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Guide to All Recommended Books

Note: All books reviewed by Eye2theWorld are conveniently obtainable from amazon.com by clicking on an underlined title or image of the book cover.

The books we've presented are included to help you expand your information base, view things from a new perspective, and be more able to adjust to the sudden changes we find happening around each of us. We want to alert you to books that can benefit you and others at all ages, and to help you become a life long learner. -- ED

 

 

 

 Absolute Beginner's Guide to Building Robots (Paperback) by Gareth Branwyn

Finally, a robots book for people who don't know the first thing about robotics! Absolute Beginner's Guide to Robots is well-written, inviting, and action-packed, with engaging ideas and fascinating factoids about robots and robot-related arts and sciences. You are led gently into the intimidating world of robotics, but nearly 400 pages later, you emerge with a respectable knowledge of robot history, the major fields and "schools" of robotics today, and the basic skills and resources needed to create hobby robots. By the end of the book, you will be the proud owner of three bots, the first two of which demonstrate key robotic principles. The third is a programmable/expandable robot, which serves as a platform for future experimentation. And best of all, these robots are built with simple to get and inexpensive parts - many of which you already have around the house!
 

  

 

 

Schooling America,  How the Public Schools Meet the Nation's Changing Needs by Patricia Albjerg Graham

Here is a very comprehensive book on the history of America's
educational system. The comments below are from Howard Good's review in
Education Week, May 1, 2006...

"All the familiar figures are here—Charles William Eliot, John Dewey,
Maria Montessori, James Conant, Albert Shanker—and some not-so-familiar
ones, such as Leonard Ayres, author of the 1909 classic Laggards in Our
Schools. Graham, former dean of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education,
treats their ideas fairly, if briefly, and always within the context of
their times. . . ."

"The reason schools have been not entirely successful at carrying out
these shifting tasks, Graham suggests, may have less to do with the
sincerity or energy of educators’ efforts than with the unrealistic
nature of the assignments. Schools have been asked to accomplish
goals—promote virtue, guarantee justice and equality, stimulate
learning—that any institution in our gonzo culture, even a
better-organized and supported one, would struggle to fulfill."

  

 

 

 

Reviews by Amazon:

The Second Self
Computers and the Human Spirit -- Twentieth Anniversary Edition
by Sherry Turkle

In The Second Self, Sherry Turkle looks at the computer not as a "tool," but as part of our social and psychological lives; she looks beyond how we use computer games and spreadsheets to explore how the computer affects our awareness of ourselves, of one another, and of our relationship with the world. "Technology," she writes, "catalyzes changes not only in what we do but in how we think." First published in 1984, The Second Self is still essential reading as a primer in the psychology of computation. This twentieth anniversary edition allows us to reconsider two decades of computer culture--to (re)experience what was and is most novel in our new media culture and to view our own contemporary relationship with technology with fresh eyes. Turkle frames this classic work with a new introduction, a new epilogue, and extensive notes added to the original text.

  


 

CrazyBusy : Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! Strategies for Coping in a World Gone ADD
Written by Dr. Edward Hallowell
Hardcover, 256 pages

Are you too busy? Are you always running behind? Is your calendar loaded with more than you can possibly accomplish? Is it driving you crazy? You’re not alone. CrazyBusy–the modern phenomenon of brain overload–is a national epidemic. Without intending it or understanding how it happened, we’ve plunged ourselves into a mad..
 

  


There was a time in the not-too-distant past when large companies and powerful governments reigned supreme over the little guy. But new technologies are empowering individuals like never before, and the Davids of the world-the amateur journalists, musicians, and small businessmen and women-are suddenly making a huge economic and social impact.

In Army of Davids, author Glenn Reynolds, the man behind the immensely popular Instapundit.com, provides an in-depth, big-picture point-of-view for a world where the small guys matter more and more. Reynolds explores the birth and growth of the individual's surprisingly strong influence in: arts and entertainment, anti-terrorism, nanotech and space research, and much more.

 

  
 


Books from the Win Wenger collection are listed in issue 14, article 7.  They are not reviewed here and most are not available through amazon.com. They are highly recommended however, for insights and methods for improving  intelligence and learning ability for yourself or your family.  Visit our article for a listing or visit his web site for further information and ordering. Some of the ebooks are available to download free of charge.
 


Character Is Destiny by John McCain with Mark Salter

Editorial Reviews      From Publishers Weekly:  Starred Review.

As in last year's Why Courage Matters, McCain's latest volume uses biography as an illustration of virtue, but this time the senator broadens his palette significantly, telling 34 stories of heroes whose lives embody qualities ranging from honesty and loyalty to curiosity and enthusiasm. At the root of them all, he says, is a willingness to stay true to one's conscience against all challenges. Thus martyrs appear prominently, from Thomas More and Joan of Arc to Edith Cavell and Father Maximilian Kolbe, as do military heroes, including Pat Tillman, the pro football player whose love of country led him to enlist in the army shortly after 9/11.

 
 

But the pantheon is inclusive enough to hold Aung San Suu Kyi and Gandhi alongside Churchill and Eisenhower. Although he is reaching out to a younger readership, McCain's plain but sincere language does not condescend to his audience. He makes occasional oblique references to his experiences as a prisoner of war—describing, for example, how they reinforce his understanding of Victor Frankl's concept of dignity—but the only chapter centered on his ordeal highlights a furtive moment of kindness from a Vietnamese soldier. Amid much speculation concerning his plans for 2008, McCain has made a declaration of values that liberals can embrace as readily as conservatives.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
 

 

 The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth by Benjamin Friedman

Editorial Reviews: Amazon.com

Ever feel like you just can't get ahead with the bills? You're not alone. More than half of Americans believe the American dream has become impossible for most people to achieve. And two-thirds think this goal will be even harder for the next generation. (One reason for the gloominess--average full-time income has fallen 15 percent since 1975.) All this has Benjamin Friedman worried. In his hefty, 549-page tome, The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth, the acclaimed Harvard economist and advisor to the Federal Reserve Board says economic stagnation is bad for the moral health of a nation. Friedman, a former chair of Harvard's economics department, argues that economic growth is vital to social and political progress. Witness Hitler's Germany. Without growth, people look for answers in intolerance and fear. And that, Friedman warns, is where the U.S. is headed if the economic stagnation of the past three decades doesn't soon reverse. It's not enough for gross domestic product to rise, he says. Growth also has to be more evenly distributed. The rich shouldn't be the only ones getting richer.
 

  



  by James Paul Gee

What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy
 by James Paul Gee

A few short reviews from amazon.com:

"[Gee is] a serious scholar who is taking a lead in an emerging field."--Scott Carlson, Chronicle of Higher Education
"Am I a bad parent for letting [my child] play video games at 4? Not at all, according to Gee."--Jim Louderback, USA Weekend Magazine
"Rather than be reined in, today's successful game designers should be recognized as modern masters of learning theory..."--Mike Snider, Cincinnati Enquirer

Why Video Games are Good for Your Soul  by James Paul Gee

Excerpted from book description on amazon.com:
Why Video Games are Good for Your Soul is about pleasure and learning. Good video games allow people to create their own "music", to compose a symphony from their own actions, decisions, movements, and feelings. They allow people to become "pros", to feel and act like an expert soldier, city planner, world builder, thief, tough guy, wizard and a myriad of other things. They allow people to create order out of complexity, to gain and feel mastery, and to create new autobiographies, careers and histories.

 Situated Language and Learning; A Critique of Traditional Schooling
by James Paul Gee

Excerpted from book description on amazon.com:
Why do poor and minority students under-perform in school? Do computer games help or hinder learning? What can new research in psychology teach educational policy-makers?
In this major new book, James Gee tackles the 'big ideas' about language, literacy and learning, applying his findings to real problems facing educationalists today.
He tackles controversial debates such as the New Literacy Studies, and the idea that the academic language required to study, for example, Mathematics and the Sciences, is exclusionary and places unfair demands on poor and minority students. Gee also explores learning outside the classroom, looking at computer and video games and comparing the way a child interacts with others and technology to learn and play, with school-based learning in science classrooms.
 

  

 

  

Don't Bother Me, Mom--I'm Learning: How Computer and Video Games Are Preparing Your Kids for 21st Century Success and How You Can Help (Paperback)
 by Marc Prensky

 Marc Prensky is one of the most renowned creators of educational games for all age levels. His latest book is due to be released in the spring of 2006. We'd suggest your reading some of his background papers at the following site and then decide whether to order his book in advance of its publication date.

http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp
 

A Theory of Fun for Game Design, by Raph Koster
From the Author: In this book, I decided to tackle the questions of what games are, what fun is, and why games matter. A lot of people are exploring these questions now, and digital games have become big business. The time is ripe for us to dig deeper into the many questions that games raise. In the final analysis, I think that work and play aren't all that different, and A Theory of Fun explains why I came to that conclusion.

About the Author: Raph Koster is the Chief Creative Officer for Sony Online Entertainment. For many years he has served as a lead designer for teams building online virtual worlds. His first job was as a designer working on persistent worlds at Origin Systems, where he was the creative lead for Ultima Online, opening the online persistent world market to the general gaming public. At Sony Online Entertainment, he was the creative director for Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided.
 

  


Teacher Man by Frank McCourt

Anyone teaching, interested in education or the development of children should read Frank McCourt's story of his 30 years teaching in the New York City public school system. McCourt's background from poverty in Limerick, Ireland, to his rise as a best selling author (Angela's Ashes) gave him keen insights into what lies within each of his students and how the traditional big city educational structure and biases can hinder development of each student's potential. But he persevered by remaining true to himself. To quote from Amazon's review: " McCourt was too likable, too interested in the students' lives, and too willing to reveal himself for their benefit as well as his own." 


Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

Economics can be so much more than trying to understand the implications of statistical data that emits from Washington inner circles on a regular basis. Economics is really about developing a way of thinking. Levitt and Dubner help that process along with this most fascinating book.

They look at common issues, some large and some small, and often debunk what many think are obvious answers. Remember the old cliche, "There's a simple answer for any complex question, and it's usually all wrong!" Or how about that phrase we may have learned in Latin class, "Post hoc ergo propter hoc", "After this, therefore on account of this". Tain't necessarily so! Levitt and Dubner do a great job cracking several of these notions apart.
 

  
 

 The Singularity Is Near : When Humans Transcend Biology -   
 by Ray Kurzweil

From Booklist
Continuing the themes of The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999), Kurzweil further expounds his conviction that the human being will be succeeded by a superintelligent entity that is partly biological, partly computerized. Welcoming this prospect, and regarding it as inevitable, Kurzweil plunges into contemporary technological arenas, particularly genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics. Citing examples from medical devices to military weapons in which human control is increasingly detached from the autonomy of machines, Kurzweil stresses that trends are accelerating in terms of miniaturization and computational power. Eventually, smallness and speed reach a point of development, a "singularity," with implications Kurzweil says even he cannot imagine. Disinclined to categorize his views as dystopian or utopian, the author recognizes that his vision is profoundly threatening to concepts of human nature and individuality. A closing section on philosophy and ethics accordingly addresses objections to his optimistic predictions. An involved presentation, this is best for readers of the wide-angle, journalistic treatment Radical Evolution (2005), by Joel Garreau.           Gilbert Taylor
Copyright  American Library Association. All rights reserved

 

On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins

From Publishers Weekly
Hawkins designed the technical innovations that make handheld computers like the Palm Pilot ubiquitous. But he also has a lifelong passion for the mysteries of the brain, and he's convinced that artificial intelligence theorists are misguided in focusing on the limits of computational power rather than on the nature of human thought. He "pops the hood" of the neocortex and carefully articulates a theory of consciousness and intelligence that offers radical options for future researchers. "The ability to make predictions about the future... is the crux of intelligence," he argues. The predictions are based on accumulated memories, and Hawkins suggests that humanoid robotics, the attempt to build robots with humanlike bodies, will create machines that are more expensive and impractical than machines reproducing genuinely human-level processes such as complex-pattern analysis, which can be applied to speech recognition, weather analysis and smart cars. Hawkins presents his ideas, with help from New York Times science writer Blakeslee, in chatty, easy-to-grasp language that still respects the brain's technical complexity. He fully anticipates, even welcomes, the controversy he may provoke within the scientific community and admits that he might be wrong, even as he offers a checklist of potential discoveries that could prove him right. His engaging speculations are sure to win fans of authors like Steven Johnson and Daniel Dennett.
Copyright:  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

 		  
 

The Real Truth About Teens and Sex: by Sabrina Weill

From Publishers Weekly
Hooking up: two teenagers meeting at the mall, or having drunken sex at a party shortly after meeting for the first time? Both, actually. And the central activity at a "chicken party" couldn't be performed by anything with a beak. Weill, former editor of Seventeen, seeks to demystify these and other steamy topics in her third book on teens and sex. Writing for parents and educators, Weill preaches communication and education as keys to staving off unwanted pregnancies, health problems and other pitfalls of becoming prematurely sexually active. Her advice is practical, but the suggested dialogues she provides can come off as Pollyanna. ("I want you to promise me you won't fool around with someone when either you or the guy or the girl have been drinking.") Peppered with survey and sexual health factoids-42 percent of 15-year-olds know someone who's had sex at home while their parents were in the house, and 29 percent of 12 - 17-year-olds think that someone who does everything but have sex is not a virgin-parents looking for insight into what goes on in their kids' beds can find plenty of answers here, though some may be hesitant to take a magazine editor's advice.
Copyright: Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

 

The Shame of the Nation : The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America by Jonathan Kozol

From Publishers Weekly
Public school resegregation is a "national horror hidden in plain view," writes former educator turned public education activist Kozol (Savage Inequalities, Amazing Grace). Kozol visited 60 schools in 11 states over a five-year period and finds, despite the promise of Brown v. Board of Education, many schools serving black and Hispanic children are spiraling backward to the pre-Brown era. These schools lack the basics: clean classrooms, hallways and restrooms; up-to-date books in good condition; and appropriate laboratory supplies. Teachers and administrators eschew creative coursework for rote learning to meet testing and accountability mandates, thereby "embracing a pedagogy of direct command and absolute control" usually found in "penal institutions and drug rehabilitation programs."

As always, Kozol presents sharp and poignant portraits of the indignities vulnerable individuals endure. "You have all the things and we do not have all the things," one eight-year-old Bronx boy wrote the author. In another revealing exchange, a cynical high school student tells his classmate, a young woman with college ambitions who was forced into hair braiding and sewing classes, "You're ghetto-so you sew." Kozol discovers widespread acceptance for the notion that "schools in ghettoized communities must settle for a different set of academic and career goals" than schools serving middle-and upper-class children. Kozol tempers this gloom with hopeful interactions between energetic teachers and receptive children in schools where all is not lost. But these "treasured places" don't hide the fact, Kozol argues, that school segregation is still the rule for poor minorities, or that Kozol, and the like-minded politicians, educators and advocates he seeks out, believe a new civil rights movement will be necessary to eradicate it.
Copyright: Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 

  


Learning by Doing by Clark Aldrich

Amazon.com   Review
"Learning by Doing is the real thing, written by a man who has built simulations that actually work. Aldrich offers deep and lucid theory always accessibly packaged inside fully practical examples and applications. His new book is the best way available today to come to grips with changes that will eventually transform learning in our schools, workplaces, and society."
--James Paul Gee, author, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy; professor, University of Wisconsin at Madison
 

Millennials Rising by  Neil Howe and William Strauss

Building on the concepts they first developed in Generations and 13th Gen, Neil Howe and William Strauss now take on Generation Y, or, as they call them, the Millennials. Unlike their rather distressing portrait of the more reactive Generation X (the 13th Gen), or the negative stereotypes that abound about today's kids, this is all good news. According to Howe and Strauss, this group is poised to become the next great generation, one that will provide a more positive, group-oriented, can-do ethos. Huge in size as well as future impact, they're making a sharp break from Gen-X trends and a direct reversal of boomer youth behavior. Why? Because, as a nation, we've devoted more concern and attention their way than to any generation in, well, generations.
 



Generations : The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069,
 by Neil Howe, William Strauss

Reviewer: Andrew Wankum (Jefferson City, MO United States)

Strauss and Howe's theory of a generational cycle is amazing. However, even if you do not buy into the theory, Generations has other merits.

In trying to prove their theory, the authors have written a generational history of the American people. While most history books focus on great events, Generations examines the relationship between events and people. Much of their theory relies on an older generation shaping an event while the event shapes a younger generation.

I was very impressed how they showed how generations move through time and reacted differently to various historical events.

As for their theory, if they are right then the cycle will continue and we will be able judge for ourselves if events have followed the path that Straus and Howe predict.
 
Ten Steps to a Learning Organization
by Peter Kline and Bernard Saunders

 Reviewer: M. H. Bayliss
I've had to read many learning organizational books for my graduate studies -- this was one of my favorites out of maybe 10 I've read. One, it's fun to read! The examples are erudite, taken from other disciplines like science and math, not just business. The 10 steps are easy to follow, logical and well represented. The authors rely on concrete examples that everyone can relate to. If I had to train a group of people or point an organization towards achieving its goals as a learning organization, I would rely on this book as my bible. Great writing style, great examples -- overall one of the most enjoyable I've read!
 


Everything Bad Is Good For You      By Steven Johnson

From Publishers Weekly
Worried about how much time your children spend playing video games? Don't be, advises Johnson. Not only are they learning valuable problem-solving skills, they'd probably do better on an IQ test than you or your parents could at their age. Go ahead and let them watch more television, too, since even reality shows can function as "elaborately staged group psychology experiments" to stimulate rather than pacify the brain. With the same winning combination of personal revelation and friendly scientific explanation he displayed in last year's Mind Wide Open, Johnson shatters the conventional wisdom about pop culture as pabulum, showing how video games, television shows and movies have become increasingly complex. Furthermore, he says, consumers are drawn specifically to those products that require the most mental engagement, from small children who can't get enough of their favorite Disney DVDs to adults who find new layers of meaning with each repeated viewing of Seinfeld. Johnson lays out a strong case that what we do for fun is just as educational in its way as what we study in the classroom (although it's still worthwhile to encourage good reading habits, too). There's an important message here for every parent. One they should hear from the source before savvy kids (especially teens) try to take advantage of it. Agent, Lydia Wills at Paradigm. (May)
Copyright: Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
 

Youth, Pornography, and the Internet

From the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council, National Academies of Science. Dick Thornburgh and Herbert Lin, editors

Excerpt.  Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Internet is both a source of promise for our children and a source of concern. The promise is that the Internet offers such an enormous range of positive and educational experiences and materials for our children. Yet children online may be vulnerable to harm through exposure to sexually explicit materials, adult predators, and peddlers of hate. If the full educational potential of the Internet is to be realized for children, these concerns must be addressed.
 

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School
Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning

The above link goes to the National Academy Press web site where the book may be read for free online or purchased in softcover edition.

by John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking, editors
With additional materials from The Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice, M. Suzanne Donovan, John D. Bransford, and James W. Pellegrino, editors
Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the National Research Council
National Academy Press, 2000
ISBN: 0-309-07036-8
 

Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
 by Steven Johnson

. . . If you've searched for information of the Web, played a video game, or accepted a collect call using voice recognition software, you've already encountered the new world of artificial emergence. Provocative, engaging, and sophisticated, Emergence puts you on the front lines of a sweeping revolution in science and thought.




Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life
 by Steven Johnson

Brilliantly exploring today's cutting edge brain research, Mind Wide Open is an unprecedented journey into the essence of human personality, allowing readers to understand themselves and the people in their lives as never before.


The Everyday Genius: Restoring Children's Natural Joy of Learning-And Yours Too by Peter Kline

Now in its fifth printing, The Everyday Genius explains the most current thinking about the brain and the optimum conditions for learning. A practical guide for producing confident, eager learners at any age.  © Education Resources

 


the EVERYDAY GENIUS by Peter Kline

COLLAPSE by Jared Diamond

  Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond

An extraordinary synthesis of natural and social science brought to life by Jared Diamonds astonishing knowledge of history and the nuances and natures of civilizations.  James Robinson, Harvard university

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

A book review by Danny Yee - ? 1997   http://dannyreviews.com

Why is it that Europeans ended up conquering so much of the world? Or, as one of Diamond's New Guinean friends asks him, why do they have all the "cargo"? Despite all the contrary evidence from anthropology and human biology, many persist in attributing the differing political and economic successes of the world's peoples to biological, "racial" differences. Others appeal to cultural differences or to historical contingency. But Diamond sees the fundamental causes as environmental, resting ultimately on ecological differences between the continents. An extended argument for this, Guns, Germs and Steel is nothing less than a history of Homo sapiens on a scale of continents and millennia.


Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond


Educating the Net Generation

Diane G. Oblinger and James L. Oblinger, Editors

How do today's students differ from those of earlier generations? Diane and James Oblinger provide a detailed description of the activities and life styles of college students today, especially regarding their understanding and uses of technology.-- Editors' statement

The book is available in PDF.

Free Agent Nation      By Daniel Pink

Reviews for Free Agent Nation

"Helps open the way for a national dialogue about the future meaning of career and community." -- Orange County Register

"The most important business book you will read this year."
-- Washington Business Journal

"Excellent . . .Pink Astutely summarizes what this shift in employment means to millions of Americans . . . Highly recommended."  -- Library Journal




A Brief History of Nearly Everything               By Bill Bryson

Editorial Reviews; Amazon.com

From primordial nothingness to this very moment, A Short History of Nearly Everything reports what happened and how humans figured it out. To accomplish this daunting literary task, Bill Bryson uses hundreds of sources, from popular science books to interviews with luminaries in various fields. His aim is to help people like him, who rejected stale school textbooks and dry explanations, to appreciate how we have used science to understand the smallest particles and the unimaginably vast expanses of space. With his distinctive prose style and wit, Bryson succeeds admirably. Though A Short History clocks in at a daunting 500-plus pages and covers the same material as every science book before it, it reads something like a particularly detailed novel (albeit without a plot). Each longish chapter is devoted to a topic like the age of our planet or how cells work, and these chapters are grouped into larger sections such as "The Size of the Earth" and "Life Itself." Bryson chats with experts like Richard Fortey (author of Life and Trilobite) and these interviews are charming. But it's when Bryson dives into some of science's best and most embarrassing fights--Cope vs. Marsh, Conway Morris vs. Gould--that he finds literary gold. --Therese Littleton--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
 

The World Is Flat

A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century     By Thomas Friedman

Editorial Reviews from Amazon.com

Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim, in his new book, The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime, but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at least--are inevitably prey to.

What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This in itself should not be news to anyone. But the news that Friedman has to deliver is that just when we stopped paying attention to these developments--when the dot-com bust turned interest away from the business and technology pages and when 9/11 and the Iraq War turned all eyes toward the Middle East--is when they actually began to accelerate. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. (He doesn't forget the "mutant supply chains" like Al-Qaeda that let the small act big in more destructive ways.) Friedman tells his eye-opening story with the catchy slogans and globe-hopping anecdotes that readers of his earlier books and his New York Times columns will know well, and also with a stern sort of optimism. He wants to tell you how exciting this new world is, but he also wants you to know you're going to be trampled if you don't keep up with it. His book is an excellent place to begin. --Tom Nissley
 



Guiding Lights by Eric Liu

"Through inspiring examples and luminous prose, Eric Liu reminds us that we have the capacity to be both teachers and students throughout our lives. The book distills the essence of learning and mentorship, and offers the prospect of self-discovery to all who listen to its Guiding Lights."    Carolyn Kennedy

 


A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink

"This book is a miracle. One the one hand, it provides a completely original and profound analysis of the most pressing personal and economic issue of the days ahead." How the gargantuan changes wrought by technology and globalization are going to impact the way we live and work and imagine our world. Then Dan Pink provides an equally original and profound and practical guidebook for survival "and joy" in this topsy-turvy environment. I was moved and disturbed and exhilarated all at once. A few years ago, Peter Drucker wondered whether the modern economy would ever find its Copernicus. With this remarkable book, we just may have discovered our Copernicus for the brave new age that's accelerating into being."
 



Why  America's Children Can't Think by Peter Kline
From Booklist...

According to teacher and education researcher Kline, American children can't think because they haven't been properly taught to read. Too much reading education, as measured by standardized tests, focuses on comprehension rather than interpretation, which Kline considers a better measure of the ability to think. From research, and his own experience as a slow reader, "he read at the fourth-grade level while in junior college", Kline offers a different approach to reading that encourages engagement and thinking. The first part of his book focuses on reading development issues; the second part focuses on comprehension and interpretation. He reviews research on physiological differences in learning development, varying learning styles, pedagogical approaches to teaching reading, and use of visualization and imagination in reading. Kline's own obvious love of reading makes this informative book particularly enjoyable as well as helpful to parents, teachers, and others interested in literacy.
    - Vanessa Bush
Copyright  American Library Association. All rights reserved

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