Because one purpose of college is to expose you to a wide range of ideas, Fields of Reading includes readings from the major divisions of the curriculum - arts and humanities, social sciences and public affairs, and sciences and technologies. The five editors, all distinguished teachers and authors, have chosen well-crafted and high-quality writing from these fields. The selections are organized in each division by writing purpose (reflecting, reporting, explaining, and arguing) in order to show how writing must be suited to a particular situation in order to be effective. All of the pieces in this book are important readings by key voices in contemporary intellectual life - the kind of thought-provoking pieces one ought to encounter in college. Book jacket.