Ackerman, Diane. Deep play. New York : Random House, 1999. Location: Olin BF 717 .A23x 1999 The author, currently a Visiting Professor at Cornell, describes the state of optimal creative capacity that allows a person to feel most fully alive. She argues that a wide range of experiences that produce this state are in fact only aspects of the state of transcendence she calls "deep play." She explores the nature of deep play in an array of activities, and writes about the qualities of time, space, and spirit that distinguish deep-play endeavors from the rest of our lives. Martha Hsu (mrh2@cornell.edu)

Gunkel, Hermann. Introduction to the Psalms: the genres of the religious lyric of Israel. Edited by Joachim Begrich. Translated from German by James Nogalski. Macon: Mercer University Press, 1998 (Mercer library of biblical studies). Location: Olin +BS 1430.2 G7713x 1998 Hermann Gunkel (1862-1932) was one of the giants of modern biblical scholarship, widely regarded as the founder of the form-critical and history-of religion methods in Old Testament study which have set the agenda for biblical research for decades. In view of his stature it is suprising that this critical introduction, a companion to his influential two volume commentary on the Psalms, has not been translated into English until now, sixty five years after its original publication in German. A seminal work, sure to be widely used by anyone interested in the Psalms as well as the religious history of ancient Israel generally. (Yoram Szekely, ybs1@cornell.edu)

Berkus, Catherine A. Strangers & pilgrims: female preaching in America, 1740-1845. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998. (Gender and American culture series) Location: Olin BV 4208 U6 B74x 1998 Piecing together evidence from a wide range of sources, such as religious magazines, newspapers, church records and clergy autobiographies, this scholarly historical monograph tells the story of several generations of women who established an enduring tradition of female religious leadership in colonial and antebellum America. Examines in detail the lives of over a hundred female preachers active during the period. A few, such as Sojourner Truth, have remained well known to this day, but most have been forgotten, so that this book illuminates an hitherto little studied aspect of American religious history, as well as American history generally. (Yoram Szekely, ybs1@cornell.edu)

Bullick, Lucie. Pouvoir militaire et societe au Perou aux XIXe et XXe siecles. Paris : Publications de la Sorbonne, 1999. (Homme et societe; 26). Location: Olin F 3447 B85 1999 The Peruvian military has a long history of intervention in its nation's politics. Lucie Bullick's new work analyses 175 years of intermittent military regimes which range from reactionary to progressive. This work also illustrates the breadth of the library's collections on Peru, where works published in all major European countries sit beside their cohorts from the United States and Latin America. (David Block, db10@cornell.edu)

Gould, Peter. Becoming a geographer. -- 1st ed. -- Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 1999. Location: Olin G 69 .G68 A3x 1999 This collection reflects the Gould's eclectic research and provocative thinking. The essays range widely, including the diffusion of AIDS, mental maps, development themes in Africa, postmodernism, and the practices of teaching and writing. The author, Professor of Geography at Penn State University, situates geography in a wide social context, and brings a fresh perspective to developments in the field such as the quantitative and mathematical revolution in geography in the 1960s and 1970s. Martha Hsu (mrh2@cornell.edu)

Fisher, Helen E. The First Sex. New York: Random House, 1999. Location: Olin, GN479.7 F57 1999 In this work, the noted anthropologist, Helen Fisher, continues her studies of the culture of sex. Subtitled, the Natural Talents of Women and How They are Changing the World, the book summarizes research in brain structure and social organization to trace and explain the relative power and influence of women and men. Fisher suggests that 21st century women are regaining economic parity with men, an equilibrium that prevailed before the agricultural revolution (David Block, db10@cornell.edu)

The American community survey <computer file>. Washington, DC : U.S. Dept.of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1998- Location: Olin Disk HT 123.5 N7 A45 <http://www.census.gov/CMS/www/> From the first Federal enumeration in 1790, the decennial Census count has been assailed by partisan politics. Census 2000 is proving no different. In March, the Supreme Court ruled against the use of sampling to calculate state population totals for purposes of Congressional apportionment. The Court has not ruled on the Constitutionality of using Census data from sampling for other purposes such as redistricting or allocating federal funds. Despite opposition in Congress but with the support of the statistical community, the Census Bureau has continued the development of sampling alternatives to enumeration. The Bureau's Continuous Measurement System is intended to provide more accurate and timely data. An important component is the American Community Survey (ACS), a monthly household survey which will replace the decennial Census long form by 2010. Demographic, economic and housing data from the ACS are now available on CD-ROM in Olin and on the Bureau's website. Only demonstration data from eight locations is currently accessible. Eventually, annual estimates will be available for all states and for cities and counties over 65,000 population. For smaller areas, such as Ithaca and Tompkins County, ACS estimates will be produced every five years. Researchers who make use of the detailed data collected in past decennial Censuses should review the ACS estimates and the statistical methodology used in their production. Some demographers question the accuracy of ACS estimates for small places; some researchers are concerned about the loss of the decennial data as a benchmark for estimates. Now is the time for Census data users to evaluate the ACS while it is still under development and changes can be considered. (Janie Harris, jlh9@cornell.edu)

Sergeev, Victor M., 1944-. The Wild East : crime and lawlessness in post-communist Russia. Armonk, N. Y.: M.E. Sharp, c1998. Location: Olin HV 7015 .15 .S47x 1998 The "Wild East" is a fascinating and provocative analysis of corruption and crime in the late Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. Victor Sergeev seeks an answer to the question of to what extent the observed increase in the crime rate in Russia is related to the fact that the legal and ethical norms of the Communist regime have been discredited and compromised while no other authoritative norms have been able to replace them. This book provides an interdisciplinary theoretical background for the study of the political, economic, social, legal, philosophical, historical and even biological aspects of the aberrant behavior in Russia. Sergeev offers the thesis that in a society where legal, moral and ethical underpinnings are in flux, the very meanings of the old concepts of crime and corruption come under question. He observed that throughout history revolutions have always created what can be called "criminalization" of the society, due to the chaotic growth of the gray area of human activity (gray being the area between "white" - the permitted and "black" - the prohibited). In that context Sergeev's comprehensive analysis of the social and cultural actuality of criminal behavior is illustrated by original, insightful examples of existing criminal communities, circles and their activities and schemes. The book, in addition to being the most interesting reading, helps understand the magnitude and depth of changes happening in present day Russia. (Wanda Wawro, wtw3@cornell.edu)

Soldatenko, Boris. Moskva Kriminalnaia : po ugolovnym labirintam stolichnogo dna. Moskva : Sentropoligraf, 1999. Location: Olin HV 7015 .15 .Z8 M67 1999 "Moskva Kriminalnaia" is written in the best tradition of contemporary journalism. Boris Soldatenko collected material for this book not in libraries, not even through interviewing people from groups he wanted to describe, but by stepping himself into the bottomless pit of Moscovite criminal elements, taking on the persona of a member of a particular criminal community, risking his own safety and even life. Soldatenko points out that crime and criminal society are as old as Moscow itself but only until just recently has anyone even been able to acknowledge its existence let alone write anything about it. The stories that Soldatenko writes are raw, real, without any makup in deference to the sensitive or squeamish reader. He explores the underground world of the Russian Mafia, homeless beggars, drug addicts, pimps, prostitutes, thieves, porno movie makers or grave robbers of the cemeteries for the social elite. The author with bitter irony describes his book as the Pocket guide to Criminal Life in Moscow. In part, this criminality is as old as any low life in any large city (i.e. pickpockets, prostitutes) and certainly existed previously. However certain criminal elements have only recently become a sign of the troubling new times of modern Russia. (Wanda Wawro, wtw3@cornell.edu)

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