Now in Review: Texas

Texas: A Historical Atlas
by A. Ray Stephens
University of Oklahoma Press, 2010

Now reviewing the updated and expanded edition of the Historical Atlas of Texas, first published by University of Oklahoma Press in 1989 and now released under a new title - Texas: A Historical Atlas - with a new cartographer (Carol Zuber-Mallison) with a much larger and more impressive presentation. This thick, large format volume features 175 full-color glossy maps.

Texas: A Historical Atlas
History and American West Titles

Review: Solar Power Your Home for Dummies

Solar Power Your Home for Dummies
by Rik DeGunther
For Dummies, 2010

A solar power book specifically written for homeowners, this easy to follow guide provides an introduction on how to bring the light and energy of the sun into the home with everything from landscaping and positioning to outdoor showers, water heaters, and photovoltaic systems.

Solar applications can dramatically reduce air conditioning and heating bills while adding to the value of the home in a green-energy conscious community. This book offers information on a wide variety of home solar systems, along with advice on energy audits, rebates and ways to reduce the financial risk of solar home power.

This is a good primer for any homeowner considering solar options. Readers seeking a technical manual with detailed how-to instructions should look elsewhere.

The author, Rik DeGunther, is an energy consultant who specializes in efficient heating and cooling designs.

• Solar Power Your Home for Dummies
• Guidebooks and How-To Titles

The Shallows

What kind of brain is the Web giving us? Dozens of studies by psychologists, neurobiologists, and educators point to the same conclusion:

When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning. Even as the Internet grants us easy access to vast amounts of information, it is turning us into shallower thinkers, literally changing the structure of our brain.

Nicholas Carr
The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains