University of Michigan Press Blog

'Beyond Sputnik' author responds to Obama's State of the Union Address

Tobin L. Smith, coauthor of Beyond Sputnik: U.S. Science Policy in the 21st Century, was on The Takeaway national radio program this week to comment on President Obama's State of the Union Address, which called this "our generation's Sputnik moment."

Smith commented on what happened in 1958 in response to Sputnik, and compared it to current day events. Sputnik was directly responsible for increasing investment in science and defense in this country, he said, leading to the present-day version of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the agency that set up the foundations of the modern Internet.

"We don't have that thing that's going to galvanize the American populace to invest in science. Sputnik was unique in that it made science sexy for students, it was cool to be a physicist," Smith said during the broadcast. "Right now, we just don't have that."

The complete broadcast is available here. Smith is Associate Vice President for Federal Relations at the Association of American Universities. He was formerly Assistant Director of the University of Michigan and MIT Washington, DC, offices.

'Blues in Black and White' named a 2011 Michigan Notable Book

Blues in Black and White, photographed by Stanley Livingston, text by Michael Erlewine, was recently selected as a 2011 Michigan Notable Book.

The Library of Michigan annually selects 20 books that highlight Michigan people, places and events, and the list highlights exceptional books published in 2010 that bring attention to Michigan authors and topics. These lists aim to be reflective of Michigan’s diverse ethnic, historical, literary, and cultural experience.

Previous University of Michigan Press titles that have also been selected for this honor in 2009 and 2010 include: Bath Massacre, Isadore’s Secret, "Jiffy," Looking for Hickories, Ninety Years Crossing Lake Michigan, and The Toledo War.

Erlewine and Livingston capture the Ann Arbor Blues Festivals via the text and photographs throughout Blues in Black and White. The Ann Arbor Blues Festival was a festival and celebration of city blues. It helped to mark the discovery of modern blues music (and the musicians who made that music) by a much larger audience. These groundbreaking festivals were the seed that grew into the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, which was continued annually for many years.

Livingston unfortunately passed away late in 2010, but lived to see the book's release.

Economist blog quotes UM Press author in billion-dollar cold medicine case

A letter from author Stephen Ziliak has been quoted extensively in The Economist’s View blog posted by Mark Thoma, in regards to the amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court on November 12, 2010.

Ziliak’s brief claims that the very popular cold and flu relief medication, Zicam, has been found to cause users to permanently lose their sense of smell. The amicus brief filed by Ziliak is regarded with high importance, and “it is said to be one of the top ten cases of the year as the Court's decision has general and large implications for liability, regulation, and reporting by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Billions of dollars are at stake, true. But so are billions of lives - live smells included.”

Ziliak is co-author of The Cult of Statistical Significance: How the Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives, with Deirdre N. McCloskey.

The full text from the Economist’s View blog can be found here: http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2011/01/does-statistical-significance-stink.html

Read the original UM Press blog entry on the case here: http://umichpress.typepad.com/university_of_michigan_pr/2010/12/the-cult-of-statistical-significance-author-stephen-t-ziliak-challenges-cold-medecine-in-supreme-cou.html

Reverend Billy returns with the "Church of Earth-a-lujah" in a series of appearances

"After ten years we ARE a church, if a post-religious one."

Every Sunday starting January 30th, Reverend Billy, the revivalist preacher created by performance artist Bill Talen, is inviting readers to revel in the glory of the Reverend's worship-show, "The Church of Earth-a-lujah."

Reverend Billy is the subject of The Reverend Billy Project: From Rehearsal Hall to Super Mall with the Church of Life After Shopping by Savitri D and Bill Talen. The Reverend has attracted an international following as he has railed in white suit and clerical collar against the evils of excessive consumerism and corporate irresponsibility.

Hosted every Sunday at 7:30 PM at "Theater 80" - 80 St. Mark's Place in New York's East Village, the spectacular is described as "an urban study of indigenous wisdom, wrapped with a distortion of Jimmy Swaggart and a radical gospel choir from around the world."

Hoke takes the reins, as Michigan’s next football coach, and his place in history

Greg Nelson is the author of M is for Michigan Football: Celebrating the Tradition of Michigan Football. He had this to say about Michigan naming Brady Hoke its new football coach this week:

“I want to coach Michigan.”

Never have those five words meant more than when spoken by Brady Hoke, the newly appointed head football coach at the University of Michigan.

Hoke’s energy, enthusiasm, knowledge, determination and passion for the game all point to a bright future for the Michigan football program. Yet it’s his passion for the university and his love for Michigan football that is already uniting and exciting the fan base, alumni and players – past and present.

An assistant coach at UM for seven years, including the 1997 national championship campaign, Hoke wears his Wolverine heart on his sleeve. Now he gets his opportunity to create his own legacy within the storied football program by following in the footsteps of past coaching greats like Yost, Kipke, Crisler, Oosterbann, Schembechler and Carr.

 Discover more about the rich pride and tradition that is Michigan football and read about the talented and passionate “Michigan Men” who have shaped a football program that has won more games than any other university in history. It’s all part of the book, M is for Michigan Football – Celebrating the Tradition of Michigan Football.

Author of 'Michigan Ice Hockey' to speak at UM Club of Greater Detroit January 29

Greg Nelson, author of the new book Michigan Ice Hockey, Celebrating the All-Time Greats and Most Memorable Moments, will speak at the UM Club of Greater Detroit’s annual winter sports event on Saturday, January 29, 2011.

The fundraising event will be held at the Olympia Club inside Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, prior to the University of Michigan vs. Michigan State University hockey game at 7:30 p.m.

Cost for the The UM Club of Greater Detroit event is $50 per person and includes a buffet dinner as well as tickets to the UM-MSU hockey game. All net proceeds support M Club of Greater Detroit Scholarship Fund.

Olympia Club event registration begins at 4:45 pm with the program kicking off at 5:30 pm. In addition to Greg Nelson, Josh Blackburn, former Wolverine goaltender and current UM volunteer goaltending coach, will also speak.

For additional information and advance tickets regarding this event, please call (313) 318-0797 or email jdarnell@att.blackberry.com.

UM Press titles win CHOICE Awards

CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, which is published by the Association of College and Research Libraries and a division of the American Library Association, has announced the winners of its 2010 Outstanding Academic Titles winners.

The following University of Michigan Press titles have received the award:

  David Castillo's Baroque Horrors

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pamela Fox's Natural Acts

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joshua Horwitz and Casey Anderson's Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea

 

 

 

 

 

Suk-Young Kim's Illusive Utopia

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tobin Siebers's Disability Aesthetics