"There is no doubt that the Eisenhower administration accomplished one of its paramount Cold War strategic objectives: to rebuild Japan's economy and reinstate the nation as a stabilizing, pro-capitalist member in the new world order that had come out of the morass of the Great Depression and the rubble of World War II."--from the Introduction This innovative study investigates how Japan grew from an economically limited country to the threshold of industrial power. The author describes Japanese economic development in the 1950s as one of the major achievements of the Eisenhower administration. In her admirably-clear account of this chapter in U.S.-Japanese relations, Sayuri Shimizu incorporates Japanese as well as American sources. In the process she explains how and why the United States became so intractably involved in Southeast Asia. Not least, she tells an ironic and instructive story of how the United States helped build an economy that later it so bitterly resented.

"Fields of Plenty is the memoir of respected farmer, writer, and photographer Michael Ableman as he and his son travel from his own farm in British Columbia across the United States in search of innovative and passionate farmers who are making a difference in what we eat and how we experience food. From California to New York, this story captures the essence of each farmer's vision, the spirit of the land that they work, and the beauty and flavors of the foods that they lovingly produce. Ableman's odyssey takes him to a melon grower who is "militant about flavor," sheep-cheese producers who have built their own culturing caves, an urban farmer growing heirloom tomatoes for market on abandoned lots, and others who are trying to answer the complex questions of sustenance philosophically and, most important, practically." "Fields of Plenty is a hopeful memoir that reveals the larger issues of food in a modern world. Illustrated with Ableman's photographs and flavored with recipes that feature each farmer's bounty, Fields of Plenty is an intimate portrait of food and agriculture at a critical crossroads."--BOOK JACKET.

This book of thoroughly engaging essays from one of today's most prodigious innovators provides a uniquely personal perspective on the lives and achievements of a selection of intriguing figures from the history of science and technology. Weaving together his immersive interest in people and history with insights gathered from his own experiences, Stephen Wolfram gives an ennobling look at some of the individuals whose ideas and creations have helped shape our world today. Contents includes biographical sketches of: Richard Feynman Kurt Godel Alan Turing John von Neumann George Boole Ada Lovelace Gottfried Leibniz Benoit Mandelbrot Steve Jobs Marvin Minsky Russell Towle Bertrand Russell Alfred Whitehead Richard Crandall Srinivasa Ramanujan Solomon Golomb