THE LOST WORLD OF JAMES SMITHSON:Science, Revolution, and the Birth of the Smithsonian.By Heather Ewing.Bloomsbury.432 pp. $29.95
GLUT:Mastering Information Through the Ages.By Alex Wright.Joseph Henry Press.296 pp. $27.95
AIMEE SEMPLE MCPHERSONAND THE RESURRECTION OF CHRISTIAN AMERICA.By Matthew Avery Sutton.Harvard Univ. Press.351 pp. $26.95
DOMINION OF MEMORIES:Jefferson, Madison, and the Declineof Virginia.By Susan Dunn.Basic.310 pp. $27.50
Sarah L. Courteau on the social history of swimming pools
Angela Balcita on growing up Japanese in the American heartland
Christopher Merrill on China's Nobel Prize-winning author
Andrew J. Bacevich on war in the modern world