Peart's Book Named one of 2006 Best Titles
January 2007
Incoming dean Sandra J. Peart's newest book has made
the A-list for academic presses. The book is
The Vanity of the Philosopher: From Equality to
Hierarchy in Postclassical Economics, by Peart and
David M. Levy, who teaches at George Mason University.
Each year, the American Library Association's Choice
magazine, a trusted resource of reviews of academic
titles, chooses Outstanding Academic Titles. This
prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles
reviewed by Choice and brings with it the
extraordinary recognition of the academic library
community. The list is quite selective: it contains
approximately 10 percent of some 7,000 works reviewed in
Choice each year. Choice editors base
their selections on the reviewer's evaluation of the
work, the editor's knowledge of the field, and the
reviewer's record. The list was known as Outstanding
Academic Books until 2000. The new name reflects an
increase in reviews of electronic products and Internet
sites.
In the book, Peart and Levy argue that while
classical economists assumed equality among human
beings, postclassical economists are fundamentally
inegalitarian in their beliefs. The Choice review
credits the authors with explaining "the 19th century
turn to the idea that some humans are essentially more
important than others" and for making "an argument that
will shape debates in economics, intellectual history,
and social theory for several years." It was described
an "essential" purchase for academic libraries.
In awarding Outstanding Academic Titles, the
Choice editors apply several criteria to reviewed
titles:
- overall excellence in presentation and
scholarship
- importance relative to other literature in the
field
- distinction as a first treatment of a given
subject in book or electronic form
- originality or uniqueness of treatment
- value to undergraduate students
- importance in building undergraduate library
collections
Back to top
|
