Thursday, August 02, 2012

Archives/Area Research Center Open Hours Change

Effective August 1, 2012, the research hours at the UW-Stout Archives/Area Research Center for Dunn, Pepin, and Barron Counties are now Monday - Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM.

The Archives will also be offering special evening and weekend hours for its researchers on select dates during the Fall Semester. We will be announcing the dates for these hours soon, so please look to this blog and the Archives webpage for updates.

For more information, please contact the Archivist, Heather Stecklein, at archives@uwstout.edu.

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Browsing Books for August--Modern Science Books of Note

How the Hippies Saved Physics by David Kaiser. Library Call Number: QC15.K26 2011.
     The story of the Fundamental Fysiks Group, a band of 1970's UC-Berkeley physics teachers and students who began looking into quantum theory and Bell's Therorem and approached quantum entanglement by way of Zen, hot tubs, drugs and psychic studies to spin physics into new directions.    

 
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains, by Nicholas Carr. Call Number: QP360.C667 2010.

     Human thought has been shaped through the centuries by "tools of the mind"…The printed book focused our attention. The Internet encourages rapid, distracted sampling of small bits of information. Carr asks, as we become more adept at scanning and skimming, are we losing our capacity for concentration, contemplation, and reflection?



Epigenetics by Richard C. Francis.                                   Call Number QH450.F73 2011.

     Francis' book is the first book for general readers to explore epigenetics--a term that means "on the gene." New discoveries in the field of genetics, indicate that a link exists between between the stress of the environment on an individual and the seemingly inherited traits of his or her subsequent generations. Trauma, smoking, addiction could all lead to increased chances of significant problems like obesity, cancer, even Alzheimer's


 Hot X: Algebra Exposed by Danica McKellar. Call Number: QA159.M34 2010.
     Author McKellar, a former television star of The Wonder Years, also happens to be a math whiz who is trying very hard to get young women to overcome their math phobia. Here, she continues her string of best-selling books, enticing young women into the wonderful world of mathematics using testimonials, real-life examples and a pop-mag style, while illuminating the mysteries of algebra.

August Videos--Early Coen Brothers Classics


Blood Simple, starring John Getz, Frances McDormand and Dan Hedaya. Written by Joel and Ethan Coen.  Directed by Joel Coen. 1984. Library Call Number: PN1995.9.M87B67 2001.
    A jealous saloon owner hires a private eye to find out who his wife is sleeping with, then wants the detective to kill them both.  But the detective has his own agenda.  Most of the deadly sins are represented here in fine Coen Brothers style.  Especially good are the scenes in the detective's car and the problems of burying a body for all the wrong reasons.


Raising Arizona, starring Nicholas Cage, Holly Hunter and John Goodman. Written by the Coens. Dir. by Joel Coen. 1987. Call Number: PN1995.5.C35R55 2002.
     Policewoman Edwina falls for chronic convenience store robber Hi while taking his mug shots.  They marry and settle into an Arizona trailer, but their family can’t be complete without a baby.  When told Edwina is unable to conceive, they decide to steal one of a millionaire’s new quintuplets.  But Hi’s co-worker, a visit from two brothers he knew in prison, and an apocalyptic bounty hunter tracking the baby complicate matters in this goofy and hilarious film.
Miller’s Crossing, starring Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Albert Finney and John Turturro. 1990.  Library Call Number: PN1995.9.G3 M55 2003
   The Coen’s gangster movie, tells the story of two warring gangs and the right-hand man of the Irish Godfather, in love with the Godfather’s girlfriend, protecting her no-good brother, and trying to keep the Italians out of their territory.  Refined double and triple-crosses with Gabriel Byrne as the smart guy, Finney as the Irish gangster chieftain, Harden as the girlfriend  and J.E. Freeman as a great, sinister hit man called the Dane.
Barton Fink, starring John Turturro and John Goodman. 1991.
Call Number: PN1995.9.A84B37 2003.
            A self-important writer moves from Broadway to Hollywood, where he’s given the assignment of writing a wrestling picture in a small room in a fleabag hotel.  Immediately he begins suffering writer’s block, made even worse by his intrusive neighbor next door, a jovial salesman who brushes aside the writer’s rudeness and won’t let him alone.  Darkly funny and moving from comedy to violent weirdness, this is quintessential Coen.