The Columbian Exchange, Alfred Crosby

I lied.  In lieu of a much-anticipated Jane Austen novel, I decided to go for another early-Americas pick, The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492.  Motivated by the large font and lengthy endnotes, I decided to follow my previous selection (1491) with a work about the world after Columbus.  It was a quick read, and I enjoyed spending a week of lunch breaks pouring over tales of epidemic disease and wild pigs.

Crosby originally wrote this book in 1973, so most of the statistics are from the 1940s-60s.  The Cold War is still hot; China isn't yet a big player in politics or economics; the total world population is still under four billion.  All the same, the book lays out a good basic overview of primarily biological interchange between the Americas and the rest of the world since 1492.  Diseases like smallpox and syphilis ravaged populations.  Wild pigs, cattle, and horses roamed the Caribbean islands and American plains.  Potatoes, corn, and manioc, from east to west, became some of the most basic staples of the Old World diet.  A little dry, but there's enough subtle humor to keep you going if you're motivated.

As much as I've enjoyed my journey through the contact-era Americas, it's time for a change of pace.  Next stop: theology.

1491, Charles Mann

Yes, I'm still here!  I am absolutely astounded by how quickly my fellow-bloggers read books.  But after a month of reading (and traveling cross country to Colorado), I finally have a new one for you -  1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus.  A professor assigned a chapter from this book during the spring semester and I liked it so much that I decided to buy it.

Unlike many historians and archaeologists, Mann is able to pull together a succinct synthesis of American civilizations pre-Columbus, focusing on the ways people modified their environments to shape the world early colonists later experienced.  Perhaps it sounds a little dry, but Mann is an excellent writer and takes you along on his adventures to the Amazon, the Mexican countryside, and New England.  I was impressed with how well he tackled some complex archaeology, and drew comparisons between so many diverse groups of native peoples in the Americas.

I certainly recommend this book for anyone interested in early American history, archaeology, Native American studies, or environmental studies.  It's easy to read, but does take a while to tackle the whole thing if you're an unfortunately slow reader like me.

And with that, I'm defecting to another Jane Austen before I tackle any more archaeology or history.

The Evidential Power of Beauty: Science and Theology Meet, Thomas Dubay, S. M.

My parents gave me this book as a present because I'm fascinated by the overlap between science and God/religion/theology. I had to wait until the summer to have time to enjoy it, and overall I found it an interesting book.

The book had a lot more philosophy and theology and less science than I had expected. The first third of the book discusses the concept of beauty. The second third finally got into the science and discussed the beauty of creation and scientific marvels, ranging from the very huge to the very small. The author also discussed the idea of design in the universe and the anthropic principle. The final third of the book focused on the beauty of God.

I found the first part of the book a bit slow, which probably stems mostly from my limited patience for philosophy, although it did raise some interesting thoughts. I greatly enjoyed the second and third sections, which made me more appreciative of the world and caused me to pause and think about the beauty surrounding us.

My only remaining criticism of the book is that it was a bit repetitive. Some of the quotes and ideas were repeated often enough that I thought I was rereading sections. However, I enjoyed this book overall and would recommend it.