Alan I Marcus, born August 15, 1949, is the author of the history textbook Building Western Civilization: From the Advent of Writing to the Age of Steam (1998) and many other books. Building Western Civilization From the Advent of Writing to the Age of Steam (ISBN 0-15-500115-9 is a History book written by Alan I Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) He is a former professor of history at Iowa State University. The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies The Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University (ISU is a public land-grant and space-grant university He is currently head of the history department at Mississippi State University. Mississippi State University is a Land-grant university located in north east-central Mississippi, United States, in the town of Starkville and