Join the conversation about important and trending books in Knox County Public Library's new program series called Books Sandwiched In, a monthly lunchtime discussion with a focus on books about current issues.

Thanks to everyone who attended for making Brown Bag Green Book a success and for participating in the important conversations the series made possible. Talking about the environment is critical and we will continue those conversations with a quarterly "Green Book" Sandwiched In. The new series will add other important topics and sometimes find ways that the overlap with environmental sustainability.

The City of Knoxville’s Deputy to the Mayor and Chief Policy Officer Dr. William Lyons will lead our first discussion talking about the book The Signal and the Noise: Why most predictions fail, but some don’t by Nate Silver.

Here's what Dr. Lyons says about the book: "Nate Silver is a master of highlighting and simplifying the assumptions that enable our ability to forecast physical, social, political outcomes. In this insightful book he notes the importance of human judgment as a valuable supplement to the use of probability-based models to understand and explain some of the most important recent events.”

Before joining the City, Lyons spent several decades as Professor of Political Science at the University of Tennessee and was director of UT's Social Science Research Institute from 1991 to 1995.

Lyons has conducted surveys for government agencies, corporations, the state of Tennessee and the city of Knoxville and Knox County, among others, including numerous political candidates.

He served as the Political Analyst for WBIR TV in Knoxville from 1975 until 2003.

Please mark your calendars for these upcoming programs:

• February 20 : Former Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen IV will discuss The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker
• March 20 : Author Jay Erskine Leutze will discuss his own book Stand Up That Mountain: The Battle to Save One Small Community in the Wilderness Along the Appalachian Trail
• April 17 : Knoxville Attorney Wanda Sobieski will discuss The New Feminist Agenda: Defining the Next Revolution for Women, Work, and Family by Madeleine Kunin

And remember Brown Bag Green Book programs are podcasted and available through the Library's podcast page here: Library podcasts