Deep Ancestry: Inside The Genographic Project

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.

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Reverend Guppy's Aquarium

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The Canon

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...

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