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The Yale Alumni Magazine is owned and operated by Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., a nonprofit corporation independent of Yale University. The content of the magazine and its website is the responsibility of the editors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Yale or its officers. |
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James Prosek '97 In early December 1998, James Prosek, an angler and painter who has been dubbed the “Audubon of the fishing world,” left his home in Easton, Connecticut, and began an epic journey. Prosek’s rural abode lay at 41 degrees north latitude, and over the next few years, he circumnavigated the 41st parallel in search of trout. The result is an engaging travelogue in which the young fly-fisherman and artist, driven by what he freely admits is loucura—“craziness,” in Portuguese—roams the globe in the company of other loucuriacs bound together by a similar passion. Chief among them is Johannes Schoffman, an Austrian baker who, though an amateur naturalist, is considered one of the world’s authorities on trout biodiversity. Schoffman and his long-suffering wife Ida—“Johannes is not an easy man to be with,” she says—guide the angler to such places as Greece, Turkey, the Balkans, Spain, Portugal, and Central Asia. With professional ichthyologists, trout aficionados, and friends, both old and new (Prosek’s charm serves him well wherever he goes), there are additional excursions along the 41st—to the Seine in Paris, a high-altitude stream in Kyrgyzstan, a pool in Hokkaido, Japan, and a creek in Colorado, among others. Through Schoffman, Prosek becomes a schwarzfischer, German for “poacher,” and adopts the schwarzfischer creed. “We would fish by any means possible and catch trout for art and science regardless of the regulations,” he said. Or concerns about personal safety. What Prosek often called “poaching in Paradise” could involve anything from skin diving in hidden pools to making tricky casts behind the cover of shrubbery, and if it required navigating through a war zone or being driven by drunken chauffeurs who piloted less than adequate vehicles on worse roads, well, the pursuit of loucura is never for the faint-hearted. Besides, stealth angling also had an important purpose: the documentation of trout species, many of them poorly known. “A fascinating puzzle was unfolding before my eyes,” Prosek says. “In almost every stream we fished, the trout were slightly different. their diversity is nearly endless.” Prosek, whose masterful watercolors illuminate the story, notes that “the meaning of fishing [is] waiting and observing.” In this fine volume, he demonstrates a talent for both and fills his creel with adventures and remarkable character sketches that can be enjoyed by anyone, angler or not. The pursuit of forelle, truite, and alabalik—trout, in German, French, and Turkish (and numerous other tongues)—is, says Prosek, “a powerful tool for reaching across languages and cultures.”
John Lewis Gaddis, Professor of History Metaphors, historian Gaddis declares in this defense of his discipline, “help us to think.” In comparing the past to a landscape and the historian to a mapmaker, however, he is aware that “there’s no such thing as a single correct map.” Thus, he says, “Historians have no choice but to engage in . manipulations of time, space, and scale—these departures from literal representation.” So can history make no claim to scientific precision? This essay argues that science and history are moving closer together. Like history, such disciplines as astronomy, geology, and paleontology cannot always reproduce their results and have discovered the importance of time and narrative. The social sciences come in for some unflattering comparisons to history in terms of scientific grounding. Gaddis reproaches those disciplines for what he calls reductionism, a paucity of causation, and an obsession with forecasting, not to mention that “when social scientists are right, they too often confirm the obvious. When they don’t confirm the obvious, they’re too often wrong.” History willingly parts company with science in certain human concerns, especially the study of character and biography, says Gaddis, whose conclusion explores broader issues like morality, repression, and the purpose of history. “A collective historical consciousness,” he says, “may be as much a prerequisite for a healthy, well-rounded society as is the proper ecological balance for a healthy forest and a healthy planet.”
Linda Mason '80MBA This book may seem like yet another of the “how to be a good mother and stay fulfilled” tales, but a closer look reveals it to be a thorough and useful guide for juggling the many aspects of family life in the 21st century. The Working Mother’s Guide features the experiences of “true experts—those women who are doing an excellent job of mothering while working.” And the author knows the “experts” well. Mason, mother of three children and a member of the Yale Corporation, is the chairman and co-founder of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, which runs nearly 500 childcare and early education centers around the world. Mason interviewed more than 100 working mothers for this book, soliciting their opinions, advice, and experiences on everything from flextime to family leave to using a breast pump at work. She also includes resources such as Web sites, books, government agencies, and private organizations. While observing the way women live, work, and raise families in Kenya, Mason found that in their society, “there is no sense of work life and family life. It is just life. ” Would that it were so easy.
Brief Reviews Debra Hamel '96PhD In the fourth century BCE in Corinth, a young woman named Neaira plied her trade as one of the city-state’s highest-paid and most sought-after hookers. Hamel, an independent historian, uses court records to tell a tabloidesque story.
David L. Katz '93MPH, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, and Maura Harrigan González The director and the dietician of the Yale Prevention Research Center offer sound advice for healthy eating.
Frank T. Kryza '72, '82MPPM Archimedes and 20th-century American inventor Frank Shuman tried to harness the sun’s energy. Kryza shows how they and many others throughout history attempted this Promethean task.
Patricia J. Ohlott '83 and Marian N. Ruderman The authors spotlight five “themes”—the need to act authentically, make connections, control one’s destiny, achieve wholeness, and gain self-clarity—key to executive women’s development.
Horace A. Porter '81PhD When the author enrolled in Amherst College in 1968, “my environment had changed from black to white.” Porter, professor of English at the University of Iowa, traces his journey.
Barnet Schecter '85 In 1776, the British captured New York City. Schecter provides a vivid account of the military campaign, the turbulent events preceding it, and the pivotal struggle to recapture the city.
More Books by Yale Authors Stephanie Allen 1986 Kelly Askew 1988 Helen Campbell 1979MMus Jim Duffus 1949 and Dancy Duffus Stephen Robert Frankel 1970 Raymond W. Gastil 1980 William D. Geoghegan 1943 and Kevin L. Stoehr Bruce M. Knauft 1976, Editor Aimee Liu 1975 Brook Manville 1972 and Josiah Ober Pamela C.M. Marr 1991 and Frank-Jurgen Richter, Editors John McGonagle 1966 Joel Mokyr 1974PhD Horace A. Porter 1981PhD James Prosek 1997 William Rawn 1965 Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick 1975PhD David Sklar 1997BS and Adam Trachtenberg Dominic R. Thomas 1996PhD Terra Ziporyn 1980
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