Books

Did Vermeer paint luminosity because he could “see” more clearly through science? How does the turbulence of “Starry Night” surpass science? How does a violinmaker defy time or a sound post convey sound? Can the colorblind bee decipher the geometry of the garden? Is the silence that remains in the absence of one’s twin or one’s spouse most like turbulence, prayer, or the music of forgetting? This debut collection of poems about art, science, music, Nature and the art of relationship delves beneath the surface of things as one question leads to the next.

“Quincy Whitney celebrates the intersection of science and the arts, as when Vermeer uses his
camera obscura to help him distinguish shades of color: “Vermeer possessed a second set of
eyes!” Like the scientist’s experimentation, Whitney’s poems originate in questions, and one
question leads to the next. She makes of her art a scalpel to see beneath the surface of things, to explore the nature of reality itself—“what this moment holds / where it points as it unfolds.” Many of the strongest poems in this collection (“Redemption,” Epiphany,” “Minutes Apart”….) turn her gaze on her formative relationship with her twin sister. Her gorgeous poem “Onion Moon,”
written in response to the sudden loss of her husband, speaks of peeling away “the constant motion of a summer’s day” to reveal the darkness of the night. These poems, too, offer no easy answers, only questions: “What clings to the surface of the water / when reflections are gone?”
–Alfred Nicol, Winner of the Richard Wilbur Award

A guidebook for natural health and healing co-authored with Dr. Shirley Snow, 2017 New Hampshire Naturopathic Doctor of the Year.  The foundation of Naturopathy is the pursuit of natural healing that works with the intelligence of the body.  Over half a century, Dr. Snow has studied with a myriad of pioneers in natural health and healing worldwide and, at age 95, is still helping her patients heal themselves.  Dr. Snow passes along her wisdom about every organ in the body and natural modalities invented by visionary pioneers in natural health.

“Dr. Snow embodies the best aspects of a lifelong career in natural medicine with her persistent encouragement for a healthy lifestyle, mind, body and soul.  Dr. Snow insists that the principles of naturopathic medicine are diamonds in our era when chronicity, environmental deterioration, impossibly high healthcare costs, food sourcing which adds more inflammatory, processed products to the American diet, and health policy predicated on synthetic pharmaceuticals are fracturing the well-being of our nation.”
–David J. Schleich, PhD, President, National College of Natural Medicine

How does a New Jersey housewife and mother, trained as a biologist, teach herself acoustical physics by carving fiddles in her kitchen, invent a new family of violins and scientific techniques still used today in making stringed instruments? The true story of Carleen Hutchins fuses the worlds of art, science and music and pays tribute to the unlikely power of the untrained mind.  Selected by PEN America as One of Ten Best Biographies of 2017 and winner of the 2019 Acoustical Society of America Science Communication Award.

Who invented downhill skiing? Hosted the first international peace treaty in the United States? Built the first mountain-climbing train? Erected the only monument to women in the nation? Created the first medical X-ray? Where was the first integrated baseball team in America? Who was the first American in space? Inspired by the topography of the Granite State, innovators pursued their passions and created a most unusual “hidden” legacy of New Hampshire history.