An astronomer tells tales of stargazing and pursuing the universe’s big questions, a grandparent shares wisdom for happy living, a jazz drummer lays down a cool new album 鈥�

But behold, yet more! An engineer pens STEM biographies for children, a cartoonist draws stories from his life, researchers ponder the future of river and wildlife conservation, and faculty masters bring out new classical recordings on guitar and piano.

Though 2020 was a holy humbug of a year, 91爆料 talents persevered, and published. Here’s a quick look at some giftworthy books and music created by 91爆料 faculty and staff, and a reminder of some recent favorites.

Stargazing stories: , associate professor of astronomy, published the anecdote-filled “” in August. “These are stories astronomers tell each other when all of us are hanging out at meetings,” Levesque said. Kirkus Reviews called them “entertaining, ardent tales from an era of stargazing that may not last much longer.”

‘Grand’ wisdom: , professor emeritus of English, has written novels, short stories and more, but takes a personal turn in “.” He offers his grandson, and readers, “what I hope are 10 fertile and essential ideas for the art of living.” It’s all presented “tentatively and with great humility,” Johnson says, as “grandfatherly advice is as plentiful as blackberries.”

Drums, duets: , assistant professor of music, released the album “” in March. Poor told 91爆料 News the music “is a celebration of space 鈥� space for drums to resonate and convey a feeling, and for the melody to dance around and push that feeling. It is primarily a collection of duets with saxophonist听 and the sound of the record is focused on drums and sax throughout.”

STEM stories: , professor of civil and environmental engineering, published two books for young readers this fall: “The Secret Lives of Scientists, Engineers, and Doctors,” volumes and . The volumes showcase “the struggle, growth and success” of 12 professionals in STEM fields, including a geneticist, a biologist, a cancer researcher and a scientist at the National Institutes of Health. More books are .

Life drawings: , professor of Slavic languages and literatures and comparative literature, published “,” a eclectic collection of drawings and essays, highlighting his different styles through the years, “from tragedy to tragicomedy to documentary to black humor,” he said.

Guitar works: School of Music faculty guitarist released his 10^th album in March. “” features classical guitar works written for him by composers and

Sheppard plays Brahms: , internationally known professor and pianist, put out a digital release of 107 early Brahms works in October, titled “.” The work joins Sheppard’s lengthy from a decades-long career.

Ecological restoration: How has climate change affected regional ecological restoration? , a research scientist in human centered design and engineering, looks for answers in “,” from 91爆料 Press.

River history: Seattle was born from the banks of the Duwamish River, writes BJ Cummings of the 91爆料 Superfund Research Program, but the river鈥檚 story, and that of its people, has not fully been told. Cummings seeks to remedy that with 鈥�,鈥� published by 91爆料 Press.

Coexisting: Agriculture and wildlife can coexist, says , professor of environmental and forest sciences, in his book “.” But only “if farmers are justly rewarded for conservation, if future technological advancements increase food production and reduce food waste, and if consumers cut back on meat consumption.”

And here are some favorites from 2019:

O鈥橫ara鈥檚 鈥楥ode鈥�: History professor provides a sweeping history of California鈥檚 computer industry titans in “ The New York Times called it an “accessible yet sophisticated chronicle.”

Mindful travel: of the English Department and the Comparative History of Ideas program discusses how travelers can respectfully explore cultures with lower incomes, different cultural patterns and fewer luxuries in “.”

Kingdome man: , associate professor of architecture, studies the life and work of Jack Christiansen, designer of the Kingdome and other structures, in “,” published by 91爆料 Press.

Powerful silence: “,” a documentary directed by English professor about NFL star Marshawn Lynch’s use of silence as a form of protest, is available for rent or purchase on several platforms.

Seattle stories: 91爆料 Press republished English professor ‘s well-loved 1976 reflections on his city, “.” Sale, who taught at the 91爆料 for decades, died in 2017.

• Joanne De Pue, School of Music communications director, assisted with this story.

The book, published in 2019 by 91爆料 press, is a study of the life and work of the architect who designed Seattle’s , among many other structures.

91爆料 Notebook is late in catching up with Sprague for a talk about the book, which The New York Times noted in a November story about books that “.”听

What drew you to study and write about the career of Jack Christiansen?听

Tyler Sprague: Jack was an incredibly creative, Northwest structural engineer, and someone who blurred the lines between architecture and engineering in his work.听 He designed primarily in concrete 鈥� a typically rather heavy material 鈥� but used it in extremely light and expressive ways.听 This makes many of his designs, like , look simply impossible.

And Jack played an essential role in shaping the built environment of Seattle, from the 1950s through the 2000s.听 Encompassing time of incredible change (from the post-war boom, to the Seattle World鈥檚 Fair, the Boeing Bust, and the rise of tech), Jack designed over 100 buildings 鈥� schools, office buildings, warehouses, stadiums, homes 鈥� each suited to their time and place.

A controversial project from the start, the Kingdome went through extreme economic and political hardship during its design, and yet, because of Jack’s tenacity and design creativity became not only a reality, but also the largest, free-standing concrete dome in the world. This was a monumental achievement of structural engineering and construction, and provided a single, multipurpose venue that brought the Seahawks, the Mariners and other professional sports to Seattle.听 Because of the Kingdome, Seattle was never the same.听

What is thin-shelled concrete construction, and what are its perceived benefits?听听

T.S.: The way Jack attained this impossible lightness in his work was by designing structures not with flat beams and vertical columns, but by using curved surfaces to create “shells.” When you do this, and shape the shell correctly, the structure resists loads through membrane-like, or shell behavior (rather than through bending behavior in beams), and you need far less material to do it.听 One needs to only think of the strength of an egg shell, and how strong it is when you try to squeeze it in your hand, compared to how thin the egg shell is.

By designing with shells, typically concrete shells, he was able to achieve incredible levels of material efficiency in his structures 鈥� for long-span roofs (like airplane hangars and auditoria).听 The careful shaping of these shells became part of his creative expression.

So in your view, what brought the demise of the Kingdome 鈥� which Christiansen had planned to last a thousand years?

T.S.: When it was demolished [in 2000], the Kingdome had no structural deficiencies whatsoever.听 It did not have luxury boxes, nor an inside environment based around a single sport or event layout.听 As professional baseball and football became bigger and bigger businesses, team owners demanded new facilities to bring in more revenue, at the tax payer鈥檚 expense. One writer stated: “It wasn’t that the Kingdome had nothing left to offer Seattle, it was that Seattle no longer had anything to offer the Kingdome.”听

With the Kingdome gone, where can people see other work by Christiansen?听

Right here at the 91爆料, Jack designed the two pedestrian bridges that connect the campus to the Montlake parking lot.听 While you may not notice them initially, the bridges span nearly 80 feet over the traffic, and 30 feet on either side, and yet are only 8 inches thick at the midspan.听 If you compare this to how big the older, nearby bridge is (going to the Hec Edmundson Pavilion), you will get a sense of the material efficiency in Jack鈥檚 work. They are pretty impressive.

Also, the Pacific Science Center at the Seattle Center. Jack was the engineer with architect Minoru Yamasaki. You can hardly believe that the overhead arches are made of concrete! The Green Lake Pool [called the ] was an early work of his too. A simple barrel vault.

What seems the future for thin-shelled concrete construction?

T.S.: Thin shells are making a comeback! The technique was quite popular through the 1970s, but fell out of favor by the 1980s for a few reasons 鈥� material and labor markets shifted, aesthetic tastes changed. But, as a building technique, they still offer one of the most materially efficient ways to enclose space. Current work is exploring shells of different materials (like thin tiles, or wood), and using shells to lower the carbon footprint of construction today.听听

To learn more, contact Sprague at tyler2@uw.edu.

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Rick Bonus documents Pacific Islander students building community against odds at the 91爆料

In his new book, , 91爆料 associate professor of American Ethnic Studies, discusses how Pacific Islander students at the 91爆料 used the ocean as a metaphor to create community for themselves and change their university. “” was published by Duke University Press in February.

The book tells of Pacific Islander students and their allies as they “struggle to transform a university they believed did not value their presence” despite campus promotion of diversity and student success programs. Bonus interviewed dozens of students he taught and advised at the 91爆料 between 2004 and 2018 about their experiences.

“(T)hese students did not often find their education to be meaningful, leading some to leave the university. As these students note, they weren’t failing school, school was failing them.”

Bonus shows how the students used the ocean as a metaphor “to foster community and to transform the university into a space that valued meaningfulness, respect, and critical thinking.”

To learn more, contact Bonus at rbonus@uw.edu.

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Jackson School’s Yong-Chool Ha edits volume on colonial rule in Korea

, professor of Korean social science in the 91爆料’s Jackson School of International Studies has edited a new volume in 91爆料 Press’ Center for Korea Studies Publications . , professor and director of the center, is the series editor.

“” was published last October.

Recent discussions of Korea’s colonial period have focused mainly on exploitation or development that was domestic in nature, with international aspects relatively neglected, publishers notes state. But the colonization of Korea by Japan also changed Japan, and has had long-term geopolitical consequences.

The essays in this volume, edited by Ha, “show the broad influence of Japanese colonialism not simply on the Korean peninsula, but on how the world understood Japan and how Japan understood the world.”

To learn more, contact Ha at yongha5@uw.edu or Sorensen at sangok@uw.edu.