August 13, 2013

R. B. Parkinson on Same-Sex Desire in the British Museum

The following post is by R. B. Parkinson, author of A Little Gay History: Desire and Diversity Across the World: My own academic research concerns Ancient Egyptian poetry from around 1800 BCE and because some of these works deal with...

August 9, 2013

Breaking Bad, Education Reform, Lovelace, and More from the University Press Blogs

Our weekly roundup of some of the best posts from the university press blogs: The debate about education “reform” is bound to heat up as kids start heading back to school. Writing on the Beacon Broadside, Dave Chura correctly points...

August 9, 2013

Is Cryptozoology Dangerous? Daniel Loxton and Donald Prothero Weigh in

“Loxton suspects that the cryptozoology literature may as easily and as often become a “gateway drug” for science literacy as it may be for attitudes of resistance to science” “The more the creationist cryptozoologists manage to damage the understanding of...

August 8, 2013

Interview with Daniel Loxton and Donald R. Prothero, authors of Abominable Science!

The following is an interview with Daniel Loxton and Donald R. Prothero, authors of Abominable Science!: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids. In the interview, Loxton and Prothero consider, among other things, the phenomenon of cryptozoology and...

August 8, 2013

Benjamin Alamar Discusses Sports Analytics

Today at 4:00 (EST) Benjamin Alamar, author of Sports Analytics: A Guide for Coaches, Managers, and Other Decision Makerswill take part in #cloudchat to discuss how Big Data, the cloud, and analytics are changing sports. Among the other guests will...

August 7, 2013

Yeti! Nessie!, Bigfoot! As Drawn by Daniel Loxton via Abominable Science

Even as they debunk the myths surrounding monsters like Big Foot and the Abominable Snowman, Daniel Loxton and Donald R. Prothero, the authors of Abominable Science: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids acknowledge their hold over us....

August 7, 2013

Salmon, Starkman, and Chittum on Bezos's Purchase of the Washington Post

What did some of the editors of The Best Business Writing think about Jeff Bezos’s purchase of The Washington Post, which will surely be one of the biggest business and journalism stories of the year. The Audit, a feature on...

August 6, 2013

Donald Prothero — Bigfoot DNA? It's Playing Possum

The following post by Donald Prothero, coauthor of Abominable Science!: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids, was originally published on the Skepticblog: Last February, the news and blogosphere was buzzing with excitement. Someone had claimed that they...

August 6, 2013

New Book Tuesday: Democracy and Islam in Indonesia, and More New Titles

The following books are now available: Democracy and Islam in Indonesia Edited by Mirjam Künkler and Alfred Stepan Promised Bodies: Time, Language, and Corporeality in Medieval Women’s Mystical Texts Patricia Dailey The Hungarians of Slovakia in 1938 Attila Simon

August 2, 2013

University Press Roundup

Our weekly roundup of the best posts from the blogs of academic publishers.

August 2, 2013

Dickson D. Despommier — Nature Has All the Answers

“Spock said it best: “Live long and prosper.” I believe that is everyone’s wish. I also believe that our parasites, despite their own selfish behavior, can help us do just that.”—Dickson D. Despommier In the concluding chapter to People, Parasites,...

August 1, 2013

How Parasites Almost Saved Yul Brenner's Life

The Six-Point Inspection, offer readers with very helpful capsule summaries and reviews of science and technology books exploring complex and nuanced ideas. For those of us who like to knock one back every so often, they also helpfully provide “cocktail...