Reviews The Best New Science Books

Reviews The Best New Science Books

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Area 51, modern life vs human nature, and more
From the February 2009 issue, published online February 20, 2009

The Pluto Files by Neil deGrasse Tyson (Norton)
What did Pluto ever do to Tyson? In his latest book the energetic astronomer and television host taps pop culture and breaking research to explain why he led the charge to banish Pluto from planetary status.

The Well-Dressed Ape by Hannah Holmes (Random House)
Holmes ignores our self-congratulatory tendencies and gives a witty, detailed look at Homo sapiens through the eyes of an evolutionary biologist, exposing us as a thin-skinned, dull-toothed, small-clawed, and pitiable species.

The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets by Alan Boss (Basic)
The space race is on. No, not back to the moon. The next great achievement for humanity will be to find alien life on another planet. Astronomer Boss gives an inside view of how new space telescopes like Kepler and Corot are on the verge of finding Earth-like worlds around other stars.
advertisement | article continues below

It Takes a Genome: How a Clash Between Our Genes and Modern Life Is Making Us Sick by Greg Gibson (FT Press Science)
Is modern life corrupting our DNA? Gibson’s cautionary tale points to the alarming rise in diseases like diabetes, asthma, and Alzheimer’s, warning that more than half of us will die from our genetic vulnerabilities if we stay the course in our do-nothing, eat-a-lot lives.



Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon’s Secret World by Trevor Paglen (Dutton)
Area 51 is probably the most famous place that doesn’t exist on a map—at least not any map the U.S. government wants you to see. But it’s far from the only one. Paglen pulls back the curtain of secrecy on the military’s classified locations, from downtown Las Vegas to Kabul, Afghanistan, to the Washington, D.C., suburbs.

Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species by Sean B. Carroll (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Darwin is the public face of evolutionary biology, but he doesn’t deserve all the credit. Carroll, a noted evolutionary biologist himself, gives a nod to the scores of underappre­ciated researchers who have filled in the gaps. In this exhaustive history, we learn the true extent of evolution’s influence on the way we think.

Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald (Pyr)
The advanced technology of the near future runs smack into a millennia-old culture in McDonald’s clever imaginings of life in 21st-century India. This anthology includes previously published short stories and an intricate new novella that explores the digital divide in surprising ways.



TV American Experience: The Polio Crusade

PBS, Monday, February 2, at 9 p.m. (EST) In the early 1950s there were more than 20,000 cases a year of poliomyelitis, a disease that causes paralysis or death. But on April 26, 1954, researchers began administering a vaccine in what would become the largest public health experiment in American history. The experiment paid off: By 1960 the number of annual cases had dropped to about 3,000, and by 1979 there were only about 10. This intimate PBS documentary chronicles the story of the polio vaccine’s success—a triumph of science over disease

from http://discovermagazine.com/2009/feb/best-new-science-books

A casestudy “The Ecological Footprint Dilemma”

This case study is a “clicker case.” It combines the use of student personal response systems (clickers) with case teaching methods and formats. The case is presented in class using a series of PowerPoint slides punctuated by questions (called “clicker questions”) that students respond to before moving on to the next slide. In this way, students work through the material to understand (and usually also solve) the problem presented in the case. Specifically designed for use in large introductory science classes, the method integrates lecture material, case storylines, student discussion, (clicker) questions, clarification of answers to those questions, more lecture, and data.

The world’s resource base is quickly becoming depleted and a steady increase in the human population is a concern as we seek long-term solutions to a global, environmental crisis. In addition to this, affluence in industrialized countries constitutes another challenge for a more equitable distribution of resources in the pursuit of a better quality of life for more people. For these reasons, this case study will be of interest to students in an introductory biology course. As they work through the case, students calculate their ecological footprint. They are then asked to decide whether a new parking lot is more effective in accommodating the needs of an expanding university campus than a community garden. Campus greening is becoming a challenging component of the experience of millions of college students throughout the world. Many institutions of higher education are committed to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as a way to educate students to become better stewards, and are actively seeking viable strategies to better control global climate change. The American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) counts among its membership hundreds of colleges and universities in the U.S. Moreover, since 2006, about 400 presidents of institutions of higher education have signed a petition to reduce CO2 emissions from their campuses.

Written for a non-majors introductory biology class, this case would also be suitable for courses in ecology, environmental science, conservation biology, environmental studies and general biology. The case is designed to be taught at the end of an ecology unit of the curriculum. Students should be familiar with population ecology concepts (richness, distribution, carrying capacity, competition, symbiosis), including human population ecology, growth, and competition.

White boarding in Science classes

White boarding in Science

White boarding is a term used to describe the student use of a 3’ x 2’ sheet of tile board to record group work.

White boarding was first used in physics classes (Wells, Hestenes, and Swackhamer, 1995). White boarding requires a small group of students (usually about four) to share their understanding, knowledge, and experience, in response to a specific question or problem. Each group is then required to present their findings back to the class in order to compare separate understanding and conclusions (Henry, Henry, and Riddoch, 2003).

The science department at SGJ ordered a trial set of six whiteboards to be made for one classroom. The initial feedback has been very positive among the students, hopefully, (and we are feeling confident) this will translate into improved student learning. Various classes have been using them, from MYP general science to UNAS and IB students.

Students have reported several benefits in using white boards as a tool in class. When students see their thoughts or another student’s thoughts in writing, the idea becomes more concrete, and they are more likely to develop an opinion about the idea, to agree or disagree. (Henry, Henry, and Riddoch, 2003).

Secondly they foster a classroom of cooperative learning, one of our ESLRs and they allow the students control of the learning, by creating an atmosphere in the classroom where ideas are student-generated.

Finally, the whiteboards can be erased, and thus are easy to change, students are perhaps more likely to discuss and consider ideas, knowing that they are easily revised and modifiable.

Henry, David., Henry, Julie., and Riddoch, Stephanie,. (date unknown) “White boarding your way to great student discussions: Using large whiteboards to facilitate group learning helps students communicate their ideas” Buffalo State University from http://physicsed.buffalostate.edu/pubs/Elem_whiteboarding.pdf date last retrieved 28th April 2009

Wells, M., Hestenes, D., and Swackhamer, G. (1995) “A modeling method for high school physics instruction.” American Journal of Physics, 64, 114-119.

Krakatoa volcano trip

Krakatoa Volcano, probably the most famous volcano in modern history, it exploded in 1883, the resulting sound and waves observed in countries halfway around the globe, allegedly disrupting the earths climate for several years. It is now a World Heritage Site, and thus worth a visit if you are in Indonesia.

wikipedia tells me this ...

Quote:
With a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6, the eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT—about 13,000 times the yield of the Little Boy bomb (13 to 16 KT) that devastated Hiroshima, Japan during World War II and four times the yield of the Tsar Bomba (50 MT), the largest nuclear device ever detonated.

The series of islands above are the remnants of the Krakatoa that exploded in 1883, the grey smudge in the centre is Anak Kratatoa, (son of Krakatoa), like a phoenix rising from the ashes is growing anew, reportedly at a rate of 5 metres per year. The islands are the edges of the caldera, measuring about 7kms across.

We left from Kalianda, but you can also do the same sort of trips from Anyer, Cerita, or Tanjung Lasung, since Krakatoa is in the middle of the choppy Sunda Straits separating Sumatra from Java.

Of course, it aint cheap or easy. Your looking at 3.5 million rups ($350) for a boat for a day plus lunch, entry fee and guide, a speed boat will seat 4 people and take 2 hours each way or an older wooden fishing boat will seat up to 10 people and take 4 hours each way.

Our first sight of the Volcano, in fact, it is actually, Anak Krakatoa, (son of Krakatoa) was impressive, a belching, smokey grey smudge on the horizon. You can see the other islands, that are part of the caldera.

The volcano, erupted silently, billowing clouds about every 5 minutes or so.

The west side of the island is slightly more sheltered, and has a variety of plant and animal life, growing on soft, black sand. Albeit punctuated with the odd hardened lava flow.

We ate some lunch and set of on a hike up the mountain side. Through the trees which thin out quickly and then onto baking hot scoria and black ash. The views back down were nice though.

this recent activity started in 1994 and according to Reuters Indonesia's Krakatau roars, dazzles with fireworks | World | Reuters

Quote:
A vulcanologist monitoring Anak Krakatau said the volcano was likely to rumble and roar for some time.
"It is still at the third level of alert. It is safe and there aren't any problems. There were approximately one hundred explosions yesterday," Saut Simatupang, head of volcano observation in Bandung, told Reuters.

However, the rangers, told us that someone died last October, walking too close to an explosion.

Anyway, we continued walking up the hillside, baking black scoria, verdant oceans, blue blue skies, all the while Anak Krakatoa belching ominously in the background. Strangely enough, these cloud belches did not make any sound.

We got to about 100 feet shy of a ridge top, close to the mouth, and suddenly with a strange whooshing sound, it sent up a burst of fist/head sized rocks with the gasses and ash, we watched the rocks like slow motion, rise up and begin coming down towards us, I started thinking about needed to dodge this flying debris, Key was just frozen in shock.

Fortunately, much like my fielding skills, I had misjudged the distance these rocks had traveled and we were never in danger of them reaching us, that time. Our ranger/guide was not quite so blase about it, nor MrsKW, with some urging I suggested it would be a shame to climb so far, and not make it 100 feet more.

OK, you have about 10 minutes here and then that is it!

It was worth it, another shower of rocks or two, and then we began the trip back down.

Was there are strong smell of sulphur and what are the chances of another eruption?
not much smell at all.

As we were walking back down, I heard an almighty boom, much like a thunder clap, unfortunately (I thought) we were in the trees, and could not see how much rock or ash had been thrown up this time. But it did cause much excitement, we heard another just before we left as well. I just loved the feeling of being so close to raw power.

this is the volcano saying goodbye to us as we left.

As to the chances of another explosion, who knows really? even the vulcanologists will admit they dont really understand when and why they happen. Apparently some scientists are suggesting that we stay at least 3 kms away from the volcano

An interesting factoid from Wiki:-

The most literal meaning of blue moon is when the moon (not necessarily a full moon) appears to a casual observer to be unusually bluish, which is a rare event. The effect can be caused by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, as has happened after forest fires in Sweden and Canada in 1950 and, notably, after the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which caused the moon to appear blue for nearly two years.

You could actually do it in a weekend, though a long weekend or week trip might be better.


FRIDAY: Arrive Jakarta airport early evening. Rental car (probably best pre-arranged) pick up airport and drive to Anyer/Cerita which is west coast of Java. There is plenty of resorts/hotels along this area. (about 3 hour trip) or 5 hours to the resort I was staying at in Sumatra, or indeed, catch a second flight to Lampung (30 mins) then 2 hour drive by taxi (cost $25)

SATURDAY: boat trip to Krakatoa leaves after breakfast, returns mid afternoon.

SUNDAY: travel back to jakarta.

or stay a few more days, there is canoes to hire, swimming pool, bicycles, camping trips, ropes course, etc other places of interest include a national park, a beach area called pasir putih that has boats trips to islands and coral reefs etc.

I stayed at a resort called Travellers Krakatoa Nirwana Resort - decent rooms and restaruant a week of dinners, alcohol and accomadation cost about $500

travellers_resortkalianda[at]yahoo.co.id
Welcome to Krakatoa Nirwana Resort Website
+62 727 322 888, 322 900

The resort even had free wireless internet at the dining areas.

Science Musuems in Jakarta

This news article Schools can't spare time or dimes for field trips got me thinking (and surfing) about what outside resources we use in our science teaching at our school….. I recall a science meeting earlier in the year my staff and I were going to put this together, and I’m not sure what happened. (marking and teaching and report writing, no doubt).

I also found this website click here on museums in the world and they have 162 listed museums in Indonesia! Actually I added a couple of pics for the Zoological museum in Bogor.

Anyway, we are going to get it sorted again, I'll post the results here.

Name	Address	Opening times & cost	comments	Last visited
BOGOR ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM	Jalan Juanda 9 MUSEUM KEBUN RAYA BOGOR, www.museum.com		Quite old, poorly maintained. Several rooms of old stuffed animals and displays. Has complete blue whale skeleton.	visited term 3 2008