OK, this is by no means an exhaustive list, just the books that I run across and think are worth remembering. These are all books that I've read. Books that I own will be marked with an asterisk. Feel free to engage in an orgy of buying at your local independent bookstore and send me the complete list.
| Title | Author | ISBN etc. | Comments |
| Brunelleschi's Dome | King, Ross | ISBN 0-8027-1366-1 | Subtitled "How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture." An interesting look into the state of architecture and engineering in Renaissance Florence; I really enjoyed not only learning how he built the dome for the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore without using internal props [or trying to--it's a bit confusing here and there], but also the tidbits of how society and culture worked in Florence at the time. |
| Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights | Hartmann | ISBN: 1579546277 | A fascinating and disturbing look at how corporations ("legal persons") have gained parity of rights with "natural persons," a development troublesome enough in its own right. When you add in the fact that it's not possible to jail a corporation and courts never prescribe the death penalty for a corporation (and rightly so, I'd say), we have a situation where corporations have more protection under the law than "natural persons:" us.
What's even more interesting is that this came about primarily through an error. The oft-cited decision did not actually rule that corporations are equal to natural persons and have rights: the court reporter of the time summarized and interpreted the decision so, and that's what was used as a guideline. At the time, court reporters didn't record proceedings verbatim, but summarized--kind of like taking notes in class. Sadly, this wrong is unlikely to be undone any time in the foreseeable future. Courts are seldom enthusiastic about overturning decades of precedents (the legal term is stare decisis or "let the decision stand," and it's one of the things that protects people in many other cases), and this one has developed an enormous amount of case law that would be thrown out the window if it were overturned. But don't take my word for it: go read it yourself. |