Over the past 30 years, the number of deaf persons studying in colleges and universities has increased from several hundred to more than 12,000. Yet, attitudinal barriers continue to make it difficult for deaf people to enter some fields. This volume provides detailed biographical entries on 150 outstanding deaf individuals, highlighting their contributions to the arts and sciences. It includes several Nobel Prize laureate scientists, an Academy Award winning actress, poets, writers, world-class dancers, and a cadre of painters and sculptors. Some individuals are included for their leadership in education or politics or because they were the first deaf person to hold certain positions.

Emphasis is on the subjects' contributions to the arts and the sciences, and particular attention is paid to how being deaf influenced their world view and personal direction. The volume includes many newly-discovered accomplished deaf people, and an appendix listing provides information on additional artists, writers, and scientists of note.

Over the past decade there has been a significant increase in interest from educators and the general public about deafness, special education, and the development of children with special needs. The education of deaf children in the United States has been seen as a remarkable success story around the world, even while it continues to engender domestic debate.
In Educating Deaf Students: From Research to Practice, Marc Marschark, Harry G. Lang, and John A. Albertini set aside the politics, rhetoric, and confusion that often accompany discussions of deaf education. Instead they offer an accessible evaluation of the research literature on the needs and strengths of deaf children and on the methods that have been used-successfully and unsuccessfully-to teach both deaf and hearing children.
The authors lay out the common assumptions that have driven deaf education for many years, revealing some of them to be based on questionable methods, conclusions, or interpretations, while others have been lost in the cacophony of alternative educational philosophies. They accompany their historical consideration of how this came to pass with an evaluation of the legal and social conditions surrounding deaf education today.
By evaluating what we know, what we do not know, and what we thought we knew about learning among deaf children, the authors provide parents, teachers, and administrators valuable new insights into educating deaf students and others with special needs.

Prior to the publication of this book, there has been a complete absence of literature on the contributions of deaf men and women in science. Written by a deaf scientist, this book is one of the few syntheses of the issues facing deaf people in a particular field of professional endeavor. Because of the highly invisible nature of deafness, much of the information presented by Lang will be new to readers. His research represents six years of archival search among the historical documents of the deaf communities of Europe, Canada, and the United States. The prominent role that deaf scientists have played in history becomes apparent through Lang's presentation of the accomplishments of these talented and determined men and women. The study of deaf scientists is part of the study of other marginalized groups, and finds parallels in African American and women's studies. The issues surrounding technological development, eugenics, and disabilities in general are several of the important themes of this work.