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The widely publicized predictions of William Miller increased the millennial expectation. It was, to take the title of a millennialist newspaper, one of the Signs of the Times. Miller's preaching fell on fertile soil and released energies that mushroomed out of control. For George Beecher, who veered between strenuous attempts at spiritual perfection and plunges into fits of depression, it was to prove too much to bear. The difficult path he trod was both example and warning to his sister Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was drawn into the vortex of perfectionist striving. Miller's predictions were publicized widely in the Boston area while Harriet Beecher Stowe was in the East arranging for the publication of The Mayflower. Harriet had written letters of religious import before, but never one of such personal intensity. The pieces Harriet wrote for the New-York Evangelist during this period reveal her preoccupation with perfection and final judgment.

Chapter thirty-one analyzes Hodge’s most popular book, his devotional The Way of Life. Hodge took over the role of Professor of Theology from Archibald Alexander in 1840, and thereby became the lead professor at the Seminary. By 1845, he was co-teaching the core theology courses of the school with Alexander. His The Way of Life provides a unique window into the formative years of his systematic theological thinking and his commitment to personal holiness in the Christian life.

This chapter describes the youth and early manhood of Henry W. Blair. Among the key episodes were the death of both his parents, the religious ideas of William Miller, and Blair's struggle for formal education. Blair was successful in establishing himself as an attorney and as a local political figure.

The Bible-based Protestant Christianity that flourished so remarkably in the free atmosphere of the new United States never witnessed agreement on how the Scriptures should be put to use. The success of new sectarian upsurges, like the Restorationist movement led by Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone, rested on their claim to follow “the Bible alone.” That claim supported an all-out critique of inherited Protestant traditions. Sectarian interpretations of Scripture, like William Miller’s predictions that the world would end in 1843, drew intense interest despite Miller’s lack of ecclesiastical standing. Joseph Smith went even further, as he honored the Bible but also published the Book of Mormon as yet a further revelation from God. The connection between Protestant beliefs and democratic beliefs allowed for Christianity to spread more rapidly in the United States than anywhere else in the world. But the attempt to build a Bible civilization was doomed because of the internal Protestant pluralism that American democracy facilitated—and that before the upsurge of immigration from non-Protestants (and others) in the 1830s and following.

This chapter reviews the book The Anatomy of Disgust (1997), by William Ian Miller. Aristotle's students did not want to study the parts of animals. Recoiling in disgust from the study of blood and flesh, they found the distant stars cleaner and more appealing. But Aristotle advised them not to “make a sour face” at biology. Miller finds nothing but disgust in the contemplation of what he calls “thick, greasy life.” He maintains that our disgust with our own feces, sweat, hairiness, or semen is a major element in our humanity—not only in the personal life, where it explains why sex is “so difficult,” but also in public life, in political life. Miller's book has three goals: to analyze the emotion of disgust; to give an account of when and where people experience disgust in daily life and in the sexual realm; and to investigate the role of disgust in morals and politics. His account of the emotion of disgust draws on psychology, literature, and history—all filtered through his own vivid narrative of the phenomena of bodily existence.

This chapter studies Friedman’s commentaries on and interactions with Arthur Burns and G. William Miller, who were at the helm of the Federal Reserve during the 1970s. Friedman could claim to have made only limited headway in getting his views accepted by these policymakers. Both Chairmen Burns and Miller in the 1970s rejected Friedman’s view that monetary policy actions could by themselves control inflation. On the issue of the appropriate operating procedures for monetary policy, Friedman expressed hope at various times that Burns or Miller would shift from a federal funds rate instrument to a bank reserves-type instrument, and he was disappointed in each case by the resilience of the Federal Reserve’s attachment to a federal-funds-rate-oriented operating procedure.

This chapter considers the invented craft of spectroscopy as one of the important research techniques used by mid-nineteenth-century astronomers to the study of Mars. It details how the tools of spectroscopy led to the discovery of proof for the presence of water on the surface and in the atmosphere of Mars. It also discusses that the knowledge that water exists on Mars made astronomers believe they had proof that Mars had an Earth-like climate and that the red patches on Mars were vegetation. The chapter explains that spectroscopy involves channeling a beam of light from any source through a prism or a grating, which spreads the light out into its constituent colors, allowing scientists to study the details of brightness and faintness of the different colors. It mentions William Huggins and William Allen Miller, who suggested that the Mars's red color is a consequence of its inability to reflect violet and blue light.

Decades of research have identified three effective treatments for substance use disorders. This chapter explores the three most studied and proven evidence-based interventions: Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Twelve-Step Facilitation. The inconsistency or infrequency with which evidence-based interventions are used in the treatment of addictions is finally getting some attention at the national level, and there are new recommendations regarding the deployment of treatment approaches. It is important for the reader to understand the roots of these three interventions and why, despite being easy to learn and likely to work, they are not regularly being deployed inside of treatment centers.