An acclaimed sportswriter offers an inside look at the Black quarterbacks whose skill and grit transformed the NFL In Rocket Men, John Eisenberg offers the definitive history of Black quarterbacks in the NFL—men who shaped not only the history of football but the cause of civil rights in America. From early pioneers like Fritz Pollard to groundbreaking modern standouts like Marlin Briscoe and James “Shack” Harris, Black quarterbacks had to be twice as good as their white counterparts to get playing time—and even then, many never got that chance. That didn’t begin to change in earnest until the 1990s and the 2000s, when racist notions about what Black quarterbacks supposedly couldn’t do began to fade, paving the way for today’s stars like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. Drawing on deep historical research and exclusive interviews with Black quarterbacks and players, coaches, and talent evaluators who have worked alongside them, Rocket Men is a celebration of the athletes and activists who transformed the game.

Williams became the first black to make it big at a position previously reserved for whites. Without Doug Williams, the game of professional football would still be living under a veil of prejudice, but with one fell swoop, he shattered the myth that a black quarterback could not rise to the pinnacle of pro football.

"Chronicling the first two seasons of the worst team in NFL history, an entertaining sports story follows the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 1976 and 1977 seasons in which they cemented their place in football history as having the longest losing streak in the history of the league,"--NoveList.

This is the second volume in a two-part set on the writings of Thomas Salmon. Salmon (1647-1706) is remembered today for proposing a radical reform of musical notation (these writings are the subject of Volume I). Later in his life Salmon devoted his attention to an exploration of the possible reform of musical pitch and raised questions about the meaning and the source of musical knowledge similar to those he raised in his work on notation. Benjamin Wardhaugh presents the first published scholarly edition of Salmon's writings on pitch, previously only available mostly in manuscript.

The breadth of topics reflects Dawes's wide-ranging impact on psychological theory and empirical practice. The two themes of rationality and social responsibility feature heavily. The book serves as an overview of psychological science development in its struggle to reconcile what is true with what is good.

In the first philosophical challenge to accepted racial classifications in the United States, Naomi Zack uses philosophical methods to criticize their logic. Tracing social and historical problems related to racial identity, she discusses why race is a matter of such importance in America and examines the treatment of mixed race in law, society, and literature. Zack argues that black and white designations are themselves racist because the concept of race does not have an adequate scientific foundation. The "one drop" rule, originally a rationalization for slavery, persists today even though there have never been "pure" races and most American blacks have "white" genes. Exploring the existential problems of mixed race identity, she points out how the bi-racial system in this country generates a special racial alienation for many Americans. Ironically suggesting that we include "gray" in our racial vocabulary, Zack concludes that any racial identity is an expression of bad faith. Author note: Naomi Zack is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Albany. She herself is of mixed race: Jewish, African American, and Native American.