Latest Post

Americans and Big Government

Via Marsall Poe’s New Books in History

Americans don’t like “big government” right? Not exactly. In the Early Republic (1789 to the 1820s) folks were quite keen on building up the (you guessed it) republic. As in res publica, the “things held in common.” The “founding fathers”–all “Classical Republicans”–designed a form of government that, though “checked and balanced,” gave the federal government significant powers. And throughout the 19th-century Americans asked the federal government to use those powers to do all kinds of things, many of them profoundly self-interested.

Asides

• The massive, comprehensive Dictionary of Irish Biography was awarded the 2009 American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) for Best Multivolume Reference work in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Congratulations to the Royal Irish Academy, the editors, and all involved here at the Press. #
• When restoration of a Michelangelo painting in St. Peter's at the Vatican revealed the later addition of some elements, the resulting dispute pit art against theology and history. Michelangelo expert William Wallace comments in the Independent. #
• Where does the buck stop? The NYT TierneyLab looks at science and money, along with all of the attendant "conflicts of interest" between sound science and the money tied up in it. Read here >> #
• Historian Brian Balogh was recently interviewed on With Good Reason, discussing the (surprisingly) active 19th century government that laid the foundation for America's rise. Listen >> #
• Every year, on Edgar Allen Poe's birthday, mysterious visitor leaves cognac and roses on his grave. This year it didn't happen, for the first time in 60 years. The story >> #
• In a Scientific American article today, author and seismologist Robert Yeats expressed sadness, but little surprise, over the devastation in Haiti. He is currently writing a book for us: Active Faults of the World. Read the interivew here>> #
• The holidays approach. There won't be any updates until the new year. In the meantime, happy holidays, everyone! #
• Finally, someone went and scientifically analyzed that "old book" smell that we in publishing love so much. Thanks, Britain! Read more at UPI >> #
• Tonight, through December 6, the Empire State Building will light up blue for Cambridge's 800th Anniversary! Keep an eye out. The schedule can be found here >> Plenty of folks here in NY will be celebrating, so raise a glass, everyone! #
• Happy birthday, Origin! 150 years ago today, Darwin's On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection was published. We've released an anniversary edition, with an introduction by Jim Endersby. Endersby was interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition this morning, listen here >> #
• Via Gizmodo: a gorgeous NASA composite of weather systems on earth, developed at Goddard with the Earth System Modeling Framework. #
• Remember NASA's LCROSS probe that smacked into the lunar pole a little while back? Analysis of the dust kicked up showed "significant amounts" of water! Nice work, folks. The report >> #