Mostly Modern Things Noted

At Chapati Mystery, Wendy Doniger responds to discussion of her new book, The Hindus: An Alternative History. The discussion was prompted by Michael Dirda's review of it.

Aisha Labi,"At Cambridge, Darwin's Natural Selection Was Comfort, Ledgers Show," CHE, 23 March, reports on newly found evidence about Charles Darwin's student years at Cambridge.

Blake Gopnik,"All Eyes Turn To T.J. Clark, Who Turns His To Picasso,""Shades of Meaning at First Blush," and"T.J. Clark Tells the 'Truth' About Picasso," Washington Post, 22 March, feature UC, Berkeley's distinguished art historian. He began his Mellon lecture series on"Picasso and Truth" yesterday at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Darius Rejali,"Icewater and Sweatboxes," Slate, 17 March, traces the history of the CIA's use of torture. Rejali, a political scientist at Reed, is the author of Torture and Democracy (Princeton UP, 2007).

Rob Farley hosted a live discussion with Juan Cole about his new book, Engaging the Muslim World, at firedoglake, 22 March. After 9:00 a.m. edt this morning, you can hear Cole interviewed about his book on PBS's"Morning Edition".

Congratulations to our former colleague, Daniel Larison, who received his doctorate in history from the University of Chicago on Friday. He blogs at Eunomia and is an editor-at-large of Front Porch Republic.

Finally, farewell to Marjorie Grene, historian and philosopher of science. What an extraordinary life! Thanks to Margaret Soltan for the tip.