University of Chicago Press, Books

March Features

In the open ocean—a zone from the surface to a depth of two hundred meters—are some of the largest, fastest, and highest-leaping fish on the planet. Beautifully adapted to their world, they range from tiny drift fish and plankton-straining whale sharks to more streamlined predators such as tuna, marlin, sailfish, and wahoo. Fishes of the Open Ocean by marine biologist Julian Pepperell is the first book to comprehensively describe these fishes. See sample pages in PDF format (5.3mb).

For fifty years, in a career of teaching and in more than a dozen books, Vivian Gussin Paley has been exploring the fantasy worlds of young children—their imagery, language, and lore—to better understand childhood, development, education, and even life itself. Read an excerpt from her latest book The Boy on the Beach: Building Community through Play.

Who are the American people? In Made in America: A Social History of American Culture and Character Claude S. Fischer dispels the myths—such as that contemporary Americans are more mobile and less religious than their ancestors, or that they are more focused on money and consumption—and reveals the independence, egalitarianism, and commitment to community that characterized “We the People” from the earliest years. Read an excerpt.

Theft of intellectual property has a long and vital history—a history that has been largely forgotten and is little understood. In Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates Adrian Johns shows that piracy has always stood at the center of our attempts to reconcile creativity and commerce—a vehicle for innovation as often as disruption. The intellectual property crisis of our age is not unprecedented and history points to solutions. Read an excerpt.

Spring 2010 Catalog

Last words, Duke Ellington, bulletproof feathers, and nonsense on stilts: All in our Spring 2010 catalog, now available for online perusal (PDF format, 5.1Mb). Cruise through its 200+ pages for this season’s new books from Chicago and the fine publishers we distribute. Foreign publishers may consult our foreign rights catalog.

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