David Reinking
Professor of Education
Recommended Books
The following categories and representative books reflect my reading for personal and professional edification. The books listed are recommended for those with similar interests.
Biography
Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss
A story of remarkable athleticism and notoriety leavened with exploitation of the man, the forced enculturation of all indigenous Americans, and a subsequent itinerant life of failed schemes and dashed dreams. (Wee also the subsequent "Sports" category.)
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf
Why don’t we all know more about this remarkable naturalist and his inflluence?
Houdini: The Elusive American by Adam Begley
He was an almost supernatural escape artist, but much more.
The Last Man Who Knew Everything: The Life and Times of Enrico Fermi, The Father of the Nuclear Age by David Schwartz.
A genius, on par with Einstein, whose mathematical and scientific work changed the world.
Tough Without a Gun by Stefan Kanfer
Bio of Humphrey Bogart. Read it and won't be long before you're watching Casablanca again on YouTube.
Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Power by Cheryl Misak
Three major theorems named after him-- respectively in mathematics, philosophy, and economics. As an undergraduate at Cambridge, directly influenced J. M. Keynes, L. Wittgenstein, B. Russell, and Moore. Tragically died at 28.
Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper
Autobiography of personal insights about radical religious indoctrination, remarkably a mostly sympathetic one, despite the author's unmitigated repudiation of those beliefs. Westboro is the church well known for its public demonstrations "celebrating" the deaths of homosexuals.
History
The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation by Jon Gertner
A history that reveals the characteristics of an institutional culture that creates innovative solutions to real problems.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Harari
Best seller. Deserved popularity. Alters your view of history and humans’ place in the world.
Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck by Adam Cohen
A sad and disturbing story. Supreme court decisions have always been controversial.
Asberger’s Children: The origins of Autism In Nazi Vienna by Edith Sheffer
Will unpleasantly surprise those who imagine Asberger to be autism’s “saint.”
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
A single prescient Greek poet’s epic poem presaged the modern world.
Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner? A Story of Women and Economics by Katrine Marcal
Debunks the common theory of “economic man” and the value of labor using women’s historically unpaid work as an example.
Brand Luther: How an Unheralded Monk Turned His Small Town into a Center of Publishing, Made Himself the Most Famous Man in Europe--and Started the Protestant Reformation by Andrew Pettigree
He wasn’t just a religious figure, but the world’s first best-selling author and consequently the darling of printers.
The Evolution of Everything by Matt Ridely
Everything has evolved historically. Among other things addressed: money, religion, education, morality, culture, government, . . .
How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by Stephen Johnson
Ever think how the world became different with the invention of refrigeration?
Politics, Government, & American Culture
Politics is Power: Moving Beyond Political Hobbyism to Take Action and Make Change by Eitan Hersh
Too many people approach politics as entertainment. Illustrates possibilities with real stories of people who get involve and how they made a difference.
A Thousand Small Sanities by Adam Gropnik
What liberalism really means.
The Once and Future Liberal by Mark Lilla
Same as above. Liberalism doesn't necessarily include identity politics.
Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country by Andrew Bacevich
A former army general takes American’s to task for paying only lip service to supporting their soldiers.
Raven Rock: The Story of the US Government's Plan to Save Itself--While the Rest of Us Die by Garrett M. Graff
Not a conspiracy theory. It's now all on the record.
The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear In the Cyber Age by David E. Sanger
Cyber warfare. We're doing it. They're doing it. It's cheap and devastatingly effective.
Unjust: Social Justice and the Unmaking of America by Noah Rothman
An acerbic (but not easily dismissed) argument that will displease so-called social justice warriors.
Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History by Kurt Andersen
Documents that Americans have a particularly unique history enabling a commitment as the author says "to believe any damn thing I want," which explains, among other things, why there are anti-vaxers and Donald Trump.
Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America's 50-year Fall--And Those Who Are Fighting to Reverse It by Steven Brill
“A compelling, surprising narrative about the unlikely people and forces responsible for the dashing of the American dream—and an uplifting look at those working to restore it.” —Jill Abramson, former executive editor, The New York Times
Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism by Robert Kutner
An important question, well answered.
The Tyranny of Merit by Michael J. Sandel
A meritocracy sounds like a worthy societal ideal, but is it? Probably if you are successful; less so if you are not.
The WIERDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joseph Henrich
Citizens of Western Industrialized Educated Rich Democratic societies think differently than other societies, now and historically. Thus they are WEIRD. How did they get that way? Interesting analysis, but overkill. Skip the tedious data and the rewiring the brain nonsense.
Education
After the Ivory Tower Falls: How College Broke the American Dream and Blew Up Our Politics--and What to Do About It by Will Bunch
Documents how higher education moved from being a public good, especially after WWII and has become a private benefit, how that contributes substantively to today's political divide, and finally offers examples and proposals for returning it to a public good.
Getting Schooled by Garret Keizer
An insightful personal story about being a teacher at the same school before and after another career.
After the Education Wars: How Smart Schools Upend the Business of Reform by Andrea Gabor
Most business people, especially billionaires, don’t know squat about how to better education. Teachers do.
Lies my teacher told me by James Loewen
The education version of Harold Zinn’s classic A People’s History of the United States.The Dyslexia Debate (Cambridge The Dyslexia Debate (Studies in Cognitive and Perceptual Development) by Julian G. Elliott and Elena L. Grigorenko
The authors are highly qualified to debunk the many myths, misperceptions, and false claims about dyslexia, of which there are many.
The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently by Richard Nisbitt
Your kid does great in math. Western explanation: She is a born math genius. Eastern explanation: She has studied extremely long hours conscientiously doing math homework. That driver that cut you off. Western explanation: He is an incompetent asshole. Eastern explanation: He is probably having a bad day and maybe distracted by unfortunate troubles. You get the picture, but its bigger than you might imagine.
Pragmatism and Educational Research by Gert Biesta & Nicholas Burbules
How John Dewey saw education research and practice as inseparable through the lens of pragmatism.
Science, Research, and Cosmology
Why Time Flies: A Mostly Scientific Explanation by Alan Burdick
You’ll never think about time the same way again.
Trespassing on Einstein’s Lawn: A Father a Daughter, the Meaning of Nothing and the Beginning of Everything by Amanda Geftner
Physicists as rock stars to a daughter and her father, and some remarkable ideas from physics.
Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong by Paul Offit
Pseudo-science and the difficulty some scientists have giving up their pet theories.
The Blind Spot: Science and the Crisis of Uncertainty by William Byers
Science is less about certainty than coming to terms with uncertainty and ambiguity.
Ignorance: How it Drives Science AND Failure: Why Science is So Successful both by Stuart Firestein
How ignorance and Failure drive science. And, you'll learn how a dolphin trained its trainers.
The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos by Brian Greene
Are there multiple "yous" living many different lives. Not as far fetched as it might sound.
Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story by Jim Holt
Why is there something/anything rather than nothing?
The Signal and the Noise: Why Most Predictions Fail--But Some Don't by Nate Silver
The author is a notably successful pollster, but successful is relative and difficult to achieve, as he argues here in all predictions.
The Theory That Would Not Die: How Beyes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant From Two Centuries of Controversy by Sharon Bertsch McGrrayne
An obscure English cleric developed an entirely new approach to statistics that enable all the things in the title and much more. Statistics not taught to education researchers, but should be.
The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack
Possible ends (and beginnings) of the cosmos and bizarre ideas in physics.
Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth by Adam Frank
How likely are there other civilizations in the universe and what can we learn about our own world in light of that speculation?
Radical Uncertainty: Decision Making Beyond the Numbers by John Kay & Mervyn King
Probabilities can't be assigned to everything. There are "wicked problems" and those that can't be predicted, when all we can do is ask "What is really going on here," take reasoned action, consider contingencies after identifying key variables (think pandemic, but published a month or two before that uncertain event. Somewhat "anti-Bayesian" (see Nate Silver's book above for counter-argument).
Words and Language
Word by Word: The secret life of dictionaries by Kory Stamper
Dictionaries made interesting.
The Poetry Home Repair Manual by Ted Kooser
Former US Poet Laureate. Gets you into his poetic mind. Good poems. Good advice.
Do I Make Myself Clear? Why Writing Well Matters by Harold Evens
I never stop learning how to write better.
Don’t Believe a Word: The Surprising Truth About Language by David Shariatmadari
Engaging, easy read that confronts several common myths about language.
Why Poetry? by Matthew Zapruder
Answers the question thoroughly.
You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity by Robert Lane Greene
Title says it all. If you like this book, see also John McWhorter's Language on the Move: Why English Won't--And Can't Sit Still (Like Literally).
Semicolon by Cecelia Watson
Punctuation, this one in particular, can make a difference and reveal interesting aspects of written lanuage.
Your Could Look It Up: The Reference Shelf From Ancient Babylon to Wikipedia by Jack Lynch
A history of humankind's drive to consolidate knowledge in reference works.
The Electronic Word: Democracy Technology and the Arts by Richard Lanham
Not a page turner, but thoughtful and insightful analysis. The author is a rhetorician who highlights the differences between printed and digital texts in domains such as rhetorical stances (abstract vs. visual), organizational modes (hierarchical vs. associational), and expectations (serious vs. more playful.
Social Issues
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs
A tragic story of promise defeated by a culture of poverty.
Charged: The New Movement to Transform Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration by Emily Bazlon
The inherent inequality of a bail system that puts too many of the wrong people behind bars.
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Dyson
Some sermons aren't ones you want to hear, but need to hear. This is one.
What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte
A counterpoint to the wildly popular Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
Psychology, Social Psychology, Neurology
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant
We need to “re-think” our beliefs more in the mode scientists instead of as preachers, politicians, and prosecutors.
Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge by Cass Sunstein
The social dynamics of group discussion and decision making. How certain dynamics enhance of inhibit open discussion and consideration of diverse possibilities and therefor lead to good or bad decisions.
The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone by Steven Sloman and Phillip Fernbach
We don’t know as much as we think we do.
Mistakes Were Made (but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavis
Cognitive dissonance. We are all victims. Everyday.
The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie To Everyone—Mainly Ourselves by Dan Ariely
Based on the author’s research. We are all much less than truthful.
Into the Abyss: A Neuropsychiatrist's Notes on Troubled Minds by Anthony David
A collection of interesting, sadly difficult cases and the author's not-always-successful strategies for dealing with them.
The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar
How we make up our minds. It isn't pretty.
Going to Extremes: How Like Minds Unite and Divide by Cass R. Sunstein
Processes of making decisions and forming opinions in groups. Homogenous groups tend to take more extreme views and make poorer decisions than do diverse groups. Sound familiar?
The Book of Woe: The DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual) and the Unmaking of Psychiatry by Gary Greenberg
The DSM is the "bible" of terms for and characteristics of diagnoses and labeling psychiatric conditions. This book tells the story of its deep flaws and inconsistencies across now 5 editions. If you think there is widespread agreement about psychiatric conditions and their diagnoses, think again. And, you guessed it, it's mostly about insurance claims.
Non-fiction that reads like fiction
Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
Intrepid doctor in London discovers the cause of cholera , but 30 years before his theory to be accepted.
The Devil in the White City: A Saga of Magic and Mystery at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
A tale of serial killer woven into the intriguing story and many influences of Chicago’s World’s Fair
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Island by Patrick Radden Keefe
Story of the violent “time of troubles” and the IRA's fight for Northern Ireland’s independence. Individual participants’ stories that eventually converge.
Fallout: The Hiroshima Coverup and the Reporter Who Revealed it to the World by Lesley M. M. Blume
The horrors of Hiroshima weren't known immediately, mostly because of a coverup by the US military and government (a prelude to the Pentagon Papers). John Hersey's carefully crafted story of 6 survivors published in The New Yorker changed all that.
Sports (a cynical view, mostly)
Billion-dollar Ball: A Journey through the big-money culture of college football by Gilbert Gaul
It’s all about money.
Against Football: One Fan’s Reluctant Manifesto by Steve Almond
Should tweak the conscience of any fan.
Wooden: A Coach's Life by Seth Davis
Bio and philosophy of the most successful b-ball coach of all time, and he had an intellectual life.
Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss
College and professional football has been corrupt from its earliest days. Why it is a travesty that a youth football league today is named after Pop Warner and how Averyt Brundage corrupted the Olympics. (See also the previous category "Biography.")