by Gabriel Ward Lasker (1999)
One of the founders of modern human biology and physical anthropology, Gabriel W. Lasker holds a well-established place in the history of science. In a classic article published in Science in 1969, Lasker advanced the idea of plasticity, the process of human adaptation to stressful environments by a series of modifications to the body during the course of physical growth and development. This concept was a factor that led the scientific community to give up its reliance on the notion of genetically fixed racial types. As he documents the rapidly changing field of anthropology and some of its leading figures, Lasker gives his readers a peek inside the lives of people who have defined what it means to be human - and one of those people is himself.
C.A.P. Saucier
Examines the life of archaeologist Donald C. Johanson; details his discovery of the first skeleton of an upright-walking human ancestor, known as Lucy; and discusses how his finding influenced scientific thought about evolution and his career.
Billy Graham
Hailed as "the world's preacher," Billy Graham has enjoyed a career that has spanned six decades and his ministry of faith has touched the hearts and souls of millions. In Just As I Am Graham reveals his life story in what the Chicago Tribune calls "a disarmingly honest autobiography." Now, in this revised and updated edition, we hear from this "lion in winter" (Time) on his role over the past ten years as America's pastor during our national crisis of the Oklahoma bombing and 9/11; his knighthood; his passing of the torch to his son, Franklin, to head the organization that bears his name; and his commitment to do the Lord's work in the years of his and his wife Ruth's physical decline. - Publisher.
Stanley Sadie
An exploration of Mozart's life and music relates his achievements to the social, economic, and cultural environments in which he worked, offering insight into his compositional process and his relationships with numerous contemporaries.
Sylvia Nasar
Relates how mathematical genius John Forbes Nash, Jr., suffered a breakdown at age thirty-one and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, but experienced a remission of his illness thirty years later.