[2] Schwartz, who has been called a "peripatetic cultural historian," has written on the French prophets, millenarianism, and copies, as well as on the history of dieting, fat, and noise.
Making Noise examines the changing understanding of sound in western culture—from music to tinnitis, babies' cries to urban hubbub—demonstrating that the primacy of the visual in human experience has been somewhat oversold.
[3] The Culture of the Copy is a comprehensive 600-page exploration of doubles of all kinds: facsimiles, reproductions, fakes, twins, mannequins, trompe-l'œil painting, camouflage, and so on.
[10] In Century's End, Schwartz analyzes the fuss that is persistently made over millennial dates, publishing his "wise and humane" survey in anticipation of the year 2000.
[11] Schwartz is also the co-founder of Sage Case Management, a California company that advocates on behalf of people who are terminally ill or in need of complex medical care.