Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Ancient Wyoming by UNH's Will Clyde and Kirk Johnson

Ancient Wyoming: A Dozen Lost Worlds Based on the Geology of the Bighorn Basin

Will Clyde and Kirk Johnson, Fulcrum Publishing, May 2016

a page from Ancient Wyoming by UNH's Will Clyde and Kirk Johnson

What does half a billion years of the Earth’s geologic history look like? In Ancient Wyoming, UNH geology professor Will Clyde and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History director Kirk Johnson team up to tell the story of our planet through that sediment record of the state’s Bighorn Basin, a 100-mile-wide, semiarid area that contains layers of rock from almost every geologic time period. Merging palentology and geology with stunning artwork, Clyde and Johnson highlight a dozen scenes from Earth’s ancient past, capturing the basin’s time as a deep inland sea, a muddy swamp, a vast stretch of sand dunes and a land of glacial ice and super volcanoes. Clyde is a longtime student of the Bighorn Basin: he recently led the Bighorn Basin Coring Project, a five-year, 18-institution geological exploration of past periods of global warming, and has been studying the area just east of Yellowstone Park since he was a graduate student, some 25 years ago.

 

Revolution on the Hudson: New York City and the Hudson River Valley in the American War of Independence

George C. Daughan ’61, W.W. Norton and Company, June 2016

Revolution on the Hudson by UNH alum George C. Daughan '61

No part of the country was more contested during the American Revolution than New York City, the Hudson River and the surrounding counties. British and American political and military leaders alike viewed the Hudson River Valley as the American jugular, which, if cut, would quickly bleed the rebellion to death, and King George III’s 1776 attempt to seize Manhattan and use it as a base to push up the Hudson River Valley, though disastrously executed, has long been held by historians as superb military strategy. In Revolution on the Hudson, Daughan makes the bold new argument that Britain’s attempt to cut off New England never would have worked, and that doggedly pursuing dominance of the Hudson ultimately cost the crown her colonies. In his fourth book, Naval historian and Samuel Eliot Morrison Award for Naval Literature winner Daughan unpacks intricate military maneuvers on land and sea, introduces the personalities presiding over each side’s strategy and reinterprets the vagaries of colonial politics to offer a thrilling response to one of history’s most intriquing questions: How could a fledgling nation have defeated the most powerful war machine of the era?

 

Creative Writing in Science by UNH alum Katie Coppens '01, '02G

Creative Writing in Science: Activities that Inspire

Katie Coppens ’01, ’02G, National Science Teachers Association Press, March 2016

Coppens’ background as a middle-school English and science teacher is leveraged to great effect in this classroom resource book, which features 15 different K–12 activities that integrate writing with content in life science, Earth and space sciences, and engineering and physical sciences. From a travel blog about the digestive system to a packing list for the planets, Coppens offers exercises that will inspire students to be better writers while increasing their scientific understanding.

 

A Pocket Book of Prompts by UNH alum Leaf Seligman ’85G

A Pocket Book of Prompts

Leaf Seligman ’85G, Bauhan Publishing, July 2015

Has your environment shaped your identity? What makes life real to you? If a Martian were to follow you around for a day, would the Martin be able to tell the sources of your joy? In this pocket-sized book, writer and teacher Seligman provides prompts both familiar and surprising that help students “deepen connection, make meaning or clarify it,” through their writing.

 

Louis Macneice by UNH alum Christopher Fauske ’84

Louis Macneice: In a Between World

Christopher Fauske ’84, ’86G Irish Academic Press, March 2016

Salem (Mass.) State University professor Fauske presents Macneice’s biography as a lens through which to understand his poetry, prose and drama, examining the Irish literary luminary’s work in the context of his relationship with Ireland, the Second World War, his father and the key women in his life.

 

Notes from Old Lyme by UNH alum Sydney Williams ’63

Notes from Old Lyme: Life on the Marsh and Other Essays

a page from Notes from Old Lyme by UNH alum Sydney Williams ’63

Sydney Williams ’63, Bauhan Publishing, May 2016

After 47 years on Wall Street, Williams writes from home about what truly matters. The former stockbroker’s second collection of essays includes sections focused on the great outdoors, the world at large, books and other interests, and family and friends. But like all experiences, these blend together in a wash of poignant meditations that call forth our own memorable moments.

 

Originally published in UNH Magazine Fall 2016 Issue