UDM Libraries Book of the Week

Before Darwin: reconciling God and nature by Keith Thomson For 200 years before the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, findings in the sciences of the earth and of nature threatened religious belief based on the literal truth of the Bible. This book traces out the multiple conflicts and accommodations within religion and the new sciences through the writings of such heroes of the English Enlightenment as David Hume, Robert Hooke, John Ray, Erasmus Darwin (Charles’ grandfather), Thomas...

It’s bigger than hip hop: the rise of the post-hip-hop generation by M.K Asante, Jr. It’s Bigger Than Hip Hop takes a bold look at the rise of a generation that sees beyond the smoke and mirrors of corporate-manufactured rap and is building a movement that will change not only the face of pop culture, but the world.M. K. Asante, Jr., a passionate young poet, professor, filmmaker, and activist who represents this new movement, uses hip hop as a springboard...

Bounds of reason: game theory and the unification of the behavioral sciences by Herbert Gintis Game theory is central to understanding human behavior and relevant to all of the behavioral sciences–from biology and economics, to anthropology and political science. However, as The Bounds of Reason demonstrates, game theory alone cannot fully explain human behavior and should instead complement other key concepts championed by the behavioral disciplines. Herbert Gintis shows that just as game theory without broader social theory is merely...

Lords of finance: the bankers who broke the world by Liaquat Ahamed Liaquat Ahamed, a former World Bank economist and investment fund manager, began research on this book long before the current financial crisis, having no idea of the relevance it would have upon its publication. It is a history of the financial and economic turmoil that began in 1914 and didn’t really end until after World War II. He traces the development of this crisis through the lives and...