Open Book Publishers

@openbookpublish

Leading Open Access publisher of high-quality academic books. Non-profit, scholar-led. Part of @copim.bsky.social and @openbookcollective.bsky.social. Find us here:

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Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· 21d

NEW BOOK | The Philosophy of Julia Wedgwood: Imperfect Antithesis by Alison Stone Learn more about overlooked nineteenth-century philosopher Julia Wedgwood in this #OpenAccess study 📚️ Read freely online or buy a copy: buff.ly/rrCLpzo

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The Philosophy of Julia Wedgwood: Imperfect Antithesis by Alison Stone

Julia Wedgwood (1833–1913) was a major intellectual presence in the Victorian period, yet her philosophical work has long remained overlooked. This book offers the first sustained study of her philosophy, recovering a distinctive and original framework centred on what she called the ‘law of imperfect antithesis’.

Drawing on both published texts and newly attributed anonymous essays, Stone reconstructs the unity of Wedgwood’s thought across ethics, metaphysics, religion, and history. Situating her in dialogue with figures such as Aristotle, Darwin, and Hegel, this book demonstrates both Wedgwood’s intellectual range and her independence.Combining philosophical analysis with innovative digital methods for recovering lost texts, this study restores Wedgwood as a major nineteenth-century philosopher and offers a compelling new lens on moral and historical experience.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· 22d

NEW TITLE | Rethinking Social Justice: Theory and Action in an Age of Transition by Michael Karlberg and Derik Smith A compelling & original rethinking of #SocialJustice at a moment of global uncertainty. Read freely or buy online: buff.ly/I1RjHWj #OpenAccess

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RETHINKING SOCIAL JUSTICE: Theory and Action in an Age of Transition by Michael Karlberg and Derik Smith

This book offers a compelling and original rethinking of social justice at a moment of global uncertainty and transformation. Tracing the emergence and evolution of modern social justice discourse, it addresses two fundamental questions: what ends should we aspire toward, and what means are most effective in pursuing them? The authors identify a shared, though often implicit, horizon that diverse traditions of thought all orient toward: contributive justice. This positive vision of social justice centers on the creation of social conditions that enable every individual and group to develop their capacities to contribute meaningfully to collective flourishing.

Drawing on a wide range of philosophical, historical, and empirical sources, the book critically examines the strategies that have shaped social justice movements, and proposes radical constructive agency: purposeful, collective efforts to build new social forms and institutions capable of supplanting anachronistic and unjust ones. An essential resource for scholars, activists, and anyone seeking new pathways toward a more just and inclusive society.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· 28d

OUT NOW | 'Verbal Multi-Word Expressions in Corpus Languages', ed. Victoria Fendel The latest book in the Papers of the Philological Society sheds new light on verbal multi-word expressions in corpus languages incl. Greek, Latin & Egyptian Read freely or buy online: buff.ly/6LnRrZn #Linguistics

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Verbal Multi-Word Expressions in Corpus Languages, edited by Victoria Beatrix Fendel

This volume brings together a diverse, interdisciplinary cohort of scholars to shed new light on verbal multi-word expressions in corpus languages such as Greek, Latin, and Egyptian. Addressing, in particular, corpora related to in-groups, which are often overlooked due to entrenched research traditions or limited accessibility, the volume makes these corpora newly visible and methodologically relevant.

Drawing on expertise from linguistics, computer science, papyrology, and Egyptology, Verbal Multi-Word Expressions in Corpus Languages explores both the theoretical and practical dimensions of studying verbal multi-word expressions, including cutting-edge digital solutions. Grounded in original data, the research pushes beyond current boundaries, advancing typological understanding and methodological precision.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Jul 9

The second book offers essays and reprinted scholarly articles to support deeper engagement with some of the key themes and poetic techniques to be found in the text. Access freely or purchase a copy: buff.ly/6Ylvl26 #Classics #TeachingSky #Latin #Aeneid

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Teaching Dido: Critical Perspectives on Aeneid 4 by Ingo Gildenhard

A companion to Virgil, Aeneid 4, with Study Questions, Vocabulary, and Commentary (OBP 2026), Teaching Dido includes five essays that explore aspects of Virgil’s poetry in a student-friendly way. They range from issues in poetics (verse design, allusion) to key themes (‘historiographical Dido’, religion, pietās). Seven reprinted scholarly articles follow, allowing students and their teachers to engage directly with some of the research that informs the essays and the commentary and to broaden their appreciation of Dido, the Aeneid, Virgil, and the wider historical context. Topics covered include the ethics of hospitality, the interface of intertextuality and psychology in the construction of character, Carthage and Rome as imperial powers, racecraft in Aeneid 4, Virgil’s authorial self-fashioning and negotiation of the Augustan new normal, the myth of Troy in Rome’s cultural imaginary, and Dido’s place within Virgil’s philosophy of history.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Jul 9

The first volume in the companion pair presents the text of Aeneid 4 alongside study questions and commentary that illuminate the significance of this story in classical literature. Access freely or purchase a copy: buff.ly/QsT4r1j #Classics #TeachingSky #Latin #Aeneid

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Jul 9

NEW BOOKS | We're delighted to announce two new #OpenAccess titles to support students exploring Aeneid 4: Virgil, Aeneid 4, with Study Questions, Vocabulary, and Commentary: buff.ly/QsT4r1j Teaching Dido: Critical Perspectives on Aeneid 4: buff.ly/6Ylvl26 #Classics #TeachingSky #Latin

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Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Jun 15

NEW BOOK | 'After the Before Times: Teachers’ Experiences of Pandemic Pedagogy' by Sarah Barrett Delve into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns on teachers in Canada. Read freely online or buy a copy: buff.ly/kI3DRpZ #OAbooks #TeachingSky #OpenAccess #EducationSky

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After the Before Times: Teachers’ Experiences of Pandemic Pedagogy by Sarah Barrett

In March 2020, when schools across Ontario, Canada closed and emergency remote teaching and learning (ERTL) began, 160,000 teachers were abruptly separated from their students and from the relational fabric that sustains classroom life. After the Before Times documents how teachers experienced those early months of COVID-19 pandemic pedagogy—and what their stories reveal about the nature of teaching and learning.

Drawing on interviews with ﬁfty primary and secondary school teachers, Sarah Barrett moves beyond questions of technology and technique to explore relationships: with government, school boards, colleagues, parents, students, and self. In the ‘negative space’ of pandemic pedagogy, teachers identiﬁed what was hardest to replicate at a distance: trust, community, professional integrity, and care.

Grounded in the African philosophy of Ubuntu, ‘I am because we are’, this book offers a timely reflection on crisis, integrity, and the relational foundations of a good quality education.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Jun 11

NEW TITLE | The Politics of Open Infrastructures: Power, Governance, and Justice in Digital Knowledge Practices, edited by Katja Mayer, Astrid Mager and Renée Ridgway Read freely or buy a copy: buff.ly/vI0ZShM #OAbooks #OpenInfrastructures #OpenAccess

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The Politics of Open Infrastructures:
Power, Governance, and Justice in Digital Knowledge Practices edited by Katja Mayer, Astrid Mager and Renée Ridgway

This volume examines how openness is designed, governed, contested and lived in contemporary digital knowledge infrastructures. From open source software and internet standards, to citizen science platforms, public sector data systems and alternative computing practices, the book shows that infrastructures are never neutral technical backbones. They are deeply political arrangements that embed values, distribute power and shape whose knowledge counts.

Bringing together scholars from science and technology studies, critical data studies, media studies, organisation studies, arts-based research and political sociology, this edited volume explores openness as an ongoing socio-technical process rather than a fixed ideal. The book moves from the partial openness of early Internet standards and free and open source software, through contested practices of opening government data and public infrastructures, to struggles over inclusion and governance in scholarly and cultural knowledge infrastructures. This is followed by community-driven experiments in care, repair and alternative openness and concludes with forward-looking contributions on how to keep infrastructures open for research, how to fund infrastructures as digital commons and how to mobilise open in

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· May 28

- Image, Knife, and Gluepot: Early Assemblage in Manuscript and Print by Kathryn Rudy (in the Literary/Media Studies category), www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116... (4/5)

The book in three formats (hardback, tablet and smartphone) alongside text that says: 'This is an extraordinary book about extraordinary books. Kate Rudy's recent study challenges the boundaries of academic books both in its format, a freely available e-book (as well as paperback and hardback versions) containing QR codes and a digital appendix, and in its contents, moving seamlessly between in-depth manuscript analysis, a "methodological self-portrait", and an honest assessment of the ability to conduct research in the twenty-first century. – Eyal Poleg, School of History, Queen Mary University of London'

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· May 28

- Decolonial Ecologies: The Reinvention of Natural History in Latin American Art by Joanna Page (in the Environmental Humanities category), www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116... (3/5)

An image of the book in three formats (hardcover, smartphone, tablet) alongside text that says: 'Against the “one-world” orientation of much environmental criticism, Decolonial Ecologies offers a wellspring of neobaroque aesthetics: artistic interventions that challenge the schemas of natural science mobilized by European explorers and thinkers, from Pedro de Mendoza and José Celestino Mutis to Carl Linnaeus. The cosmotechnics of contemporary Latin American artists take us into an alternative Enlightenment - the age of Humboldt 2.0. To great satisfaction, we experience the resurgence of living agents and relations as they break out of the frames, cabinets and discursive parameters formalized during the Enlightenment. As Joanna Page shows, though inhuman geographies continually threaten, it is nevertheless possible to see alternative ecologies of consciousness shine through. Amanda Boetzkes, Author of 'Plastic Capitalism: Contemporary Art' and the 'Drive to Waste and The Ethics of Earth Art''

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· May 28

- The Diagrammatics of “Race”: Visualizing Human Relatedness in the History of Physical, Evolutionary, and Genetic Anthropology, ca. 1770-2020 by Marianne Sommer (in the Anthropology category) www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116... (2/5)

An image of the book in three formats (hardcover, smartphone, tablet) alongside text that says 'Sommer explores the history of visual portrayals of human population relationships and evolutionary trees from pre-Darwinian times up through the early 21st century. This is an important and timely book that should be read by both professionals and the general public as it shows how these portrayals have been used both to justify racism and to debunk the very concept of human races. Prof Alan R. Templeton, Washington University'

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· May 18

What role did colour play in the long 19thC? Find out with 'Colour Matters: Exploring Chromatic Materialities in the Long 19th Century (1798-1914)' ed. by Stefano Evangelista, Charlotte Ribeyrol & Matthew Winterbottom Read freely online or buy a copy: buff.ly/NDKFoXO #OpenAccess #19thCentury

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Colour Matters: Exploring Chromatic Materialities in the Long Nineteenth Century (1798-1914) edited by Stefano Evangelista, Charlotte Ribeyrol
& Matthew Winterbottom

Colour Matters provides a fresh investigation of colour in the long nineteenth century. Across fourteen richly researched essays, the book explores the materiality, politics, and sensory experience of colour—from synthetic dyes and chrome pigments to the role of colour in medicine, gender, empire, and identity. By weaving together art history, literature, anthropology, science, and conservation, the contributors reveal a dynamic world where chromatic experimentation shaped aesthetics, technology, and social life. Colour Matters offers an essential contribution to colour studies and the humanities’ material turn, showing how pigment and perception illuminate both past and present.

This book will appeal to scholars and students of art history, literature, cultural studies, and the history of science in the long eighteenth-century, as well as curators, conservators, and readers fascinated by the histories of colour and material culture.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· May 18

NEW BOOK | 'The Sentencing of Jesus (Gzar-dina de-Yeshu): The "Authentic" Jewish Protocols of the Trial of Jesus' by Gideon Bohak A rich and insightful #OpenAccess study of an ancient Jewish narrative describing the trial and execution of Jesus. Read for free or buy a copy: buff.ly/p4oV0sC

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The Sentencing of Jesus (Gzar-dina de-Yeshu) by Gideon Bohak

This monograph offers a rich and insightful study of The Sentencing of Jesus, an ancient Jewish polemical narrative describing the trial and execution of Jesus, which is the earliest of all the Toledot Yeshu texts. The volume includes a substantial historical introduction, carefully edited synopses of the Aramaic, Judaeo-Arabic and Hebrew versions, detailed philological and exegetical notes on the text and its transmission history, and an English translation. In his comments, Bohak explores recurring themes in Late Antique literature—such as the apologetic and polemical uses of authentic or forged protocols of trials and executions, envisioning an enemy hanged on an unexpected tree, the humiliation of dragging a corpse through the streets for all to see, and the use of magical handbooks and of spells to heal or harm—shedding new light on the cultural and literary resonances of these motifs. Detailed linguistic analyses trace translations and mistranslations across Aramaic, Hebrew, and Judaeo-Arabic traditions.

By reconstructing an ancient polemical text that has previously been known only in a fragmentary manner, and by situating it both within its Late Antique context and in the context of previous scholarship, this book makes a significant contribution to the study of Judaism, and of Jewish-Christian relations, in Late Antiquity and the earl

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· May 15

How can we reform Higher Education to promote knowledge equity & fulfil the public mission of universities? Richard Heller offers one solution in this #OpenAccess volume: 'Distributing Knowledge: Openness, Equity, and Higher Education Transformation' Read freely or buy a copy: buff.ly/eEjbIvh

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Distributing Knowledge: Openness, Equity, and Higher Education Transformation by Richard Heller

Inequity is deeply embedded in higher education: in who can access learning, whose knowledge is created and valued, who gets published, and who ultimately benefits from universities’ work. Distributing Knowledge argues that the sector is falling short of its public mission—and that incremental reform is no longer enough.

This volume introduces a practical framework for distributing knowledge more equitably, grounded in core values of justice, autonomy, sustainability, and public good. It explores how open publishing, Open Educational Resources and Practices, distributed education structures, inclusive research practices, and supportive decentralised digital infrastructure can widen access, reduce carbon footprints, and amplify under-represented voices. Each chapter concludes with concrete steps to guide institutions, policymakers, and educators towards meaningful change.

Ultimately, this book is both a critique and a call to action. It challenges universities to re-imagine their role in society and offers a realistic pathway for transforming higher education into a more ethical, inclusive, and sustainable system—one capable of distributing knowledge in ways that genuinely reduce inequity and respond to the urgent challenges of our time.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· May 14

Listen to a recording by author Gary German of a poem, 'On Drunkenness', from Franklin’s 'Poor Richard’s Almanack' and his 'Reformed Mode of Spelling': buff.ly/vEDWcuP

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· May 14

Did you know that Benjamin Franklin was a phonetician? New in #OpenAccess by Gary German, a trailblazing exploration of Franklin’s linguistic legacy: a phonetically-based modernization of the English spelling system Read freely online / buy a copy Vol. 1: buff.ly/wrFfc7D Vol. 2: buff.ly/tr9Tk5j

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Benjamin Franklin, Orthoepist and Phonetician, Vols. 1 & 2 by Gary D. German

Benjamin Franklin has been hailed as an inventor, scientist, printer, author, philosopher, diplomat, philanthropist and political activist and, especially, a founding father of the United States, but few are aware he was also a phonetician.

This volume offers a groundbreaking exploration of Franklin’s little-studied linguistic legacy—his Reformed Mode of Spelling (1768/1779). In this short treatise, Franklin outlined a plan for a radical, phonetically-based modernization of the English spelling system. German reconstructs Franklin’s linguistic environment and investigates how his proposed spelling reform functioned as both a phonetic guide as well as a political and cultural statement.

This is the first comprehensive linguistic analysis of Franklin’s phonetic system within the broader historical and sociolinguistic context of early American English. A vital contribution to historical linguistics, American studies, and the growing field of World Englishes, this book sheds new light on both Franklin’s intellectual world and the complex phonological landscape of early American-English. It is essential reading for linguists, historians, and anyone fascinated by the roots of American English.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· May 13

It's true! 👀 NEW BOOK | A Multipolar Approach to Early Christian Arabic: Vatican Arabic Ms 13 in the Linguistic Landscape of Early Islam by @phillipwstokes.bsky.social Read freely online or buy a copy: www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116... #OAbooks #SemiticSeries #OpenAccess

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'A Multipolar Approach to Early Christian Arabic by Phillip W. Stokes

This volume offers the most comprehensive linguistic analysis to date of Vatican Arabic MS 13, a late 9th/early 10th-century Arabic Gospel manuscript. Combining meticulous quantitative study with wide-ranging comparative evidence, this book provides an in-depth examination of the manuscript's orthography, phonology, morphology, morpho-syntax, and syntax.

Crucially, the study does not treat MS 13 in isolation. Its features are systematically compared with those of other Christian Arabic manuscripts, Quranic traditions, medieval Arabic registers, early poetry, and modern dialects, challenging long-standing assumptions about 'Middle Arabic' and 'Classical Arabic'. By demonstrating that many features of MS 13 align with broader scribal and linguistic practices of the period, the book makes a compelling case that scribes drew creatively and pragmatically from a diverse repertoire of features and linguistic traditions, revealing a far more dynamic and multifaceted approach to written composition than previously recognised.

An outstanding and field-shaping contribution, this volume provides an essential model for future work on Christian Arabic, medieval Arabic varieties, and the history of Arabic.'

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Apr 30

NEW BOOK | From the Margins: Migrant Academics’ Narratives of Precarity edited by Ladan Rahbari & Olga Burlyuk #OA The much-anticipated vol. 2 following Migrant Academics’ Narratives of Precarity and Resilience in Europe (2023). It can be freely accessed online or purchased here: buff.ly/9JOWr69

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From the Margins: Migrant Academics’ Narratives of Precarity, edited by Ladan Rahbari and Olga Burlyuk

From the Margins: Migrant Academics’ Narratives of Precarity is the much-anticipated second volume following Migrant Academics’ Narratives of Precarity and Resilience in Europe published in 2023.

This new collection deepens and expands the conversation on the lived experiences of migrant academics navigating global academia. Maintaining the autoethnographic and narrative approach of the first volume, From the Margins brings together diverse voices that challenge the Eurocentric framing of academic mobility by extending the focus beyond Europe to contexts such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and the Middle East.

Through deeply personal, creative, and reflexive narratives, the contributors delve deep into the notions of privilege, migration, and precarity, revealing how academic hierarchies and colonial legacies shape everyday experiences of belonging, vulnerability, and resilience.

20% OFF when you buy From the Margins: Migrant Academics’ Narratives of Precarity with Migrant Academics’ Narratives of Precarity and Resilience in Europe.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Apr 28

NEW BOOK | 'Harvesting the Sea in Southeastern Arabia, Vol. 2' by Miranda J. Morris, Erik Anonby and Janet C.E. Watson The latest book in the Semitic Languages and Cultures series can be purchased or freely read and downloaded here: buff.ly/KnN93Xf #OAbooks #SemiticLanguages

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Harvesting the Sea in Southeastern Arabia
Volume 2: Comparative Lexicon of Fish and Other Marine Species

by Miranda J. Morris, Erik Anonby and Janet C.E. Watson

Along the shores of southeastern Arabia, traditional marine knowledge is fading as languages and ecosystems come under increasing pressure. This second volume of Harvesting the Sea in Southeastern Arabia brings together marine species terminology and associated knowledge in the five coastal Modern South Arabian languages (MSAL) and the Kumzari language of the Musandam Peninsula in eastern Arabia.

Over 2000 marine species names are inventoried, featuring many bony fish and cartilaginous fish, but also including mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, and plants. Terms for fish at various life stages and vocabulary associated with marine species are also provided. The lists are organised in the format of a comparative lexicon, where individual species are compared across the six languages, and as an annotated alphabetical lexicon with a searchable companion file, presenting additional insights collected over the course of fieldwork.

An essential resource of the languages, cultures, and ecosystems of Arabia.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Apr 16

NEW BOOK | The American Archipelago: A New Edition of Oscar Handlin’s Classic Anthology, 'This Was America', edited by Kenneth Weisbrode Read the new edition of this classic text freely online in #OpenAccess or buy a copy: buff.ly/pV17FHg #OAbooks #ImmigrationHistory

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The American Archipelago: A New Edition of Oscar Handlin’s Classic Anthology, 'This Was America', edited by Kenneth Weisbrode

Oscar Handlin (1915–2011), one of the most influential historians of the twentieth century, reshaped the study of American history with a career spanning more than forty books. Handlin’s classic anthology 'This Was America', first published in 1949, gathers Europeans’ travel accounts and perspectives on America from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Rather than presenting a single narrative, Handlin emphasizes variety: contrasting impressions of liberty and inequality, restlessness and rootedness, optimism and critique by people arriving from diverse European backgrounds.

This new edition reimagines America not as a singular whole but as an “archipelago”: a collection of diverse experiences, perceptions, and contradictions, underscoring the interplay between unity and multiplicity in American identity. Students, historians, anthropologists, and literary scholars alike will find in these essays a vivid, sometimes unsettling, mosaic of how America has been seen from abroad.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Apr 15

NEW BOOK | 'Pietro Giannone. Autobiography. The Tragedy of a Historian and the Inquisition' translated with commentary by Thérèse Ridley Freely available to read online or download, and available to buy in paperback, hardback or EPUB: buff.ly/y24lLbi #OpenAccess #OAbooks #Enlightenment

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Pietro Giannone. Autobiography
THE TRAGEDY OF A HISTORIAN AND THE INQUISITION
Translated with commentary by Thérèse Ridley

This volume is the first English translation of 'Vita di Pietro Giannone scritta da lui medesimo', a powerful autobiographical account penned under the direst conditions—by a man persecuted, imprisoned, and ultimately destroyed by the Inquisition. Written on scraps of paper during his long incarceration, Giannone’s 'Vita' is a masterpiece of Enlightenment literature, detailing the meteoric rise of a most eminent eighteenth-century historian and jurist, and his descent into suffering for his unyielding commitment to reason, justice, and historical truth.

This edition, translated and annotated by Thérèse Ridley, not only renders the full autobiography accessible to English readers for the first time, but contextualizes it within modern Italian scholarship. Each chapter is enriched with appendices that include critical sources, commentary, and related correspondence, illuminating the people, events, and philosophical struggles that defined Giannone’s world.

This volume is essential reading for anyone interested in the Enlightenment, Italian history, or the enduring power of the written word under persecution.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Apr 9

NEW BOOK | Beyond Popular Science by David H. Silver Our first book of the new month bridges the gap between popular science & the textbook. Read freely online or buy a copy: www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116... #OpenAccess #OAbooks #PopularScience

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Beyond Popular Science by David H. Silver

Beyond Popular Science is not a popular science book. It is not a textbook. It is not an academic monograph. Instead, it occupies a rare and deliberately unconventional space: a work for readers who enjoy scientific storytelling but are no longer satisfied with simplifications that smooth away the real substance of modern science.

Each chapter begins with clear, accessible explanations, then gradually descends into the rigorous frameworks—mathematical, physical, and conceptual—that underlie our best understanding of the universe. Readers encounter ideas they may have heard before, but rarely explored with this level of honesty: why relativistic time dilation, rather than spatial curvature alone, governs gravity on Earth; how quantum tunneling makes stellar fusion possible; and even how relativistic effects give gold its distinctive yellow hue.

Richly illustrated with sophisticated, thought-provoking visuals, Beyond Popular Science rewards both careful reading and contemplative browsing. It is a book to be revisited, puzzled over, and enjoyed—one that treats its readers not as passive consumers, but as capable thinkers eager

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Mar 27

Going to #UKSG2026? Our @rupertgatti.bsky.social & @alittleroad.bsky.social will be there with colleagues from @copim.bsky.social, @thoth-metadata.eurosky.social & @openbookcollective.bsky.social Find us at Stand 66 to talk scholar-led, non-profit, diamond #OpenAccess books! @uksg.bsky.social

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Mar 17

NEW BOOK | Spaces for Action: A Repository of Tools and Methods for a Socially Situated Architectural Education, edited by Guido Cimadomo and Ingrid C. Vargas Díaz 👉️ Read freely or buy a copy: buff.ly/WXIxfCb #OAbooks #OpenAccess

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Spaces for Action: A Repository of Tools and Methods for a Socially Situated Architectural Education edited by Guido Cimadomo and Ingrid C. Vargas Díaz

Spaces for Action provides a hands-on guide for teachers and students looking to make architectural learning more engaging, collaborative, and socially meaningful.

The book brings together over 80 creative tools that can be adapted to different classrooms, communities, and design challenges. The tools are grouped by teaching approaches—like cooperative teamwork, experiential learning, and transformative practices—and by the stages of the design process: identifying challenges, generating ideas, and putting them into action. Each entry gives a clear overview of what the tool is for, how it works, and what you need to make it happen. You’ll also find tips on group sizes, resources, and possible collaborators, making it easy to bring these methods straight into practice.

Open and adaptable, this repository is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to foster creativity, collaboration, and social impact in architecture education.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Mar 12

NEW BOOK | Ottoman-Era Documents from the Cairo Genizah by Jane Hathaway The latest book in the Cambridge Semitic Languages & Cultures series, this groundbreaking volume makes a transformative contribution to studies of the Cairo Genizah. Read freely online or buy a copy: buff.ly/NYtRPfq #OAbooks

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Ottoman-Era Documents from the Cairo Genizah by Jane Hathaway

This groundbreaking volume marks a rare and transformative contribution to studies of the Cairo Genizah, a vast trove of documents generated by Egypt’s Jewish community between the 10th and 19th centuries. While the Cairo Genizah has long yielded extraordinary insights into Jewish history in the greater Mediterranean region, attention has focused overwhelmingly on documents from the ‘classical’ period (11th–13th centuries). This book helps to change that.

Moving beyond the more familiar Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic texts, the author ventures into neglected terrain, offering expert translations of Arabic and Ottoman Turkish texts in Arabic script. The book will appeal to scholars of Jewish history, the Cairo Genizah, the Ottoman Empire, and early modern Egypt; students of Middle Eastern languages and religions; historians of intercommunal relations and trade; and librarians, archivists, and general readers fascinated by Middle Eastern manuscript culture and the vibrant religious and commercial networks of the early modern Mediterranean.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Mar 11

🎧️ LISTEN UP 🎧️ Our latest title, 'Make/Unmake: Play at the Centre of Culture Change' by Anna Beresin has an audiobook version read by Beresin. Click the 'Download' button & select 'MP3' It's free, like the PDF & HTML formats. Other ebook & paper formats are available to buy: 👉️ buff.ly/I8135B7

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Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Mar 5

NEW BOOK | Make/Unmake: Play at the Centre of Culture Change by Anna Beresin Read online freely or buy a copy: www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116... #OAbooks #OpenAccess

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Make/Unmake: Play at the Centre of Culture Change by Anna Beresin

Anna Beresin’s 'Make/Unmake' is an engaging and deeply original exploration of children’s play as a powerful cultural force. Drawing on ethnographic research and vivid travel writing, the author journeys to the Midlands region of England to observe three remarkable play-based programs.

At a moment when children’s opportunities for material play are shrinking, this book confronts urgent questions: Who gets to play? Who is left out? By centring under-resourced communities, gender equity, and cultural representation, this volume reframes play as both a process of making and unmaking the world—an act of resilience, creativity, and collective transformation.

This book will appeal to scholars and students in childhood studies, play studies, education, and cultural anthropology, as well as practitioners, teachers, policymakers, and all who are committed to protecting children’s right to play.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Mar 4

NEW BOOK | Historicizing IQ Testing: Intelligence Assessments and their Role in Norwegian Society from the 1900s to the Present, edited by Håkon Aamot Caspersen & Jon Røyne Kyllingstad Access freely online or buy a copy: buff.ly/LgEJlco #OAbooks

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Historicizing IQ Testing: Intelligence Assessments and their Role in Norwegian Society from the 1900s to the Present edited by Håkon Aamot Caspersen and Jon Røyne Kyllingstad.

Intelligence testing has shaped modern society in profound ways, influencing education, psychology, law, and governance. This volume offers the first comprehensive study of the history of IQ testing in a Nordic country, shedding new light on its development, adaptation, and societal impact in Norway.

By tracing the evolution of intelligence tests—from their role in schools and special education to forensic psychiatry and criminal law—the book uncovers the tensions surrounding their use. Are these tests instruments of empowerment or tools of control? How have they shaped access to education, healthcare, and legal rights? How have they been adapted in different national contexts?

This volume challenges assumptions about IQ testing, placing practices of testing and the tests themselves at the center of historical analysis. By examining the Norwegian case, it contributes fresh insights to international scholarship, offering essential perspectives on the global history of intelligence measurement.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Feb 19

OUT NOW | Africa in Russian Imperial Culture: Race, Empire, and Representation (1850-1917) by Anita Frison Explore how Sub-Saharan Africa was imagined in Russian culture from 1850 to 1917 in this new #OpenAccess book. Read freely or buy a copy: buff.ly/2bgvoGU #OAbooks

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Africa in Russian Imperial Culture:
Race, Empire, and Representation (1850–1917) by Anita Frison

This volume uncovers how Sub-Saharan Africa was imagined in Russian culture from 1850 to 1917. Drawing on travelogues, ethnographic studies, fiction, and museum collections, Anita Frison reveals how Russia—though lacking formal colonies in Africa—nonetheless engaged deeply with Western colonial discourse.

Organized around themes of Strangers, Lands, Bodies, Collectors, and Disguises, the book explores how Russians represented African peoples, landscapes, and artifacts to negotiate questions of race, empire, and national identity. Challenging the notion of Russian ‘exceptionalism’, this book demonstrates that imperial attitudes toward Africa often prefigured Soviet anticolonial rhetoric, whilst simultaneously relying on the colonial paradigm.

Richly documented and interdisciplinary, this study offers fresh insights for scholars of history, literature, and postcolonial studies, while remaining accessible to curious general readers.

Open Book Publishers@openbookpublish· Feb 12

Our third #OpenAccess book published this month is 'A Society of Meta-Organizations' by Héloïse Berkowitz: it examines how meta-organizations operate, how they can be understood, the problems they raise & what they can achieve. Read freely or buy a copy: buff.ly/V5PQdo0 #OAbooks #MetaOrganizations