online archive

Economics, history and religion, science and academia

A new issue of Economic Sociology is out, including Karin Knorr Cetina (Chicago): Economic Sociology and the Sociology of Finance: Four Distinctions, Two Developments, One Field?; Brooke Harrington (Brown): Capital and Community: Findings from the American Investment Craze of the 1990s; an interview with Viviana Zelizer, author of The Purchase of Intimacy; and a review of Trust: Reason, Routine, Reflexivity by Guido Möllering. Yes, money talks – but sometimes nobody’s listening: Chris Dillow argues that there’s more to incentives than simple selfishness.

A review of "The Origins of Europe With the Greek Discovery of the World" by Klaus Held. A review of Portrait of a Priestess: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece by Joan Breton Connelly. A review of Historiography at the End of the Republic: Provincial Perspectives on Roman Rule by Liv Mariah Yarrow. A review of Christianity and the Transformation of the Book: Origen, Eusebius, and the Library of Caesarea by Anthony Grafton and Megan Williams. A review of Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity by Elaine Pagels and Karen L. King (and more). A review of God's Judgments, Interpreting History and the Christian Faith by Steven J. Keillor.

From Discover, a look at 20 things you didn’t know about Galileo. We are meant to be here: An interview with Paul Davies, author of Cosmic Jackpot: Why Our Universe Is Just Right for Life. Universe mostly forgets its past during cosmic rebirth: A new study suggests that with each big bang, the universe mostly forgets its past and starts anew. From Psychology Today, 10 Non-PC Truths About Human Nature: Why most suicide bombers are Muslim, beautiful people have more daughters, humans are naturally polygamous, sexual harassment isn't sexist, and blonds are more attractive; and a more organic take on human nature is emerging. It sees behavior as a product of distinct personality traits that we all have to a greater or lesser degree. In this new view, we're all just a little bit crazy.

A review of Bart Giamatti: A Profile by Robert P. Moncreiff. How did the eight so-called "Ivy League" schools – Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell and Dartmouth – go from being training grounds for Christian missionaries and ministers and respected citadels of higher education to what they are now – propaganda factories for every leftist, perverted, radical, tyrannical, failed ideology known to mankind? A review of Stephen L. Carter's latest venture into academia, race — and murder, New England White.

From Writ, the Supreme Court's split over public school integration: Who really betrayed Brown's legacy? The Battle Over Brown: How conservatives appropriated Brown v. Board of Education; and How To Keep Brown Alive: Use income level, instead of race, to integrate the schools. Can a law change a society? Last week’s Supreme Court decision declared that public schools can’t take explicit account of race to achieve integration, but will a colorblindness mandate succeed? Benjamin Wittes on how Anthony Kennedy punts on the question of school diversity.