Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About (Center for the Study of Language and Information

Book Description

How does a computer scientist understand infinity? What can probability theory teach us about free will? Can mathematical notions be used to enhance one's personal understanding of the Bible?

Perhaps no one is more qualified to address these questions than Donald E. Knuth, whose massive contributions to computing have led others to nickname him "The Father of Computer Science"--and whose religious faith led him to understand a fascinating analysis of the Bible called the 3:16 project. In this series of six spirited, informal lectures, Knuth explores the relationships between his vocation and his faith, revealing the unique perspective that his work with computing has lent to his understanding of God.

His starting point is the 3:16 project, an application of mathematical "random sampling" to the books of the Bible. The first lectures tell the story of the project's conception and execution, exploring its many dimensions of language translation, aesthetics, and theological history. Along the way, Knuth explains the many insights he gained from such interdisciplinary work. These theological musings culminate in a surprising final lecture tackling the ideas of infinity, free will, and some of the other big questions that lie at the juncture of theology and computation.

Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About, with its charming and user-friendly format--each lecture ends with a question and answer exchange, and the book itself contains more than 100 illustrations--is a readable and intriguing approach to a crucial topic, certain to edify both those who are serious and curious about their faiths and those who look at the science of computation and wonder what it might teach them about their spiritual world.

Includes "Creativity, Spirituality, and Computer Science," a panel discussion featuring Harry Lewis, Guy L. Steele, Jr., Manuela Veloso, Donald E. Knuth, and Mitch Kapor.

Customer Reviews:

Illuminating Synthesis of Reason and Faith. Buy it and read it!.......2006-05-24

`Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About' by the distinguished computer scientist, Donald E. Knuth, professor emeritus at Stanford, is a collection of six lectures given at MIT as a part of the "God and Computers" project started in 1997 by Anne Foerst, a faculty member at the MIT Artificial Intelligence lab.

For those who are not familiar with Donald Knuth's name, I can approximate his renown within his speciality as being comparable in stature to Bob Dylan in contemporary folk music or Julia Child in the world of American culinary writing. His professional accomplishments include the foremost texts on the analysis of computer algorithms and a groundbreaking creation of software for computerized typesetting. He is also a lifelong devout Lutheran who has written a prominent synthesis of biblical texts and calligraphy, entitled `3:16'. Much of this book takes us behind the scenes of how this book came to be. I will quickly warn you that as insightful as Knuth's lectures are, the introduction by Anne Foerst and the symposium at the end are not of comparable quality.

This volume is a great affirmation of how a person can not only embrace scientific and logical disciplines and still be a devout Christian. I am really happy to find Knuth especially beginning his fourth lecture with a reference to that great forgotten American philosopher, Charles Saunders Peirce (the inventor of Pragmatism) and how Peirce divided `normative sciences' into the rational, the ethical, and the aesthetic. Not only does this show that matters of religion, closely allied with the aesthetic, are really a different world of discourse than either logic or questions of right and wrong. (The distinction between morality and religion is an important matter, but not an issue in this book.) The main thrust of this distinction explains why scientific or mathematical discourse is actually not directly relevant to matters of faith, just as matters of faith are not directly relevant to issues of scientific truth and its theories.

Logic and Science have locked horns with faith for centuries with all sorts of mistaken concepts such as the proofs of the existence of God done by the Scholastics and the Great Clockmaker of Newton's contemporaries have fallen by the wayside. The first is a mistaken attempt of church scholars' shoring up faith by reason. The second is the mistaken attempt of scientists to rationalize God in the mechanistic world of Newtonian physics. Knuth skirts all of these misguided efforts and provides a wealth of new perspectives on how faith in God can live comfortably with a total embrace of modern physical science, mathematics, and logic.

The first lecture introduces Knuth's ideas behind his 3:16 project that began as a discussion group at his church on the 59 verse 16s in the third chapter of books in the Protestant bible. The choice of 3:16 is almost random. The primary determinant was that he wanted to be sure that there was at least one important verse among those discussed, and John 3:16 is about as important as you can get to Christian doctrine.

The second lecture reveals many important and interesting aspects of random numbers in modern mathematics and computer science. For the non-computer theorist, surprisingly, a random sampling algorithm often arrives at a solution to a problem much faster than a brute force examination of all possibilities. This liberates us from the mechanistic worldview and shows how chance and its important human facility, free will are a lot closer than one may think. And, Christianity simply would not make sense without the reality of free will!

The third lecture deals with some of the many problems arising in the translation of biblical texts. The most immediate lesson I take from this is to reinforce my skepticism of all Christian groups who put an uncritical faith in literal Biblical statements. Knuth reflects on several of his featured verses where a difference in translation literally changes the meaning of the text in English. This explains why Knuth says that his translating these verses for himself was one of the very smartest things he ever did.

The fourth lecture deals with aesthetics and the importance of beauty in the effective presentation of ideas, especially ideas from religious texts such as the Bible. His source for this chapter is the stories behind the creation of his 59 pieces of calligraphic art commissioned to illustrate the 59 verses. The artistic rendition of each verse was done by a famous and talented calligrapher (Note that one of Knuth's two major accomplishments is in the computerization of fonts and typesetting.).

The fifth lecture states what it is about God that Knuth learned from his 3:16 project. I will attempt to summarize Knuth's findings with two statements. The first is that the payoff of faith is not the `eternal life' promised at the end of our physical existence, but the active search for the eternal in our lives on earth. The second is that the primary objective of the search is to do their best to be in harmony with God's wishes.' The fact that the second objective requires a lifelong search is more than adequately explained by the fuzziness in interpretation of the not entirely perfect translations from the Aramaic and Greek texts with conflicting and imperfect sources.

The sixth lecture deals with God and computer science, as well as God and other sciences such as quantum physics. While the primary subject of earlier logical tools was based on randomization, this lecture was based on the effect of very, very, very large numbers and our concepts of the universe, and how that all fits with our notions of God.

I'm particularly tickled by Knuth's ending with a reference to Leibniz' notion that we are living in the best of all possible worlds, as Herr Leibniz was so easily parodied (by Voltaire, for example) that his good point has become a comic book caption.

This is an eye-opening book that celebrates Christian faith while making no compromises with logic.

Things that society rarely talks about.......2005-05-22

In modern, Western, pluralistic, secular culture, it is currently still difficult for many to understand the interconnectedness of "science" and what is often called "religion", and to discuss many of the topics included in the text of this Knuth work. However, while this book could have been titled "Things that Society Rarely Talks About", the text specifically centers around the computer scientist and the software engineer. While the majority of "Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About" is in essence a transcript of Knuth's lectures at MIT, a transcript of a panel discussion also included in the concluding pages of the book, as well as the Q & A sessions following each of the 6 lectures, provide societal context in that the thoughts of other thinkers in this field are given argueably equal treatment alongside that of Knuth. I would argue that the content of the fourth lecture is a bit too much centered around the author's work on "3:16", but I found this material fascinating, especially in light of Knuth's third lecture on the difficulties of natural language translation and how this difficulty is not as prominent in computer science. As a software engineer, I consider this book to be an extensive (although sometimes incoherent) expansion to the occasional spiritual comments made by Frederick Brooks in his classic software engineering work, "The Mythical Man Month" - more specifially, the pages Brooks wrote on the "joy of the craft" in which he compares the joy of the software development process to "God's delight in making things", and his comments on "the delight of working in such a tractable medium" where one is "only slightly removed from pure thought-stuff". Guy Steele, of Sun Microsystems, notes in the panel discussion that "...the study of computer science, as we know it, is a human activity, so far; human activity is spiritual, at least in part; and therefore the study of computer science is spiritual, at least in part. This may seem to beg the question. My point is that by human activity I mean to imply activity with purpose. I want to talk here about purpose. Why do computer science? Because it's fun? Because it is beautiful? To earn enough money to buy mango ice cream at Toscanini's [an ice cream parlor near MIT]? To improve the lot of humankind? To serve God? For me, it is ALL of the above." Knuth's lectures, the Q & A, and the panel discussion are all presented in what appears to be a sincere discussion of related topics that many would rather not discuss. Both Knuth and the members of the panel admit that they do not have all the answers, and that there is some confusion. For example, a self-proclaimed "devout agnostic", Mitch Kapor, who designed Lotus 1-2-3, here discusses that during the 1970s he became a teacher of transcendental meditation - of which he describes it as a "...very interesting experience. I can tell you that people really don't levitate. In fact, it is a cult, at least if you get highly involved with it. I have a lot of bruises acquired along the way from some of my involvement. I am kind of a Buddhist fellow traveler, in the sense that I have a lot of affinity for a Buddhist's way of thinking; but I just can't seem to make it in any organized religion, including Buddhism". So while Knuth is grounded in the Christian worldview, and is not a relativist, he as well as everyone else participating in this discussion has questions that have no certain answers - this fact must of course be one of the underlying premises of this book.

Great Complement to 3:16, albeit not quite Orthogonal.......2005-04-03

What trait does Knuth think he has in common with Bill Clinton? Are the assumptions of Chaos Theorists too real? Does Godel's Incompleteness trump Heisenberg's Uncertainty in discussions of faith? These and other nerdy nuggets are skillfully woven into Knuth's Alfred E. Neumann-meets-Albert Einstein excursion into theology.

As with Knuth's technical writing, I was lulled into a false sense of complacency by Knuth's colloquial style and sense of humor. While this book is a transcription of lectures as well as Question & Answer sessions given by Knuth @ MIT discussing his modus operandi for writing _3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated_ , it was a much more thought provoking complement to _3:16_ than I had expected. For example, framing the discussion of man's Free Will and God's Omnipotence from the perspective of the Complexity Theory (from the Father of CT no less) sheds fresh light on this age old debate for theologians and philosophers alike.

Knuth has the gift of being a serious scientist without taking himself too seriously and in the end, scientists may discover that Douglas Adams is right and that the Answer to the Ultimate Question really is 42. Yet, with this book, Knuth beckons us to enjoy the ride. And to keep asking our own questions.

Great for Christian Computer Scientists.......2003-11-13

This is (arguably) great for Christian computer scientists, but most others will not be interested.

In college, I became familiar with Knuth's works and they deserve the respect they have achieved. Being a Christian myself and finding that Knuth had given these seminars, I was happy to read the book.

Unfortunately, it merely skims the surface of his beliefs. However, there are many items just beneath the surface that more experienced Christians may see. Still, there was not enough insight to garner a five-star rating.

Yes, it is a polished transcription of the six seminars, but it is very easy to read. At the end of each, there was a question-and-answer period, which probably help shed as much light as the lecture itself.

Yes, it is mostly about his work in "3:16", but that really gets into his religious journey. That is where part of the problem is -- it is more about the work and less about thoughts or convictions.

There is a round-table discussion at the end, which was separate from Knuth's seminars. Knuth says little in it and I would not miss it if it were not there. However, it is good from a historical perspective.

For most, especially non-Christians or religion or philosophy majors, this may be of little interest. Recommended, for the right audience.

I CAN TELL YOU WHETHER OR NOT YOU WILL ENJOY THIS ELEGANTLY........2003-10-23

If you are a mathematician or computer scientist who has an interest in the Bible or religion, this is stimulating reading from an unexpected source. If you are a mathematician or computer scientist with NO interest in the Bible or religion, skip this. For myself, after reading the other reviews, I found the discussion of Knuth's 3:16 project interesting and not a commercial. (you could work it the other way too: maybe if you buy this book, you DON'T have to buy 3:16). I admit to being a little disappointed by Lecture 6, but after the build-up, I'm not sure anything would have lived up to my expectations. Recommended (as long as you observe my caveat above.)

The Economic Way of Thinking (10th Edition)
Average customer rating:

Nice effort, but falls way short.

Enjoyable.

One of the best Economic textbooks I've read

Comparative Advantage in Price Theory

Outstanding

The Economic Way of Thinking (10th Edition)
Paul Heyne , Peter J. Boettke , and David L. Prychitko
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

The Economic Way of Thinking develops the basic principles of micro- and macroeconomic analysis, and rigorously employs them as tools rather than ends unto themselves. This book introduces readers to a method of reasoning; to think like an economist—teaching through example and application. It even teaches by showing learners how not to think, by exposing them to the errors implicit in much popular reasoning about economic events. Chapter topics include opportunity cost and the supply of goods, supply and demand, profit and loss, competition and monopoly, price searching, competition and government policy, the distribution of income, markets and government, the overall performance of economic systems, the supply of money, monetary and fiscal policies, national policies and international exchange, employment and unemployment, promoting economic growth, and the limitations of economics. For individuals seeking a deeper understanding of the effects of world events on the economy and vice versa.

Customer Reviews:

Nice effort, but falls way short........2006-04-27

I was reading the reviews for this book, both 11th edition and 10th edition, and was surprised to be the only reviewer that disagrees with the quality of this book. The authors tried to teach Economics in a totally different way, no graphs, no tables, no data, etc. and failed miserably.
The fact that there aren't any graphs, pie charts, etc. makes it hard to follow especially if you're more a visual person. It has a hokey "down home" feel to it that doesn't connect, except in a geeky-dork way. And the book is disorganized in terms of the material covered.
In short, the book is written like a novel or a story, NOT as a textbook. If you enjoyed "The Worldly Philosophers" by Robert Heilbronner, you'll like reading this book. But to use it as an Economics textbook, BIG MISTAKE. THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST TEXTBOOKS I HAVE EVER SEEN IN ANY COLLEGE SUBJECT OUT THERE.
I give it an F or 1 out of 5.

Enjoyable........2006-01-09

I used this book as an essential study material for my MacroEconomics course at UCBerkeley. I enjoyed it immensely.

The book is organized into 22 chapters and takes you through what could be termed as a more of libertarian, laissez faire form of markets.

It begins with the assertion that it is very difficult to approach the process of economic exchange with an open mind. And that there is a need for a framework. And I agree. Then it gives you a typical example of rush-hour traffic to illustrate and then explain the importance of "agreement on certain rules" in order to ensure co-operation which facilitates transaction.

And then it takes you through the supply and demand PROCESS (rather than STRUCTURE), Elasticity, Price-searchers/takers, MR/MC, importance of price discrimination, price-controls (and perils thereof) etc and then back to the macroeconomic issues (role of Fed, Government, Treasury, inflation, externalities, regulation).

This book (as its title indicates) tends to blur the boundries between Macro and Micro.

Some of the salient features -
1) Uses more enonomics and less mathematics (Paul Krugman's approach).
2) A lot of emphasis on Marginalism.
3) Claims to be simple (e.g. The preface opens up with an important question - Why are so many introductory economics courses taught as if every student is going on to acquire a PhD in the subject?) And the book tends to live by the expectation.
4) The tone is a lot more prescriptive that you could imagine.
5) Maintains that the term Monopoly is very hard to define.
6) Goes close to Austrian school.
7) All in all approaches the economic theory as a process rather than structure.

I will certainly recommend this one to a beginner. And if you are more of left-of-center then this one is for you if you want to understand the other side of the argument.

One of the best Economic textbooks I've read.......2004-07-14

Heyne begins w/ the first principles of economics: how human beings interact on a mass scale, and the positive consequences of those actions, and the negative consequences of interferring w/ voluntary human interaction. He then carries the reader through the traditional economic concepts of Supply and Demand, Specialized Labor, Externalities...all focused through the lens of the "Economic Way of Thinking".

Make no mistake--this book is a substantive, philosophical refutation of "Statism". Heyne hits Comparative Advantage, Price Theory, Rule of Law, and Private Property hard (in the affirmative), and if you're for tariffs, regulated prices, arbitrary Gov't intervention, and public property, your views won't be validated. All the more reason for you to read this book, and understand why so many stamp their foot down against politicized economic policies that superficially sound and feel so good. Heyne's lesson is to think on a macro-scale, think about the unintended consequences of mass social change, for that is the Economic Way of Thinking.

Comparative Advantage in Price Theory.......2004-04-24

Heyne's text explains what it explains well. It is a good Freshman level price theory text. Its strengths are in explaining informational and coordination issues in markets. It does more to explain how the price system works as a communications network than any other text I have seen. It also explains the issues of property rights and transactions costs clearly.

When it comes to the public sector, it is vastly better than many other texts. There are other texts, like Gwartney and Stroup, and Ekelund and Tollinson, which are arguably better at explaining the public sector.

The biggest weaknesses of this book are in macro and international economics. Its chapters on money are ok, but it explains far too little about trade cycles. It has some good material on growth, but could explain more and in more detail. The chapter on international economics could go further as well. The shortcomings of this book likely reduce its sales. So, it seems that the marginal benefits of such revisions exceed their marginal costs.

Heyne is no longer around to revise this book, but the co-authors who took over for him could improve this book greatly for the next edition.

Outstanding.......2002-08-07

Dr. Heyne was an outstanding professor. In fact, the most memorable and influential of my college "career." You will understand from reading his books how brilliant he was.

Microeconomics for MBAs: The Economic Way of Thinking for Managers

Average customer rating:

Out of the box thinking
A Must Have for Every MBA
In-depth coverage of the subject matter.
Exceptional and recommended

Microeconomics for MBAs: The Economic Way of Thinking for Managers
Richard B. McKenzie , and Dwight R. Lee
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Book Description

This is the first textbook in microeconomics written exclusively for MBA students. McKenzie/Lee minimizes attention to mathematics and maximizes attention to intuitive economic thinking. The text is structured clearly and accessibly: Part I of each chapter outlines the basic theory and Part II applies this basic theory to management issues. 'Perspective' sections in each chapter provide a new line of argument or different take on a business or policy issue, and carefully chosen topics and review questions are designed to spark lively and instructive debates. The accompanying DVD contains modules of Professor McKenzie talking informally with students, and elucidates complex lines of argument as well as acting as a revision aid. Throughout the book, McKenzie and Lee aim to infuse students with the economic way of thinking in the context of a host of problems that MBA students, as future managers of real-world firms, will find relevant to their career goals.

Customer Reviews:

Out of the box thinking.......2006-10-23

We are currently using this book in our EMBA program. Yes, it is not the same text books that we are used to but it shows new ways, microeconomic ways, of thinking which can be applied to our daily business and life.

A Must Have for Every MBA.......2006-07-06

I'm in an executive MBA program and this text was extremely valuable. I highly recommend it.

In-depth coverage of the subject matter........2006-07-01

As an MBA student learning Economics, I found Dr. McKenzie's textbook and video modules to be an outstanding way to learn. The videos allowed me to conveniently review, pause, rewind and re-review specific points. The textbook was also very useful, and complemented the video modules well by providing in-depth coverage of the subject matter.

I'd recommend the course material to any MBA studying economics.

Exceptional and recommended.......2006-07-01

Professor McKenzie's book and lecture turned over a new leaf. His book is effective because he talks about scenarios (economical or non-economical) that the MBA reader can relate to. Who would have thought that microeconomics can be applied to the hiring process of a professor from 6 mile South Carolina to work at La Jolla, CA???? Anyhow, Professor McKenzie's course and text is exceptional and I recommend it to any economics enthusiast, MBA or non-MBA.

Microeconomics: Economic Way of Thinking

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Microeconomics: Economic Way of Thinking
Paul T. Heyne
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Microeconomics - The Economic Way of Thinking

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Microeconomics - The Economic Way of Thinking
Paul T., Heyne
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Microeconomics for MBAs: The Economic Way of Thinking for Managers.: An article from: Business Economics

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Microeconomics for MBAs: The Economic Way of Thinking for Managers.: An article from: Business Economics
Gerald L. Musgrave
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
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This digital document is an article from Business Economics, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 1196 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Microeconomics for MBAs: The Economic Way of Thinking for Managers.
Author: Gerald L. Musgrave
Publication: Business Economics (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 42 Issue: 1 Page: 75(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Law Sports at Gray's Inn: Including Shakespeare's Connection With the Inn's of Court, the Origin of the Capias Utlegatum re Coke and Bacon, Francis Bacon's Connection With
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Law Sports at Gray's Inn: Including Shakespeare's Connection With the Inn's of Court, the Origin of the Capias Utlegatum re Coke and Bacon, Francis Bacon's Connection With
Basil Brown
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Book Description

Brown, Basil. Law Sports at Gray's Inn (1594) Including Shakespeare's connection with the Inns of Court, the origin of the Capias Utlegatum re Coke and Bacon, Francis Bacon's connection with Warwickshire, together with a reprint of the Gesta Grayorum. New York: [Privately Printed by the Author], 1921. xciv, 188, 88, [9] pp. LCCN 99-049829. ISBN 1-58477-056-2. Reprinted 2002 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. $85. In this interesting volume Brown examines the law in the writings of Shakespeare and Bacon. Includes the text of the hard-to-find Gesta Grayorum, of which Bacon was thought to be one of the authors. Brown also describes the origin of the Capias Utlegatum insult offered to Bacon by Queen Elizabeth's attorney general, Sir Edward Coke.

Law sports at Gray's Inn (1594): Including Shakespeare's connection with the Inn's of court, the origin of the capias utlegatum re Coke and Bacon, Francis ... with a reprint of the Gesta Grayorum,

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Law sports at Gray's Inn (1594): Including Shakespeare's connection with the Inn's of court, the origin of the capias utlegatum re Coke and Bacon, Francis ... with a reprint of the Gesta Grayorum,
Basil Brown
Manufacturer: [Priv. print. by the author]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

During the past few decades, characteristics of the countryside traditionally regarded as immutable have begun to change substantially. This book collects a variety of impressions of these changes in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. It explores the issues of continuity and change associated with the operation of demographic, socio-economic and political processes as they reshape the countryside. An valuable survey for students and researchers in rural studies and geography, the book is also an indispensable guide for policy makers and professionals concerned with the management and planning of rural resources and the countryside.

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Art and Technics
Lewis Mumford
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Lewis Mumford -- architectural critic, theorist of technology, urbanologist, city planner, cultural critic, historian, biographer, and philosopher -- was the author of more than thirty influential books, many of which expounded his views on the perils of urban sprawl and a society obsessed with "technics."

Featuring a new introduction by Casey Nelson Blake, this classic text provides the essence of Mumford's views on the distinct yet interpenetrating roles of technology and the arts in modern culture. Mumford contends that modern man's overemphasis on technics has contributed to the depersonalization and emptiness of much of twentieth-century life. He issues a call for a renewed respect for artistic impulses and achievements. His repeated insistence that technological development take the Human as its measure -- as well as his impassioned plea for humanity to make the most of its "splendid potentialities and promise" and reverse its progress toward anomie and destruction -- is ever more relevant as the new century dawns.

Banana Cultures: Agriculture, Consumption, and Environmental Change in Honduras and the United States

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Big Business
Banana for Banana Cultures

Banana Cultures: Agriculture, Consumption, and Environmental Change in Honduras and the United States
John Soluri
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Bananas, the most frequently consumed fresh fruit in the United States, have been linked to Miss Chiquita and Carmen Miranda, "banana republics," and Banana Republic clothing stores—everything from exotic kitsch, to Third World dictatorships, to middle-class fashion. But how did the rise in banana consumption in the United States affect the banana-growing regions of Central America? In this lively, interdisciplinary study, John Soluri integrates agroecology, anthropology, political economy, and history to trace the symbiotic growth of the export banana industry in Honduras and the consumer mass market in the United States.

Beginning in the 1870s when bananas first appeared in the U.S. marketplace, Soluri examines the tensions between the small-scale growers, who dominated the trade in the early years, and the shippers. He then shows how rising demand led to changes in production that resulted in the formation of major agribusinesses, spawned international migrations, and transformed great swaths of the Honduran environment into monocultures susceptible to plant disease epidemics that in turn changed Central American livelihoods. Soluri also looks at labor practices and workers' lives, changing gender roles on the banana plantations, the effects of pesticides on the Honduran environment and people, and the mass marketing of bananas to consumers in the United States. His multifaceted account of a century of banana production and consumption adds an important chapter to the history of Honduras, as well as to the larger history of globalization and its effects on rural peoples, local economies, and biodiversity.

Customer Reviews:

Big Business.......2007-05-14

To us they are just bananas, but to Honduras they were a major source of income until big business got involved. If you want to see how big business can destroy a source of income for many small farmers and destroy the local environment, then this is the book for you. Read about how promises were made but not kept by big business. See how business "leaders" were doing just fine but local workers were struggling to make a living. Healthcare or benefits, for the local worker, why? The struggle goes on for the local Honduran people while the banana business just moved on.

Banana for Banana Cultures.......2006-03-26

I very much enjoyed this book! It offers some interesting insights into the history of banana production in Honduras from an agro-ecological perspective. The impact of pathogens on patterns of production is not often highlighted, and this book does just that.

However, this work also attempts to do too much and in the end (in this case, quite literally -- in the Conclusion), it doesn't do enough of all that it sets out to do. A tighter analysis on the role of the state in banana production would have improved the overall analysis. A sharper historical perspective would have also served this purpose. Furthermore, a wider discussion of the issue of memory in the Chapter on Prision Verde would have made a discussion of collective memory add a new and interesting dimension to the overall project.

In sum, the book is very interesting and the moves the author makes (including the literary analysis, as well as his highlighting the trials of producers in the face of plant diseases, etc.) result in making this work a very interesting read! This book is worth having in any collection of works on Central America!

Natures of Colonial Change: Environmental Relations in the Making of the Transkei (New African Histories)

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Natures of Colonial Change: Environmental Relations in the Making of the Transkei (New African Histories)
Jacob A. Tropp
Manufacturer: Ohio University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Sorcery and Sovereignty: Taxation, Power, and Rebellion in South Africa, 1880-1963

ASIN: 0821416995

Book Description

In this groundbreaking study, Jacob A. Tropp explores the interconnections between negotiations over the environment and an emerging colonial relationship in a particular South African context— the Transkei—subsequently the largest of the notorious “homelands” under apartheid. In the late nineteenth century, South Africa’s Cape Colony completed its incorporation of the area beyond the Kei River, known as the Transkei, and began transforming the region into a labor reserve. It simultaneously restructured popular access to local forests, reserving those resources for the benefit of the white settler economy. This placed new constraints on local Africans in accessing resources for agriculture, livestock management, hunting, building materials, fuel, medicine, and ritual practices. Drawing from a diverse array of oral and written sources, Tropp reveals how bargaining over resources—between and among colonial officials, chiefs and headmen, and local African men and women—was interwoven with major changes in local political authority, gendered economic relations, and cultural practices as well as with intense struggles over the very meaning and scope of colonial rule itself. Natures of Colonial Change sheds new light on the colonial era in the Transkei by looking at significant yet neglected dimensions of this history: how both “colonizing” and “colonized” groups negotiated environmental access among and between each other, and how such negotiations helped shape the broader making and meaning of life in the new colonial order.

Technology And International Transformation: The Railroad, the Atom Bomb, And the Politics of Technological Change (Suny Series in Global Politics)

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interesting parallels

Technology And International Transformation: The Railroad, the Atom Bomb, And the Politics of Technological Change (Suny Series in Global Politics)
Geoffrey Lucas Herrera
Manufacturer: State University of New York Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0791468674

Book Description

Examines the interrelation between technology and international politics since the nineteenth century.

Customer Reviews:

interesting parallels.......2006-10-20

Herrera gives us a good recount of the development of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project. Where the narrative is not so much on the science and engineering problems that were tackled, but on how the development was closely interwoven with the politics of its time. The broad story is well known, and has been told numerous times before. How World War 2 and fear of Nazi Germany led many scientists in the US to put aside any qualms about nuclear weapons, and work feverishly to build the first atomic bomb. And many of the subsequent ones.

Herrera continues the story of how after the war ended, the knowledge gained profoundly influenced American and international politics.

What is relatively new in this book is how the author shows many parallels with the development of railways in the 19th century, throughout the world. In the US, this opened up the continent, and helped bind the new nation together.

Breaking New Ground: Fifty Years of Change in Northern Ireland's Agriculture

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Breaking New Ground: Fifty Years of Change in Northern Ireland's Agriculture
Derek W. Alexander
Manufacturer: Blackstaff Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0856407135

Capitalism, Socialism, and Technology: A Comparative Study of Cuba and Jamaica (Third World Books)

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Capitalism, Socialism, and Technology: A Comparative Study of Cuba and Jamaica (Third World Books)
Charles Edquist
Manufacturer: Zed Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0862323932

Class, Community, and Collective Action: Social Change in Two British Coalfields, 1850-1926

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Class, Community, and Collective Action: Social Change in Two British Coalfields, 1850-1926
David Gilbert
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0198273649

Continuity and Change in Rural Russia: A Geographical Perspective

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Continuity and Change in Rural Russia: A Geographical Perspective
G. V. Ioffe , and Tatyana G. Nefedova
Manufacturer: Westview Pr (Short Disc)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Ioffe and Nefedova provide a geographical perspective of Russia in modern times.

Crisis or Change: The Concept of Crisis in the Light of Agrarian Structural Reorganization in Late Medieval England

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Crisis or Change: The Concept of Crisis in the Light of Agrarian Structural Reorganization in Late Medieval England
Nils Hybel
Manufacturer: Aarhus Universitetsforlag
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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