k How to Use This Book 1 1 2 4 3 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 XIII 5 6 7 9 10 13 12 11 8 GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION XIV HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Contributors Editorial Reviewers Patricia B. Brecht Matthew C. Cordon Frederick K. Grittner Halle Butler Hara Scott D. Slick Contributing Authors Richard Abowitz Paul Bard Joanne Bergu m Michael Bernard Gregory A. Borchard Susan Buie James Cahoy Terry Carter Stacey Chamberlin Sally Chatelaine Joanne Smestad Claussen Matthew C. Cordon Richard J. Cretan Lynne Crist Paul D. Daggett Susan L. Dalhed Lisa M. DelFiacco Suzanne Paul Dell’Oro Heidi Denler Dan DeVoe Joanne Engelking Mark D. Engsberg Karl Finley Sharon Fischlowitz Jonathan Flanders Lisa Florey Robert A. Frame John E. Gisselquist Russell L. Gray III Frederick K. Grittner Victoria L. Handler Halle Butler Hara Lauri R. Harding Heidi L. Headlee James Heidberg Clifford P. Hooker Marianne Ashley Jerpbak David R. Johnstone Andrew Kass Margaret Anderson Kelliher Christopher J. Kennedy Anne E. Kevlin John K. Krol Lauren Kushkin Ann T. Laughlin Laura Ledsworth-Wang Linda Lincoln Theresa J. Lippert Gregory Luce David Luiken Frances T. Lynch Jennifer Marsh George A. Milite Melodie Monah an Sandra M. Olson Anne Larsen Olstad William Ostrem Lauren Pacelli Randolph C. Park Gary Peter Michele A. Potts Reinhard Priester Christy Rain Brian Roberts Debra J. Rosenthal Mary Lahr Schier Mary Scarbrough Stephanie Schmitt Theresa L. Schulz John Scobey Kelle Sisung James Slavicek Scott D. Slick David Strom Linda Tashbook Wendy Tien M. Uri Toch Douglas Tueting Richard F. Tyson Christine Ver Ploeg George E. Warner Anne Welsbacher Eric P. Wind Lindy T. Yokanovich XV v BEAN, ROY Roy Bean achieved prominence for his uncon- ventional law enforcement procedures. His methods for enforcing the law were question- able and unorthodox. Bean was born circa 1825, in Mason County, Kentucky. His career included many undertakings, not always legal. In 1847 he was in charge of a trading post in Me xico. Accused of cattle rustling in 1849, he was forced back to the Unite d States. He was a member of a group of vigilantes who fought for the Confederacy during the CIVIL WAR. Bean was a saloonkeep er and a gambler in the postwar years. In 1882 Bean settled in Texas. He changed the name of the Texas camp where he lived from Vinegaroon to Langtry and established himself as JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.His saloon was the courthouse where Bean presided as judge, using a law book, a gun, his sense of humor, and practical thinking as his guides to making judicial decisions. Bean died March 16, 1903, in Langtry. v BEARD, CHARLES AUSTIN Few academicians achieve the public recogni- tion and professional respect accorded to historian Charles Austin Beard. His polemic An Economic Interpretation of the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES stirred debate among fellow scholars and the U.S. public by contradicting the popular understanding of how and why the United States was founded. A brilliant, original thinker, Beard achieved a unique prominence among twentieth-century historians and politi- cal scientists. Beard was born to well-to-do parents in Knightstown, Indiana, on November 27, 1874. After graduating from Indiana’s DePauw Uni- versity in 1898, he sailed to England to attend Roy Bean 1825–1903 ◆ ◆◆ ❖ ❖ 1825 Born, Mason County, Ky. 1835–36 Texas Revolution 1847 Moved to Mexico to manage a trading post 1845 Texas admitted to the Union 1849 Accused of cattle rustling; returned to U.S. 1861–65 U.S. Civil War; member of Confederate vigilante fighting group 1903 Died, Langtry, Tex. ▼▼ ▼▼ 1825 1900 1875 1850 ◆ 1882 Became justice of the peace for Pecos County, Tex. B (cont.) THAT’S MY RULIN’. —ROY BEAN 1 the University of Oxford. While at Oxford, he helped establish Ruskin Hall, a college for British working men that represented to Beard the liberation of the English masses from upper- class domination. In Beard’s mind, Ruskin Hall was a symbol and precursor of the true political democracy that would be ushered in by the industrial revolution. In 1900 Beard returned briefly to the United States to marry Mary Ritter. An intellectual in her own right, Mary Ritter Beard became an invaluable critic and collaborator in the more than fifty books produced during Beard’sprolific career. After his MARRIAGE, Beard resumed his studies in England, then returned permanently to the United States. He earned his doctor’sdegree from New York City’s Columbia University and in 1904 accepted a teaching position in political science at Columbia. In 1913 Beard published An Economic Interpretation of the Consti tution of t he United States. The book crea ted a mild sensation because it sugges ted that the United States was not yet a true democracy. Even more disturbing to some U.S. citizens was Beard’s argument that the U.S. Constitution was designed primarily to protect the property rights of the wealthy capitalists attending the Constitutional Conven- tion. He insisted that self-interest, not demo- cratic principles, motivated the Founding Fathers. To Beard, the Constitu tion was a tribute to the power of class, not democracy. Although several U.S. politicians criticized Beard’s unorthodox view of U.S. history, many of his colleagues praised his innovative ap- proach. They understood how the private economic interests of the colonial RULING class could have had a far-reaching effect on the nascent U.S. government. In 1917 Beard protes ted the firing of several Columbia University faculty members by resigning his own position. Beard had been outraged when the university dismissed his colleagues for their refusal to support the United States’ involvement in WORLD WAR I.In 1919 he helped found the New School for Social Research in New York City. In 1927 Beard produced another remark- able tome, The Rise of American Civilization. Coauthored by hi s wif e, it p rov ided an overview of U.S. history with further insights into the government’sorigins.Thissprawling, two-volume set was fo llowed by America in Charles Austin Beard 1874–1948 ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ ❖ ❖ 1874 Born, Knightstown, Ind. 1904 Received Ph.D. from Columbia University; began teaching there 1898 Graduated from DePauw University 1899 Established Ruskin Hall 1914–18 World War I 1913 Published An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States 1917 Resigned teaching position at Columbia 1919 Helped found the New School for Social Research 1927 Co-authored The Rise of American Civilization with wife, Mary 1939 America in Midpassage published 1939–45 World War II 1946 American Foreign Policy in the Making, 1932–1940 published 1948 Died, New Haven, Conn. ▼▼ 18751875 19501950 19251925 19001900 ▼▼ Charles Austin Beard. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 2 BEARD, CHARLES AUSTIN Midpassage, in 1939, and The American Spirit, in 1942. During the early 1930s Beard wrote exten- sively about the nature of historical knowledge. He was particularly interested in historians’ personal biases and the effect of those biases on the presentation of historical facts. Although Beard was closely associate d with the U.S. progressive movement and social reforms, he disagreed with several aspects of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s NEW DEAL programs. In 1934 he began an acrimonious, decade-long campaign against Roosevelt’s foreign policy. In American Foreign Policy in the Making, 1932– 1940 (1946) and President Roosevelt and the Coming of War (1948), Beard maintained that the United States had backed Japan into a corner and had forced the country into a war. His extreme isolationist views damaged his professional reputation to some extent. Beard died in 1948, at the age of seventy- three. He is remembered as an accomplished historian who influenced the way U.S. citizens view their own history. FURTHER READINGS Noble, David W. 1985. The End of American History. Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press. Philbin, James P.2000. “Charles Austin Beard: Liberal Foe of American Internationalism.” Humanitas 13 (September). Snider, Keith F. 2000. “Rethinking Public Administration’s Roots in Pragmatism: The Case of Charles A. Beard.” American Review of Public Administration 30, no. 2 (June). Available online at http://arp.sagepub.com/cgi/ content/abstract/30/2/123; website home page: http:// arp.sagepub.com (accessed July 6, 2009). CROSS REFERENCES Constitution of the United States; Constitution of the United States “Constitut ional Convention of 1787” (Side- bar); Constitution of the United States “Federalists vs. Anti- Federalists ” (In Focus). BEARER One who is the holder or possessor of an instrument that is negotiable—for example, a check, a draft, or a note—and upon which a specific payee is not designated. A NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENT that is payable to “bearer” or to “cash” or to “the order of cash,” that is, not naming a payee, is a bearer instrument, and is called “bearer” paper. v BEASLEY, MERCER Mercer Beasley was an eminent New Jersey jurist. He was born March 27, 1815, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Frederick and Maria Beasley. He studied at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) but only for a year, after which he studied the law. He was admitted to the bar in 1838 and established a successful legal practice in Trenton, New Jersey. He became active in local politics, first as a Whig and later as a Democrat, before pursuing a career in the judicial system. On March 8, 1864, the governor appointed Beasley to a seven -year term as the New Jersey high court’s chief justice. Four succeeding gov- ernors retained him, allowing Beasley to serve on the bench for almost 33 years. He gained prominence for his equitable decisions, particu- larly those concerning political dissent. Beasley died from pneumonia on February 19, 1897, in Trenton. v BECCARIA, CESARE BONESANO, MARCHESE DI Cesare Bonesano Beccaria was an expert in law and economics and put forth new principles in both fields which were widely accepted throughout Europe. Mercer Beasley 1815–1897 ◆◆◆◆◆◆ ◆ ◆◆ ◆ ❖❖ 1815 Born, Philadelphia, Pa. 1816 Indiana became 19th state in the Union 1834 Began clerkship with Samuel L. Southard, U.S. Senator and lawyer 1830 Beasley family moved to Trenton, N.J. 1838 Admitted to New Jersey bar 1849 Argued his first case before New Jersey Supreme Court: Delaware & Raritan Coal Co. v. Lee 1850 Ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Trenton 1858 Appointed chancery reporter for New Jersey 1861–65 Civil War 1864 Appointed chief justice of New Jersey 1876 Centennial year of United States; Colorado joined the Union 1896 Utah became 45th state in the Union 1897 Died, Trenton, N.J. ▼▼ ▼▼ 18251825 18001800 18501850 18751875 19001900 GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION BECCARIA, CESARE BONESANO, MARCHESE DI 3 Beccaria was born March 15, 1738. He taught law and economics in Milan. He vehemently opposed CAPITAL PUNISHMENT and cruel treatment of prisoners. His economic theories concerned wages and la bor and influ- enced such eminent economists as Adam Smith and Thomas Robert Malthus. In 1771 Beccaria served as councilor of state and magistrate; in 1790, he was a member of a committee that advocated reform of criminal and CIVIL LAW in Lombardy. Beccaria’s ideas were published in 1764 in his Essay on Crimes and Punishments. The book was well received throughout Europe and greatly influenced changes in European eco- nomic and legal systems. He died November 8, 1794, in Milan. v BECKET, SAINT THOMAS Saint Thomas Becket was chancellor of England and archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Henry II and was martyred following a bitter battle with the monarchy over royal control of church law. Becket was born around 1118 in London, England, the son of a prosperous London merchant and his wife who were of Norman ancestry. He was first educated at a monastery in Merton, just outside London, and then in London grammar schools. In his late teens, he was sent to Paris for further schooling, includ- ing the study of logic, rhetoric, and philosophy. At age twenty-one, after his mother had died and his father had lost his fortune, Becket returned to London and became a city clerk to three sheriffs. Three years later, in about 1143, his father introduced him to Theobald, arch- bishop of Canterbury. Becket soon joined Theobald’s household, becoming a clerk and later a close adviser to the archbishop. In about 1150, Theobald sent Becket to Italy and France to study civil and CANON LAW. Upon his return to Theobald’s court in 1152, Becket was able to secure the papal letters that prevented the English king Stephen from crowning his son to be successor to the throne . Becket’s interven- tion permitted Henry II, in 1154, to become the king of England. In the same year, Theobald appointed Becket archdeacon of Canterbury. Less than three months later, on Theobald’s recommen- dation and in gratitude for Becket’srolein helping him to gain the throne, Henry II named Becket chancellor of England. Becket became the king’s most trusted adviser and a constant and devoted companion. He was an effective chancello r, leading troops into war, repairing castles, conducting foreign policy, and negotiating a MARRIAGE between Prince Henry, son of the king, and the daughter of King Louis VII of France. Becket lived luxuriously, holding extravagant receptions and dressing in splendid clothes. Theobald disapproved of his protégé’s lavish lifestyle. To Theobald, it was inappropriate for Becket, who still remained archdeacon while serving as chancellor, to surround himself with worldly things. Becket ignored the concerns of his mentor and even refused to visit Theobald on his deathbed. After Theobald died in 1161, Henry appointed Becket archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. Becket, aware of the influence he now wielded as a religious leader, promptly aban- doned the trappings of his previous life as chancellor. He devoted himself to the study of Marchese di Cesare Bonesano Beccaria 1738–1794 ◆ ◆ ◆◆◆ ❖❖ 1713 Treaty of Utrecht transferred Spanish possessions in Italy to Austria 1738 Born, Milan, Italy 1764 Essay on Crimes and Punishments published 1768 Appointed professor of political philosophy 1771 Served as councilor of state and magistrate 1790 Served on committee that advocated criminal and civil law reform in Lombardy (Italy) 1789 French Revolution began 1794 Died, Milan, Italy 1796–97 Napoleon's Italian campaign ▼▼ ▼▼ 17251725 17001700 17501750 17751775 18001800 ◆ GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 4 BECKET, SAINT THOMAS canon law and to the spiritual obligations of his new role. He also became involved in a series of clashes between the church and the state that put him at odds with King Henry, his closest friend and confidant. In late 1163 Henry decided to abolish certain privileges enjoyed by the clergy, which exempted them, when they were accused of crimes, from the jurisdiction of the civil courts. Criminous clerks, as they were known, were instead allowed to stand trial before a bishop in the ecclesiastical (church) courts, which usually resulted in much milder punishments. Under Henry’s reforms, an accused clerk would be required to appear first in a civil court to answer the charges. If the clerk denied the offense and asked to be heard in an ecclesiastical court, the clerk would then appear before a bishop. If convicted by the ecclesiastical court, the clerk would return to the civil court to face charges as a layperson. Becket vehemently opposed Henry’smea- sures. He maintained that they subjected the clergy to be punished twice for the same offense: the clergy, he argued, would lose their clerical status in the ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS and would also face secular penalties imposed by the civil courts. However, under intense pressure from the monarchy, Becket eventually relented and agreed verbally to Henry’s proposals. In January 1164 Henry summoned a convocation at Clarendon, where he planned to put his reforms into a document known as the CONSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON, and to secure Becket’s signature. But at the last minute, Becket repudiated his previous verbal agree- ment to the measures and refused to sign the documents, on the grounds that they violated canon law. Becket’s defiance incurred the wrath of the king, who denounced him as a traitor to the throne. Henry then threatened to imprison Becket or at least force him to resign as archbishop. Becket, fearing for his safety, fled to France in late 1164 and remained in exile at Flanders for the next six years. In France, Becket struck back at Henry by excommunicating several of his councilors and threatening to excommunicate the king as well. In 1169 Henry and Becket attempted a reconciliation, but Henry soon incensed Becket by having Roger, the archbishop of York and a rival of Becket’s, crown Prince Henry as his successor. Such coronations were traditionally undertaken by the archbishop of Canterbury. Becket retaliated by suspending Roger and the other bishops who participated in the coronation. In late 1170 Henry and Becket briefly resolved their differences and Becket returned to Canterbury amid great fanfare. Almost immediately, however, officers of the king demanded that Becket absolve the suspended bishops involved in Prince Henry’s coronation. Becket steadfastly refused, maintaining that only the pope had the authority to give absolution. The king, by now exasperated with Becket, is said to have uttered, in a fit of anger, “Will nobody rid me of this turbulent priest?” Four of his knights took his PLEA literally and on December 29, 1170, went to Canterbury, where they confronted Becket in the cathedral and again demanded that he absolve the suspended bishops. Becket refused. The knights beat him over the head repeatedly with their swords until he died. Saint Thomas Becket c. 1118–1170 ◆ ◆◆◆ ◆ ◆ ◆◆◆ ◆ ❖❖ 1118 Born, London, England 1135 Stephen crowned King of England 1140 Became clerk to three sheriffs 1143 Joined household of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury 1150 Theobald sent Becket to Italy and France to study civil and canon law 1154 Henry II crowned King of England; Becket named chancellor 1161 Theobald died 1162 Appointed archbishop of Canterbury 1164 Convocation at Clarendon; Becket fled to France 1170 Returned to Canterbury; murdered in Canterbury cathedral 1173 Canonized by Pope Alexander II 1189 King Henry II died ▼▼ ▼▼ 11251125 11501150 11751175 12001200 11001100 IF IT BE A QUESTION OF TEMPORAL MATTERS , WE SHOULD RATHER FEAR THE LOSS OF SOULS THAN OF TEMPORALITIES . —THOMAS BECKET GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION BECKET, SAINT THOMAS 5 Word of Becket’s MURDER spread quickly, and his tomb soon became a shrine visited by thousands of pilgrims. Becket, in his early fifties at the time of his death, was canonized by Pope Alexander II in 1173. Henry II did penance at Canterbury and was absolved of the murder. The four assassins did fourteen years’ service in the Holy Land as penance for the crime. A later English king, Henry III, had Becket’s remains placed in a more elaborate tomb at Canterbury, which remained a popular place of pilgrimage. The religious journeys to Becket’s tomb became the basis for Chaucer’s masterpiece Canterbury Tales, which was written almost two hundred years after Becket’s death. In 1538 Henry VIII became embroiled in his own struggles with the church and viewed the pilgrimages to Becket’s tomb with increasing hostility. As a result, he had the shrine destroyed and repor tedly had Becket’s bones burned. FURTHER READINGS Barlow, Frank. 1986. Thomas Becket. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. Knowles, David. 1971. Thomas Becket. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univ. Press. Staunton, Michael. 2001. The Lives of Thomas Becket. New York: Manchester Univ. Press. v BEECHER, HENRY WARD Henry Ward Beecher was one of the most prominent U.S. ministers of the nineteenth century as well as an active participant in various reform movements. Beecher was born June 24, 1813, in Litch- field, Connecticut. He was the son of preacher Lyman Beecher and the brother of HARRIET BEECHER STOWE , author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin . He studied at Amherst College and Lane Theologi- cal Seminary and served as a novice minister in Indiana before becoming minister at the Ply- mouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn, New York, in 1847. A liberal thinker, Beecher was in favor of such principles as women’s suffrage, ABOLITION of SLAVERY, and acceptance of the theory of evolution and often lectured on these and other controversial ideas from the pulpit. Beecher excelled as a speaker and in 1863 he went on a lecture tour throughout England and spoke in support of the Union position in the CIVIL WAR. In 1875, Beecher, regarded as one of the United States’ foremost preachers, was involved Henry Ward Beecher. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Henry Ward Beecher 1813–1887 1813 Born, Litchfield, Conn. 1834 Graduated from Amherst College 1838 Ordained by New School Presbytery of Cincinnati 1847 Became minister at Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn, N.Y. 1858 Life Thoughts published 1861–65 U.S. Civil War 1863 Went on lecture tour of England 1884 Joined Republican Mugwumps campaigning for Grover Cleveland 1887 Died, Brooklyn, N.Y. ◆◆◆◆ ◆ ◆ ❖❖ ▼▼ ▼▼ 18251825 18501850 18751875 19001900 18001800 IT USUALLY TAKES A HUNDRED YEARS TO MAKE A LAW , AND THEN , AFTER IT HAS DONE ITS WORK , IT USUALLY TAKES A HUNDRED YEARS TO GET RID OF IT . —HENRY BEECHER GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 6 BEECHER, HENRY WARD in a sensational trial that damaged his honor. Journalist Theodore Tilton accused the minister of committing adultery with Mrs. Tilton. Beecher was expertly defended by his attorney, WILLIAM M. EVARTS, and, after a lengthy trial, the jury could not agree on a VERDICT. Beecher’s church proclaimed him the victor and officially cleared him of the charges. In spite of the scandal, Beecher continued to be an influential force in the U.S. ministry until his death on March 8, 1887, in Brooklyn. BELIEF Mental reliance on or acceptance of a particular concept, which is arrived at by weighing external evidence, facts, and personal observation and experience. Belief is essentially a subjective feeling about the validity of an idea or set of facts. It is more than a mere suspicion and less than concrete knowledge. Unlike suspicion, which is based primarily on inner personal conviction, belief is founded upon assurance gained by empirical evidence and from other people. Positive knowledge, as contrasted with belief, is the clear per ception of existing facts. Belief has been defined as having faith in an idea or formulating a conclusion as the result of considering information. INFORMATION AND BELIEF is a legal term that is used to describe an allegation based upon GOOD FAITH rather than firsthand knowledge. v BELL, DERRICK ALBERT, JR. Derrick Albert Bell Jr. was the first tenured black law professor at Harvard Law School, a renegade civil rights scholar and proponent and a prolific author of civil rights-related works, including the critically acclaimed books And We Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice (1987) and Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism (1992). Bell was born November 6, 1930, in Pittsburgh. The seeds of his views on racial injustice—and his response to racial bigotry and prejudice—were sown in the Great Depres- sion. When he was five years old, he watched his mother, Ada Elizabeth Bell, demand that the family’s landlord fix the rotted stairs behind their apartment. His mother finally told the Derrick A. Bell Jr. NEVILLE ELDER/CORBIS. Derrick Albert Bell Jr. 1930– ▼▼ ▼▼ 1930 2000 1975 1950 ◆ ◆ ❖ 1930 Born, Pittsburgh, Pa. 1939–45 World War II 1950–53 Korean War ◆ 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decided by U.S. Supreme Court 1961–73 Vietnam War ◆ 1957 Graduated from U. of Pittsburgh School of Law ◆ 1969 Joined Harvard University Law School faculty 1981–85 Served as dean of U. of Oregon School of Law 1987 And We Are Not Saved published 2004 Silent Covenants published ◆ 2002 Ethical Ambition published ◆ 1996 NYU Law School established annual Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society ◆ 1994 Confronting Authority published ◆ 1991 Appointed visiting professor at NYU Law School ◆ 1990 Took unpaid leave of absence from Harvard to protest adverse minority hiring practices ◆ 1971 Became first tenured African American faculty member at Harvard Law School ◆ 1960 Joined NAACP Legal Defense Fund; became first assistant counsel of Defense Fund NYC branch GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION BELL, DERRICK ALBERT, JR. 7 . died ▼▼ ▼▼ 1 125 1 125 11501150 11751175 120 0 120 0 11001100 IF IT BE A QUESTION OF TEMPORAL MATTERS , WE SHOULD RATHER FEAR THE LOSS OF SOULS THAN OF TEMPORALITIES . —THOMAS BECKET GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN. Italy 1796–97 Napoleon's Italian campaign ▼▼ ▼▼ 1 725 1 725 17001700 17501750 17751775 18001800 ◆ GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 4 BECKET, SAINT THOMAS canon law and to the spiritual obligations of his new role k How to Use This Book 1 1 2 4 3 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 XIII 5 6 7 9 10 13 12 11 8 GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION XIV HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Contributors Editorial