THE CHRISTIAN GAUSS AWARD
What We Talk About When We Talk About Books: The History and Future of Reading
By Leah Price (ΦΒΚ, Harvard University), Basic Books
Digital-age pundits warn that as our appetite for books dwindles, so too do the virtues in which printed, bound objects once trained us. However, Leah Price finds scant evidence that a golden age of reading ever existed. From the dawn of mass literacy to the invention of the paperback, most readers already skimmed and multitasked. With this book, Price offers fresh hope to bibliophiles and literature lovers alike.
THE ΦBK AWARD IN SCIENCE
Archaeology From Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past
By Sarah Parcak, Henry Holt and Co.
National Geographic Explorer and TED Prize-winner Sarah Parcak welcomes you to the new world of space archaeology, a growing field of remote-sensing technology that is sparking extraordinary discoveries from ancient civilizations across the globe. Parcak shares her field’s biggest discoveries, revealing why space archaeology is urgently essential to the preservation of the world’s ancient treasures.
THE RALPH WALDO EMERSON AWARD
Policing the Open Road: How Cars Transformed American Freedom
By Sarah A. Seo (ΦΒΚ, Princeton University), Harvard University Press
When Americans think of freedom, they often picture the open road. Yet nowhere are we more likely to encounter the long arm of the law than in our cars. Sarah A. Seo reveals how the rise of the automobile led us to accept—and expect—pervasive police power. Seo shows how procedures designed to safeguard us on the road ultimately undermined the nation’s commitment to equal protection before the law.