Browse or jump to the faculty member’s last name:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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While seeking to find my sense of identity and individuality in the collectivist culture of India, Atlas Shrugged was a pillar of strength that bolstered me during some dark years of internal (and external) struggle. It served as a beacon for the United States, gave me the conviction to dream, and the dedication to pursue those dreams to fruition.
Rajshree Agarwal
Business Administration
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Mere Christianity
C.S. Lewis
Few books have had as profound influence on my as this one. Both as an example of clarity in writing — few academics do this well — and as a compelling argument for seeing Christianity in a new light, this book is one of the few that I keep re-reading every few years, and one of the few that makes me stop and think deeply about what I am reading every time.
Scott Althaus
Speech Communication
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Prajasvamyamlo Karmika Sanghalu
Aluru Subhasbabu
I like this book as it was written by my Dad and he is a big source of inspiration for my career.
Narayana Aluru
General Engineering
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The Emergence of Man
John Pfeiffer
This was one of my first textbooks in anthropology and it sparked my lifelong passion for seeking answers to questions of how we became human. I decided to pursue my career in paleoanthropology because of this book.
Stanley H. Ambrose
Anthropology
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Manual of Steel Construction, 3rd Edition
The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC)
The Manual of Steel Construction published by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) is highly regarded by architects, engineers, fabricators, contractors and others in the structural steel construction industry in the United Stated as well as many other countries. It is also a required reference book in structural steel design courses at universities in the United States and abroad. It contains the latest engineering design specifications as well as aids for design and construction of steel structures. The AISC Manual is often referred to as the bible of the structural steel industry.
Abbas Aminmansour
School of Architecture
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Collected Works. K-theory / Vol. 2
Michale Atiyah
The papers in this volume–and its companions–have been both an inspiration and a direct aid in my own research.
Matthew A. Ando
Mathematics
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Linda Ellerbee had a huge impact on the way I viewed my role as a journalist. She is a fabulous writer, who focuses not only on getting the facts, but also on telling the story in an interesting and meaningful way. She has overcome a lot in her personal life as well. She keeps reinventing herself — but journalism is always at the core.
Nancy J. Benson
Journalism
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Victorian Anthropology
George W. Stocking, Jr.
It was on reading this book that I decided to become an anthropologist. My greatest fortune was to be able to study with its author, George Stocking.
Matti Bunzl
Anthropology
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A classic in the 20th century Chinese literary scholarship.
Zong-qi Cai
East Asian Languages and Cultures
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Farewell to Kai Tak
Wilson Yeung
I would like to dedicate this book to all faculty members, students and friends of UIUC who came to the University by way of Kai Tak.
Winnie Chan
University Library
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Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers
edited by C. Wilmsen, H. Temkin and L.A. Coldren
The chapter I wrote in this book represents the major contribution of my research to the advancement of vertical cavity laser technology. In addition, the laser array pictured on the front cover is a device that I fabricated.
Kent D. Choquette
Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Complete Works of Chuang Tsu
Translated by B. Watson
I select this book for its wisdom and universal relevance to humanity. The thought of Chuang Tzu celebrates individual differences and transcends social conventions and linguistic boundary. He teaches us the value of cultural pluralism and the meaning of being human, i.e. being a unique individual among other fellow human beings.
Kai-wing Chow
History
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Not Much of an Engineer: An Autobiography
Sir Stanley Hooker (with Gunston, Bill)
I enjoyed this book when I first read it in 1992. It’s about the field (aeronautical engineering) in which I worked before becoming a librarian. It’s about someone else who started down one career path and finished on another. And then of course there’s the title.
Timothy Cole
University Library
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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
Marjane Satrapi
In today’s world, it is important to understand other societies, and the best way to do so is to experience them through the eyes of the people who live there. To this end, there is no better set of eyes than those of a child. A true story, this book gives a glimpse into Persian culture through the eyes of a little girl. The use of images and drawings helps to immerse the reader into the world of the heroine, and keep him there till the end.
George Deltas
Economics
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The Critique of Judgment
Immanuel Kant
Kant’s aesthetic theory has grown in significance in the wake of poststructuralist critical positions and questions. Kant’s aesthetics of the sublime, for example, offers an epistemic position where discursive understanding breaks down, and indeterminate felt sense indicates wholeness. Importantly, this iconic Western philosopher provides points of contact with non-Western, particularly Indic-Buddhist, thought.
Pradeep A. Dhillon
Educational Policy Studies
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The Crafty Reader
Robert Scholes
In a series of books beginning with Texual Power in 1985 and continuing through The Crafty Reader, Robert Scholes has consistently taught the craft of reading complex texts through practices that are theoretically informed and pedagogically reasonable. In short, Scholes is the craftiest and wisest teacher of reading in English studies today and the model of teacher, reader, and writer to which I aspire.
Mark A. Dressman
Curriculum and Instruction
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Control of Uncertain Sampled-data Systems
Geir E. Dullerud
Geir E. Dullerud
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
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This is the first edition of what is often considered to be the “bible” of food chemistry. It is one of the most widely used books by food scientists. In addition to being my most-used reference text, it has been an inspirational book to me demonstrating how complex and intriguing the field of food chemistry is.
Nicki J. Engeseth
Food Science and Human Nutrition
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Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
Axar Nafisi
This book is a memoir of an enthusiastic teacher who has struggled to enrich the lives of those around her under difficult conditions in Iran. The book highlights the important roles that humanities and keen analysis of human traits and relations can play in transforming lives, of both students and teachers. The book is also important for many other reasons. Among them, it richly documents the experiences of many individuals who have tried to create a space for personal and intellectual freedom in the face of totalitarian forces disposed blindly to impose narrow visions on all aspects of life. The book focuses on the role of classic Western literature, but its message is broader and can be seen as a tribute to all imaginative works that help us better our lives in complex social situations.
Hadi Esfahani
Economics
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Two Sister: Our Poetic Journey Out of Poverty, into a Life of Hope
Sheila Wade and Maureen Brown
The authors summarized one of the many reasons (impact of poverty on peer relations) I study bullying in schools.
Dorothy L. Espelage
Educational Psychology
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Corals of the World
J.E.N. Veron
I study corals and this book is the invaluable reference for corals around the world.
Bruce W. Fouke
Geology
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Alex: The Life of a Child
Frank Deford
Our childhood experiences serve as the basis for our behavior as adults. My brother was born with Cystic Fibrosis when I was seven years old. In that instant, my childhood stopped. I became the big sister, an additional caregiver, a people watcher. I began observing other people’s behavior, began caring more about others, and most of all, cared deeply for this new little five pound baby. Cystic Fibrosis became a norm in our house. Diet changed, activities changed, my parents changed. I changed too. I went from being a taker to being a giver. For that, I’ll always be grateful. This book selection is a tribute to my brother, who profoundly changed my life. His courage, to this day, after a double lung transplant, and as he approaches forty years old, is a constant source of inspiration to me.
Lisa German
University Library
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History of British Rule in India
Harriet Martineau
Lauren Goodlad
English
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In Vivo Optical Imaging of Brain Function
edited by Ron D. Frostig
It represents my area of research.
Gabriele Gratton
Psychology
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Identity and Control: A Structural Theory of Social Action
Harrison C. White
Harrison White was my graduate advisor at Columbia and the various draft version of the book was used in his seminars. It was crucible as a young structuralist, in which my way of seeing and thinking was shaped. Even now, and perhaps more importantly, it keeps urging me to “imagine hard.”
Shin-Kap Han
Sociology
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An Experiment in Criticism
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis is best known for his Christian apologetics, less well-known is that he lived the life of a scholar, too. Although his is considered old fashioned scholarship these days, his work still contains pearls of wisdom, especially about reading. Many years ago I picked up his tiny bookAn Experiment in Criticism. In it Lewis spells how to appreciate literature. He emphasizes reading as an activity that should first and foremost be experienced as joy. And at the end of the book he gives one of the great summations of what we mean by a general or liberal education: “”Literary experience heals the wound, without undermining the privilege, of individuality. There are mass emotions which heal the wound; but they destroy the privilege. In them our separate selves are pooled and we sink back into sub-individuality. But in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.” I usually read this book at least once a year, often in January. Partly I read for the content, but in addition, the style of the book is a joy to behold. Lewis once said “Any fool can write learned language. The vernacular is the real test. If you can’t turn your faith into it then either you don’t understand it or you don’t believe it.” In this small book Lewis meets this standard many times over.
William S. Hammack
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
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Off-Road Vehicle Engineering Principles
Goering, Stone, Smith, and Turnquist
I have been using this textbook in draft form for a class over the past two years before its final publication in July 2003. It is meaningful to me because of my association with its preparation. In addition the main author is an emeritus professor in my department.
Alan C. Hansen
Agricultural Engineering
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Morse Theory
John Milnor
I got tenure in part for my work in computational topology applying the theorems from Morse Theory to the accurate display of isosurfaces.
John C. Hart
Computer Science
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Minding the Darkness
Peter Dale Scott
P.D. Scott is a true hero. In this 3rd installment of his Seculum trilogy he meditates on forgiveness yet also rips away the absurd comforts of neo-Liberal Colonialism. It’s a masterpiece of investigative poetry!
Stephen J. Hartnett
Speech Communication
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Dune
Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert’s Dune had an early impact on my intellectual development because it helped to make me aware of the interplay among societies, humanity and individuality in forming the future. Herbert’s fictional worlds can make us question the balance of free will and fate in our daily lives.
P. Bryan Heidorn
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
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The Having of Wonderful Ideas and Other Essays on Teaching and Learning
Eleanor Duckworth
I selected this book because it captures the very essence of teaching young children. I particularly like the quote: “There are two aspects to providing occasions for wonderful ideas. One is being willing to accept children’s ideas. The other is providing a setting that suggests wonderful ideas to children-different ideas to different children-as they are caught up in intellectual problems that are real to them.” My area of interest is gifted education and my research focuses on ways to challenge all children. In particular, I am interested in examining environments and teaching practices that foster students’ creative thinking and problem solving skills. This book highlights the need to individualize and personal instruction to make learning meaningful and purposeful for all children. The author holds key the uniqueness of each child!
Nancy B. Hertzog
Special Education
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L’Antiamericanisme: Anti-Americanism at Home and Abroad
Sylvie Mathe
The book-plating program struck me as an opportunity to order a book that is not widely available in the United States. Based on the title (I have been unable to obtain a copy), this book has great contemporary relevance and speaks to my interests in the history of the United States in world context.
Kristin L. Hoganson
History
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The Arcades Project
Walter Benjamin
This book represents the origins of many important theories of visual culture.
Lauretta J. Hogin
School of Art and Design
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The Optimist’s Daughter
Eudora Welty
I have chosen this book to honor the memory of my sister, the late Melanie Hook Rice, who loved this book and who was also a southern writer like Welty. Also, my first fully-produced choreographic project was inspired by passages from this novel which my sister had underlined. I am also honoring the memory of my father, the late Rev. Dr. Wade Franklin Hook who inspired and supported my career. This novel sensitively tracks the relationship between a father and a daughter and the new insights the daughter gains about life and love after her father’s death.
Sara Hook
Dance
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Pox Americana
Elizabeth A. Fenn
This book reminds us that disease can change the world. One smallpox epidemic permanently altered the political and social landscape of North America, decimating the aboriginal population and even blocking the expansion of the American revolution to Canada. Today similar events unfold as AIDS rewrites the future of Sub-Saharan Africa.
James A. Imlay
Microbiology
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Illinois: Land and Life in the Prairie State
edited by Ronald E. Nelson
This book was the text for Geography 214, Geography of Illinois, the first geography class in which I enrolled. At the end of the semester, I told my parents that I was changing my major from biology to geography. When they asked what I was going to do with a degree in the social sciences, I told them that I was going to be a map librarian. Look where I am now!
Jenny M. Johnson
University Library
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Environmental Management in Animal Agriculture
Stanley E. Curtis
It is the best reference in the area of my research. This area is a new and expanding one. If Fritz and Clark had not written this book, I would have!
Rodney W. Johnson
Animal Science
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Environmental Isotopes in Hydrogeology
Ian Clark and Peter Fritz
Dr. Curtis gave me an unbound pre-print of this text when I was a student in his lab. My prior studies in animal sciences focused on disparate physiological systems but not on how the systems worked together to make the animal whole. This book taught me to think in an integrative way.
Thomas M. Johnson
Geology
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Theory of Operator Algebras I
Masamichi Takesaki
The theory of operator algebras is a subject which became suddenly important for my research. For me Takesaki’s first book on this subject opened my mind to this wonderful subject and enabled me to learn the important concepts and beautiful results due to its unique style.
Marius Junge
Mathematics
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Das Glasperlenspiel
Herman Hesse
I must have been fourteen of fifteen years old when I read this book and in particular the “Glasperlenspiel” itself caught my imagination. I wanted to play the game so badly that I tried to find descriptions of it everywhere but the only thing I found out is that Mathematics and Music are integral parts of it. In the end I think I finally found my version of the game — at least this is how I feel when I do my research.
Ralf Koetter
Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Bauernleben im Zeitalter des Dreissigjährigen Krieges : die Stausebacher Chronik des Caspar Preis, 1636-1667
Casper Preis
This book is a peasant’s chronicle of survival and daily life during and after the devastating Thirty Years’ War in Germany (1618-48). We might assume that there are no peasant diaries from the 17th century, but Caspar Preis, literate peasant, has preserved for us the lives of ordinary people surviving terrible times with quiet dignity. I also chose this book to reflect the extraordinary collections in the University of Illinois libraries. This publication, part of a series of Hessian regional history, is not widely available in Germany or the U.S., but the Illinois library acquired it as soon as it appeared in 1998.
Craig M. Koslofsky
History
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Matching Theory
Laszlo Lovasz
Alexandr V. Kostochka
Mathematics
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Management Education in the New Europe: Issues of Content and Process
Monica Lee, Hugo Letiche, Robert Crawshaw, and Michael Thomas
The book provides a diverse set of perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for educating and developing managers in Poland as this country transitions from a centralized command economy to a free market system. The strength of the book lies, in my mind, in the rejection of the notion of management development as simple technology transfer from West to East. Rather, the theoretical commitment of the authors is to critical reflection of dominant paradigms and the search for indigenous ways of leading organizations through action learning. Although the book reports on field work and observations during the initial stage of economic transformation in Poland, the fundamental challenges addressed in the text remain highly relevant as Poland prepares to join the European Union in 2004.
K. Peter Kuchinke
Human Resource Education
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Polymeric Stabilization of Colloidal Dispersions
D.H. Napper
This book has been a valuable resource for my research group.
Jennifer A. Lewis
Materials Science and Engineering
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A Brief History of Time
Stephen Hawking
This book is a masterpiece! Stephen Hawking’s relentless pursuit of scientific truths is a great source of inspiration for me.
Zhi-Pei Liang
Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Tao Te Ching
Lao Tsu [translators: Gia Fu Feng and Jane English]
It is a book that I studied in my very first term paper in graduate school, which received an A+. The paper later became my first single-authored journal publication. Tao Te Ching is a must read in this day and age if we are to achieve world peace. This particular translation is poetic, enhanced by the photos.
Futing Tim Liao
Sociology
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Foundations of Neurobiology
Fred Delcomyn
Biology offers many hints for engineering design, to make devices cheaper and better. Engineers have a lot to learn from biololgy. It is a book done by my wonderful collaborator, with whom I had a wonderful collaboration.
Chang Liu
Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Ancient Herbs, Modern Medicine: Improving Your Health by Combining Chinese Herbal Medicine and Western Medicine
Henry Han, Glenn Miller, and Nancy Deville
One of my hobby is studying food therapy and Chinese herbal medicine to cure disease. I learned that Chinese medicine and western medicine work to cure illness from different perspectives — western medicine focuses on the sick spot while Chinese medicine digs into the causes of the illness. If the two could be integrated, there could be miracles.
Wei Ma
University Library
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African Sociology: Towards a Critical Perspective
Bernard M. Magubane
I selected this book because it was written by my father who inspired me to be a sociologist.
Zine Magubane
Sociology
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Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications
Oliver E. Williamson
Markets and Hierarchies is a scholarly research book written for posterity.
Joseph T. Mahoney
Business Administration
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Spanish American Saints and the Rhetoric of Identity, 1600-1810
Ronald J. Morgan
I have chosen this book because it centers on one of the topics of my book-length project: the role of hagiographic texts in the process of identity construction in colonial Latin America. The book examines the importance of saints as political and cultural symbols in the national projects of the colonial period. In my project I focus specifically on female religious texts.
Mariselle Melendez
Spanish, Italian and Portuguese
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Digital Watermarking: Principles & Practice
J. Bloom, M. L. Miller and I. Cox
This book introduces an emerging communications topic and is very well written. Digital watermarking refers to methods for hiding information in host data (such as an image, text, or audio file). Applications include copyright protection and covert communications. I selected this book because the topic is current, and the book itself has significant educational value.
Pierre Moulin
Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Ecosystems and Human Well-being: A Framework for Assessment
edited by Elena Bennett, et al.
Global warming became a focal point for scientific research, debates about the future of earths environmental health and global negotiations in the 1990s. The state of the worlds ecosystems will play a similar role in the 21st century. This book represents a unique multidisciplinary effort to provide a conceptual framework for assessing ecosystem condition and capacity for delivering useful services sustainably. It is an initial output of ongoing research by participants in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. My own research on economic modeling of land use has both contributed to the effort and been enriched by my many interactions with the wide range of participants.
Gerald C. Nelson
Agricultural and Consumer Economics
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Benjamin Franklin
Edmund S. Morgan
Benjamin Franklin was a very important man in US History but he was also so much more! He was a scientist, diplomat, athlete, socialite, and more. This book is a very elegantly written biography of this fascinating man who accomplished so much. (I must admit that I am rather envious of Mr. Franklin – I don’t know how he was able to do so much).
Romana A. Nowak
Animal Science
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Anne Fadiman
This book is a poignant-told story of an immigrant Hmong family’s encounter with the American health care system. I selected this book because it touches beautifully on many of my central scholarly interests, namely Asian American immigrants, culturally competent service delivery, and family resilience.
Sumie Okazaki
Psychology
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The Last Generation
Cherríe Moraga
Moraga’s prose and poetry captures the pleasures and challenges a committed author can convey to her readers. Moraga’s writing transgresses gender, sexuality, race, and color lines affirming a politics of survival based on the passions and politics of everyday life and reminds me to “keep it real” in the academy.
Wanda S. Pillow
Educational Policy Studies
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The Wilder Shores of Love
Lesley Blanch
These are stories of four people who transcended the rigid expectations of their place and time. Their journeys to exotic climes awaken sleeping identities and abilities. The love stories illustrate the strength arising from devotion to a person other than one’s self. This book makes an excellent case for romance.
Elizabeth T. Powers
Economics and Institute of Government and Public Affairs
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The Day the Voices Stopped: A Memoir of Madness and Hope
Ken Steele and Claire Berman
Founder of the newsletter New York City Voices, Ken Steele was perhaps the first person with schizophrenia to reach a broad audience as a mental health advocate. I chose his memoir because the study of disability as an academic discipline cannot grow without acknowledging the contributions of the disabled themselves.
Catherine J. Prendergast
English
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Handbook of Mathematical Psychology
edited by Luce, R. Duncan, Robert R. Bush, and Eugene Galanter
The chapter by Luce and Suppes on “Preference, utility and subjective probability” in the Handbook of Mathematical Psychology has profoundly influenced my thinking. It lays out some of the foundations that are required in order to develop a unified theory of decision making. Much of my research aims to reconcile and synergize the multidisciplinary decision sciences. Luce and Suppes’ chapter is one of the key milestones in that domain. Similarly, the entire Handbook of Mathematical Psychology continues to be widely recognized as one of the beacons of mathematical psychology.
Michel Regenwetter
Psychology
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The Technological Society
Jacques Ellul
This book stands out as seminal in my thinking about the relationship between human beings and the technology in our society. Written by a neo-Luddite, the ideas espoused caused me to carefully re-think the manner in which I approach scholarly communication and my work with users of the library. Although I find much that Ellul says about techne extremist, the work has caused me to use careful reasoning in exploring the relationship between man and technology that is so essential to the librarian.
Lynne M. Rudasill
University Library
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The book has fascinated me as a fairy tale on the first reading, but later, on continuous never ending reflection, presented with the simplest language the most tragic truths of all times: “all animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. Universal humanism remains a utopia.
Muhammed Taher A. Saif
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
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Clinical Virology
Douglas Richman
One of the most dynamic areas of human and veterinary medicine is virology. As a veterinarian and a molecular and diagnostic (clinical application) virologist, clinical virology engages my interests as a faculty member at the University of Illinois. Consequently, I have selected a book that addresses pivotal concepts in this field.
Gail Scherba
Veterinary Pathobiology
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The Chicago Auditorium Building: Alder and Sullivan’s Architecture and the City
Joseph Siry
This book not only concentrates on Louis Sullivan’s first masterpiece design but also places Sullivan’s work in a comprehensive context. Sullivan’s architectural designs were an inspiration for the Sullivanesque, which is the subject of my own book: Sullivanesque: Urban Architecture and Ornamenatation (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002). Therefore, Siry’s publication is a valuable compliment to my book. Furthermore, Siry’s book won the Society of Architectural Historians’ highest honor, the “Alice Davis Hitchcock Award,” in April 2003.
Ronald E. Schmitt
School of Architecture
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Bambi, Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde
Felix Salten
It was a difficult task for someone whose life is so devoted to books to pick out a single book. I picked this book partly because it shows the way in which German and American culture are so closely intertwined, a fact that we Americans often forget, and partly with thoughts of the role my own children play in my life. Also, I thought it would be nice if more people realized that a story that is taken as the prototypical American/Disney production is originally based on this German language book.
Frederick W. Schwink
Germanic Languages and Literatures
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The Life and Legacy of G.I. Taylor
G.K. Batchelor
G.I. Taylor was the most outstanding fluid mechanician of our time. His remarkable physical insight and his ability to design the most simple of experiments that explained very fundamental fluid behaviours are an inspiration to us all.
Mark Short
Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
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Hurricane Audrey
Nola Mae Wittler Ross and Susan McFillen Goodson
This book provides an excellent memorial for the many victims of the 1957 hurricane “Audrey” that swept through a very remote area in coastal Louisiana. This storm colored the lives of three generations in my family, so I would be most honored to have the book plated with my name in the UI Library.
Gerald K. Sims
Crop Sciences
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The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
William Goldman
This is a delightful story and was the first book that my wife gave to me. After many fond memories of the book, 13 years of marriage, the birth of our daughter, and our second child soon to arrive, I cannot wait to read the book again with our children.
Andrew Singer
Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Continuous Martingales and Brownian Motion
Daniel Revuz and Marc Yor
This is a book on stochastic analysis and it covers almost all important aspects of stochastic analysis. It is very well written. It is regarded as the “bible” in stochastic analysis.
Renming Song
Mathematics
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Quantitative Seismology, 2nd edition
Keiti Aki and Paul G. Richards
The first edition of the book was my early introduction to seismology as an authoritative textbook. In 1996, I had the fortune of working with one of the authors (Dr. Paul Richards) on the discovery of the inner core differential rotation. Over the years, the book has served as an excellent reference for my research and teaching.
Xiaodong Song
Geology
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Polish National Cinema
Marek Haltof
I have always been interested in the history of Polish film. This book is a compendium of solid, “broad knowledge, well thought-through and systematized”. I would like this book to be donated to the Reference collection of the Slavic and East European Library.
Marek Sroka
University Library
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Sankt-Peterburg v ob”ektive fotografov kontsa XIX — nachala XX veka
[St. Petersburg through the lens of photographers at the end of the Nineteenth and Beginning of the Twentieth Centuries]
The fin-de-siècle photographs collected in this volume are powerful, though wordless, texts about a city created as an act of modern imagination and power. Facing a modernity suffused with seeing and being seen, the Russian photographers who wandered their capital in search of defining images were at once its most flagrant flâneurs and its best archivists.
Mark D. Steinberg
Department of History
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Architecture: Choice or Fate?
Leon Krier
This is a beautiful book that captures so conciselly and eloquently the problem with contemporary civic urban space. It communicates the nature of urbanism, the civic realm, the meaning of human scale, the downfall of modernist urbanism and the compatibility between tradition and progress in a way that is creative and meaningful, especially for urban planners. I especially like the way the author uses cartoons to communicate these important concepts.
Emily Talen
Urban and Regional Planning
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World Weeds: Natural Histories and Distribution
edited by LeRoy Holm
This book — along with its companion book, The World’s Worst Weeds (Holm et al. 1979) — is a great starting point for detailed information about major weed species. More importantly, I selected this book because of what it reveals about weeds; they comprise only a small minority of plant species. A challenge to Weed Science is understanding the unique traits that grant “weed” status to these relatively few species.
Patrick J. Tranel
Crop Sciences
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The Development, Nutrition, and Management of the Young Calf
James K. Drackley
I chose this book for practical reasons and because I knew that it would be used by veterinary students. When I discovered that The Development, Nutrition, and Management of the Young Calf by Carl L.Davis and James K. Drackley was not in our library, I jumped at the chance to add it to the collection of books veterinary students will have to find resources on calf health. It also helped that the authors are from U of I and colleagues of mine.
Richard L. Wallace
Veterinary Clinical Medicine
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The Alexandria Quartet
Lawrence Durrell
I read this book at the beginning of my first job abroad, working as a travel courier in Greece. The colour, feel, mystery and spirit of Alexandria resonated with my own experiences in Athens, the synthesis of modern and ancient Greek culture. Some portions of the book reach dizzying imaginative heights, others fall painfully short: the highs and lows of creative powers: ours to emulate. Re-reading passages still brings back the passion and excitement of those times.
Andrew G. Webb
Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Environmental Organic Chemistry, 2nd ed.
Rene P. Schwarzenbach et al.
It’s a great book.
Charles J. Werth
Civil and Environmental Engineering
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The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 3rd edition
(New Revised Standard Edition)
Every time I open its pages, I discover something new about myself and the world in which I live. Its truths are ageless and its message is heart changing. No other book has influenced or shaped me more completely – spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally – than the Bible.
Douglas A. Wiegmann
Institute of Aviation
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Going to Meet the Man
James Baldwin
I first came to writing because of, and through the works of James Baldwin, notably because of his story “This Morning, This Evening, So Soon.”
David Wright
English
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All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror
Stephen Kinzer
One of the biggest challenges that face our nation today is the treat of terrorism. Unfortunately, much of what has been talked about in our country since in 9/11 has been focused on finding ways to stop terrorism from reaching US soil rather than getting at the root of it. The book that I am recommending is about events in Iran in early 1950’s, when US helped overthrow a democratically elected government and reinstall Mohammad Reza Shah as King. Of course, much of the motivation for the US involvement at the time came from threat of communist Soviet Union. However, as the book argues the events in early 1950’s and US role at the time shaped Iran’s future and its relation to the US for the decades to follow. As an Iranian-born American I found this book fascinating and incredibly timely. For those who like to understand the roots of extremism against the US in the Middle East, this is a great book to read.
Ali Yazdani
Physics
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The Handy Physics Answer Book
P. Erik Gunderson
I intended to buy this book as a reading materials for my 4 years old son – It ended up that I enjoyed the most. It may be too early for a four-year old yet, but it is definitely not too late for a university professor to learn from it. A great book for all ages.
Yuanhui Zhang
Agricultural Engineering