Making Modern Paris: Victor Baltard’s Central Markets and the Urban Practice. Christopher Curtis Mead

The name of the architect Victor Baltard is inseparable from the Halles Centrales of Paris, the complex of iron-and-glass pavilions built between 1854 and 1874 in the historic heart of the city. Making Modern Paris is the only comprehensive study to address systematically not only the role Baltard played in the markets’ design and construction but also how the markets relate to the rest of Baltard’s work and professional prac­tice. Christopher Curtis Mead interprets the Central Markets as a cogent ex­pression of Baltard’s professional experience as he adjusted his aca­demic training to new criteria of municipal administration, urban plan­ning, and building technology. Considering his entire career over the three decades he worked for the Prefecture of the Seine, this investiga­tion of how architectural and urban practice came together in Baltard’s work offers a case study of the historical process that produced modern Paris between 1840 and 1870.

Antoinette Forrester Downing Book Award
Society of Architectural Historians Award

The Public School Advantage. Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools. Christopher A. Lubienski and Sarah Theule Lubienski

Nearly the whole of America’s partisan politics centers on a single ques­tion: Can markets solve our social problems? And for years this ques­tion has played out ferociously in the debates about how we should educate our children. From the growth of vouchers and charter schools to the im­plementation of No Child Left Behind, policy makers have increas­ingly turned to market-based models to help improve our schools, believi­ng that private institutions—because they are competitively driven—are better than public ones. With The Public School Advantage, Chris­topher A. and Sarah Theule Lubienski offer powerful evidence to under­cut this belief, showing that public schools in fact outperform private ones.

For decades research showing that students at private schools perform better than students at public ones has been used to promote the bene­fits of the private sector in education, including vouchers and charter schools—but much of these data are now nearly half a century old. Drawing on two recent, large-scale, and nationally representative data­bases, the Lubienskis show that any benefit seen in private school per­formance now is more than explained by demographics. Private schools have higher scores not because they are better institutions but because their students largely come from more privileged backgrounds that offer greater educational support.

PROSE Book Award

Creating a Learning Society. A New Approach to Growth, Development, and Social Pro­gress Joseph E. Stiglitz and Bruce C. Greenwald. With Philippe Aghion, Kenneth J. Arrow, Robert M. Solow, and Michael Woodford

It has long been recognized that an improved standard of living results from advances in technology, not from the accumulation of capital. It has also become clear that what truly separates developed from less-developed countries is not just a gap in resources or output but a gap in knowledge. In fact, the pace at which developing countries grow is largely a function of the pace at which they close that gap.

Thus, to understand how countries grow and develop, it is essential to know how they learn and become more productive and what govern­ment can do to promote learning. In Creating a Learning Society, Joseph E. Stiglitz and Bruce C. Greenwald cast light on the significance of this insight for economic theory and policy. Taking as a starting point Kenneth J. Arrow's 1962 paper "Learning by Doing," they explain why the production of knowledge differs from that of other goods and why market economies alone typically do not produce and transmit knowledge efficiently. Closing knowledge gaps and helping laggards learn are central to growth and development. But creating a learning society is equally crucial if we are to sustain improved living standards in advanced countries.

PROSE Book Award

Magna Carta. David Carpenter

"No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any oth­er way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land."

Magna Carta, forced on King John in 1215 by rebellion, is one of the most famous documents in world history. It asserts a fundamental prin­ciple: that the ruler is subject to the law. Alongside a new text and trans­lation of the Charter, David Carpenter's commentary draws on new dis­coveries to give an entirely fresh account of Magna Carta's text, origins, survival and enforcement, showing how it quickly gained a central place in English political life. It also uses Magna Carta as a lens through which to view thirteenth-century society, focusing on women and peasants as well as barons and knights. The book is a landmark in Magna Carta studies.

2015 is the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta's creation - an event which will be marked with exhibitions, commemorations and debates in all the countries over whose constitutions and legal assumptions the shadow of Magna Carta hangs.

Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science. Alice Dreger

New York Times Book Review “[A] smart, delightful book. Galileo’s Middle Finger is many things: a rant, a manifesto, a treasury of evoc­ative new terms (sissyphobia, autogynephyllia, phall-o-meter) and an account of the author’s transformation “from an activist going after es­tablishment scientists into an aide-de-camp to scientists who found themselves the target of activists like me”--and back again... I suspect most readers will find that [Dreger’s] witnessing of these wild skir­mishes provides a splendidly entertaining education in ethics, activ­ism and science.”

Chicago Tribune "Dreger tells the story in her new book on scientific controversies, Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science, an engrossing volume that is sure to undo any lingering notions that academic debate is the province of empiricists who pledge allegiance to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth... Dreger's clear and well-paced prose makes for compelling—and depressing—reading. If you believe what you were taught about scientific method, about old ideas giving way under the sway of new evidence, you're an idealist and you probably know that already. The truth is sometimes closer to the much-repeated notion that a new idea can't truly take hold until the people who held the old idea die."

Nature: “Dreger ends this powerful book by call­ing for her fellow aca­demics to counter the ‘stunningly lazy attitude toward pre­cision and accuracy in many branches of academia.’ In her view, chasing grants and churning out papers now take the place of quality and truth. It is a situation exacerbated by a media that can struggle when covering sci­entific controversies, and by strong pres­sures from activists with a stake in what the evidence might say. She argues, ‘If you must criti­cize scholars whose work challenges yours, do so on the evidence, not by poisoning the land on which we all live.’ There is a lot of poison in science these days. Dreger is right to demand better.”

Этнопедагогика. Галина Нездемковская

Учебное пособие представляет результат многолетней научной и педагогической деятельности автора в качестве преподавателя учебного предмета "Этнопедагогика". Пособие включает темы, раскрывающие основные понятия этнопедагогики как междис-циплинарной отрасли научно-педагогического знания; научные и практические предпосылки возникновения этнопедагогики; в нем показан вклад выдающихся зарубежных философов, педагогов в развитие этнопедагогической мысли; освещены истоки зарождения и основные этапы становления этнопедагогики в России в контексте исторических, культурно-политических, этнологических процессов; раскрыто влияние особенностей развития русского этноса, его культуры и православия на развитие этнопе-дагогической мысли России с древнейших времен до начала XX в.; выявлены особенности формирования этнопедагогики как междисциплинарной отрасли научно-педагогического знания в XX - начале XXI в.; раскрыты идеалы, ценности, содержание традици-онного народного воспитания, его методы; охарактеризованы элементы традиционной народной культуры: традиции, обычаи, фольклор, праздники, обряды, игры и др., показаны их воспитательные возможности

Мозг человека. 50 идей, о которых нужно знать. Мохеб Костанди

Самый полный на сегодняшний день научно-популярный гид по мозгу и проблемам, с ним связанным (не только естественным вроде устройства и процесса функционирования, но и этическим — что будет, если все кому не лень примутся принимать препара­ты, стимулирующие умственную деятельность?): от нейробиоло­га, автора журналов Nature, Science и ведущего блога «Нейрофи­лософия» Гардиан.

Многие по-прежнему рассказывают байки про то, что левое полушарие логическое, а правое — твор­ческое, не подозревая, что все это такая же брехня, как френоло­гия; зато правда, например, что в мозге есть клетки, реагирующие на изоб­ражение Дженнифер Энистон; что жизненный опыт можно уна­следовать — и что возможность производства препаратов, способных стирать память, или способность предсказывать пре­ступление до того, как оно случилось, — не совсем уж и фанта­стика.

Исторические записки (Ши цзи). Тома 1–9. Сыма Цянь

Ни один обзор книг по истории Древнего Китая не будет полным без упоминания этого, пожалуй, наиболее значимого для отечественной синологии проекта ― академического перевода основополагающего источника по всей древнекитайской истории, замечательного памятника древнекитайского историописания II–I веков до н. э. Семь первых томов были переведены Рудольфом Всеволодовичем Вяткиным (1910–1995), который своим трудом навсегда вписал свое имя в скрижали мирового китаеведения и, бесспорно, является одной из наиболее значимых фигур российской синологии ХХ века.

Стоит отметить, что в переводе первого и второго тома принимал участие еще один выдающийся синолог, посвятивший свою жизнь переводу источников по истории народов, живущих на границах Китая, — Всеволод Сергеевич Таскин (1917–1995). Последние три тома издавались уже посмертно, коллективами специалистов, во главе которых стоял Анатолий Рудольфович Вяткин, сын Р.В. Вяткина.

Труд Сыма Цяня включает в себя достоинства как исторического сочинения, так и выдающегося памятника «исторической прозы», то есть относится к лучшим образцам древнекитайской литературы. В нем содержатся главы, посвященные истории государств древности, а также трактаты по музыке, экономике, ритуалам и пр., сопоставительные хронологические таблицы. Особое внимание заслуживают биографии исторических персон: политических деятелей и царедворцев, философов и поэтов, а также специалистов в области мантики, предпринимателей и пр. Некоторые из них даны в виде парных или групповых сопоставительных биографий, которые по тонкости и глубине мысли не уступают жизнеописаниям Плутарха.

Древний Китай. Тт. 1–3. Васильев Л.С.

Еще один непревзойденный по величию и ширине замысла исто­рический проект на этот раз одного автора. Том 1: предыстория, Шан-Инь, Западное Чжоу (до VIII века до н. э.); том 2: период Чуньцю (VIII–V века до н. э.); том 3. период Чжаньго (V‒III века до н. э.). Образцовый труд в отношении глубины проработки отдель­ных периодов истории Древнего Китая. Как и любая большая ра­бота, имеет свои сильные стороны и слабые места.

Особого внимания заслуживает второй том, посвященный перио­ду Чуньцю, когда на территории Китая сосуществовали десятки государств. Автору удалось разработать модель более или ме­нее равномерного описания истории наиболее значимых из них (чжоуского домена, Лу, Ци, Цзинь, Чу, Вэй, Сун, Чжэн, У и Юэ) ― задача более чем непростая! Что ценно, в работе предпринята попытка систематизированного рассмотрения сообщений основ­ных письменных источников ― не только «Исторических записок», но и «Комментария господина Цзо к Чуньцю (“Веснам и осеням”)», а также «Бамбуковых анналов».

Заслуживает внимания и то, что автор не ограничился «Хроникой политических событий» (главы 1–3), но попытался обобщить ход «внутриполитической борьбы в основных царствах» (глава 4), описать «социально-политические структуры» на уровне «прави­телей и феодальной знати» (глава 5), «аристократии и феодаль­ных войн» (глава 6), а также дана «характеристика социальных слоев» (глава 7). В широком плане характеризуется «духовная культура: верования, культы, обряды, ритуальные церемонии» (глава 8), а также рассматриваются «легендарные предания, эти­ка и социополитические теории» (глава 9). А в завершении автор показывает, какие глобальные трансформации произошли при переходе от Чуньцю к Чжаньго (глава 10). Специалисты, должно быть, не со всем согласятся и захотят поспорить, но то, с чем не поспоришь, ― это замечательный образец воплощения широкого замысла.

Небесная наука - западная алхимия и российское розенкрейцерство в XVII-XIX вв. Халтурин Ю. Л., Кучурин В. В., Родиченков Ю. Ф.

В монографии, написанной членами Ассоциации исследователей эзотеризма и мистицизма (АИЭМ), рассматривается розенкрейцер­ская алхимическая традиция в России. Опираясь на огромный фак­тический материал и архивные документы, многие из которых впер­вые вводятся в научный оборот, авторы критически анализи­руют алхимические идеи и практики представителей поздней евро­пейской алхимии, реконструируют историю алхимической традиции в России XVII–XIX вв., прослеживают взаимосвязь между алхимией и розенкрейцерской системой масонского посвящения, раскрывают особенности алхимической натурфилософии, лабораторной и ду­ховной алхимии российских розенкрейцеров. Монография включа­ет в себя также приложения, в которых представлены комментируе­мые публикации розенкрейцерских алхимических текстов, список ма­сонских и алхимических символов, список алхимиков, перечень не­которых алхимических рукописей в розенкрейцерских фондах двух российских библиотек и общую библиографию. Книга адресована всем, кто интересуется историей эзотеризма и мистицизма в Западной Европе и России

The Price of Inequality. How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. Joseph E. Stiglitz

A forceful argument against America's vicious circle of growing inequality by the Nobel Prize–winning economist.

America currently has the most inequality, and the least equality of opportunity, among the advanced countries. While market forces play a role in this stark picture, politics has shaped those market forces. In this best-selling book, Nobel Prize–winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz exposes the efforts of well-heeled interests to compound their wealth in ways that have stifled true, dynamic capitalism. Along the way he examines the effect of inequality on our economy, our democracy, and our system of justice. Stiglitz explains how inequality affects and is affected by every aspect of national policy, and with characteristic insight he offers a vision for a more just and prosperous future, supported by a concrete program to achieve that vision.

Релятивизм как болезнь современной философии. В.А. Лекторский

Авторы книги пытаются осмыслить феномен релятивизма, полу­чившего большое распространение в современной культуре – как в познании, так и в социальной жизни. В книге делается попытка  выявить основания  релятивизма и вместе с тем показать его не­состоятельность как общей философской позиции и его ущерб­ность  на практике. Специально исследуются релятивистские тенденции в современной эпистемологии и философии науки, а также в науках о человеке: психологии, культурологии, историче­ской науке. При этом авторы различают релятивизм и скепти­цизм, а также плюрализм и релятивизм: показывается, что плю­рализм может плодотворно практиковаться  как раз в том случае, если понят в антирелятивистском ключе. По ряду обсуждаемых в книге вопросов авторы занимают разные позиции.

Mr. Turner

A look at the last quarter century of the great British painter J. M. W. Turner. Profoundly affected by the death of his esteemed father, loved by his housekeeper, Hannah Danby, whom he takes for granted and occasionally exploits sexually, he forms a close and loving relationship with a seaside landlady with whom he eventually lives incognito in Chelsea, where he dies.

Throughout all this, Turner travels, paints, stays with the country aristocracy, visits a brothel, is a popular if anarchic member of the Royal Academy of Arts, has himself strapped to the mast of a ship so that he can paint a snowstorm, and is both celebrated and reviled by the public and by royalty

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 27 wins & 42 nominations

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

How do you reconcile a commitment to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray. Ray examines some of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving together observations from his own journeys throughout India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an extraordinary spiritual leader. This is his story, as told and filmed by Rick Ray during a private visit to his monastery in Dharamsala, India over the course of several months. Also included is rare historical footage as well as footage supplied by individuals who at great personal risk, filmed with hidden cameras within Tibet. Part biography, part philosophy, part adventure and part politics, "10 Questions for The Dalai Lama" conveys more than history and more than answers - it opens a window into the heart of an inspiring man. If you had only one hour, what would you ask?

Berkeley Video & Film Festival Award

Design & Thinking

"Design & Thinking" is a documentary exploring the idea of "design thinking"!

How do we fully engage organizations to think about the changing landscape of business, culture and society? Inspired by design thinking, this documentary grabs businessman, designers, social change-makers and individuals to portrait what they have in common when facing this ambiguous 21st century. What is design thinking? How is it applied in business models? How are people changing the worldwith their own creative minds? It is a call to the conventional minds to change and collaborate.

Maker

"Maker" is a feature-length documentary that looks into the current maker movement in America – a new wave of Do-It-Yourself and Do-It-Together fueled by passion and powered by the advence of new technologies.

The "Maker Movement", sometimes called the "Third Industrial Revolution," subverts traditional manufacturing by building on innovative concepts such as open source, local manufacturing, crowd funding, and digital fabrication. Breaking the hobbyist movement stereotype, "Maker" delves deep into this ecosystem of design and manufacturing in the Internet era. The film explores the ideas, tools, and personalities that are driving the Maker Movement – and returns with a timely snapshot of one of the transforming influences of the current age.

Julia Wolfe: Cruel Sister

Ensemble Resonanz

Cruel Sister was commissioned by the Munich Chamber Orchestra in 2004. The piece recounts a grisly tale of sibling rivalry, inspired by a haunting English ballad.

Fuel is a collaboration with filmmaker Bill Morrison that examines the impact of globalization. Commissioned by Ensemble Resonanz, a Hamburg-based group of 18 musicians, Fuel was premiered in 2007 as a multi-media performance.

An internationally recognized composer, Julia Wolfe’s music has been heard at BAM, the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, Settembre Musica (Italy), Theatre de la Ville (Paris), Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall

Pulitzer Prize

Vivaldi: L'estro armonico - 12 concerti, Op. 3

Rachel Podger (violin & director)
Brecon Baroque
Vivaldi augmented his reputation as ‘The Red Priest’ with ‘L'Estro Armonico’, Op. 3, a collection of twelve concertos for one, two and four violins. The title of the collection encapsulates the qualities that so entranced Vivaldi’s contemporaries. ‘L’Estro Armonico’, which might be translated as ‘musical rapture’, reflects the vitality and freshness of Vivaldi’s invention: its rhythmic energy, melodic and harmonic intensity, textural sensuousness, performative brilliance and dramatic flair.
“These pieces are truly exhilarating to play and perform and their fresh impact never fails to hit some target or other, judging by the reaction of a live audience. Not often do you witness four violins trying to outdo each other! During Brecon Baroque's concerts preceding the recording, the rapier-like turns in musical conversations between the four parts always seemed to lead to added expectation and excitement – all the more effective because of the contrasted moments of deep melancholy which Vivaldi somehow manages to express irrespective of mode” (Rachel Podger) The dynamic ensemble Brecon Baroque was founded in 2007 by violinist and director Rachel Podger as resident ensemble at her annual Brecon Baroque Festival. The international line-up consists of some of some of the leading lights in the period instrument world. Brecon Baroque specialises in the music of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries, mostly as a one-to-a-part ensemble based on the Cafe Zimmerman ensemble which Bach himself directed. They also appear as a small baroque orchestra for Vivaldi, Telemann, Purcell and Handel.
“Minimalist forces but maximum pleasure from the way in they explore every delicious detail in these 12 concertos, reacting to one another’s playing with freshness and delight that’s constantly engaging. It’s been captured in an excellent recording...I’ll be dipping into that again just for pure pleasure as soon as I can.” CD Review
“You can’t imagine feathers getting ruffled by Rachel Podger’s approach to Vivaldi. Not that it’s remotely boring: as her fingers fly through the concerto 12-pack, L’Estro Armonico, your feet tap and your pulse quickens without the music being pushed to extremes” The Times
“This disproves the accusation that Vivaldi wrote the same concerto hundreds of times: even though strings are the only sonority...the combinations of one, two, and four violin soloists provide endlessly different colours which Brecon Baroque fully exploit...above all the electrifying drive of the famous No 8 leave[s] one breathless with admiration.” The Observer

Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice
BBC Music Magazine - Disc of the month
Rachel Podger wins Bach prize

Wagner: Götterdämmerung

Live recording from the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 2013

Lance Ryan (Siegfried), Iréne Theorin (Brünnhilde), Mikhail Petrenko (Hagen), Johannes Martin Kränzle (Alberich), Gerd Grochowski (Gunther), Waltraud Meier (Waltraute/Zweite Norn), Anna Samuil (Gutrune/Dritte Norn), Margarita Nekrasova (Erste Norn), Aga Mikolaj (Woglinde), Maria Gortsevskaya (Wellgunde), Anna Lapkovskaja (Flosshilde)

Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala, Daniel Barenboim, Guy Cassiers

Götterdämmerung, the final instalment of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung, is a story of human passions. Two essentially benevolent creatures, involved with and possibly doomed by their traffic with the gods, find treachery and evil in the world of the humans, and are ruined by the dark side of humanity.
Iréne Theorin, acclaimed worldwide for her portrayal of Wagner’s heroines, stars as Brünnhilde opposite Lance Ryan, who continues his radiant portrayal of the tragic hero Siegfried. The strong cast also includes Mikhail Petrenko as the dark antagonist Hagen and Johannes Martin Kränzle, who once again shines as his father Alberich. Waltraud Meier has a memorable appearance as Brünnhilde’s sister Waltraute.
With this 2013 recording of Götterdämmerung, the musically and visually compelling Scala Ring Cycle by Daniel Barenboim and Guy Cassiers was completed and proved to be one of the highlights of the Richard Wagner bicentenary.
“The production scores a triumph in the use of light-dark imagery to mirror the archetypal forces at play, underscoring the music rather than overwhelming it with images.” Opera Today

Gramophone Magazine DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
Daniel Barenboim, Elgar Society medal – april 2014