At a time when American political and cultural leaders asserted that the nation stood at “the center of world awareness,” thinkers and artists sought to understand and secure principles that lay at the center of things. From the onset of the Cold War in 1948 through 1963, they asked: What defined the essential character of “American culture”? Could permanent moral standards guide human conduct amid the flux and horrors of history? In what ways did a stable self emerge through the life cycle? Could scientific method rescue truth from error, illusion, and myth? Are there key elements to democracy, to the integrity of a society, to order in the world? Answers to such questions promised intellectual and moral stability in an age haunted by the memory of world war and the possibility of future devastation on an even greater scale. Yet other key figures rejected the search for a center, asserting that freedom lay in the dispersion of cultural energies and the plurality of American experiences. In probing the centering impulse of the era, At the Center offers a unique perspective on the United States at the pinnacle of its power.

(A) Figure from "Chami Kim-Jo, Jean-Luc Gatti and Marylène Poirié (2019). Drosophila Cellular Immunity Against Parasitoid Wasps: A Complex and Time-Dependent Process. Front. Physiol. 10:603. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00603" (B) Figure from “Giuseppe Bari, Andrea Scala, Vita Garzone, Rosanna Salvia, Cem Yalcin, Pasqua Vernile, Antonella Maria Aresta, Osvaldo Facini, Rita Baraldi, Sabino A. Bufo, Heiko Vogel, Enrico de Lillo, Francesca Rapparini and Patrizia Falabella (2019). Chemical Ecology of Capnodis tenebrionis (L.) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae): Behavioral and Biochemical Strategies for Intraspecific and Host Interactions. Front. Physiol. 10:604. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00604" (C) Figure from “Rosanna Salvia, Annalisa Grimaldi, Rossana Girardello, Carmen Scieuzo, Andrea Scala, Sabino A. Bufo, Heiko Vogel and Patrizia Falabella (2019). Aphidius ervi Teratocytes Release Enolase and Fatty Acid Binding Protein Through Exosomal Vesicles. Front. Physiol. 10:715. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00715" (D) Figure from “Mariangela Coppola, Gianfranco Diretto, Maria Cristina Digilio, Sheridan Lois Woo, Giovanni Giuliano, Donata Molisso, Francesco Pennacchio, Matteo Lorito and Rosa Rao (2019). Transcriptome and Metabolome Reprogramming in Tomato Plants by Trichoderma harzianum strain T22 Primes and Enhances Defense Responses Against Aphids. Front. Physiol. 10:745. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00745" (E) Figure from “Rosanna Salvia, Marisa Nardiello, Carmen Scieuzo, Andrea Scala, Sabino A. Bufo, Asha Rao, Heiko Vogel and Patrizia Falabella (2018). Novel Factors of Viral Origin Inhibit TOR Pathway Gene Expression X. Front. Physiol. 9:1678. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01678" (F) Figure from “Sébastien Cambier, Olivia Ginis, Sébastien J. M. Moreau, Philippe Gayral, Jack Hearn, Graham N. Stone, David Giron, Elisabeth Huguet and Jean-Michel Drezen (2019). Gall Wasp Transcriptomes Unravel Potential Effectors Involved in Molecular Dialogues With Oak and Rose. Front. Physiol. 10:926. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00926" (G) Figure from “Mariangela Coppola, Gianfranco Diretto, Maria Cristina Digilio, Sheridan Lois Woo, Giovanni Giuliano, Donata Molisso, Francesco Pennacchio, Matteo Lorito and Rosa Rao (2019). Transcriptome and Metabolome Reprogramming in Tomato Plants by Trichoderma harzianum strain T22 Primes and Enhances Defense Responses Against Aphids. Front. Physiol. 10:745. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00745" (H) Figure from “Zbigniew Adamski, Sabino A. Bufo, Szymon Chowański, Patrizia Falabella, Jan Lubawy, Paweł Marciniak, Joanna Pacholska-Bogalska, Rosanna Salvia, Laura Scrano, Małgorzata Słocińska, Marta Spochacz, Monika Szymczak, Arkadiusz Urbański, Karolina Walkowiak-Nowicka and Grzegorz Rosiński (2019). Beetles as Model Organisms in Physiological, Biomedical and Environmental Studies – A Review. Front. Physiol. 10:319. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00319" (I) Figure from “Surapathrudu Kanakala, Svetlana Kontsedalov, Galina Lebedev and Murad Ghanim (2019). Plant-Mediated Silencing of the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci Cyclophilin B and Heat Shock Protein 70 Impairs Insect Development and Virus Transmission. Front. Physiol. 10:557. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00557" (J) Figure from “Rosanna Salvia, Annalisa Grimaldi, Rossana Girardello, Carmen Scieuzo, Andrea Scala, Sabino A. Bufo, Heiko Vogel and Patrizia Falabella (2019). Aphidius ervi Teratocytes Release Enolase and Fatty Acid Binding Protein Through Exosomal Vesicles. Front. Physiol. 10:715. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00715" (K) Figure from “Lin Quan Ge, Sui Zheng, Hao Tian Gu, Yong Kai Zhou, Ze Zhou, Qi Sheng Song and David Stanley (2019). Jinggangmycin-Induced UDP-Glycosyltransferase 1-2-Like is a Positive Modulator of Fecundity and Population Growth in Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae). Front. Physiol. 10:747. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00747 " (L) Figure from “Zbigniew Adamski, Sabino A. Bufo, Szymon Chowański, Patrizia Falabella, Jan Lubawy, Paweł Marciniak, Joanna Pacholska-Bogalska, Rosanna Salvia, Laura Scrano, Małgorzata Słocińska, Marta Spochacz, Monika Szymczak, Arkadiusz Urbański, Karolina Walkowiak-Nowicka and Grzegorz Rosiński (2019). Beetles as Model Organisms in Physiological, Biomedical and Environmental Studies – A Review. Front. Physiol. 10:319. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00319" (M) Figure from “Sébastien Cambier, Olivia Ginis, Sébastien J. M. Moreau, Philippe Gayral, Jack Hearn, Graham N. Stone, David Giron, Elisabeth Huguet and Jean-Michel Drezen (2019). Gall Wasp Transcriptomes Unravel Potential Effectors Involved in Molecular Dialogues With Oak and Rose. Front. Physiol. 10:926. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00926" (N) Figure from “Gianandrea Salerno, Francesca Frati, Eric Conti, Ezio Peri, Stefano Colazza and Antonino Cusumano (2019). Mating Status of an Herbivorous Stink Bug Female Affects the Emission of Oviposition-Induced Plant Volatiles Exploited by an Egg Parasitoid. Front. Physiol. 10:398. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00398" (O) Figure from “Marisa Skaljac, Heiko Vogel, Natalie Wielsch, Sanja Mihajlovic and Andreas Vilcinskas (2019). Transmission of a Protease-Secreting Bacterial Symbiont Among Pea Aphids via Host Plants. Front. Physiol. 10:438. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00438" (P) Figure from “Alberto Santini and Andrea Battisti (2019). Complex Insect–Pathogen Interactions in Tree Pandemics. Front. Physiol. 10:550. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00550" (Q) Figure from “Surapathrudu Kanakala, Svetlana Kontsedalov, Galina Lebedev and Murad Ghanim (2019). Plant-Mediated Silencing of the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci Cyclophilin B and Heat Shock Protein 70 Impairs Insect Development and Virus Transmission. Front. Physiol. 10:557. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00557" (R) Figure from “Rosanna Salvia, Marisa Nardiello, Carmen Scieuzo, Andrea Scala, Sabino A. Bufo, Asha Rao, Heiko Vogel and Patrizia Falabella (2018). Novel Factors of Viral Origin Inhibit TOR Pathway Gene Expression X. Front. Physiol. 9:1678. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01678" (S) Figure from “Sébastien Cambier, Olivia Ginis, Sébastien J. M. Moreau, Philippe Gayral, Jack Hearn, Graham N. Stone, David Giron, Elisabeth Huguet and Jean-Michel Drezen (2019). Gall Wasp Transcriptomes Unravel Potential Effectors Involved in Molecular Dialogues With Oak and Rose. Front. Physiol. 10:926. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00926" (T) Figure from “Gong Chen, Qi Su, Xiaobin Shi, Huipeng Pan, Xiaoguo Jiao and Youjun Zhang (2018). Persistently Transmitted Viruses Restrict the Transmission of Other Viruses by Affecting Their Vectors. Front. Physiol. 9:1348. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01348" (U) Figure from “Giuseppe Bari, Andrea Scala, Vita Garzone, Rosanna Salvia, Cem Yalcin, Pasqua Vernile, Antonella Maria Aresta, Osvaldo Facini, Rita Baraldi, Sabino A. Bufo, Heiko Vogel, Enrico de Lillo, Francesca Rapparini and Patrizia Falabella (2019). Chemical Ecology of Capnodis tenebrionis (L.) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae): Behavioral and Biochemical Strategies for Intraspecific and Host Interactions. Front. Physiol. 10:604. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00604" (V) Figure from “Giuseppe Bari, Andrea Scala, Vita Garzone, Rosanna Salvia, Cem Yalcin, Pasqua Vernile, Antonella Maria Aresta, Osvaldo Facini, Rita Baraldi, Sabino A. Bufo, Heiko Vogel, Enrico de Lillo, Francesca Rapparini and Patrizia Falabella (2019). Chemical Ecology of Capnodis tenebrionis (L.) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae): Behavioral and Biochemical Strategies for Intraspecific and Host Interactions. Front. Physiol. 10:604. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00604" (W) Figure from “Surapathrudu Kanakala, Svetlana Kontsedalov, Galina Lebedev and Murad Ghanim (2019). Plant-Mediated Silencing of the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci Cyclophilin B and Heat Shock Protein 70 Impairs Insect Development and Virus Transmission. Front. Physiol. 10:557. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00557" (X) Figure from “Gianandrea Salerno, Francesca Frati, Eric Conti, Ezio Peri, Stefano Colazza and Antonino Cusumano (2019). Mating Status of an Herbivorous Stink Bug Female Affects the Emission of Oviposition-Induced Plant Volatiles Exploited by an Egg Parasitoid. Front. Physiol. 10:398. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.00398"

Life at the Center of the Energy Crisis: A Technologist''s Search for a Black Swan describes the story of the author''s work and struggles in the field of energy research. The author''s experience in the field spans from work with Admiral Rickover and the Nuclear Navy to research with NASA designing propulsion for spacecraft to travel to Mars. The book provides insights into the differences between nuclear research done during the Cold War by the two superpowers, and offers a commentary on the flaws in each system with hope for change in the future. The book also provides a look into the development of the nuclear engineering program at the University of Illinois from the author''s years as a professor and an administrator.

Historical papers are prefixed to several issues.

At the Periphery of the Center is the first comparison of two of France's most important twentieth-century authors, Julien Green and Marguerite Yourcenar. It examines textual elements in their plays and novels to draw conclusions about the ways that they represent homosexuality in their texts. Both Yourcenar and Green turned to drama to explore aspects of same-sex desire that they felt unable to express in their prose. The analysis of their plays shows that an emphasis on dialogue and action makes drama a particularly appropriate genre for writing about homosexuality because it affords an author distance and therefore protection from the "proclivities" of his characters. The chapters on the novel show, by contrast, how prose fiction allows an author to explain a character's sexuality with a degree of subtlety difficult to achieve in theatre. Variations in narration and paratext allow writers to avoid condemning discourses and to find an original means of expression instead. At the Periphery brings a new, textually centered approach to Green's and Yourcenar's works that is unlike the psychological analyses that often typify queer readings. It will be of great interest to scholars of twentieth-century French literature and of Gender Studies. The book will also appeal to non-academic readers, however, since it is about two French authors who were also American citizens and who wrote about US history and contemporary culture.