ederlands N letterenfonds dutch foundation for literature

Quality Non- Fiction from Holland

no. 16 autumn 2011 Vincent van der Noort The Numbers Are Your Best Friends Foundation Confessions of a nerd

The most beautiful of all mathematics, writes young mathematician Vincent van der Noort (b. 1980) Dutch Foundation The Dutch Foundation for Literature stimulates interest Vincent van der Noort, involves problems you could explain to a child studied mathematics at the for Literature in Dutch literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry and children’s University of and yet which even the cleverest thinkers are as yet unable solve. Better still, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 89 books by providing information and granting translation gained his at the 1018 VR Amsterdam the fact that professional mathematicians are stumped does not put it Tel. +31 20 520 73 00 subsidies. The foundation maintains contacts with a University of Utrecht on the Fax +31 20 520 73 99 large number of international publishers, and has a beyond the bounds of possibility that an eleven-year-old will come up subject of symmetries in spaces The stand at major international book fairs, including the with the answer one morning under the shower. whose dimensions are infinite. [email protected] www.letterenfonds.nl Frankfurt Book Fair, the London Book Fair and the He has been a supervisor at Book Fair. mathematics camps for school- Non-Fiction Numbers Are Your Best Friends presents a broad selection of mathematical Maarten Valken, children and currently works as [email protected] Translation Grants problems, insights, theories, games, observations, even mathematical a maths teacher. Fiction Foreign publishers wishing to publish translations of Dutch poems and mysteries, ranging from the simple and amusing to the Henk Pröpper, or Frisian literature, including children’s literature, quality demanding and abstract. But Van der Noort is even more interested in the It must be great to have Vincent [email protected] non-fiction and poetry, may apply for a subsidy towards the feelings evoked by numbers, symmetries and patterns, since these explain van der Noort as a teacher. Victor Schiferli, translation costs. De Volkskrant what it is to be a mathematician. The result is a remarkable book of [email protected] Having acquired the publishing rights to a Dutch or Children’s Books Frisian literary work, the publisher’s application for a popular science, candid and perceptive, able both to enthuse readers and Publishing Details Agnes Vogt, to move them. [email protected] subsidy must be accompanied by a copy of the contract Getallen zijn je beste vrienden. Poetry between the foreign publisher and the owner of the Dutch Take prime numbers, whole numbers that can be divided only by Ontboezemingen van een nerd Thomas Möhlmann, rights, and a copy of the contract with the translator. themselves or 1. Are they part of an infinite series? Yes. Can we predict how (2011) [email protected] Publishers must make use of specific application forms 309 pp. (93,700 words) many there are below a given number? No, say the mathematicians. Yet for which are available from the foundation. With black-and-white illustrations, all their intellectual efforts we cannot be certain even of that. We do know notes and references Considerations that they become increasingly rare, since the larger the number, the more 3,000 copies sold In deciding whether or not to grant a subsidy, the foundation smaller numbers there are that it could be divided into, but this tells us takes account of the following considerations: nothing about the distribution or even the prevalence of large prime Rights – the literary quality of the book Athenaeum—Polak & Van Gennep numbers. Prime numbers, says Van der Noort, are fascinating but aloof – the status of the publisher Singel 262 – the quality of the translator creatures in the mathematical world, rather like cats, ‘and you can never NL - 1016 AC Amsterdam If the translator is unknown to the foundation, a sample be sure whether the affection is mutual’. The Netherlands translation is required. This will be evaluated by external This warm, personal tone is what makes Numbers Are Your Best t +31 (0)20 551 12 99 advisors. The maximum possible subsidy is 70% of the total Friends far more than just another book about mathematical insights and f +31 (0)20 551 12 54 cost of translation. Applications for subsidies for translations [email protected] trivia. Van der Noort genuinely loves numbers and is able to convince which have already been published will not be considered. www.uitgeverijathenaeum.nl readers that such love is far more important, even to professional mathe- maticians, than technical skill or a highly developed . Numbers are personalities, and you are introduced to them in early childhood. You know how they think, how they feel and who they are. Some are good company, others are surly or supercilious. This is the foundation of mathematical insight, claims Van der Noort, and whoever studies mathe- matics (voluntarily or not) must learn to get along with them, for all their faults and virtues.

It’s a shame that by the time they leave school, so many people have become traumatized by maths and seem never to get over their dislike. That fact was a major starting point for this book.

A successful attempt to get people to be more aware of their irrational associations with numbers.

Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Page 2 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Photo: Catherine Hermans Page 3 Dick Swaab Fik Meijer We Are Our The Mediterranean Sea From the womb to Alzheimer’s A personal history

Dick Swaab is professor emeritus For many years the prevailing belief in the developed world has been Fik Meijer, professor of Ancient ‘I’m deeply ashamed.’ Those of neurobiology at the University that upbringing determines what a child will become. Everything that History at the University of are the remarkable closing of Amsterdam and was for thirty Amsterdam from 1992 to 2007, can go wrong in later life is therefore the fault of the parents and, more words of the latest book by years director of the Netherlands is a specialist in maritime history. Institute for Brain Research. He broadly, society. The same train of thought suggests that many illnesses His publications on the subject Fik Meijer, respected academic found international fame with his can be blamed on unhealthy lifestyles and therefore on the patient. In include St. Paul’s Voyage to Rome and famous populariser of work on sex differences in the We Are Our Brains Dick Swaab presents evidence that contradicts this (2000). Having written books on classical antiquity in the Low brain, Alzheimer’s disease and belief, claiming that everything about us – including the diseases that such specific themes as gladiators, Countries. The Mediterranean depression. Swaab has published chariot racing, Roman emperors will affect our minds – is present in our neuronal circuits long before Sea is subtitled A personal in a wide range of media, including who did not die in bed and the the authoritative Nature and we are born. Upbringing and therapy have little influence. Greek and Roman immigration history, and the personal Science. issue, he now tells his own story dimension is a particular Swaab, who has researched the brain since 1966, has a rare ability to write for the first time. The Mediterranean strength of the book. While Researcher Dick Swaab has clearly and accessibly about complex questions. We Are Our Brains is also a Sea is longlisted for the 2011 innovatively connecting written a book for the general Libris History Prize. timely book: the ageing of populations worldwide and the diseases that go together the civilizations of reader that is almost impossible to put down. The combination of along with it, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, are prompting more We have Meijer’s Mediterranean classical antiquity through personal observations and questions than ever about the brain. snorkelling and diving to thank for the common theme of the sea, experiences, scientific information Swaab describes how our brains work from their very beginnings a magnificent book, along with his Meijer displays even greater and brief case histories, each in the womb and on through old age and dementia to death and even unrivalled narrative talent and his originality in connecting the chapter enlivened by humour, astonishing erudition on the beyond. He explains how gender differences develop in the embryonic sea with his own life. ensures that the reader’s attention subject of the ancient world. will not lapse for a moment. brain, what goes on in the heads of adolescents, and criminals, how moral NRC Handelsblad De Volkskrant behaviour develops, how our memories work and how our brains influence Meijer writes for a broad our choice of partner. Meijer expertly places underwater audience and his many This is an exceptionally rich and Swaab is not writing to reassure us. In every phase of life much excavations in the context of their readers already appreciate his skilfully written book that will time, including piracy, slavery, and can go wrong. Brain diseases and neurological disorders cannot always be passionate take on history. soften the reader’s heart in the the organized theft of the products face of countless strange behav- prevented or cured, and although Swaab believes considerable scientific of art and industry. Now they can learn about the iours and emotions he will no progress has been made in the field, far more work is needed if we are to Trouw roots of that passion. He opens the book with his illegal salvaging of doubt recognize in others – and produce effective medicines and therapies. ancient amphorae from the Ibizan sea floor in his youth; this is his shame. in himself. In the 1990s Swaab unleashed a storm of protest when he published Publishing Details But what starts as a boy’s adventure story becomes a fascinating account of Trouw De Middellandse Zee. Een findings showing that the brains of homosexuals and heterosexuals differ, continuity in space and time on the shores of the Mediterranean. persoonlijke geschiedenis (2010) A captivating account of the brain a conclusion that is now generally accepted as well founded. He has not 447 pp. (112,550 words) Meijer shines as an autobiographical storyteller, taking his readers in all its many facets, based on the grown averse to controversy in the years since then. He claims, for With colour and black-and-white on a modern Odyssey. There seems to be no shipwreck, no nautical very latest scientific research. example, that clever people are more likely to be atheists and that religious illustrations, notes and references reconstruction, no pile of amphorae that Meijer has not been involved De Groene Amsterdammer faith arises from the indoctrination of young children’s brains. These are 9,000 copies sold with in one way or another, whether by chance or persistence. He switches by no means the only thought- effortlessly between the modern history he has lived through and the Publishing Details Rights Wij zijn ons brein. Van baar- provoking claims in his Athenaeum—Polak & Van Gennep ancient history he describes, interspersing his narrative with quotations moeder tot Alzheimer (2010) thoroughly absorbing book. Singel 262 from ancient and sometimes obscure texts. 480 pp. (128,840 words) NL - 1016 AC Amsterdam Taking his lead from Braudel, Meijer elegantly construes the sea With black-and-white illustrations The Netherlands as the element linking ancient cultures. Drawing on his vast socio- 185,000 copies sold t +31 (0)20 551 12 99 economic knowledge, he traces the trade in wine, artworks and fish sauce, f +31 (0)20 551 12 54 Rights sold [email protected] discusses forced migrations in antiquity and the tourism of the time, Droemer Knaur (), www.uitgeverijathenaeum.nl explains the rise and fall of Athens and of Rome, and pays close attention Spiegel & Grau (US), Zmora/ www.fikmeijer.nl to Christianity, especially Paul’s sea journey. Meijer may be right to be Kinneret (Israel), Elliot () ashamed of his relatively innocent youthful transgression, stealing an and Cheers (). For other translated titles by amphora, but his penance, in the form of this book, is more than ample this author see our website Rights www.letterenfonds.nl/ compensation. Uitgeverij Contact translations/ Keizersgracht 205 Swaab is not afraid to make 1016 DS Amsterdam the link between his insights t +31 (0)20 535 25 35 and social problems, in fact f +31 (0)20 535 25 49 [email protected] he deliberately provokes the Meijer has an impressive The connection made here [email protected] reader. ability to link archaeology, between subjective www.uitgeverijcontact.nl literary sources and experience and objective A convincing argument for historical reconstruction. history brings the larger the importance of good sense picture to life. and sound knowledge in Personal history is not easy preventing minds from being to write, but Meijer succeeds dulled by hocus-pocus. superbly.

Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Photo: Tessa Posthuma de Boer Page 4 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Photo: Erik van ‘t Woud Page 5 Hans Ibelings Jan Brokken European Architecture Baltic Souls Since 1890 Changing fortunes in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Hans Ibelings is an architectural Is it possible to speak of a distinctively European style of architecture? During a boat trip on the Baltic, Jan Brokken chanced upon Pärnu A well-known journalist, historian, writer and critic, and Most architectural historians tend to limit themselves to the western harbour, on the Estonian coast of the Gulf of Riga. It was an Jan Brokken made his debut as the author of several books a writer in 1984 with the autobio- part of the continent, but Hans Ibelings, in his comprehensive and unforgettable introduction to the Baltic lands: Estonia, Latvia and about high-profile figures of graphical novel The Province, Dutch architecture. His richly illustrated European Architecture Since 189o, looks to the east as Lithuania, and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. The extraordinary which became a successful film. Supermodernism. Architecture in well. The many unknown buildings and architects he has discovered on light, the tranquil landscape and the stories he heard there drew him He has published gripping travel the Age of Globalization (1998), the periphery of the former Soviet Union support his claim that pan- back time and again. In Baltic Souls, Brokken connects the cultural books about, for example, Africa, in which he looks at international European developments can be identified from the late nineteenth richness and social diversity of the region over the past eight centuries Indonesia and Curacao, as well as developments, has been trans- the acclaimed bestseller Jungle century onwards. with tales of personal tragedy and a first-hand account of his travels. lated into English, Spanish, Rudy (2006). His previous book, French and Italian. He is the In The Poets House (2008), was founder and editor-in-chief of A10, Ibelings is primarily interested in architecture’s social function, so he A remarkable number of talented people have come from this relatively translated into several languages. a highly acclaimed and influential concentrates on aspects of European society and politics that have small, sparsely populated area, many of them Jewish in origin. Brokken Baltic Souls is on the longlist for magazine of new European influenced it over the years. He believes that the explosive growth of cities looks at twenty of those who have left their mark on art and culture the European Book Prize 2011. architecture. as a result of the Industrial Revolution marks the beginning of modern worldwide, from filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein and philosopher Hannah Jan Brokken portrays twenty- In this book Hans Ibelings strives architecture, whose main feature is its public character. Once governments Arendt in the early decades of the twentieth century to figures of our own seven Baltic souls, bringing them valiantly to create a more accurate took over from the church and the aristocracy as architects’ most time including violinist Gidon Kremer, composer Arvo Pärt and dancer to life with great feeling and picture of European architecture important clients, the most prestigious and profitable commissions were Mikhail Baryshnikov. placing them in an intense, as a whole. for publicly financed facilities such as housing, schools, railway stations, Despite fame and success, their lives were overshadowed by sadness enchanting light. NRC Handelsblad NRC Handelsblad town halls and libraries. and loss. Many left their native countries to escape the Nazis or Communists, Publishing Details From art nouveau to constructivism, twentieth-century European while others saw their families all but obliterated in the Second World War By chronicling the fortunes of Europese architectuur architecture was to a great degree united by its own particular styles. or in post-war ethnic cleansing. Brokken describes several lives marred by families over several generations, vanaf 1890 (2011) Ibelings wonders how this was possible in a politically divided continent, tyrannical fathers, a theme that holds a personal fascination for him, to Brokken gives a face to those 236 pp. (50,000 words) since a Europe-wide exchange of ideas must have been involved. He judge from his earlier autobiographical books. Many prominent figures, who lived under successive With colour and black-and-white Communist dictatorships. believes that the explanation lies in the evolution of the architect from burdened by the past, met a tragic end, like the writer Romain Gary and the illustrations and references Vrij Nederland 1,700 copies sold artisan to autonomous artist with international contacts. painter Mark Rothko who both committed suicide. The rise of dictatorial regimes between the two world wars and Brokken weaves together these and other heroic if less well known A brilliant book. Rights sold their emphasis on national traditions did not result in any dramatic break lives to tell the unsettling story of the Baltic region and its changing De Standaard Germany (Jovis). in development. Despite ideological differences, public works across fortunes, describing how the different population groups have interfered Publishing Details Europe were intended to serve an ideal society and their design was rarely with each other, taking on the role of oppressor or victim by turns. He is Rights Baltische zielen. Uitgeverij SUN at odds with the functional approach of modernism. Socialist realism happy to go off on other tracks that lead to new discoveries, investigating, Lotgevallen in Estland, Prinsengracht 747-751 with its neoclassical elements, which set the tone all across the Eastern for example, the fate of several Baltic barons and their descendants; Letland en Litouwen (2010) Postbus 15970 Bloc after 1945, caused a fundamental parting of ways in European owners of vast estates who lorded it over the local population, they became 463 pp. (124,450 words) NL - 1001 NL Amsterdam architecture for the first time since the nineteenth century, but after Stalin pawns in the far greater power games played by Hitler and Stalin. With black-and-white illustrations t +31 (0)20 520 01 34 and references died in 1953 that diktat was quickly laid aside, making way for rational and Until the fall of the f +31 (0)20 625 33 27 15,000 copies sold [email protected] functional buildings. Soviet Union, the Baltic www.uitgeverijsun.nl Ibelings’ book can be read as a modern European history of ideas, countries were part of the Rights sold http://users.cuci.nl/ibelings taking the reader on a Socialist empire. Now that Denoël () and Czarne fascinating journey through they have regained their (). the cities of a continent that independence, local Russians Rights was seemingly united in its find themselves demoted to Atlas architecture even at times of the status of second-class Herengracht 481 profound historical division. citizens. In this absorbing 1017 BT Amsterdam epic, Brokken empathizes t +31 (0)20 524 98 00 f +31 (0)20 627 68 51 with these latest victims – [email protected] they too have left their stamp [email protected] on the Baltic soul. www.uitgeverijatlas.nl By taking a thematic rather www.janbrokken.nl than the usual stylistic For other translated titles by approach, Ibelings presents a this author see our website fresh perspective on modern A masterful book about the www.letterenfonds.nl/ European architecture. cruelty of history and the translations/ irreparable rifts it creates in Its wealth of illustrations, the lives of its victims. mainly of unfamiliar buildings, makes the book Reads like a gripping novel both visually attractive and packed with impressive stimulating. characters.

Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Photo: Roel Backaert Page 6 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Photo: Bert Nienhuis Page 7 H. Floris Cohen Salomon Kroonenberg Isaac Newton and Why Hell Stinks of Sulphur Scientific Certainty Mythology and geology of the underworld

H. Floris Cohen is professor of Floris Cohen is regarded Salomon Kroonenberg is We know almost everything the comparative history of science the world over as one of the emeritus professor of geology at about the exterior of the at the University of Utrecht. He is the Technical University of Delft. foremost authorities on earth, but for most people the author of How Modern He is the author of The Human Science Came Into the World, the emergence of modern Scale (2006), which won him its interior is completely of which a shorter, Dutch edition science in seventeenth- the Eureka Prize and has been unknown. Beneath us, won him the 2008 Eureka Prize century Europe, which he translated into German, Chinese stretching for a distance for the best science book aimed analyzed in his How Modern and Turkish. comparable to that between at a broad readership. Science Came Into the World. Paris and New York, lies An erudite combination of It is a delight to be able to follow He now presents us with a personal and literary travel writing, an underground realm Newton’s intellectual battle for concise book about Newton’s advocacy of depth-ecology and associated with darkness certainty from such close scientific significance, globe-consciousness, and and death. It has inspired proximity. unique among the works on geological popular science. writers and artists since time NRC Handelsblad A terrific, beautifully illustrated Newton published to date. immemorial; when trying book. On How Modern Science His account is thoroughly NRC Handelsblad to imagine hell, they have Came Into the World: accessible without at any usually located it under the stage sacrificing scholarly An entertaining book… ground. A milestone in the history of rigour and depth. Delightfully enthusiastic. science and a true intellectual Vrij Nederland Subterranean mythology is pleasure. Wiener Zeitung Cohen’s unparalleled grasp Publishing Details geologist Salomon of the Scientific Revolution Waarom de hel naar zwavel Kroonenberg’s point of Publishing Details assists him in giving us great stinkt. Mythologie en geologie departure. With Dante’s Isaac Newton en het ware insight into the work of a man van de onderwereld (2011) Inferno to hand, he takes the weten (2010) 400 pp. (76,000 words) regarded as the most gifted reader on a journey in the 267 pp. (88,000 words) With colour and black-and-white With black-and-white illustrations yet enigmatic of scientists. illustrations, and references footsteps of Homer, Virgil, and references We learn about Newton’s odd personality, his intellectual monomania, his 7,800 copies sold Da Vinci, Descartes and Jules Verne. Along the way he turns a scientific 3,240 copies sold difficult relationship with the opposite sex, his nervous collapse after the spotlight on the background to myths of the underworld. At a small lake completion of his most important work and, not least, his innumerable Rights near Naples he searches for the gates of hell, as described in Virgil’s Aeneid. Rights Atlas animosities. Kroonenberg’s vast reserves of knowledge and his expressive prose allow Uitgeverij Bert Bakker Herengracht 481 Herengracht 540 At the heart of the book lie questions about Newton’s scientific 1017 BT Amsterdam him to transform even inconspicuous features of the landscape into NL - 1017 CG Amsterdam achievement. What makes his contributions in the domains of t +31 (0)20 524 98 00 fascinating sites. t +31 (0)20 624 18 34 mathematics, motion, colours and universal gravitation so incisive? Even f +31 (0)20 627 68 51 Kroonenberg has the gift of being able to explain complicated f +31 (0)20 622 54 61 more importantly, what lends them the certainty that gives scientific [email protected] matters. He compares the inside of the earth to a gobstopper, ready to [email protected] [email protected] knowledge its special status? In answering these questions, so rarely expose one gorgeous colour after another. Gasses, ores, liquids and metals www.pbo.nl www.uitgeverijatlas.nl www.hfcohen.com addressed, Cohen highlights Newton’s unprecedented significance by www.salomonkroonenberg.nl add to its immense variety, and there are underground rivers and lakes that time and again comparing the way he tackled specific problems with the have never seen the light of day. The mineworkers of the past, who were For other translated titles by approaches of his two most brilliant contemporaries, Robert Hooke and For other translated titles by often terrified by the strange noises, the darkness, the sudden gushing of this author see our website Christiaan Huygens. Unlike them, Newton eventually broke out of this author see our website water, had their own patron saint, St. Barbara. Even today she is asked to www.letterenfonds.nl/ www.letterenfonds.nl/ existing intellectual frameworks, building a new scientific synthesis that bless tunnelling projects before the drill sets to work. translations/ translations/ could stand the test of time. Kroonenberg is not, however, concerned only with myths, or with Based on the intriguing story of Newton’s life and, above all, the the beauty of natural phenomena. He sees the earth beneath our feet as a concrete problems he addressed, Cohen has written a superb introduction source of information about the unimaginably ancient planet on which we to scientific thought. humans live out our brief lives. We have never penetrated beyond a depth of twelve kilometres, but if this book makes one thing clear, then it is that we should not see the world as a supermarket for raw materials, or simply as rock to be tunnelled through, but as a unique archive, a living ecosystem whose riches we can still barely guess at.

The book’s comparative This account of how approach brings to life Newton’s Principia and A fascinating search for Kroonenberg keeps up the the work of the greatest Opticks came about makes the geological foundations suspense on all levels, so that scientist of all time. them accessible to a wide of hell. his book reads like a voyage range of readers. of discovery. By describing Newton’s An appeal to find ways to achievements, Cohen ensure a good life for shows how scientific mankind that will not certainty emerged. exhaust the earth.

Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Photo: Bob Bronshoff Page 8 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Photo: Wiebe Kiestra Page 9 Jelle Reumer Midas Dekkers Homo Urbanus Red An evolutionary paradox Tales of enchantment

Perhaps the hardest to accept of all Darwin’s truths is that human beings Jelle Reumer is director of the Red hair may be a freak of Midas Dekkers is a biologist and are not the goal of evolution but its accidental and transient result. In Rotterdam Natural History nature, but Midas Dekkers a writer of fiction and non-fiction Museum and professor of for children and adults. His books Homo Urbanus Jelle Reumer takes that as his starting point for a remorse- cannot imagine a more palaeontology at the University include Dearest Pet (on bestiality, less analysis of the fate of man. He zooms in on the repercussions of our of Utrecht. Aside from his many beautiful outcome of a genetic 1992), The Way of All Flesh (on temporality and elegantly demonstrates how life is made possible by a scientific publications, he has a mutation. He attributes death, 1997), The Larva (on process of decay, death and extinction. ‘Decay keeps individuals going, strong public presence through powerful qualities to children and upbringing, 2002) death ensures that species continue to exist and extinction allows the his columns for de Volkskrant, redheads, from beauty to and Physical Exercise (on the Bionieuws, Maarten! and Vroege supposed health benefits of sport, earth’s biosphere to survive and flourish.’ self-awareness. Even at Vogels, and as a much sought 2006). Dekkers, who regularly after expert on radio and televi- conception they are conscious appears on television, is famous The appeal of Reumer’s biological view of the world lies in his determination sion. His previous book, The of their hair colour: ‘When for his contrary and controversial to go beyond the dry observation that man is not evolution’s crowning Exploded Ape (2005), was also she is but a single cell, a red- opinions. glory. He concentrates on weird and wonderful aspects of the hard facts, aimed at a broad readership. head knows all she needs to A rousing and science-based until the reader finds himself in the grip of a fascinating paradox: if we are know to make her skin white, On The Exploded Ape: affirmation of the delights of but a tiny link in a far larger reality, why do we regard our species as so her freckles numerous and copper-crowned girls. important, indeed indispensable? Reumer writes well. The thrust her eyebrows as fine as a swirl Humo Such thought experiments are typical of Reumer. They seem of his argument is crystal clear, of mist.’ Clearly the author innocent jokes, but when taken to their logical conclusion they illustrate convincing and disquieting. cannot claim absolute An enchanting book. De Volkskrant De Morgen the absurdity of human existence. No one who has read Homo Urbanus objectivity, but his personal will have much difficulty seeing himself as an ant on an ant heap, part of This book is both amusing and passion emerges as one of the On earlier work: a superorganism, especially since Reumer does not ask the reader to alarming, and it succeeds in its strengths of his book, which abandon his conviction that we operate as individual members of the aim: after reading it you will never combines a declaration of love Dekkers is a biologist by training crowd, with full control over our thoughts, acts and decisions. Homo again look at yourself and your with the fruits of a lifelong and a genius by nature. fellow humans in the same light. Times Literary Supplement Urbanus has a great deal to teach us about evolution, but Reumer’s paradox fascination. Het Laatste Nieuws also throws fresh light on the individualism of our own time. Are we Publishing Details steadily and voluntarily withdrawing into private domains, or are we Publishing Details The charms he writes about are often erotic in nature. One thing that Rood. Een bekoring (2011) simply adapting to an existence as links in a superbrain which, with its De mierenmens. makes a redheaded woman unique, Dekkers claims, is that you can actually 208 pp. (47,633 words) hidden glass fibres, combines the brains of all those connected to it? Een evolutieparadox (2011) watch her having an orgasm. The blood becomes visible through the pale With references 148 pp. (39,350 words) 27,000 copies sold In his search for an answer, the palaeontologist Reumer examines skin, rises to the throat and pours out across the face. ‘Nothing in the With references the history of evolution, but he also has a surprising vision of the future of world can match that,’ he writes. Yet Red is not merely a long gasp of Rights our species, one that is neither far-fetched nor apocalyptic, since once Rights admiration but an informative book that explores, for example, the origins Uitgeverij Contact again he bases his arguments on the simple facts that have governed life Historische Uitgeverij of redheadedness and why it is always accompanied by milk-white skin Keizersgracht 205 throughout evolution. The man of the future seems surprisingly familiar: Westersingel 37 and freckles. NL - 1016 DS Amsterdam NL - 9718 CC Groningen t +31 (0)20 535 25 35 a hardworking creature, in exclusively urban surroundings. All that will Dekkers also looks at how redheads have figured in art and t +31 (0)50 318 17 00 f +31 (0)20 535 25 49 distinguish this new Homo f +31 (0)50 314 63 83 literature and how attitudes to them have changed over the centuries. [email protected] urbanus from contemporary [email protected] His playful, engaging style is ideally suited to this combination of [email protected] humanity is that he will live www.historischeuitgeverij.nl adulation and analysis, and he combines all manner of facts, causes and www.uitgeverijcontact.nl without sex. Impossible as consequences in an irresistible narrative. The book is bound to give www.midasdekkers.nl For other translated titles by that may seem, Reumer makes readers a fresh perspective on the redheaded members of our species. this author see our website For other translated titles by it entirely credible. www.letterenfonds.nl/ Not everyone would accept Dekkers’ positive image of redheads. this author see our website translations/ Throughout history, red has been synonymous with danger and sin. In the www.letterenfonds.nl/ Middle Ages redheaded women were seen as witches to be burned at the translations/ stake and a similar reputation attaches to redheaded people in literature, with Charles Dickens’ villains Fagin and Uriah Heep among the best known examples. Even today, some doctors claim that redheads bleed more profusely, have a lower pain threshold and are more delicate than the rest of us. Reumer’s graceful biology There are several writer- In awe and astonishment, with a dash of irony, Dekkers sets out never leads to crude biologists who could make on a quest to unravel the mystery of redheadedness. The cause may be reductionism but instead to an impressive story out of known, but the result is always a miracle. astonishment at reality. evolution, but Reumer makes evolution the beating With inventive curiosity, heart of our time, and indeed Reumer guides the reader of our future. through the events of Full of fascinating and An ode to redheads, evolution and on beyond little-known facts from especially the women. today’s individualism. science, art and history.

Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Photo: Sake Elzinga Page 10 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Photo: Tessa Posthuma de Boer Page 11 Rens Bod A History of the Humanities Recent Translations

Many histories of science Rens Bod is a professor at the have been written, but until ’s Institute for Logic, Language and Rens Bod came along no one Computation. He is the co-author had thought of writing a of Amsterdam (1994), Beyond history of the humanities. Grammar (1998), Data-Oriented We already have historical Parsing (2003), Probabilistic studies of musicology, logic, Linguistics (2003), and The Making of the Humanities Vol. I art history, linguistics and (2010), as well as numerous historiography; Bod pulls all articles in peer-reviewed journals. these fields together, with many more, in a single A History of the Humanities is coherent account. based on a wealth of historical material, presented with a profundity and comprehensiveness Bod’s book explores largely that until recently were virtually Carl Barkman and Jan Bor and Errit Koen Brams uncharted territory. He has inconceivable. Helena de Vries van Petersma The Encyclopedia of taken as his main theme the NRC Handelsblad der Hoeven Images of Thought Fictional Artists way scholars throughout the Bod succeeds in surprising us A Man of Three Lives (De verbeelding van het denken) (Encyclopedie van fictieve ages and in all advanced with his original interpretations (Een man van drie levens) Published in Hungarian by kunstenaars) Published in English civilizations have sought to and astonishing erudition. An Published in Chinese by Hainan Typotex in 2010. Translated by by JRP/Ringier in 2010. identify patterns. What rules extraordinarily impressive Publishing House in 2011. Tamás Balogh, Miklós Fenyves Translated by Barbara Fasting. can we apply if we wish to performance. Translated by Huiye Shi. and Viktor Horváth. Also in Arabic Also in German (Eichborn, 2003). determine whether a tale Trouw Also in French (Christian (Mahrosa), Chinese (Peking Bourgois, 1997). University Press), Danish about the past is really trust- An incredibly rich, beautiful and (Gyldendal, 1997), French worthy? By what criteria are audacious book. (Flammarion, 1997) and we to distinguish consonant from dissonant musical intervals? What rules De Groene Amsterdammer German (Scherz, 1997). jointly describe all possible grammatical sentences in Sanskrit? How can modern digital methods enhance pattern-seeking in the humanities? Publishing Details De vergeten wetenschappen. As the book unfolds, we discover that, taken as a whole, the patterns Een geschiedenis van de so assiduously sought through the ages reveal certain patterns themselves. humaniora (2010) Can we justifiably speak of ‘progress’ in the humanities? Yes, Bod argues in 520 pp. (160,000 words) the wake of Thomas S. Kuhn, we can, in the sense of an increasing capacity With black-and-white illustrations, displayed by humanist scholars for solving specific problems. Bod also notes and references 3,000 copies sold insists throughout the book that the hallowed opposition between the sciences (mathematical, experimental, dominated by universal laws) and the Rights humanities (allegedly concerned with unique events and hermeneutic Bert Bakker methods) is simply a mistake, born of a myopic failure to appreciate the Herengracht 540 pattern-seeking that lies at the heart of his own inquiry. NL - 1017 CG Amsterdam t +31 (0)20 624 18 34 Despite the vast scope of his book, Bod’s arguments and findings f +31 (0)20 622 54 61 are not at all superficial and shallow, and they are meticulously documented; [email protected] he is good, too, at challenging current thinking. His easy, lively style makes www.pbo.nl the book accessible to the general reader. http://staff.science.uva.nl/~rens/ A History of the Humanities amounts to a persuasive plea to give http://devergetenwetenschappen. blogspot.com/ Panini, Valla, Bopp, and countless other often overlooked intellectual Floris Cohen Rudi van Dantzig Douwe Draaisma giants their rightful place next to the Galileos, Newtons and Einsteins we How Modern Science Nureyev Metaphors of Memory celebrate so much more often. Came Into the World (Noerejev. Het spoor van een (De metaforenmachine) Published (De herschepping van de wereld) komeet) Published in Russian by in French by Flammarion in 2010. Published in German by Campus Helicon-plus in 2011. Translated Translated by Bertrand Abraham. in 2010. Translated by Andreas by Irina Michajlova. Also in Chinese (Flower City Ecke and Gregor Seferens. Publishing House, 2009), Czech A book full of discoveries A bold undertaking, running Also in Arabic (Mahrosa) and (Mladá Fronta, 2003), English by humanities scholars, counter to the extreme Chinese (Hunan Science & (Cambridge University Press, many of which have also specialization that is currently Technology Press). 2000), German (Primus, 1999), promoted the growth of the norm in the academic world. Hungarian (Typotex, 2002), Japanese (Brain Shuppan, 2003), scientific knowledge. Korean (Eco Livres, 2006), Polish Some impressive demytholo- (Aletheia, 2009), Portuguese gizing goes on in this pioneering (Edusc, 2005), Spanish (Alianza, historical account. 1998) and Turkish (Metis, 2007).

Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Photo: Bob Bronshoff Page 12 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Page 13 Jelto Drenth Johan Huizinga Peyman Jafari Luuk van Middelaar Herman Pleij Paul Scheffer The Origin of the World The Autumn of the The Other Iran The Passage to Europe Colors Demonic and Immigrant Nations (De oorsprong van de wereld) Middle Ages (Het andere Iran) (De passage naar Europa) Devine (Het land van aankomst) Published in Hungarian by Nyitott (Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen) Published in German by Published in Hungarian by (Van karmijn, purper en blauw) Published in Polish by Czarne in 2010. Translated by Tamás Published in Portuguese by C.H. Beck in 2010. Translated Typotex in 2011. Translated by Published in Chinese by Flower in 2010. Translated by Ewa Balogh and Viktor Horváth. Cosac Naify in 2011. Translated by Waltraud Hüsmert. Viktor Horváth. Also in English City Publishing House in 2010. Jusewicz-Kalter. Also in Danish Also in Chinese (Flower City by Francis Petra Janssen. (Yale University Press), Translated by Zhaoxia Zhang. (Tiderne Skifter, 2009), English Publishing House, 2006), English Also in English (The University of French (Gallimard) and Polish Also in English (Columbia (Polity, 2011) and German (Reaktion Books, 2005), Chicago Press, 1996), French (Aletheia, 2011). University Press, 2004) and (Carl Hanser, 2008). Japanese (Sakuhinsha, 2005), (Payot, 2002), German (Kröner, Lithuanian (Aidai, 2010). Korean (East Asia, 2006), 2006) and many other languages. Russian (Ripol, 2008), Spanish (Libros de Araucaria, 2008) and Turkish (Agora, 2007).

Salomon Kroonenberg Joris Luyendijk Fik Meijer Eric Storm Carolijn Visser Frank Westerman The Human Scale Hello Everybody! Chariot Racing in the The Discovery of Miss Concordia Engineers of the Soul (De menselijke maat) (Het zijn net mensen) Roman Empire El Greco (Miss Concordia) (Ingenieurs van de ziel) Published in Turkish by Kitap Published in English by Profile (Wagenrennen) (De ontdekking van El Greco) Published in Estonian by Pegasus Published in English by Harvill Yayinevi in 2010. Translated by in 2010. Translated by Michele Published in English by Johns Published in Spanish by Marcial in 2011. Translated by Katrin Kern. Secker in 2010. Translated by Ali Özdamar. Also in Chinese Hutchison. Also in Arabic (Arab Hopkins University Press in Pons in 2011. Translated by Sam Garrett. Also in Croatian (Shanghai Literature and Art Scientific Publishers, 2010), 2010. Translated by Liz Waters. José Cuni. (Durieux, 2007), Estonian Publishing House, 2011) and Danish (Informations Forlag, Also in Chinese (Shanghai Joint (Sinisukk, 2006), French German (Primus, 2008). 2009), French (Nevicata, 2009), Publishing Company) and Italian (Christian Bourgois, 2004), German (Tropen, 2007), (Laterza, 2009). German (Christoph Links, 2003 / Hungarian (Nyitott, 2008), Berliner Taschenbuch, 2005), Italian (Il Saggiatore, 2008) Italian (Feltrinelli, 2006), Polish and Slovenian (Mladinska knjiga, (Iskry, 2007), Slovenian 2010). (Studentska Zalozba, 2010), Spanish (Siruela, 2005) and Swedish (Nya Doxa, 2008).

Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Page 14 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland Page 15 Quality Non-Fiction From Holland is published by the Dutch Foundation for Literature. The bulletin is distributed free of charge to foreign publishers and editors. If you would like to receive Quality Non- Fiction From Holland, please contact [email protected]. Editors Dick Broer, Maarten Valken Contributors ederlands Postbus /PO Box 16588 Martijn van Calmthout, Floris Cohen, 1001 RB Amsterdam Vera Illés, Frans van Lunteren, David Rijser, N letterenfonds t +31 (0)20 520 73 00 Victor Schiferli, Coen Simon f +31 (0)20 520 73 99 Translation dutch foundation [email protected] Liz Waters for literature www.letterenfonds.nl Printing visiting address Drukkerij Libertas, Bunnik Nieuwe Prinsengracht 89 Design 1018 VR Amsterdam Kummer & Herrman, Utrecht