was a friend. Spa Fon!

Entanglement
Amir Aczel

I recall reading this book while writing my dissertation. It is a very enjoyable read that reminds us just how fascinatingly mysterious our world is, and the role that optics can play in understanding it.

On Liberty
John Stuart Mill

Mill argues forcefully against those who would deny liberty of expression to so-called “intemperate discussion,” pointing out that in historical practice this condemnation is never applied even-handedly, but has reliably been used to restrain or punish writers who challenge “the prevailing opinion.”

Energy Efficient Buildings with Solar and Geothermal Resources
Ursula Eicker

One of my great passions is building energy conservation, which is critical to achieving sustainable living. Buildings in the U.S. today account for about 40 percent of total U.S. energy consumption. This book presents the perspective on solar and geothermal technologies for heating and cooling buildings.

Hot Spotter’s Report: Military Fables of Toxic Waste
Shiloh R. Krupar

This book is smart and funny, and models a form of documentary practice and activist scholarship that I find inspiring.

Community Informatics in China and the US: Theory and Research
Kate Williams, Han Shenglong, Yan Hui and Abdul Alkalimat, eds.

This bilingual book aims to help the field of community informatics move forward in China. Our library needs it because community informatics has deep roots here, starting with PLATO (1960). And because Chinese scholars are indeed taking up and shaping community informatics in new ways.

A time of Gifts
Patrick Leigh Fermor

This is a journey through an erea of Europe with special significance to me. The author traveled near my Grandfather’s village shortly after he emigrated, so I saw a glimpse of life at that time. The author’s adventures also triggered memories of my European study abroad experience, which shaped who I am today.

And the Band Played On
Randy Stilts

This book chronicles the early societal, political and scientific events surrounding the emergence of HIV/AIDS as a major global health threat. To me as a microbiologist today, this book, by a journalist who subsequently died from AIDS, poignantly illustrates how far we have come in 40 years, and how far we still have to go.

Physical Education and Activity for Elementary Classroom Teachers
Kim C. Graber and Amelia Mays Woods

I am proud of this book written with my good friend and colleague, Kim Graber.

Mathematical Understanding of Nature: Essays on Amazing Physical Phenomena and Their Understanding by Mathematicians
V.I. Arnold

This book provides a glimpse into the mind of one of the most influential mathematicians of our time: V.I. Arnold. His writings inspired my interest in mathematics and science.

The Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology: Second Edition
Leonie Huddy, David O. Sears, and Jack S. Levy