Links for 2011-04-01

A useful counterpoint to Sean's post about tenure at top-tier research universities.

"One of the pillars of bookselling is to answer this question: If you like X, you will probably enjoy reading Y or Z too. Hence the first, though not actualized in-store yet (that would come at the turn of the millennium) thought of If you like Harry Potter, try these fantasies. And the one that immediately came to mind was Diana Wynne Jone's Chrestomanci books. Hold on now, I know I'm saying that backwards, as Jones first published these books in 1977 and the 1980's. But, as I recall it, only A Charmed Life and Witch Week, which depending upon your point of reference are books 1 and 4 in the series (At the time they were books 1 and 3, respectively.), were in print, and they were both flatlining on sales at B&N, Inc. of about 200 copies a year, over the past two years, for Avon Books.  I saw an opportunity to sell children's fantasies by putting together the first, to my knowledge, "If you like Harry Potter, try..." promotion in the U.S."

""The students really learned how to do science," Weitz said, by doing lab experiments based on cooking. And, from their reaction, they really seemed to enjoy it.

"I think the fact that you can eat the lab is really cool," one student said of the course in a video interview played during Weitz's talk."