Alliance Access Spring 2001 – – [contents]

Summer Reading

While not exactly your traditional poolside reading, these books might be worth adding to your summer list. Suggested by Alliance staff, the books were found to be stimulating, thought provoking, even controversial, but not taxing.

Leadership Without Easy Answers

by Ronald A. Heifetz.

Using examples from the public policy arena, the author presents a strategy of leadership that applies to those at the top as well as those who must lead without authority.

Life Everywhere: The Maverick Science of Astrobiology

by David Darling.

A brisk and very comprehensible account of this new science.

The Man Who Loved Only Numbers

by Paul Hoffman

This biography of the mathematician Paul Erdos is also an amusing and inspiring look at the world of mathematics.

The Way We Were?: The Myths and Realities of America's Student Achievement

by Richard Rothstein.

We hear a lot about the decline of American public schools and it seems that each new study provides more evidence of how the system is failing. The author examines the statistical and anecdotal evidence and questions how it is often used and presented. He details the problems with comparing standardized data from today with that from decades ago and suggests that improvement should be based on accurate appraisals of strengths and weaknesses not on exaggerations.