The Shape of the New: Four Big Ideas and How They Made the Modern World, by Jackson School faculty Scott L. Montgomery and Daniel Chirot, is included in the New York Times’ notable 100 books for 2015. The book explores how capitalism, socialism, evolution and liberal democracy broke decisively with the past. The book was also reviewed in the New York Times by Fareed Zakaria.
A History of Science in World Cultures by Scott L. Montgomery (co-authored with Alok Kumar) uses a range of case studies and the notion of “scientific culture” to trace the evolution of technical thought through eight major civilizations from ancient Egypt to Medieval and Renaissance Europe.
Noam Pianko’s Jewish Peoplehood: An American Innovation was published by Rutgers University Press. The book highlights the current significance and future relevance of “peoplehood” by tracing the rise, transformation, and return of this novel term.
Christian Novetzke’s Amar Akbar Anthony: Bollywood, Brotherhood and the Nation (co-authored with William Elison and Andy Rotman) was published by Harvard University Press. The book offers a sympathetic and layered interpretation of the 1977 Bollywood blockbuster’s deeper symbolism, seeing it as a lens for understanding modern India’s experience with secular democracy.