Steeped in Science, Submersed in Story

Dr. Helfand's book is based on his experience as an educator, and he is out to educate the country with this book. It makes for an excellent course of study, whether you're just interested in informally tuning up your info sorting or studying gen-ed level science. He covers what science is and what it isn't, and how scientists think and how that's different from patterns of thought elsewhere. He goes over how to represent data graphically and how to know that someone left something important out in their statistics. Then he goes over a few specific issues like global warming and autism and vaccinations. The appendices include some exercises in case you want to test yourself on some basic estimations and info processing (or in case a professor wants to use it in an unusual but useful gen ed class).

I enjoyed Helfand's voice. He is very sure of himself and dismissive of people who aren't careful in their thinking, but somehow still explictly allows for reasonable people to disagree with him on the particulars. He has the voice of a teacher who is used to working with gifted but non-scientific students. He wants us to know that some answers are wrong and some are right, but also wants us to discovers the process of arriving at those right answers, not just the answers themselves. His is a welcome contribution to the effort to help us sort the good from the bad information in a time when both flood us everyday, and often every bit of info looks the same.

I got a free copy of this from Net Galley.

Robert is the calm, innocent center of this story as more sinister and beautiful elements swirl around him. Often I want a book to rest on great characters, and this one doesn't, but I loved it anyway. Instead, it rested on creating a world both real and unbelievable, with good and bad emulsified by rich language. Just a good lay-back-and-read-it book.

I got a free copy of this from First to Read.

The State of the Wild is a fantastic publication. It's truly beautiful, with an artful arrangement of pictures and text that is enjoyable to read. It does what it says it will do: provide a snapshot of the state of conservation efforts in the world. It includes overviews by continent and species, as well as a number of articles on important contemporary issues. This particular year, the focus was on conservations efforts in war time, covering the expected difficulties in Africa, but also Afghanistan (I must admit I sometimes revert to the erroneous picture of a desolate desert with robed men in machine guns the only sign of life there, but the ecology is rich and varied) and a border disagreement between Peru and Ecuador resolved in the late 1990s I was unaware of. Poverty and war go together in our times, and these wars do tend to center on locations with ecosystems that are varied but under duress, due to global climate change as well as people and resources displaced by war.

I know I'm reading this publication late, but I've discovered the series and I love it. I recommend it to anyone interested in the state of conservation in the world today, or the health of planet Earth as a whole. The editors over and over state their hopes for what they can accomplish -- the picture is at times bleak, but this is in an of itself an act of hope. In turn, I hope they are successful and I want to spread the word about this publication.

I got a free copy from Net Galley.

Anatomy as storytelling. They say the best way to teach anatomy is not through rote memorization, but stories of function and inter-relatedness. Roberts tells two main stories here: the development of an embryo in the womb, from a single cell to something recognizably human at 8 weeks, and the story of the evolution of the human species. The stories are clearly linked because as our bodies develop, they look an awful lot like the development of animals we're related to, way back when.

There were moments in this book when I thought something along the lines of "okay, legs, not much to say about legs, is there? this will be short..." and then "well, this is a stretch, she's saying way too much about legs" and then "wow, this is incredible -- the development of bipedalism is really not as clear as I thought..." The last part of the book on limbs is much more evolution-heavy (not much to say about the embryonic development here, it's true), but there's still a fascinating story to tell. And she's able to use her experience in the field to put the information into context. It makes for a really interesting, engaging read that is surprisingly hard to put down. Even though there's too much discussion of cramming a baby head down a birth canal for my taste.

I got a free copy of this from Net Galley.

Wainer's stated purpose in writing this book is to help his readers develop habits of mind that allow them to distinguish truth from things that feel right but actually aren't (truthiness). His annotated table of contents is very clear and well-organized, and he makes some very good points. He walks us through what kinds of experiments would be necessary to prove certain claims, talks about what we should then do if those experiments aren't possible (they often aren't), and concludes with some very interesting examples, including the controversial teacher tenure and testing that are mentions in the book blurb.

Wainer worked for the Educational Testing Services for years, and his examples involving testing are enlightening and worth pulling out for discussion in and of themselves. A few of his case studies in the later chapters are pretty well-researched and take into account history and context in guessing at why the statistics say what they do. Really good stuff. I'm glad I stuck it out and got to them, because I found the opening chapters of the book, in which Wainer is laying out how to think correctly, a bit off-putting.

The book blurb talks about "his trademark verve and irreverence", but mostly I would call his overall voice snarky. And sometimes that's amusing. We especially like to let old men get away with it. If you're in the mood to hear faux nostalgia for the good old days before Nate Silver when statisticians were uncool and he could be left in peace on an airline trip, this is the book for you. And he would love to show you his son's Princeton acceptance letter -- yep, printed in right in there, with a statistic on how rare they are just in case you didn't know. He makes snide comments about cheaters, sure, but also about almost everyone else his stories run across. So you have to be in the mood to be amused by a curmudgeon. Also you have to let him get away with being dismissive of any guessing or reasoning in case studies in different directions that clearly don't interest him much. I almost refrained from saying we'd never let a woman write like this, but there it sneaked in.

But if you can get past that, this is really a good outline for a few tests to put statistics through before you believe them. That's a good tool to arm yourself with when venturing out into the internet. And a good chapter on what to look for in a graphic and how data can hide in plain site. He also ends with a chapter titled "Don't try this at home", which must be some kind of humor I don't understand, because he very much encouraged us to try this at home and shares stories of people (strangely focusing on one very unusual family) who do investigate statistics with impressive results.

All in all, I learned a lot, and that's a great thing, but I was looking for something that I could unequivocally recommend to my science-major students, and I'm not sure this is it. But if you're ready to sit back and hear what this character has to say and learn what you can from him, you won't regret it.

I got a free copy of this from Net Galley.

This is a great story about a scientist doing amazing science, perfect for those who like to explore the wonder of nature. It's a trim volume, not too much drama from the author's life, just the story of this project. And it's a beautiful story. It turns out that there's a fantastic geothermal feature in the jungle in eastern Peru, up until know largely unknown to the outside world. Ruzo reveals its beauty to us, as if opening a flower petal by petal and then insisting on our agreement as responsible readers that this natural wonder cannot be exploited or overdeveloped. He wants to share his awe with us but is fiercely protective of the jungle.

I appreciate that the story is engaging, but also feels disciplined and well edited. He's inspired and wants us to be inspired, but doesn't drone on for pages and pages about poetry and shamans and spirits. The boiling river and the jungle itself are amazing enough -- he doesn't have to gild them.

So this is the beginning of Ruzo letting the world, especially the world of science, in on his discovery. He wants to be responsible to the jungle and to the people living in it, but believes that the best outcome is not to hide his find. I hope we as a global community answer his call to appreciate but not damage this wonder of Peru.

I got a free copy of this from Net Galley.

Though the plot centers on the characters' losses due to the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945, the it's wonderfully woven and hold up on its own, without milking that one event for too much pathos. The characters are charming and their stories complicated and believable. I really enjoyed reading it.

I do wonder at the central organization of the novel, as a dictionary. The chapters are very short and each one starts with the explanation of a term central to Japanese culture and the story itself. It's a nice touch, but I don't know why it's there. None of the characters in the story are non-Japanese, and the reader is never brought in directly as a participant, so who is this cultural dictionary for? Is it supposedly written by the main character? If so, we're never told. And mutual understanding... between who and who? That's not clear, either. Is she defending her actions? to us? There's something central to the conceptualization of the novel that is just not clear to me, and by about halfway through, I wanted to skip these definitions, since they seemed to intrude on the story too often. So hmmm.. I guess I don't get it.

The historical details are a bit puzzling, too. Nagasaki was the second bomb -- there is no mention anywhere in the book of Hiroshima. That seems beyond strange.

Okay, so the organization and the historical details were a bit puzzling. But I read for the characters, and so this was definitely a good one for me.

Dr. Badgett has written a helpful, brief and well-organized how-to manual for the academic who want to make a difference in the public sphere. This is one of those books that I read and think, 'okay, so I know why I want and like this, but who else is going to read it?' Here's hoping that Badgett finds a significant audience. Public discourse can indeed benefit from well-communicated research. We should get out more.

The focus of the book was naturally law-leaning, with testimony before Congress being the goal for Badgett and a nightmare scenario for me, so we're not cut from the same cloth. And there's very little in the way of suggestions for scientists here, but being issue-specific is not the point. The book lays out resources and tips for living with and serving the public. It's very readable and I recommend to all those imagined hoards of academics out there wanting to speak up.

I got a free copy of this from Net Galley.

Dr. Badgett has written a helpful, brief and well-organized how-to manual for the academic who want to make a difference in the public sphere. This is one of those books that I read and think, 'okay, so I know why I want and like this, but who else is going to read it?' Here's hoping that Badgett finds a significant audience. Public discourse can indeed benefit from well-communicated research. We should get out more.

The focus of the book was naturally law-leaning, with testimony before Congress being the goal for Badgett and a nightmare scenario for me, so we're not cut from the same cloth. And there's very little in the way of suggestions for scientists here, but being issue-specific is not the point. The book lays out resources and tips for living with and serving the public. It's very readable and I recommend to all those imagined hoards of academics out there wanting to speak up.

I got a free copy of this from Net Galley.

Dr. Badgett has written a helpful, brief and well-organized how-to manual for the academic who want to make a difference in the public sphere. This is one of those books that I read and think, 'okay, so I know why I want and like this, but who else is going to read it?' Here's hoping that Badgett finds a significant audience. Public discourse can indeed benefit from well-communicated research. We should get out more.

The focus of the book was naturally law-leaning, with testimony before Congress being the goal for Badgett and a nightmare scenario for me, so we're not cut from the same cloth. And there's very little in the way of suggestions for scientists here, but being issue-specific is not the point. The book lays out resources and tips for living with and serving the public. It's very readable and I recommend to all those imagined hoards of academics out there wanting to speak up.

I got a free copy of this from Net Galley.

Morton begins his synopsis of the possibilities of geoengineering by establishing the necessity of it. He begins with two questions: do you think climate change is bad enough to do something about it? do you think reducing emissions enough is very hard to do, maybe impossible? He answers yes to both questions, and says that most of today's politicans and environmentalists today answer no to one of these questions and yes to the other, depending on their political leanings. But, he says, if we need to do something about climate change and emissions reductions are not enough, we have to look at geoengineering.

The primary action he examines is injecting aerosols into the stratosphere. That would, in effect, shade us a bit, so that we can have high carbon dioxide levels but not so much heating. He's definitely a cheerleader for this, but he's aware of the objections that have been or will be raised as this possibility works its way into the mainstream discussion about climate change.

He includes a wide-ranging historical analysis of how humans have changed the climate, both intentionally (or considered doing it intentionally) and unintentionally. This discussion was wide and detailed enough that he lost my interest a couple times, but I'll credit him with being thorough. And he does make his point. We are now and have been for at least a few decades, if not centuries, influential enough to change climate on a geologically noticeable scale.

He doesn't side-step the fear that intentionally changing the climate excites in most people. He addresses objections one by one in a more or less fair manner. He makes other forms of geoengineering, such as pulling CO2 out of the air and storing it, or seeding the ocean with nutrients to sequester CO2 that way, seem interesting but insufficient. In the latter case, it may even hurt the cause. And one of the biggest objections is that people may think that spreading sulfates as a shield would mean that we don't then need to reduce emissions... that's absolutely false, we still would, and he clearly states that over and over. So on the whole I thought he presented a responsible picture of the possibilities and risks of trying to construct our own climate.

In the end, I'm not as enthusiastic about geoengineering as Morton is, but I'm thankful for the well-researched, well-written book, and I walk away more informed and open-minded than when I started. That's a good outcome for any book on the topic, I would think.

I got a free copy of this from Net Galley.

I found myself in desperate need of a map while reading this account of Ziegler's travels down the Amur. The geography is the organizing theme to his storytelling, which is perhaps appropriate, but the histories aren't in order. My lack of familiarity with the region ended up getting in the way with understanding what all was going on. [I read a prepublication ebook, so maybe the published version has a map? I hope? In any case, pull one up to study as you read if it doesn't.]

There's a whole lot of history here. Some of it is sweeping and broad-stroked. Some of it strangely detailed (the Decemberists -- clearly the author became fascinated with these guys). The most entertaining stories are of his present-day travels, actually, and those were in the minority but I really enjoyed them. This is not exactly a tourist mecaca, and getting around wasn't easy. The travel itself was difficulty and he met some interesting characters along the way. And got arrested. It's not a real trip in Russia unless you get arrested.

In the end, I enjoyed it, but it didn't really hang together for me as a convincing piece of history or travel writing. But try a map as you read. He has lat/longitude readings for you. I was just reading on planes, etc, in places where it wasn't easy to pull one up.

I got a free copy of this from First to Read.

Argh. I did used to love this series, but this one really bothered me. This Dr. Brennan really goes out of her way to put herself in danger to a ridiculous degree (and then yells at Ryan for wanting to rescue her). I've read almost all of them, but I just ran out of patience with her as a character. The science is good, the cases interesting, but nothing rings true about this forensic anthropologist anymore. I guess some part of me wants someone in the book to call her on it, to say she's an adrenaline junkie now and out of control much like she used to be an alcoholic, maybe that would save the series for me. But it doesn't look headed that way. It's too bad -- I really used to enjoy these books.

A lovely tale of romance. I really enjoyed the story line and the historical elements. Post-war Paris was an excellent choice for the central part of the novel: close to things we've all read about but with enough unique detail that it didn't feel derivative. Julian, the main character, is real enough to relate to, but not your stereotypical hero. There are aspects of his character that are hard to love, and so the fact that Kendall doesn't fall into his arms upon meeting him, the complicated nature of the love story, is believable.

There were passages here and there in which the author's research was showing -- hey, I learned this really cool thing and I had to twist the story to fit it in sideways, but isn't learning history cool? -- but honestly, not as bad as other successful historical novels I've read and it was not overbearing. I felt a little remove from Kendall, the female lead in the story. Part of that was just that she wasn't the main character and we needed some narrative distance from her to make the main plot work, but there were times when I wished the author let us get closer to her.

All in all I really loved this book.. it was truly a good read. It just didn't quite rise to the "it was amazing" level for me. I'll definitely want to pick up Peter Golden's next book, though, and I recommend this one to anyone looking for a good book to settle down with this winter.

I got a free copy of this from Net Galley.

Dr. Fossel covers all the basics of aging: how it works on the molecular level (and why the theories you've heard about aging are wrong), what it affects on the physiological level, and what could be different if we could slow it down, prevent it, or even reverse it. He tells us how telomerase has worked in laboratory settings, paints a picture of society without diseases associated with aging, and maintains a practitioner's focus on action rather than theory. I learned a lot about how aging happens and what exciting possibilities seem to be on our horizon.

Dr. Fessel is, without question, an unabashed optimist when it comes to those possibilities. He believes that the risks regarding cancer are negligible.. they have been, more or less so far. There's little mention of telomerase inhibitor resistace, and his listing of the possibilities for an improved planet and economy with major population changes are too rose-colored to have been the result of serious study. To be fair, he doesn't claim that as his area of expertise. But it seems there are lots of follow-up questions of ethics that will need to be dealt with as the Telomerase Revolution marches forward. I do agree with him, though, that to refuse to let telomerase research advance when we have the opportunity is also unethical. It's complicated, and we're at the beginning of the process. But this book will at least give people an opportunity to examine the changes at our threshold, ready to knock down the door.

I got a free copy of this from Net Galley.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Klein's account of his discussions with these leading natural and social scientists. I came out thinking that there was no real theme, just an account of scientists chatting about what's important to them, or maybe not so important but fun.

Klein was aware of his own role in these conversations, steering them, giving us introductions to them, and ultimately, of course, enjoying some of them much more than others. And since I didn't know at the outset that Klein lived in Germany (it's prepublication, an ebook, no author bio at the beginning), I didn't understand all the little digs at Germany until about halfway through. It turns out that's scientist humor. Anyway, with Klein's role acknowledged, I felt they were great interview reads, allowing us to get a feel for the personalities of these famous scientists and the nature of the work they do.

The scientists have a huge range of outlooks and interests. A couple of them were clearly more, ummm, aware of their own greatness than I was comfortable with, but Klein didn't have to say it. The rest were surprisingly humble. Science really is a collaborative field, and these folks realize that. Most of them have figured out how to get along with people and how to talk to people. That's part of why they're famous.

So there's no real unifying theme, but I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the philosophy of science, or science and ethics especially. When discussing their lives and influences, many of the interview subjects circled around those questions. Highly recommended overall.

I got a free copy of this from Net Galley.