Dartmouth Authors

John G. Gammie '50, Daniel (Knox Preaching Guides). John Knox Press (Atlanta, GA), 1983. 116 pp., paperback. The author, a professor of Biblical literature at the University of Tulsa, has written a refreshingly straightforward, sophisticated and dispassionate commentary on a notoriously "interpretable" text. He challenges the preachers who will study both books (his own and the Book of Daniel itself) to prepare to wrestle, as Jacob did, with "an angelic sparring partner," and in doing so stresses the exhilaration of dealing with the difficult.

George Van B. Cochran '53, M.D., APrimer of Orthopaedic Biomechanics. Churchill Livingstone Inc., 1983. 413 pp., cloth. Concurrent appointments in Clinical Orthopaedic Surgery at Columbia and Biomedical Engineering at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute form the background for Dr. Cochran's reference book. The presentation of information and the arrangement of illustrations serve to maximize ease of comprehension and depth of retention of the subjects under study.

James W. Alexander '55, Ranulf ofChester: A Relic of the Conquest. University of Georgia Press, 1983. 191 pp., cloth. Ranulf, Earl of Chester, was for much of his adult life - at the turn of the 13th Century - the most important and powerful magnate of England, and Professor Alexander has written the first full biography of him. Since he was not only a great landowner and powerful patron of religion but also an advisor and confidante of kings, the study inevitably illuminates the reigns of Richard the Lionheart and John in a most useful way.

Michael G. Dyer '70, In-Depth Understanding: A Computer Model of Integrated Processing for Narrative Comprehension. MIT Press, 1983. 480 pp., cloth. Michael Dyer was an English major at Dartmouth and is now a member of the computer sciences department at UCLA; his book deals with the area where computer technology and the study of the humanities and social sciences intersect. In particular it describes a system which can attempt to understand complex narratives involving emotional and moral issues. The book is a part of the MIT Press Artificial Intelligence Series.