Books published by The University of Chicago Press

"Stâephane Gerson's edited collection spotlights historians who have embraced the methodological, practical, and ethical challenges of writing about that most slippery and opaque of subjects, their own families-a practice that many historians have long felt has been discouraged professionally. In a remarkable number of ways, the diverse lineup of contributors here bring into the open the difficulties and complexities-personal, professional, and historiographic-that ensue from not distancing themselves from their subjects but stressing their closeness. Gerson suggests that historians overall might write better histories if they felt free to acknowledge that what speaks to them professionally might also be what moves them personally"--

"Stâephane Gerson's edited collection spotlights historians who have embraced the methodological, practical, and ethical challenges of writing about that most slippery and opaque of subjects, their own families-a practice that many historians have long felt has been discouraged professionally. In a remarkable number of ways, the diverse lineup of contributors here bring into the open the difficulties and complexities-personal, professional, and historiographic-that ensue from not distancing themselves from their subjects but stressing their closeness. Gerson suggests that historians overall might write better histories if they felt free to acknowledge that what speaks to them professionally might also be what moves them personally"--

Offers an expansive, unified theory of thought that brings together the vast resources of neuroscience, computation, and cognitive linguistics. What is an idea, and where does it come from? We experience thought as if it were abstract, but every thought is actually a physical thing, carried out by the neural systems of our brains. Thought does not occur neuron-by-neuron; it happens when neurons come together to form circuits and when simple circuits combine to form complex ones. Thoughts, then, derive their structures from the circuitry we also use for vision, touch, and hearing. This circuitry is what allows simple thoughts to come together into complex concepts, making meaning, creating metaphors, and framing our social and political ideas. With The Neural Mind, George Lakoff, a pioneering cognitive linguist, and computer scientist Srini Narayanan deftly combine insights from cognitive science, computational modeling, and linguistics to show how thoughts arise from the neural circuitry that runs throughout our bodies. They answer key questions about the ways we make meaning: How does neural circuitry create the conceptual "frames" through which we understand our social lives? What kind of neural circuitry characterizes metaphorical thought, in which ideas are understood in terms of other ideas with similar structures? Lively and accessible, the book shows convincingly that the "metaphors we live by"--to use Lakoff's famous phrase--aren't abstractions but deeply embodied neural constructs. The Neural Mind is the first book of its kind, bringing together the ideas of multiple disciplines to offer a unified, accessible theory of thought. A field-defining work, Lakoff and Narayanan's book will be of interest not just to linguists and cognitive scientists, but also to psychologists, philosophers, anthropologists, journalists, sociologists, and political scientists--and to anyone who wants to understand how we really think.

"Along with Dante and Petrarch, Boccaccio (1313-1375) is one of the "Three Crowns" of Italian literature, a trio of writers who shaped the history of humanism, literature, and poetry in Italy, Europe, and beyond. Much as Dante established vernacular Italian in poetry, Boccaccio did the same for prose, most notably in his best-known work, the Decameron, an unforgettable work that takes an unflinching look at human passion, celebrates storytelling and community as a means of survival. This major biography by the esteemed literary scholar Marco Santagata sheds new light on Boccaccio's life-his family, friends, and foes; his aspirations, fears, and frustrations. Santagata shows in this rich portrait how the transformations Italy was undergoing at the time affected Boccaccio at various stages of his life. Most importantly, he shows how the world around him shaped Boccaccio's understanding of what literature could be; what kinds of stories it could or should convey and what kinds of characters it could depict; and, perhaps most importantly, what role literature and art can play in a changing world. This work promises to be the definitive biography of Boccaccio for many years to come"--

Fish don't heed state boundaries, nor does this comprehensive, photo-filled guide to the diverse species of Chicago and beyond. Encompassing southern Lake Michigan, northeastern Illinois, and adjacent areas of Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, the Chicago Region is home to rare habitats supporting diverse fish populations. From small creeks to large rivers, and small ponds to one of the world's largest freshwater ecosystems, Lake Michigan, these systems are home to some 164 fish species representing 31 families. We meet them all--lampreys, sturgeon, paddlefish, gars, drum, darters, perches, sticklebacks, sculpins, and more--in this book, the most complete and up-to-date reference for fishes in the Chicago Region. Written by leading local ecologists, and featuring a pictorial family key, color photographs, and detailed distribution maps for each species, as well as natural history summaries with observations unique to the region, this go-to guide belongs on the shelf--and in the boat--of every angler, naturalist, fisheries manager, and biologist.

A new history of how the musical worlds of German towns and cities were transformed during the Nazi era. In the years after the Nazis came to power in January 1933 and through the war years all aspects of life in Germany changed. However, despite the social and political upheaval, gentile citizens were able to continue leisure activities such as attending concerts. In this book, historian Neil Gregor surveys the classical concert scene in Nazi Germany from the perspective of the audience, rather than institutions or performers. Gregor delves into the cultural lives of ordinary Germans under conditions of dictatorship. Did the ways in which Germans heard music in the period change? Did a Nazi way of listening emerge? For audiences, Gregor shows, changes to the concert experience were small and often took place around the edges. This, combined with the preserved idea of the concert hall as a space of imagined civility and cultivation, led many concertgoers and music lovers to claim after the war that their field and their practice had been innocent-a place to retreat from the vicious violence and racism of the Nazi regime. Drawing on untapped archival sources, The Symphony Concert in Nazi Germany reveals that the true history was one of disruption but also of near effortless adaptation. Through countless small acts, the symphony concert was reframed within the languages of strident nationalism, racism, and militarism to ensure its place inside the cultural cosmos of National Socialist Germany.

A comparative analysis of both formal and informal long-term care in ten of the world's wealthiest countries. Nations throughout the world are in the midst of an enormous demographic transition, with life expectancy increasing and fertility falling, leading to a rapidly aging population and critical implications for long-term care around the world. This volume documents and compares long-term care programs in ten wealthy countries. Analyses of survey data and government statistics show that the costs of long-term care are beyond the financial means of a large fraction of the elderly population in most countries, particularly the oldest and most disabled. As a result, public systems bear most of the cost of formal long-term care, such as care in an institution or paid home care. Most countries spend more on nursing homes than on home care, but this relationship varies widely as does the mix of care needs and resources used to define eligibility for public funding. At the same time, most care is provided informally through family or unpaid caregivers. The costs of informal care, including the foregone earnings of caregivers, are estimated to account for at least one-third of all long-term care spending in every country. Thus, any estimate of the social costs of long-term care must account for the implicit costs of informal care.

Provides strategies and approaches for integrating natural capital into environmental statistics. While the importance of natural resources and the contributions of the environment to welfare are apparent, traditional national income and wealth accounting practices do not measure or value environmental public goods. This volume examines the conceptual and empirical basis for integrating natural capital-forests, oceans, and air-into the economic and environmental statistics that inform public policy. It offers innovative approaches to valuing nonmarket environmental goods and services, including strategies for capturing heterogeneity in measurement across types of capital, geography, and individuals. The chapters focus on measuring productivity with adjustments for pollution damage, developing a microdata infrastructure to advance our understanding of the distribution of environmental amenities and hazards, and estimating long-run sustainable development indicators. Case studies consider coastal assets, forests, and marine ecosystems, and develop strategies for implementing specific environmental-economic accounts such as environmental activity accounts and natural capital accounts for forests and the marine economy. As national income accounting standards are updated to incorporate expanded guidance on issues related to natural capital, this timely book will help inform decisions on the measurement and treatment of climate, air, water, and other public goods.