UDM Libraries Book of the Week

Sand: the never-ending story By Michael Welland From individual grains to desert dunes, from the bottom of the sea to the landscapes of Mars, and from billions of years in the past to the future, this is the extraordinary story of one of nature’s humblest, most powerful, and most ubiquitous materials. Told by a geologist with a novelist’s sense of language and narrative, Sand examines the science–sand forensics, the physics of granular materials, sedimentology, paleontology and archaeology, planetary exploration–and at...

Detroit’s Thanksgiving Day Parade By Romie Minor, Laurie Anne Tamborino, and The Parade Company Since 1924, Detroit’­s annual Thanksgiving parade has delighted people of all ages. The parade’­s spectacular balloons, floats, bands, special guests, and holiday spirit have made it the most celebrated civic event in Detroit. This book commemorates the parade tradition with a look back at over 75 years of magic and enchantment. A unique assortment of historic photographs leads readers on a nostalgic journey down Woodward Avenue...

The matter of the gods: religion and the Roman Empire by Clifford Ando What did the Romans know about their gods? Why did they perform the rituals of their religion, and what motivated them to change those rituals? To these questions Clifford Ando proposes simple answers: In contrast to ancient Christians, who had faith, Romans had knowledge, and their knowledge was empirical in orientation. In other words, the Romans acquired knowledge of the gods through observation of the world, and...

My word!: plagiarism and college culture by Susan D. Blum Professors are reminded almost daily that many of today’s college students operate under an entirely new set of assumptions about originality and ethics. Practices that even a decade ago would have been regarded almost universally as academically dishonest are now commonplace. Is this development an indication of dramatic shifts in education and the larger culture? In a book that dismisses hand-wringing in favor of a rich account of how students...