Book-Reviews

Unknown Quantity: A Real And Imaginary History of Algebra Author: John Derbyshire Year: 2006 Publisher: Joseph Henry Press ISBN: 030909657X This was an absolutely fascinating book that I had a very difficult time putting down each night… Many hours of sleep lost to its pages! The book wanders through lots of territory, including rings and fields, different algebras, etc. Derbyshire’s writing style is the perfect mix of fun historical narrative and clearly explained mathematics. The best thing about the book was the depth Derbyshire was willing to go into with the math and the clarity of his explanations - I very seldom felt either confused or like I wish he had given me more. ...

Common Wisdom: Peer Production of Educational Materials My rating: 5 out of 5 Coase’s Penguin author Yochai Benkler turns his considerable analytical talent to the commons-based peer production of educational materials. Very readable and with great examples, Yochai describes why projects like wikipedia succeed and projects like wikibooks fail. It all has to do with the minimum work unit that can make a meaningful contribution to a project. If a meaningful contribution to wikipedia takes 10 minutes, but a meaningful contribution to a textbook requires an hour, more people will participate in wikipedia. It sounds like the commons-based peer production of learning objects is in, and the open source, distributed production of textbooks is out. Great, clear analysis. ...

Development as Freedom My rating: 5 out of 5 Absolutely masterful. Sen argues forcely that freedom is not only the primary end of development programs, but must also be the primary means for reaching this end. The implications of the argument are as profound as they are far reaching; another great book for instructional technologists looking to understand their place in the larger development world. Is freedom the primary end of education? Can it be the primary means? ...

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid My rating: 4 out of 5 Whether or not you go in for the “capitalism is the solution to all problems” philosophy, this book presents an intriguing series of case studies explaining how organizations have worked to understand the context of the developing world and then radically innovated to connect with individuals in those areas. Definitely a business book, but includes tons of lessons for instructional technologists wondering how to reinvent their products and processes in order to reach learners in the developing world. ...

The Elusive Quest for Growth My rating: 4 out of 5 Easterly argues that for all the money, theorizing, and research that have been poured into the effort to raise the standard of living in developing areas, little progress has been made because everyone ignores the first principle of economics: people act in response to incentives. If we wish to take education into the developing world, what are the incentives to which we expect potential learners will respond? A fun read, full of great quotes like “The prime suspect for mucking up incentives is government” (217). ...