ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


134 /  C&RL News ■  February 2002

N e w  P u b l i c a t i o n s George M. Eberhart

The Armored Dinosaurs, edited by Kenneth
Carpenter (526 pages, O ctober 2001), brings 
together the latest discoveries and research on 
stegosaurs and ankylosaurs, as well as the 
unjustly neglected Scelidosaunis, which in 1858 
was the first complete dinosaur skeleton ever 
discovered. The articles are dedicated to pale­
ontologist Walter P. Coombs Jr., w ho did some 
pioneering work on Ankylosaurus in the 1970s 
and 1980s. The level is definitely graduate stu­
dent and above, but the focus is o n  dinosaurs 
that are often ignored in favor of 
the more familiar theropods and 
sauropods. $75-00. Indiana Univer­
sity. ISBN 0-253-33964-2.

Another neglected group is the 
post-dinosaur megafauna, which is 
treated in a popular m anner in Tim 
H aines’s Walking with Prehistoric 
Beasts (264 pages, October 2001), 
a com panion volume to the BBC/
Discovery Channel television spe­
cial that aired in December. The 
cast o f characters includes archaic 
whales, giant ground sloths, sabre­
to o th  cats, chalicotheres, m am m oths, and 
hyaenodons, as well as our ancestors, the ape­
like, bipedal australopiths. The colorful, life­
like illustrations w ere d esig n ed  by D aren 
Horley. A stimulating overview of the Ceno- 
zoic for undergraduates. $29-95. DK Publish­
ing. ISBN 0-7894-7829-3-

Beethoven's Anvil: Music in Mind and Cul­
ture, by William Benzon (336 pages, O ctober 
2001), sheds some light on h ow  music inter­
acts with the hum an mind, both individually 
and collectively. Benzon, a cognitive scientist 
and jazz musician, gives many examples of 
how  making music is a group activity in which 
performers lose themselves in the process of 
communally participating in neurobiological 
activity that generates pleasure and dissipates 
anxiety. Beginning with the effect of music on 
the brain, Benzon crafts a theory that may ex-

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plain how  making music aids in the creation 
and reinforcement of cultural identity. An in­
teresting blend of neuropsychology, music, and 
sociology. $27.50. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465- 
01543-3.

The Devil's Cloth, by Michel Pastoureau (128 
pages, August 2001), explores the history of 
striped clothing from its diabolic connotations 
in the Middle Ages through its associations with 
domestic service, French revolutionaries, pris­

oners, referees, bathing suits, pin­
stripe suits, and avant-garde art in 
the m odem  era. An offbeat look at 
cultural stereotypes and fashion. 
$22.95. Columbia University. ISBN 
0-231-12366-3.

The Empire State: A History of
New York, edited by Milton M. 
Klein (837 pages, November 2001), 
is a single-volume history commis­
sioned by the New York State His­
torical Association to update its 
1957 volume. Written by six au­

thors, each focusing on a specific time frame 
from the Dutch era to the postw ar period, this 
w ork concisely chronicles the sw eep of events 
and the many achievements of the diverse 
peoples w ho make u p  both city and state. A 
70-page section on suggestions for further read­
ing tops off the narrative. An excellent intro­
duction to the politics and panoram a o f one of 
the n atio n ’s m ost influential states. $45.00. 
Cornell University. ISBN 0-8014-3866-7.

Encyclopedia of the World's Zoos, edited by 
Catharine E. Bell (3 vols., 1,577 pages, May 
2001), contains detailed essays o n  146 zoos 
worldwide, describing their history, exhibits, 
management, famous residents, educational 
programs, and conservation activities. Other 
useful entries describe the history o f specific 
types o f animals in zoos. Some examples: the 
first “zoo b ear” in North America was a polar 
bear exhibited in 1859 w h en  the first U.S. zoo 
was established in Philadelphia; an entire Egyp­
tian city, Crocodilopolis, was founded about 
1000 B.C. for the w orship and care o f Nile

mailto:geberhart@ala.org


C&RL News *  F ebru ary 2002 /  135

crocodiles; the first captive-born elephant in 
E u ro p e w as Midi, b o rn  Ju ly  14, 1906, at 
Tiergarten S chönbrunn in Vienna; in 1979, the 
Seattle Aquarium b ecam e the first aquarium  to 
have sea otters reproduce successfully in cap­
tivity; an d  in 2000, there w ere m ore than 4,500 
penguins representing 12 species in m ore than 
300 zoos an d  aquariums throughout the world. 
This set is p ack ed  w ith inform ation on zoos 
an d  zoology that is hard to find yet valuable to 
anyone considering a career in animal conser­
vation an d  care. $325-00. Fitzroy D earborn. 
ISBN 1-57958-174-9.

Encyclopedia of Urban Legends, by Jan
H arold Brun v an d  (524 pages, Ju n e 2001), is a 
fun yet scholarly introduction to hundreds of 
contem porary m o dern legends such as “the 
m ouse in the Coke,” “superglue revenge,” and 
“the h o o k ,” each o f w hich has its o w n  entry. 
Brunvand, w h o se books have analyzed and 
interpreted m any of them, offers summaries 
and provides sources for further study. He also 
includes entries o n  subject categories a n d  typi­
cal legend topics like contamination, jumping 
to conclusions, nudity, social class, an d  vio­
lence; general folkloristic terms, such as folk­
lore an d  motif; classifying an d  collecting ur­
b an  legends; interpretive approaches; an d  leg­
ends in popular media. And, yes, the o n e about 
the sinking academ ic library is only a legend. 
$75.00. ABC-Clio. ISBN 1-57607-076-X.

The Kerlan Awards in Children's Literature, 
1975-2001, ed ited  by Ruth B erm an (350 
pages, S eptem ber 2001), is an anthology o f 
acceptance speeches m ade by recipients o f the 
Kerlan Award, given by th e Friends o f the 
Kerlan Collection since 1976 “in recognition of 
singular attainments in the creation o f children’s 
literature an d  in appreciation for the generous 
d o n atio n  o f unique resources to  th e Kerlan 
Collection” at the University o f Minnesota. Past 
aw ard winners have included Madeline L’Engle, 
T heodore Taylor, an d  Patricia Lauber. Short es­
says b y  Ruth Berman, Kerlan Collection Cura­
tor K aren N elson Hoyle, an d  Kerlan Friends 
Past President Bette J. Peltola are also included. 
$17.95 (plus $3.50 p /h ). Pogo Press, Four Car­
dinal Lane, St. Paul, MN 55127.

What Evolution Is, by Ernst Mayr (318 pages, 
N ovem ber 2001), is a concise, reader-friendly 
prim er o n  the basic concepts o f D arwinism by

o n e o f the founders o f evolutionary biology. 
Mayr, w h o se seminal w orks Systemαtics a n d
the Origin o f  Species (1942) an d  A nim al Spe­
cies a n d  Evolution (1963) laid the groundw ork 
for the m o dern concepts o f speciation and 
p u nctuated equilibrium, is professor emeritus 
at H arvard’s M useum o f Comparative Zoology 
and, at 97, still able to present such a com pli­
cated topic in a w ay that will interest anyone, 
scientist o r not, w h o  w ants to better u n d er­
stand h o w  D arwinism w orks. Unlike other in­
troductions to evolution, Mayr focuses less on 
genetic principles an d  answ ers the big q u es­
tions that are likely to arise in any thoughtful 
discussion: W hy does evolution take place? Can 
natural selection b e proven? W hat constitutes 
a species? Are there laws o f evolution? H ow  
did h u m an  consciousness evolve? Mayr avoids 
defending evolution against the claims o f cre­
ationists, since other books have d o n e so suc­
cessfully. In th e first ch ap ter h e effectively 
show s w hy evolution is a fact an d  not a theory, 
and in the final chapter he gives the latest think­
ing o n  h o w  the change from  apes to hum ans 
occurred. An essential choice for undergradu­
ate collections. $24.00. Basic Books. ISBN 0- 
465-04425-5. ■