Publications well-received

Prof books span from math to stars

By Elaine Ashbaugh
and Tracey Tonlashpol

A search through the college
archives has brought to light
numerous publications written by
present Grinnell faculty members.
Although many professors have
produced articles rather than
hooksi time and space have pared
down the scope of this article
frqm‘brofssor Dublications"
to simply “professor books."

The signiiicant number oi books
authored by Grinnell faculty exists
despite the fact that Grinnell does
not Subscribe to the “publish or
perish” approach to faculty
research and authorship. Rather,
as College President A. Richard
Turner explained, “In ap-
pointment and promotion, teaching
is paramount."

ALTHOUGH teaching ability
takes top priority, Turner stated
“The institution hopes that
professors will carry on research
and work with peers as well as With
students” He noted that the longer
a professor remains at Grinnell,
the more some iorm oi publication
is expected. Faculty members
“oughttu beencouraged allthe
lime" to research and produce
on their own, Turner added.
Qualitative excellence, never
quantitative mass, is en»

couraged

According to Turner, when the
Executive Committee considers a
iaculty member ior tenure.
whether or not that individual is
published is "one oi the things they
always ask first.” However
puientiallythreatening or
constraining such an attitude may
at first appear, Grinnell subscribes
to a broad interpretation of
"publications " Turner himself
includes many products oi in
dependent faculty research—such
as books, articles, pamphlets, on-
campus lectures, and large con-
lerence lectures~under a loose
definition, ‘

GRINNELL faculty members
apparently agree with Turner's
statements, considering themr
selves, iirst and iorcmost, to be
teachers. Confirming this general
feeling, Associate Professor oi
English Edward Moore Stated,
“We‘re mainly instructors, not

 

researchers." Faculty are ex
pected “not to be sterile,” he ad-
ded, but ”the “the emphasis is on
teaching.”

Moore believes that Grinnell
iaculty made a conscious choice oi
teaching over research before
coming to Grinnell. Otherwise, he
concluded, large universities
would have been more suitable.
Such institutions generally require
less teaching time from faculty—
allowing for more research—but
demand publications in return,

HIFPOCRATES George Apostle,
Steele Professor of Mathematics is
surely a iitting man to head a
summary of Grinnell faculty-
authol's. In 1954 and 1960,
respectively, editions of his College
Algebra and A Survey oi Basic
Mathematics appeared. Both
books are textbooks, intended for
undergraduate students. Apostle
specifically intended A Survey of
Basic Mathematics for non-math
majors.

In addition to his numerous
accomplishments in mathematics,
Apostle, a native of Tynavos,
Greece, has a special affinity ior
Greek history and philosophy. In
fact, that little “affinity” has

turned into an ambition to tran-
slate the complete works of

Aristotle. Eleven volumes would
complete this ambitionia goal
undertaken only once belore, by
Boethius in the sixth century.

WHEREAS Boetllius, as far as is
known, completed only the
crgaiioii. Apostle has already
completed several translations
including Aristotle‘s Philosophy of
Malhelllntics, 1952; Aristotle‘s
Physics, 1960; Aristotle’s
Metaphysics, 1966; and Aristotle:
The Nicomachcall Ethics, W75.
The Philosophy oi Mathematics
appears particularly important
because, not a translation, it at
tempts to construct or reconstruct
Aristotle’s philosophy oi
mathematics, None of Aristotle’s
works set forth such a system of
mathematical theory, so this work
combines and systematizes parts
of many works.

Edward Regis, Jr., in a review

entitled “Apostle’s Translations of ,'

‘numerable

 

Aristotle" in The New
Scholasticism, particularly com»
mended Apostle for his astute,
erudite translation. According to
Regis, Apostle strictly adheres to a
consistent vocabulary, avoids
paraphrase and over—free renr
derings, as well as adding in-
footnotes. Thus,
Apostle’s work appears more
regularized and precise than any
previous translation.

Professor of German, F. Andrew
Brown, has taught at Grinnell
since 1955. He has produced a
survey work about Gotthold
Ephraim Lessing for the Twayne
World author’s series. The book,
published in 1971, consists of 205
pages.

Lessing, subject oi Brown‘s
Work. was a critic, a dramatist,
and a theologian. A pioneer in
literary and artistic criticism,
Lessing has been considered by
some to form a great triumvil-ate
with Goethe and Schiller: Brown’s
work was the first full-length study
oi Lessing published in America
in English since a translation from

_German in 1866.

HOWARD Burkle, present
chairman of the Religious Studies
department here has had two
books published, the first entitled
Tile Noll-Existence of God (1969).

' Previous to the writing of the book,

Burkle had noticed an increasing
tendency (as seen in Sartre, Hegel,
Kant, and Camus) to deny the
existence of God, although
retaining a divine element in their
philosophical~theolcgical systesm.

Recognizing a connection bet-
ween the refusal to concede
existence to God and a denegrating
view of existence in general,
Burkle’s book ultimately attempts
to purge all existence of negative
charge, Burkle ends by introducing
a God who actually exists while yet
remaining not coercive, tyranr
nical. or antlrhuman.

BURKLE'S second book, God,
Sutiei-iiig and Belief (1977), ap
pears like his previous work, as an
outgrowth oi his classes, especially
Contemporary Religious Thought
and his Freshman Tutorials. The
writing itself took some four to five
years.

As Burkle's colleague, Chaplain
Dennis Haas commented, God.
suffering and Relief is “very
concrete,” not setting iorth an
abstract theological issue. It deals
with the four basic issues of
sexism, racism, the Nazi-Jewish
halocaust, and human rejection oi
God's eXlstence. Haas explained
that, in each of these sections,

Burkle cited a contemporary \yho -

had dealt Willi that issue and went
on to establish and support his own
arguments in comparison,

TlllS second book sets forth the '

idea of a God who has consciously
limited his own power in order to
allow free choice to humans.
Either explicitly or implicitly, it
suggests that certain tragic oc-
curcnces were “built into the
system" as Burkle says. Such
tragedies only serve to sh‘i" God’s
great love. God,
human suffering to an infinite
degree, necessarily must know
that a tragedy will bring a great
good or else would not suiier so
much personal pain. Although also
recognizing that God is, in a sense,
ultimately responsible ior all evil,
Eurkle believes that earthly
tragedy can serve to emphasize
God's love for creation,

Haas spoke highly of

Burkle’s \vork, saying “I find it ,

very exciting, . , a
provocative book ” Haas sees
special merit in the iresh way
that a new,
viewpoint is handled and
considers it relevant ior both
theists and non-theists. Haas
considers such publications as

 

challenging A

 

added bonuses to
professor and

both
college,

“especially when the book that ‘

one publishes comes out of
teaching,” as Burkle’s did.

A WORK entitled Japanese
and Americans (1976) was
written by another Grinnell
proiessor, Charles Cleaver,
Professor of English and
American studies. His
colleague, History Professor
Joseph F. Wall, considers the
book a “very iinc piece or
work" in which Cleaver shows
American studies methods and
themes at their best.

Wall describes the work as a
truly inter-disciplinary ape
proacheto history, culture,
anthropoloEY, and literature
all within the same book. Wall
characterized it as a
“pioneering work" in inter-
cultural studies, an area “of
great concem." According to
him, Cleaver’s book, well-
received in the field of
American Studies, points up
many similarities between the
Japanese and American
cultures.

CLEAVER has made study
of Japanese culture a whole
second field for himself, having
learned the language and spent
much time in Japan.

Williston Professor of
Physics Beryl E. Clotfelter has
Written two works, entitled
Reierencc Systems and inertia
(1970) and The Universe and
Its Structure (1976). Iowa State
Universitv Press oublished the
first while McGraw-Hill
handled the second.

THE first book, according to
Charles Duke, Associate
Professor oi Physics here, is
geared for non-technical
people, but not for non-science
students. Not specifically a
textbook, Duke describes it as
a "supplementary work to
normal college textbooks.” it
deals with questions which
most textbooks don't have time
or space to include, but which
would be raised in conjunction

who feels all "a

 

, .1 g i i .
George Apostle
with an undergraduate course.

Duke stated that the book
was “very well received,"
reviews being very favorable.
He considers the book a very
good summarization. com-
pilation of numerous topics
connected with the concept of
mass.

THIS first book developed
out of Clutlelter’s leave of
absence to Princeton
University in 196369, Where he
developed an interest in
astronomy. in contrast, the
second book came right out of
his class lectures. Clotfelter
taped the lecture notes and his
wife Mary Lou typed them
irom the tape. with some
rearranging, Clotielter
produced a textbook,

Not a textbook of classical
astronomy, Duke considers it
important because it included,
for the first time, “all the new
developments, ideas of the last
five vears,"

A second article, on other
Grinnell Faculty members and
their published books. will appcar
in the October 14 issue of the S S: B.

 

