Compiled by Rhea Becker

Harvard faculty and other affiliates have recently written a wide-ranging selection of books, covering subjects from Prozac to a portrait of a philosopher. Here is a sampling:

Multiculturalism: Here to Stay?

In We Are All Multiculturalists Now (Harvard University Press, 1997), Nathan Glazer, professor of education and sociology emeritus, argues that multiculturalism has replaced assimilation. He mainly examines the impact on public schools, asking, among other questions, "Whose 'truth' do we recognize in the curriculum?" Glazer offers an account of why all of us -- advocates and skeptics alike -- have become multiculturalists, and what this means for national unity, civil society, and the education of American youth.

Prozac Explained

Prozac and the New Antidepressants: What You Need to Know About Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Wellbutrin, Effexor, Serzone, Luvox, and More (Plume, 1997) by William S. Appleton, a psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist who teaches at the Medical School, explores the use of such drugs in a straightforward, practical guide. Because more than 20 million people worldwide are taking Prozac and its sister drugs -- and many millions more are considering using them -- the effectiveness, dangers, and societal implications of their use is at the center of a national debate. Appleton answers questions such as, "Will these drugs encourage me to ignore the reasons why I am depressed?" and "Will Prozac make me lose the essence of my personality?"

Getting to the Biological Roots

To grasp the major political and moral questions that face us today, it is necessary to understand their biological roots, writes Ernst Mayr, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology Emeritus, in his new book, This is Biology: The Science of the Living World (Harvard University Press, 1997). Mayr offers a history of the discipline, pointing out the overlap between biology and the humanities, and describes the distinctions between science and other systems of thought, including theology.

How is America Faring?

In The State of the Nation (Harvard University Press, 1996), Harvard President Emeritus Derek Bok assesses where America stands by considering five areas of life: economic prosperity, quality of life, opportunity, personal security, and societal values. Bok shows an America in decline and attempts to help set the agenda for improving the country's performance.

How Trauma Intersects with Dreams

Trauma and Dreams (Harvard University Press, 1996), edited by Deirdre Barrett, assistant clinical professor of psychology in the Medical School's Department of Psychiatry, brings together the study of dreams and the psychology of trauma. Barrett has included the work of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers to consider how trauma shapes dreaming and what dreams may reveal about trauma. The book focuses on catastrophic events, such as combat, political torture, natural disasters, and rape.

Deep, Philosophical Thoughts

Socratic Puzzles (Harvard University Press, release date: May) by Robert Nozick, Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Philosophy, combines essays and philosophical fiction, classics and new work, examining a range of topics, including animal rights, the Israeli kibbutz, and the arguments of Ayn Rand. Nozick's book is filled with analytical rigor and intellectual playfulness, and demonstrates how philosophy can constitute a way of life.

Reviving the Doctor-Patient Bond

Doctors have lost the art of healing, writes Bernard Lown, professor emeritus of cardiology at the Medical School, who has written The Lost Art of Healing (Houghton Mifflin, 1996). Healing involves much more than diagnostic skills and the ability to use new technology, asserts Lown. Lown, who is co-founder of Physicians Against Nuclear War, which won the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, proposes a new paradigm: medicine with a human face, in which the art of healing is as important as the mastery of medical techniques.

The Civic Life of Women

Choosing to Lead: Women and the Crisis of American Values (Beacon Press, 1996) by Constance H. Buchanan, associate dean of the Divinity School and the founding director of its Women's Studies in Religion Program, looks at the limits imposed on female participation in civic life and why women's leadership is vital to the reweaving of the moral fabric of American life. She highlights the achievements of 19th-century female social reformers whose public accomplishments were obscured by male-dominated academia, and argues that women have a greater role to play in national affairs as leaders who can offer fresh viewpoints on both the norms of the public world and the realities of the private one.

The Hazards of Loneliness

Jacqueline Olds and Richard Schwartz, psychiatrists who teach at the Medical School and McLean Hospital, discovered that loneliness was one of the chief sources of unhappiness in their patients' lives. The husband and wife team wrote Overcoming Loneliness in Everyday Life (Birch Lane Press, 1996) with Harriet Webster to examine how the structure of American society keeps many people isolated, and how our "collective embarrassment" about loneliness keeps us from seeking solutions. The authors assert that engaging in mutual tasks with others reduces loneliness and raises self-esteem. To this end, the book offers specific strategies for building a strong social network. Those with such networks "tend to live longer. . . have better functioning immune systems and are less likely to commit abuse within the family than their more lonely counterparts."

The 'Quaker Jesus'

Leo Damrosch's The Sorrows of the Quaker Jesus: James Nayler and the Puritan Crackdown on the Free Spirit (Harvard University Press, 1996) offers a picture of the origins of the Quaker movement, elucidating the intellectual foundations of Quaker theology. Damrosch tells the intriguing story of James Nayler, a prominent Quaker leader who, in 1656, rode into Bristol, England, surrounded by followers singing hosannas in a deliberate imitation of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Author Damrosch is Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature.

Deregulation Re-examined

In Freer Markets, More Rules: Regulatory Reform in Advanced Industrial Countries (Cornell University Press, 1996), author Steven K. Vogel, assistant professor of government, discusses how, over the past 15 years, the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan have transformed the relationship between governments and corporations. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Vogel contends that the "deregulation revolution" of the 1980s and '90s never happened, and, in fact, the movement that aimed at reducing regulation actually increased it.

Accounting for the Placebo Effect

The Placebo Effect: An Interdisciplinary Exploration (Harvard University Press, release date: August) looks at the placebo effect as a "real" entity in its own right. Author Anne Harrington, professor of the history of science and associate director of the University's Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative, offers a set of essays from writers in fields as far-flung as cultural anthropology and religion, pharmacology and molecular biology, which explore how the placebo effect should be viewed and studied.

Portrait of a Philosopher

William James, the influential philosopher, psychologist, and scholar, is the subject of William James Remembered (University of Nebraska Press, 1996) by Linda Simon, director of the Writing Center of Harvard's Expository Writing Program. Simon brings together reminiscences of James by family members, friends, and prominent intellectuals to produce a many-sided portrait of a man who played an important role in American life during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Border Between Disciplines

Writing at the Margin: Discourse Between Anthropology and Medicine (University of California Press, 1996) is a collection of essays by anthropologist-physician Arthur Kleinman, Presley Professor in the Department of Social Medicine at the Medical School, and professor of medical anthropology in the Department of Anthropology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Kleinman explores the border between medical and social problems, the place where health and culture meet. He finds that many health problems -- depression in the course of chronic pain, for instance, or the trauma of violence -- are as much interpersonal experiences of social suffering as they are individual medical conditions.

Getting into Medical School

The Definitive Guide to Medical School Admission (Font & Center Press, 1996) by Mark Allan Goldstein, assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the Medical School, and Myrna Chandler Goldstein, is based on the 17 years that Mark Goldstein served as a premedical adviser at M.I.T. The book provides a step-by-step guide for anyone applying to medical school, as well as a resource for premedical advisers.

Judging Judging

A Critique of Adjudication (Harvard University Press, 1997), by Duncan Kennedy, Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence at the Law School, looks at the political nature of legal, and especially judicial, decision making. Kennedy puts forward an original theory of adjudication that includes discussions of judicial rhetoric and the experience of judging.