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New Nonfiction Coming in December |
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Click on the title to check availability, and to log in and place holds online. To place holds by phone, please call us at (708) 366-5205. |
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Progress: How One Idea Built Civilization and Now Threatens to Destroy It by Samuel Miller McDonaldFor readers of Thomas Piketty, David Graeber, and Jared Diamond: A bold, provocative, wide-ranging argument about the human idea of progress that offers a new vision of our future. In Progress, geographer Samuel Miller McDonald offers a radical new perspective on the myths upon which the modern world is built, illuminating its destructive lineage and suggesting an urgent alternative. Drawing on interdisciplinary research across anthropology, history, philosophy and geography, McDonald argues that if humanity is to thrive, then we must dismantle, reimagine, and create anew what progress means.
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Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books by Hwang Bo-ReumFrom the author of the international bestseller Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, a heartfelt invitation to reflect on your relationship with reading and celebrate the joys of books.
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Evergreen: The Trees That Shaped America by Trent PreszlerA sweeping natural history of the humble trees that built nations, sparked wars, and became the world's most cherished holiday tradition. Yet few pause to wonder: Where did this tradition come from? And in an age of climate upheaval and artificial replicas, will these beloved trees still be here for future generations? Cornell University professor Trent Preszler weaves together a captivating story of humanity's deeply rooted relationship with evergreens, revealing how the trees shaped economies, launched cultural movements, and propelled America's rise to global prominence. At once timeless and urgently relevant, Evergreen delivers a stirring reflection on the quiet power of trees, challenging us to reconsider the delicate balance between our restless ambition and the living world that sustains us.
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The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien's Creation by Michael DC DroutA leading scholar draws on fifty years of studying J.R.R. Tolkien to explain how he created an entire world. Michael Drout, spent decades reading, studying, and teaching Tolkien, allows us to understand the author's methods and to embrace his works as never before. With great erudition and sparkling prose, Drout shows us how Tolkien invented myths, legends, cultures, languages, histories, and an intricate, multivocal narrative. The Tower and the Ruin illuminates Tolkien anew and will come to be seen as an essential work for anyone who has journeyed to Middle-earth.
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The Great Math War: How Three Brilliant Minds Fought for the Foundations of Mathematics by Jason Socrates BardiA stirring account of the mathematicians who went looking for the bedrock philosophical foundations of their field and witnessed a house of cards collapse instead. As the nineteenth century ended, mathematicians were celebrating a century of triumphs that--surprisingly--made clear how little they knew: What is the nature of infinity? Is math free from self-contradiction? And what does math have to do with reality? This was the Foundational Crisis in mathematics. Bardi tells the story of three competing efforts by mathematicians to resolve it--and the firefight that ensued. Set against the backdrop of international warfare unfolding alongside it, The Great Math War brings the Foundational Crisis to radiant life--and shows how it indelibly shaped twentieth-century intellectual life.
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Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America by Sean ShermanDiscover the multifaceted story of the foods that have linked the environment, traditions, and legacy of Native American tribes for millennia through over 150 ancestral and modern Indigenous recipes from three-time James Beard Award-winning Sioux chef Sean Sherman. In Turtle Island, Sherman explores the diverse Native foodways of this continent, spotlighting the foods that have nourished, both physically and spiritually, the North American peoples for generations. Organized by regions, this book highlights the unique culinary traditions of Turtle Island, the name for this land across multiple Indigenous cultures, that are as varied and rich as the landscapes from which they arise.
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