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Shedding Light On Illumination

Business department adjunct faculty member Angelo Arecchi is a co-author of the Field Guide to Illumination, a new reference book on lighting for building industry professionals. The guide, which was recently published by the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Press, summarizes the science of illumination and is densely packed with diagrams, tables, and formulas. Topics range from lighting open plan offices to enhancing small target visibility in roadway lighting. The book also details sustainable lighting strategies, such as harnessing daylight, and the importance of environmentally responsive lighting controls.

The Center of the Circle

In The Center of the Circle: The Marvelous Lamp of Valle-Inclán, Professor Emerita of Spanish Virginia Milner Garlitz studies the work of Spanish dramatist and novelist Ramon del Valle-Inclán (1866–1936) and examines the revival of interest in the occult at the turn of the twentieth century in Europe, promulgated by such groups as the Theosophical Society and the Rosicrucians. Their idea of centering within the circle provided Valle-Inclán with the theme that guides the structure and the verbal and graphic imagery of his key aesthetic treatise, The Marvelous Lamp.

Garlitz’s book was published in 2007 by the Council of Valle-Inclán Studies at the University of Santiago, Compostela, where Valle-Inclán himself studied.

Worth A Thousand Words

For years, Director of Lamson Library and Learning Commons David Beronä has been researching the history of wordless books and woodcut novels. A recognized scholar on woodcut novels and wordless books, he has written extensively on the genre, and most recently authored the introduction to the latest edition of Frans Masereel’s Passionate Journey: A Vision in Woodcuts, published by Dover Publications in December 2007.

In his introduction, Beronä traces the life, influences, and career of Masereel, one of the greatest woodcut artists of the twentieth century. The book itself comprises 167 striking woodcuts that create a visual narrative of a young man’s life—his love, his grief, his awe, his despair—without using a single word.

Beronä has also written his own book, Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novels, to be published by Harry N. Abrams in April 2008. In the book, he examines the history of wordless books and the art and influence of pioneers like Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward Otto Nuckel, Helena Bochořaková-Dittrichová, and William Gropper, among others.

A History of Skiing

Sports historian and Professor Emeritus of History John B Allen’s latest book, The Culture and Sport of Skiing: From Antiquity to World War II, traces the history of skiing from practical activity to leisure pursuit.

In the book, published by the University of Massachusetts Press, Allen emphasizes the impact of culture on the development of skiing throughout Europe and around the world.

He also provides information on skiing pioneers including Norway’s Fridtjof Nansen, whose explorations on skis inspired the idea of skiing as sport; England’s Arnold Lunn, whose invention of downhill skiing and the slalom were foundations of the sport’s globalization; and Hannes Schneider, whose teachings introduced both speed and safety into the sport.

More than 50 images complement Allen’s text and illustrate skiing’s rich history and cultural significance over the years.

Music from Pollyanna

The Educational Theatre Collaborative, in partnership with PSU’s College of Graduate Studies, Plymouth Elementary School, Friends of the Arts, and Pollyanna of Littleton New Hampshire, Inc. created an original cast recording of their 2008 world premiere production, a musical theatre version of Pollyanna. The musical is based on the 1913 classic children’s novel Pollyanna by Littleton, NH resident Eleanor Porter.

With lyrics by PSU Professor of Education Trish Lindberg, musical score by Will Ogmundson, Cynthia Bizzarro, and Kenneth Roberts, and the talents of numerous professional, University, and community singers and musicians, the CD captures the best in Porter’s enduring story of optimism and gladness.