Walter Dean Research Articles

In Defense of the Implicit Commitment Thesis

The implicit commitment thesis is the claim that believing in a mathematical theory S carries an implicit commitment to further sentences not deductively entailed by the theory, such as the consistency sentence Con(S). I provide a new argument for this thesis based on the notion of mathematical certainty. I also reply to a recent argument by Walter Dean against the implicit commitment thesis, showing that my formulation of the thesis avoids the difficulties he raises.

Muhammad Ali: The People's Champion (review)

Reviewed by: Muhammad Ali: The People's Champion Elizabeth Bush Myers, Walter Dean. Muhammad Ali: The People's Champion; illus. by Alix Delinois. Collins/Amistad/HarperCollins, 2010 32p. Library ed. ISBN 978-0-06-029132-7 $17.89 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-06-029131-0 $16.99 Ad Gr. 3-5 From the soaring hagiography of Jonah Winter's Muhammad Ali: Champion of the World (BCCB 3/08) to Jim Haskins' plainspoken Champion: The Story of Muhammad Ali (BCCB 6/02), there's no shortage of picture-book biographies about the boxing icon. The challenge then is to break fresh ground or provide a novel take [End Page 298] on the legend, and although Myers offers an able portrait, there's no new information on offer. Furthermore, the somewhat flat prose seems poorly matched to its flamboyant subject: "On March 8, 1971, Ali fought against Frazier and lost a tough fight. His fans were crushed, but Ali was determined to keep fighting." The focus is on the active years of Ali's career, including, of course, his conversion to Islam and his refusal to serve in the military. Wrapping up the main text with Ali's lighting of the Olympic torch at the Atlanta games means that readers miss the details of his continuing battle with Parkinson's disease (recent achievements and awards are relegated to an appended timeline), a struggle that for many raises the stature of the mature Ali above that of his younger pugilist persona. Delinois' vibrant mixed-media illustrations, which fairly sculpt the figures in planes of paint textured in coarse swirls and doodles, shimmer with the heat of exertion in the ring. That eye-catching presentation will draw an audience, and readers will at least come away with the essentials. Copyright © 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment. By Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph N. Cappella. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. 320p. $24.95. - We Interrupt This Newscast: How to Improve Local News and Win Ratings, Too. By Tom Rosenstiel, Marion Just, Todd Belt, Atiba Pertilla, Walter Dean, and Dante Chinni. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 244p.

Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment. By Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph N. Cappella. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. 320p. $24.95. - We Interrupt This Newscast: How to Improve Local News and Win Ratings, Too. By Tom Rosenstiel, Marion Just, Todd Belt, Atiba Pertilla, Walter Dean, and Dante Chinni. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 244p.

Amiri & Odette: A Love Story (review)

Reviewed by: Amiri & Odette: A Love Story Deborah Stevenson Myers , Walter Dean. Amiri & Odette: A Love Story; illus. by Javaka Steptoe. Scholastic, 2009 [40p] ISBN 978-0-590-68041-7$17.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 7-12 "The Swan Lake Projects" are the setting for this romantic tale in verse, a retelling of the story of the ballet Swan Lake in a modern urban setting. Out playing ball with his friends one night, Amiri falls for a beautiful girl named Odette, who informs him that she's in thrall to the malign Big Red, to be freed only by a true and exclusive declaration of love. Amiri swears he loves Odette, but when he mistakes her double for her at a dance and publicly, if unintentionally, proclaims his love for a woman other than Odette, Big Red's claim on Odette is confirmed. It's an interesting project: certainly the hyper-romantic ballet story has considerable possibility for appealing adaptation, and the use of verse is a logical analog for the [End Page 211] formality of classical ballet, while Myers' knotty and alliterative language has some of its lush and studied elegance. The poetry is variable, however, with meter (mostly pentameter) uneven and inconsistent, and some of the language overworked to the point of opacity or bathos (it may in fact be difficult for those unfamiliar with the ballet to discern the plot). While altering the ending to a happy one offers romantic satisfaction, the fact that that success is achieved by Amiri basically beating Big Red up raises the question of why he didn't just do that first and bypass the intervening drama. Steptoe's illustrations are tense, moody, and nocturnal, with an intensity and pebbly underlying texture that suggests mural art. Between the darkness and some artistic choices, the art misses opportunities to illuminate the text (the Odette/ Odette's-double issue is particularly murky in both illustration and verse), but it's got a nice sense of nighttime life and atmospheric drama. Dramatic reading aloud may be the best way into this narrative, and it could certainly make for an intriguing introduction to the classical Swan Lake. Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Used by permission of Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

<span xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" style="font-style:italic;">Game</span> (review)

Reviewed by: Game Elizabeth Bush Myers, Walter Dean; Game;. HarperTeen, 2008; 218p Library ed. ISBN 978-0-06-058295-1 $17.89 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-06-058294-4 $16.99 R Gr. 6-10 Coach House is fully aware that senior Drew Lawson is a fine basketball player, but he's not delivering the kind of cooperative play that will get the team through a tough season: "We're trying to get a team effort out there, and you're going out for showtime at the Apollo." House has a hatful of strategies to readjust Drew's attitude, including giving him a lot of bench time to cogitate on his role in the team, and putting a transfer student, Czech immigrant Tomas, out on the floor in Drew's place. It's a toss-up whether Drew will come around to the coach's way of thinking or throw away his season—and college prospects—in a fit of anger. Drew's hunger for stardom and keyed-up resentment are credibly portrayed, and his grudgingly respectful relationship with talented newcomer Tomas is equally convincing. Drew's introspective musings on Othello and on wasted lives in the 'hood are a bit heavy-handed, but they never hobble the solid plotting that presses steadily on to a satisfying conclusion. The young man may not be quite as good a player as he thought, but he's good enough, and although he may not have landed a berth in a sexy college program, he'll get a shot at some TV time—and an education. And he's matured enough in his final high-school season to appreciate what his patience and hard work have achieved. Copyright © 2008 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Re:Views

WORK, WORK, WORK: Project WERC: Why Not Explore Rewarding Careers? Produced by The South Carolina Educational Television Station, Columbia, 1971, and distributed by APGA.WORK, WORK, WORK: Career Development: Theory and Research, John J. Pietrofesa and Howard Splete.WORK, WORK, WORK: Facilitating Career Development, Strategies for Counselors. Robert C. Reardon and Harman D. Burck, editors.WORK, WORK, WORK: Occupational Information: Where to Get It in Career Education. Robert Hoppock.WORK, WORK, WORK: Career Wheels, produced by Education‐Career Systems and distributed by APGA.WORK, WORK, WORK: The World of Work: A Guide to Choosing a Career. Walter Dean Myers.WORK, WORK, WORK: Finding Your First Job. Carl McDaniels.WORK, WORK, WORK: How To Complete Job Application Forms. C. Todd Strohmenger.WORK, WORK, WORK: Health at Work. Ward Gardner and Peter Taylor.WORK, WORK, WORK: THE MANPOWER CONNECTION—Education and Work. Eli Ginzberg.THEORIES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUES: Personality: Theory Assessment and Research. Lawrence A. Pervin.THEORIES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUES: Group Techniques for Program Planning: A Guide to Nominal Group and Delphi Processes. Andre L Delbecq, Andrew H. Van de Ven, and David H. Gustafson.THEORIES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUES: Interpersonal Conflict Resolution. Alan C. Filley.THEORIES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUES: Psychoanalysis and Feminism. Juliet Mitchell.THEORIES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUES: The Behavioral Treatment of Sexual Problems: Volume 2, Intensive Therapy. Jack A. Annon.THEORIES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUES: When Schools Care: Creative Use of Groups in Secondary Schools. Irving H. Berkovitz, editor.THEORIES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUES: Personal and Interpersonal Appraisal Techniques for: Counselors, Teachers, Students. M.A. Kiley.THEORIES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUES: The Healing Journey: New Approaches to Consciousness. Claudio Naranjo.THEORIES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUES: Kinesics and Context: Essays on Body Motion Communication. Ray L. Birdwhistell.

ARTERIOSCLEROSIS OF THE RETINA

Walter Dean, Kentucky Medical Journal, February, 1942‐pp. 62.