Aleta's Book Report

by Ricki Lewis Ricki Lewis has been known to biology teachers for quite a while - as the author of the BEST genetics textbook around. She caught the "genetics" bug in 1978, and has been a major player in helping the public understand the nature of genetics, stem cell research, etc. through her writings for Nature, Discover, The Scientist and many other publications. Following the death of her parents, she felt the driving need to volunteer as a hospice worker, as others did for her father. Her first patient was a Huntington Disease patient - a perfect match. Ricki has been passionate about that disease since it caught her attention in the media in the late seventies, having received letters from Marjorie and Arlo Guthrie and others for helping spread the news about research for HD . Ricki is now very passionate about clearing the misunderstandings surrounding stem cells. This novel, while it is fiction, does just that. In a late scene in the novel, her central character (Kel

I decided to read Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth Miller, as Dr. Miller is the special speaker at our Fall MSTA Conference. Now, I must tell you that it does not read fast like The DaVinci Code, but I did get through it. I like the way Dr. Miller approaches the “controversy.” If you are a very conservative Christian, this book might help you understand why creationism and intelligent design are not scientific. It won't do away your concerns about the influence of atheists in society but you might like knowing that there are Christians such as Dr. Miller who can champion evolution. If you are a moderate/liberal Christian, you might learn more about evolution and how to explain to others that creationism and intelligent design are not science, as well as helping others understand what evolution is. You might like knowing that God could have created a world in which evolution operates and can be studied scientifically, and that evolution could have been God's mechanism for

by Spencer Wells Having read the Seven Daughters of Eve, I was ready to see how Spencer Wells addressed the spread of the Y chromosome across the continents. It was not surprising to see that the mitochondrial DNA and the Y chromosome followed similar paths out of Africa. I really liked the way Spencer told the stories of our contemporaries through the research of the chromosome, and which path their particular ancestors took. While this was a great book, it was one which required thought and was not a "quick read." One reason I am glad to have read this book it that I have been following the work of Spencer Wells in National Georaphic magazine. I did not like the way he advertised for the Genographic project, but that was part of the reason for his writing this book. I will be sharing this book with other biology teachers soon. If the cost of being a part of the project was not so prohibitive, I would even encourage my students to participate.

by John Tayman This was another "I heard it on NPR" book. I think it was Fresh Air two years ago. The author was so animated in his description of the book that I ordered it the next day, forgot I had ordered, and ordered it again. I think Beth Dunigan has the extra copy. I found it amazing that the United States actually behaved in this manner toward a group of persons infected with leprosy- but then I think about spread of disease and few treatment options at the time. The personal stories are fantastic. Throughout the reading, one meets different famous people who came to "tour" the facilities through the years, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, Mark Twain, and movie stars Shirley Temple and Bud Abbot of Abbot and Costello. The reader learns much about leprosy, and the book really makes the reader realize that we as a people know very little of long illness. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5183996

by Oliver Sacks This is my favorite Oliver Sacks book. Sacks relates stories about patients having neurological disorders. "Cupid's Disease" was a great chapter about a little old woman who heard music from the twenties in her head. It turns out, she contracted syphilis which went dormant for decades. When it began to re-emerge, she started having aural hallucinations. Her syphilis was cured, but only after Sacks assured her that she would continue to hear the music, as the damaged area would not heal. This was great for her - she wanted to keep the music and was refusing treatment if the antibiotics killed the music as well as the syphilis. This story was used in an episode of "House, M.D." Another story from the book is about a man who had a stroke and could not sense his own leg. Lying in bed in the hospital, he reached down and felt a cold hairy leg in the bed with him. He became afraid and threw the leg out of bed - unfortunately, it was his own leg. He end

Struggle for Existence I have been re-reading Darwin's book, and I notice that I am reading it from a completely different viewpoint. My first read, like many of you, was as a biology undergraduate student reading a required text. Now I find that I am reading this from the view of a biology educator. Chapter 3 had several topics slap me in the face, and I have to share these topics. All of these topics are the main focus of our basic biology texts and I found Project WILD activities that addressed these subjects Coevolution - Darwin does not call it this name, but this is what our textbooks call it. He discusses the relationship between mistletoe and apple trees, and then seed dispersal. Exponential growth - again, not called so by Darwin, but we have all studied this and factors which control populations. He discusses the condor as example of this phenomenon. Predator-Prey relationships - "Quick Frozen Critters" comes to mind with the rabbits and coyotes. Competition for

by Natalie Angier Natalie Angier is the author of Woman, and a science writer for the New York Times. Her most recent book discusses science literacy for the nation. She has interviewed numerous scientists and quotes them throughout the book making statements like: "...studying the Kreb's cycle and Linnaean classifications...whips the joy of doing science right out of most people..." "...science is not a collection of rigid dogmas, and what we call scientific truth is constantly being revised..." "...if you must buy a microscope, then get a dissecting microscope... to look at the simple things like a feather..." "...part of critical thinking is to understand that science doesn't deal with absolutes..." "...many teachers who don't have a deep appreciation of science present it as a set of facts...missing the idea of critical thinking..." Natalie approaches many science topics in this book - from astronomy to molecular biolog

by Joseph Wambaugh While Wambaugh usually writes fiction, he broke from his mold and wrote this nonfiction book about DNA evidence. He wrote about the FIRST time DNA was used to exonerate a suspect, and also how DNA was used (in the same case) to convict a suspect. The book is a good tale of how the British government obtained blood from all men in a certain area of Britain (which would never happen in the USA) to use the new technology provided by Sir Alec John Jeffreys. Jeffreys's research had only been used once prior to this case, and that was to determine a citizenship issue. Being a police/crime writer, Wambaugh does get bogged down in the case work and the investigators, but read on - the science is good. I find copies of this book at every used book store I enter - and I buy them to place in the school library. And then read "Pointing from the Grave" by Samantha Weinberg - you'll be glad you did.

by Marilyn Chase A great story of how the Plague came to San Francisco in 1900 and how it was eventually eradicated. Dr. Rupert Blue shines as the hero in the second plague event. Blue promoted and preached sanitation to contain the disease, but it was only when he focused his attack on the newly discovered source of the plague - the infected rats and their fleas - that he finally eradicated it— one of the great, little known, triumphs in American public health history. We see the streets of San Francisco from a "rat" point of view, and how factors like earthquakes can dislodge the rats and bring about illnesses. Hmmmmm. Beth Dunigan at Mississippi College shared this read with me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't know how either of us stayed sane during the Ph. D. crisis, but we both read more than just research for the dissertations. Therein may lie the sanity.

by Molly Caldwell Crosby This book really opens eyes about mosquito carried diseases! The tale of Memphis in 1878 was horrible while the telling was excellent. We have no idea as to the death Yellow Fever caused in just this one epidemic. That year, Memphis had a population of over 40,000. When fevers started, all but 19,000 left the city, and of that 19,000 - 17,000 died. The book goes on to relate the story of Walter Reed and his work in Cuba. Long ago, I saw a black/white movie about Walter Reed, but it was highly romantisized. I am very glad to have read this book, and to learn about a man whose name I have known my entire life, without really knowing the reason why I knew his name.

Now this is one strange book! A really good conspiracy theory story, but who knows - I guess that's like any good conspiracy theory. Thomas Dudley recommended this book, and I did read it, but I am not sure I enjoyed it - because it "weirded" me out. It is all about Cuba, virus development from monkeys as agents of was, David Ferrie (part of the JFK conspiracy), the CIA's role in a plot to kill Castro, etc. Scientifically, it gives good history on the development of the Polio vaccine, but then goes to a different track, discussing the increase of cancer in the human population as a result of receiving the polio vaccine which was developed from monkeys. I really want some of you to read this book and give me your thoughts.

by Philip Dodd This is a delightful book which gives us the origins of product names. One of my many "I heard it on NPR" books, this one has not disappointed this reader. I am halfway through the books and have loved learning the origin of the name "Jacuzzi" and "frisbee." Part of this is because I love WORDS and LANGUAGE. The other part is the beauty of invention. I'll have it for swap in October at our book swap session.