Speaking with the Dictionary of Irish Biography Blogger

Meet Bill, author and originator of the Dictionary of Irish Biography Blogspot. His mission statement: The new Dictionary of Irish Biography from the Royal Irish Academy and Cambridge UP. 9 volumes, 10,000 pages, 10 million words, 9700 lives. A mammoth account of Irish lives from the earliest times to 2002. I’m reading it from beginning to end.

The Dictionary of Irish Biography – more affectionately, DIB – is the most comprehensive and authoritative biographical reference work on Ireland. From James Ussher to James Joyce, St. Patrick to Patrick Pearse, St. Brigit to Maud Gonne MacBride, Maria Edgeworth to Elizabeth Bowen, Edward Carson to Bobby Sands, this indispensable resource outlines the careers at home and overseas of prominent men and women born in Ireland, north and south, and the noteworthy Irish careers of those born outside Ireland.

I had the chance to ask Bill a few questions about this adventure that he’s embarked on. Read on to learn about his motivations, expectations, and revelations.

The ABC of the Irish in Biographies

Happy St. Patrick’s Day friends! The Irish Times on The ABC of the Irish: “Twelve years in the making, the innovative and imaginative comprehensive Dictionary of Irish Biography is a wonderful work of scholarship.”  Read more on this epic undertaking…

Our Changing Planet Picks

Congratulations to Michael D. King, Claire L. Parkinson, Kim C. Partington, and Robin G. Williams, editors of Our Changing Planet: The View from Space for winning the Best of Show 2009-2010 and Distinguished Technical Communication 2009-2010 Awards by the Society of Technical Communication.

THE Review of Why We Disagree About Climate Change

Times Higher Education discusses the subtleties and subjectivity of science – calling Why We Disagree About Climate Change “a distinctive and courageous book.” Full review here…

The Court-Martial: A Lawful Alternative

The Al-Qaeda Seven controversy is all over the news. At the center of the debate are Justice Department attorneys who once represented terrorism detainees. Maligned by some for being un-American, their patriotism and their values called into question, and defended by others for protecting the liberties of unpopular clients, the story of the Al-Qaeda Seven calls into question the fundamental constitutional boundaries of our government.

Ultimately, though, these Seven are a conduit for a larger conversation that we need to be having about the prosecution of suspected terrorists: Where should we try members of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban? Jordan J. Paust, author of Beyond the Law: The Bush Administration’s Unlawful Responses in the “War” on Terror, asks just that in a new op-ed for Jurist. With vim, vigor, and vision, he suggests that we must look beyond the two forums offered by the Obama Administration – federal district court or US military commission – to consider a third option: military court-martial.