New Books Network

New Books in Science, Technology, and Society
Zachary Dorner, “Merchants of Medicine: The Commerce and Coercion of Health in Britain’s Long 18th Century” (U Chicago Press, 2020)
Zachary Dorner
Merchants of Medicine
The Commerce and Coercion of Health in Britain’s Long Eighteenth Century
The University of Chicago Press, 2020

New Books in British StudiesNew Books in HistoryNew Books in MedicineNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in ScienceNew Books in Science & TechnologyNew Books in Science, Technology, and Society September 18, 2020 Maia Woolner

In Merchants of Medicine: The Commerce and Coercion of Health in Britain’s Long Eighteenth Century (The University of Chicago Press), medicines embody the hopes of those who prepared, sold, and ingested them. By investigating the different contexts and practices associated with the British long-distance trade in patent medicines, Zachary Dorner... Read More
Nick Chater, “The Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain” (Yale UP, 2019)
Nick Chater
The Mind Is Flat
The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain
Yale University Press, 2019

New Books in NeuroscienceNew Books in PsychologyNew Books in ScienceNew Books in Science & TechnologyNew Books in Science, Technology, and SocietyNew Books Network September 17, 2020 John Griffiths

Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making. The assumption is that below a mental “surface” of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs, values, and desires that govern our thoughts, ideas, and actions, and that to know this depth... Read More
Carl Safina, “Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace” (Henry Holt, 2020)
Carl Safina
Becoming Wild
How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace
Henry Holt and Co., 2020

Animal StudiesNBN Special SeriesNew Books in Big IdeasNew Books in Environmental StudiesNew Books in ScienceNew Books in Science & TechnologyNew Books in Science, Technology, and Society September 17, 2020 Mark Molloy

Some people insist that culture is strictly a human accomplishment. What are those people afraid of? Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace (Henry Holt and Co.) looks into three cultures of other-than-human beings in some of Earth’s remaining wild places. It shows how if... Read More
Gerald Posner, “Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America” (Simon and Schuster, 2020)
Gerald Posner
Pharma
Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America
Simon and Schuster, 2020

New Books in HistoryNew Books in MedicineNew Books in PoliticsNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in Public PolicyNew Books in Science & TechnologyNew Books in Science, Technology, and Society September 14, 2020 Colin Miller and Keith Mankin

Today’s guest is investigative journalist and author, Gerald Posner. His new book, Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America (Simon and Schuster), explores the fascinating and complex history of pharmaceutical and bio-tech industries. It is an industry like no other and a story like no other. Gerald Posner is... Read More
Angèle Christin, “Metrics at Work: Journalism and the Contested Meaning of Algorithms” (Princeton UP, 2020)
Angèle Christin
Metrics at Work
Journalism and the Contested Meaning of Algorithms
Princeton University Press, 2020

NBN Special SeriesNew Books in Critical TheoryNew Books in JournalismNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in Science & TechnologyNew Books in Science, Technology, and SocietyNew Books in SociologyNew Books in TechnologyPrinceton UP Ideas Podcast September 14, 2020 Dave O'Brien

How are algorithms changing journalism? In Metrics at Work: Journalism and the Contested Meaning of Algorithms (Princeton University Press), Angèle Christin, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Stanford University, explores the impact of metrics and analytics on the newsrooms of New York and Paris. Using an ethnography of... Read More
Jessica Pierce, “Run, Spot, Run: The Ethics of Keeping Pets” (U Chicago Press, 2016)
Jessica Pierce
Run, Spot, Run
The Ethics of Keeping Pets
University of Chicago Press, 2016

Animal StudiesNBN Special SeriesNew Books in Arts & LettersNew Books in Popular CultureNew Books in ScienceNew Books in Science & TechnologyNew Books in Science, Technology, and Society September 14, 2020 Mark Molloy

A life shared with pets brings many emotions. We feel love for our companions, certainly, and happiness at the thought that we’re providing them with a safe, healthy life. But there’s another emotion, less often acknowledged, that can be nearly as powerful: guilt. When we see our cats gazing wistfully... Read More
S. J. Potter, “Wireless Internationalism and Distant Listening: Britain, Propaganda, and the Invention of Global Radio, 1920-1939” (Oxford UP, 2020)
Simon J. Potter
Wireless Internationalism and Distant Listening
Britain, Propaganda, and the Invention of Global Radio, 1920-1939
Oxford University Press, 2020

New Books in British StudiesNew Books in CommunicationsNew Books in HistoryNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in Science & TechnologyNew Books in Science, Technology, and SocietyNew Books in World AffairsNew Books Network September 11, 2020 Mark Klobas

In the aftermath of the First World War, many people sought to use the new mass medium of radio as a tool for world peace, believing that it could promote understanding across national boundaries. In his book Wireless Internationalism and Distant Listening: Britain, Propaganda, and the Invention of Global Radio,... Read More
Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, “NeuroScience Fiction” (Benbella Books, 2020)
Rodrigo Quian Quiroga
NeuroScience Fiction

BenBella Books, 2020

New Books in Arts & LettersNew Books in FilmNew Books in NeuroscienceNew Books in PsychologyNew Books in Science & TechnologyNew Books in Science FictionNew Books in Science, Technology, and Society September 10, 2020 John Griffiths

In NeuroScience Fiction (Benbella Books, 2020), Rodrigo Quian Quiroga shows how the outlandish premises of many seminal science fiction movies are being made possible by new discoveries and technological advances in neuroscience and related fields. Along the way, he also explores the thorny philosophical problems raised as a result, diving into... Read More
David Haig, “From Darwin to Derrida: Selfish Genes, Social Selves, and the Meanings of Life” (MIT Press, 2020)
David Haig
From Darwin to Derrida
Selfish Genes, Social Selves, and the Meanings of Life
MIT Press, 2020

New Books in Big IdeasNew Books in Intellectual HistoryNew Books in Religion & FaithNew Books in ScienceNew Books in Science & TechnologyNew Books in Science, Technology, and SocietyNew Books in Secularism September 10, 2020 Carrie Lynn Evans

In his book, From Darwin to Derrida: Selfish Genes, Social Selves, and the Meanings of Life (MIT Press), evolutionary biologist David Haig explains how a physical world of matter in motion gave rise to a living world of purpose and meaning. Natural selection is a process without purpose, yet gives... Read More
Emily Anthes, “The Great Indoors” (Scientific American, 2020)
Emily Anthes
The Great Indoors
The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behavior, Health, and Happiness
Scientific American, 2020

New Books in ArchitectureNew Books in Arts & LettersNew Books in Science & TechnologyNew Books in Science, Technology, and Society September 9, 2020 Bryan Toepfer

Modern humans are an indoor species. We spend 90 percent of our time inside, shuttling between homes and offices, schools and stores, restaurants and gyms. And yet, in many ways, the indoor world remains unexplored territory. For all the time we spend inside buildings, we rarely stop to consider: How... Read More

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