Books published by Princeton University Press

One of the foremost experts on magic, religion, and the occult in the ancient world provides an unparalleled exploration of magic in the Greco-Roman world, giving insight into the shifting ideas of religion and the divine in the ancient past and in the later Western tradition.

An engaging and richly illustrated exploration of the natural history of seaweeds and other algae As photosynthetic organisms, seaweeds and other algae transfer billions of tons of carbon globally from the atmosphere to the deep ocean each year. Coming in all manner of colors, shapes, and sizes, from bioluminescent single-celled algae to giant kelps, they form the basis of most marine food webs, and are found in almost all environments on the planet. Touted as the biofuel of the future, seaweeds and algae also hold promise for biodegradable packaging, offer a nutritious food source, and exhibit antiviral and antitumor properties. Combining accessible text with stunning images and graphics, this book takes a deep dive to explore the unique characteristics of seaweeds and other algae, outlining their extraordinary evolution as well as their morphology, life histories, ecology, and uses. Offering rare insights into the algal world, The Lives of Seaweeds is essential reading for naturalists and marine life enthusiasts.

Revised Ph.D. thesis at Brandeis University.

"Experience the spectacle of Venice and its rich history as a glassmaking capital through Sargent, Whistler, and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano. This exhibition catalogue is the first comprehensive examination of the American Grand Tour to Venice in the late nineteenth century, revealing the glass furnaces and their new creative boom as a vibrant facet of the city's allure. This gorgeously illustrated catalogue features paintings and prints by John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, Frank Duveneck, Thomas Moran, William Merritt Chase, Maurice Prendergast, Maxfield Parrish, Louise Cox, and Ellen Day Hale alongside rarely seen Venetian glass mosaic portraits and glass cups, vases, and urns by the leading Murano glassmakers. Reuniting these exquisitely crafted objects with paintings, etchings, and drawings from the same milieu, this catalogue recovers and explains their past significance. Five new essays from experts in the history of American art and of Venetian glass provide the first combined survey of fine and decorative arts from the Venetian Grand Tour, offering a unique and valuable contribution to the fields of American Art and nineteenth-century cultural history. Ultimately, this project demonstrates the lasting impact of the nineteenth-century Venetian glass revival on American art, literature, and education, as well as period concepts of gender and social class."--

Examines the vast array of art produced by African Americans in response to the continuing impact of anti-Black violence and how it is used to protest, process, mourn and memorialize those events.

Ther provides needed perspective on today's "refugee crisis," demonstrating how Europe has taken in far greater numbers of refugees in earlier periods of its history, in wartime as well as peacetime. His sweeping narrative crosses the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, taking readers from the Middle East to the shores of America.

"The definitive translation of the classic Sanskrit work in a single-volume paperback edition"--

The author presents an in-depth look at how democratic values have widened the American arts scene, even as it remains elite and cosmopolitan.

Mack offers a wide-ranging exploration of the creative power of literary tradition, from the middle ages to the 21st century, revealing in new ways how it helps writers and readers make new works and meanings.

In The Underwater Eye, Margaret Cohen tells the fascinating story of how the development of modern diving equipment and movie camera technology has allowed documentary and narrative filmmakers to take human vision into the depths, creating new imagery of the seas and the underwater realm, and expanding the scope of popular imagination. Innovating on the most challenging film set on earth, filmmakers have tapped the emotional power of the underwater environment to forge new visions of horror, tragedy, adventure, beauty, and surrealism, entertaining the public and shaping its perception of ocean reality. Examining works by filmmakers ranging from J. E. Williamson, inventor of the first undersea film technology in 1914, to Wes Anderson, who filmed the underwater scenes of his 2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou entirely in a pool, The Underwater Eye traces how the radically alien qualities of underwater optics have shaped liquid fantasies for more than a century. Richly illustrated, the book explores documentaries by Jacques Cousteau, Louis Malle, and Hans Hass, art films by Man Ray and Jean Vigo, and popular movies and television shows such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Sea Hunt, the Bond films, Jaws, The Abyss, and Titanic. In exploring the cultural impact of underwater filmmaking, the book also asks compelling questions about the role film plays in engaging the public with the remote ocean, a frontline of climate change.

Mathletics is a remarkably entertaining book that shows readers how to use simple mathematics to analyze a range of statistical and probability-related questions in professional baseball, basketball, and football, and in sports gambling. How does professional baseball evaluate hitters? Is a singles hitter like Wade Boggs more valuable than a power hitter like David Ortiz? Should NFL teams pass or run more often on first downs? Could professional basketball have used statistics to expose the crooked referee Tim Donaghy? Does money buy performance in professional sports? In Mathletics, Wayne Winston describes the mathematical methods that top coaches and managers use to evaluate players and improve team performance, and gives math enthusiasts the practical tools they need to enhance their understanding and enjoyment of their favorite sports--and maybe even gain the outside edge to winning bets. Mathletics blends fun math problems with sports stories of actual games, teams, and players, along with personal anecdotes from Winston's work as a sports consultant. Winston uses easy-to-read tables and illustrations to illuminate the techniques and ideas he presents, and all the necessary math concepts--such as arithmetic, basic statistics and probability, and Monte Carlo simulations--are fully explained in the examples. After reading Mathletics, you will understand why baseball teams should almost never bunt, why football overtime systems are unfair, why points, rebounds, and assists aren't enough to determine who's the NBA's best player--and much, much more. In a new epilogue, Winston discusses the stats and numerical analysis behind some recent sporting events, such as how the Dallas Mavericks used analytics to become the 2011 NBA champions.

Looking at Americans and their politics, this book argues for a more complex understanding of the "space" occupied by politics in nineteenth-century American society and culture. It explores a wide range of political actions and attitudes.

A comprehensive interpretation of John Locke's solution to one of philosophy's enduring problems: free will and the nature of human agency. It shows us that Locke conceived free agency not just as the freedom to express oneself, but as including also the freedom to transcend oneself and act in accordance with "the good."

Argues that it is necessary to move 'beyond the Constitution', to the principles that stood antecedent to the text, if we are to understand the text and apply the Constitution to the cases that arise every day in our law.

Addresses the problems that arise not only from a politicized foreign policy process but also from excessive bureaucratization and lack of leadership in the Foreign Service itself.

Yoga has come to be an icon of Indian culture and civilization, and it is widely regarded as being timeless and unchanging. This book challenges this popular view by examining the history of yoga, focusing on its emergence in modern India and its dramatically changing form and significance in the twentieth century.