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The Bedside Baccalaureate: The Second Semester
Class is back in session! The Bedside Baccalaureate is the ultimate miscellany series for it speaks directly to people's desire for a better education and eagerness for a fun, no-pressure “college-like” experience. Every volume lets readers enroll in the courses they wish they had taken years ago—or studied more closely than they did. This new collection builds on the knowledge imparted in the first book, with the curriculum ranging from Origins of Human Society and Italian Renaissance Art to Schools of Buddhist Thought and Game Theory. To enhance learning, the back matter contains bibliographies with suggestions for further study. Filled with color illustrations, The Bedside Second Semester is an entertaining package for the up-and-coming intellectual.
400 pages, Paperback
First published August 7, 2012
11 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
David Rubel
43 books4 followersDavid Rubel has made a career of bringing history alive for readers of all ages.
Recognized nationally as an author, speaker, and historian, David has written fifteen books and edited a dozen more during his twenty-five years in publishing. Most of these titles focus on making American history accessible to a broad audience. Working with many of the country’s finest historians—including Pulitzer Prize–winners Joseph J. Ellis and James M. McPherson and Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein—David has created enduring books that make first-rate scholarship understandable and compelling.
David’s most recent book, If I Had a Hammer: Building Homes and Hope with Habitat for Humanity, features a collaboration with President Jimmy Carter. Folk legend Pete Seeger, whose classic song gave the book its title, calls If I Had a Hammer “an inspiring book, telling how ideas starting on a little farm in Georgia have grown to a worldwide movement.”
Adults and children alike have embraced David’s work. The Indianapolis Star has called The Coming Free: The Struggle for African-American Equality “a magnificent accounting of the civil rights activism of blacks” with a visual presentation that is “stunning and memorable.” His children’s books The Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Times and The Scholastic Atlas of the United States have both become grade-school standards, selling more than half a million copies each in multiple editions.
As the president of Agincourt Press, a book production company in Chatham, New York, David works with his wife and partner, Julia Rubel, to conceive and develop projects for numerous publishers. Some of these he writes himself; others, he edits. For all, he coordinates the text, image research, and graphic design so that the narratives leap off the page.
A 1983 graduate of Columbia University, where he was sports editor of the Columbia Daily Spectator, David began his career as a correspondent for the Pacific News Service, covering everything from rock music to street gangs. He then worked as an editorial assistant at HarperCollins before becoming a freelance writer and editor. In 1990, David founded Agincourt Press in New York City. From 1994 until 2001, he served as president of the American Book Producers Association. In 1996, he moved his company from Manhattan to Chatham, a rural community in New York’s Hudson River Valley, where he now lives with his wife and two children.
David appears regularly on television and radio to discuss his work, especially as it relates to the American presidents. Concise biographies of the presidents that he recorded to support the publication of To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents were syndicated to public radio stations nationwide and ran several times daily during the six weeks leading up to the 2000 election.
David speaks widely on history and presidential politics. He has lectured at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., the Carter Center in Atlanta and at numerous schools and institutions.
Recognized nationally as an author, speaker, and historian, David has written fifteen books and edited a dozen more during his twenty-five years in publishing. Most of these titles focus on making American history accessible to a broad audience. Working with many of the country’s finest historians—including Pulitzer Prize–winners Joseph J. Ellis and James M. McPherson and Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein—David has created enduring books that make first-rate scholarship understandable and compelling.
David’s most recent book, If I Had a Hammer: Building Homes and Hope with Habitat for Humanity, features a collaboration with President Jimmy Carter. Folk legend Pete Seeger, whose classic song gave the book its title, calls If I Had a Hammer “an inspiring book, telling how ideas starting on a little farm in Georgia have grown to a worldwide movement.”
Adults and children alike have embraced David’s work. The Indianapolis Star has called The Coming Free: The Struggle for African-American Equality “a magnificent accounting of the civil rights activism of blacks” with a visual presentation that is “stunning and memorable.” His children’s books The Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Times and The Scholastic Atlas of the United States have both become grade-school standards, selling more than half a million copies each in multiple editions.
As the president of Agincourt Press, a book production company in Chatham, New York, David works with his wife and partner, Julia Rubel, to conceive and develop projects for numerous publishers. Some of these he writes himself; others, he edits. For all, he coordinates the text, image research, and graphic design so that the narratives leap off the page.
A 1983 graduate of Columbia University, where he was sports editor of the Columbia Daily Spectator, David began his career as a correspondent for the Pacific News Service, covering everything from rock music to street gangs. He then worked as an editorial assistant at HarperCollins before becoming a freelance writer and editor. In 1990, David founded Agincourt Press in New York City. From 1994 until 2001, he served as president of the American Book Producers Association. In 1996, he moved his company from Manhattan to Chatham, a rural community in New York’s Hudson River Valley, where he now lives with his wife and two children.
David appears regularly on television and radio to discuss his work, especially as it relates to the American presidents. Concise biographies of the presidents that he recorded to support the publication of To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents were syndicated to public radio stations nationwide and ran several times daily during the six weeks leading up to the 2000 election.
David speaks widely on history and presidential politics. He has lectured at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., the Carter Center in Atlanta and at numerous schools and institutions.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 30, 2016
Every morning for the last six or seven years I have begun my day by reading a page from an nonfiction book that explains how some aspect of the world and/or human history works. The idea is to improve one's knowledge and education on a certain subject or subjects. I started with a book called The Intellectual Devotional. That book became a series with devotionals focused on American history, modern culture, health, and biographies, each of which I devoted a year too. For a change of pace one year I found a devotional for book lovers called appropriately enough, the Bibliophiles Devotional. Each page (365 in total, one for each day of the year) was devoted to a literary classic. Having finished The Intellectual Devotional series, for 2015 I looked for another similar type book and found The Bedside Baccalaureate. Skipping the first book in the series, I decided to begin my mornings in 2015 with a page from The Bedside Baccalaureate: The Second Semester.
Of these type of books I've read, The Bedside Baccalaureate might be my favorite. It is divided into four sections or syllabi. Each syllabus consisted of five courses, for a total of twenty courses. Broadly speaking the courses covered topics in art, literature, the classics, math and engineering, social science, history, economics, physical science, religion, environmental science, and philosophy. I learned a little about the anatomy of the Internet, electricity and magnetism, the roots of the Cold War, the epics of the Trojan War, the Protest Reformation, Sigmund Freud, and Italian Renaissance art. My favorite courses were on game theory, issues in feminism, the 1913 Armory Show, meteorology and climate, the history of modern China, and the origins of Judaism. Some courses or topics I still don't understand. (If there was a test of electricity and magnetism I would absolutely fail). Some topics whet my appetite for more and led me down rabbit holes to find more information. (Who knew game theory would turn out to be so interesting?)
I really enjoyed my morning reading ritual this past year. (Who am I kidding, I enjoy it every year or I wouldn't do it.) These types of books are a great way to learn something new without it feeling like you're back in school. The small chunks of information (just one page) keep it interesting and remove any iota of intimidation I might have about tackling a new topic, especially one having to do with science or engineering, two things I generally know little about. The Bedside Baccalaureate had the added benefit of being divided into four sections, which meant I didn't spend a whole year on the topics I enjoyed less.
Of these type of books I've read, The Bedside Baccalaureate might be my favorite. It is divided into four sections or syllabi. Each syllabus consisted of five courses, for a total of twenty courses. Broadly speaking the courses covered topics in art, literature, the classics, math and engineering, social science, history, economics, physical science, religion, environmental science, and philosophy. I learned a little about the anatomy of the Internet, electricity and magnetism, the roots of the Cold War, the epics of the Trojan War, the Protest Reformation, Sigmund Freud, and Italian Renaissance art. My favorite courses were on game theory, issues in feminism, the 1913 Armory Show, meteorology and climate, the history of modern China, and the origins of Judaism. Some courses or topics I still don't understand. (If there was a test of electricity and magnetism I would absolutely fail). Some topics whet my appetite for more and led me down rabbit holes to find more information. (Who knew game theory would turn out to be so interesting?)
I really enjoyed my morning reading ritual this past year. (Who am I kidding, I enjoy it every year or I wouldn't do it.) These types of books are a great way to learn something new without it feeling like you're back in school. The small chunks of information (just one page) keep it interesting and remove any iota of intimidation I might have about tackling a new topic, especially one having to do with science or engineering, two things I generally know little about. The Bedside Baccalaureate had the added benefit of being divided into four sections, which meant I didn't spend a whole year on the topics I enjoyed less.
April 30, 2016
Interesting book, despite the US-centric viewpoint. On topics I knew, I believe that some of the information was wrong. That makes me wonder about the accuracy of the many topics I know nothing about.
March 24, 2018
this is a fabulous opportunity to remind yourself of all the tings you learned and forgot -- or neglected to learn during your earlier life. easy to read in very small chunks. some info is new; some will serve as a review. absolutely worthwhile.
December 27, 2024
An annual tradition with my wife. We've read an intellectual devotional together for at least eight years running.
December 31, 2017
Great way to refresh your knowledge on familiar subjects and not so familiar subjects.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews