Bücher von Edward Cohen

Programming is a fascinating and challenging subject. Unfortunately, it is rarely presented as such. Most often it is taught by "e;induction"e;: features of some famous programming languages are given operational meaning (e.g. a loop "e;goes round and round"e;), a number of examples are shown, and by induction, we are asked to develop other programs, often radically different from the ones we've seen. Basically we are taught to guess our programs, and then to patch up our guesses. Our errors are given the cute name of "e;bugs"e;. Fixing them becomes puzzle-solving, as does finding tricks that exploit or avoid poorly designed features of the programming language. The entire process is time-consuming and expensive. And even so, we are never quite sure if our programs really work in all cases. When approached in this way, programming is indeed a dull activity. There is, however, another approach to programming, an approach in which programs can be developed reliably, with attention to the real issues. It is a practical approach based on methodically developing programs from their specifications. Besides being practical, it is exciting. Many programs can be developed with relative ease. Problems which once were difficult can now be solved by beginners. Elegant solutions bring great satisfaction. This is our subject. We are interested in making programming an exciting topic!

Challenging the modern assumption that ancient Athens is best understood as a polis, Edward Cohen boldly recasts our understanding of Athenian political and social life. Cohen demonstrates that ancient sources referred to Athens not only as a polis, but also as a "e;nation"e; (ethnos), and that Athens did encompass the characteristics now used to identify a "e;nation."e; He argues that in Athens economic, religious, sexual, and social dimensions were no less significant than political and juridical considerations, and accordingly rejects prevailing scholarship's equation of Athens with its male citizen body. In fact, Cohen shows that the categories of "e;citizen"e; and "e;noncitizen"e; were much more fluid than is often assumed, and that some noncitizens exercised considerable power. He explores such subjects as the economic importance of businesswomen and wealthy slaves; the authority exercised by enslaved public functionaries; the practical egalitarianism of erotic relations and the broad and meaningful protections against sexual abuse of both free persons and slaves, and especially of children; the wide involvement of all sectors of the population in significant religious and local activities. All this emerges from the use of fresh legal, economic, and archaeological evidence and analysis that reveal the social complexity of Athens, and the demographic and geographic factors giving rise to personal anonymity and limiting personal contacts--leading to the creation of an "e;imagined community"e; with a mutually conceptualized identity, a unified economy, and national "e;myths"e; set in historical fabrication.

In this ground-breaking analysis of the world's first private banks, Edward Cohen convincingly demonstrates the existence and functioning of a market economy in ancient Athens while revising our understanding of the society itself. Challenging the "e;primitivistic"e; view, in which bankers are merely pawnbrokers and money-changers, Cohen reveals that fourth-century Athenian bankers pursued sophisticated transactions. These dealings--although technologically far removed from modern procedures--were in financial essence identical with the lending and deposit-taking that separate true "e;banks"e; from other businesses. He further explores how the Athenian banks facilitated tax and creditor avoidance among the wealthy, and how women and slaves played important roles in these family businesses--thereby gaining legal rights entirely unexpected in a society supposedly dominated by an elite of male citizens. Special emphasis is placed on the reflection of Athenian cognitive patterns in financial practices. Cohen shows how transactions were affected by the complementary opposites embedded in the very structure of Athenian language and thought. In turn, his analysis offers great insight into daily Athenian reality and cultural organization.

Edward Cohen was among the tiny minority of Jews in Jackson, Mississippi, the heart of the Bible Belt. As a child, he grew up singing “Dixie”in his segregated school and saying sh’ma in synagogue. And in his powerful, luminous memoir, Cohen tells a story as universal as it is particular, at once a deeply personal account of growing up an outsider and a vibrant family story of three generations of American Jews.To Edward Cohen, it seemed the entire world was Jewish. Then he went to school, where he was the only child who didn’t bow his head during Christian prayers, the only child not invited to dance class.As the polite ‘50s segued into the racially explosive ‘60s, Jackson, Mississippi, would never be the same. And Edward would escape to the University of Miami in search of a new identity.There, he thought he would find other Jews and finally gain the acceptance he never had. But once again he found himself an outsider — this time as a southerner.A stirring memoir for anyone who’s ever felt a loss of identity or pressure to conform, The Peddler’s Grandson is sure to touch readers everywhere who have grappled with who they are.