Science and Inquiry discussion

Happy Thanksgiving to all those that are indulging. To the rest of you, happy November . . .

It's time for the nominations for the January 2012 book. I'm hoping you'll find a few minutes during this time of festivities to visit GR and make some suggestions. . .

Don't forget to browse the group's bookshelf for ideas. There are some good recommendations shelved there.

We'll take nominations through December 3, 2011 ( a little extra time for holiday related delays).

Bones, Rocks and Stars: The Science of When Things Happened looks interesting. It's available on Kindle.

I've been reading Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America. It may be the most important book about science and society. It has changed my outlook on journalism, and the role of science in today's politics.

Since I'm doing miserable at keeping up --- I am reading "From Eternity to Now" but am only a few chapters in, will just monitor and go with whatever you come up with. Both those sound good to me. The Fool Me Twice is already on my TBR list.

I just found two interesting titles on the group book shelf
1- The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
2- At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity

David wrote: "I've been reading Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America. It may be the most important book about science and society. It has changed my outlook on journalism, an..."

I'm not American so I don't think this will appeal to me.

Rana wrote: "I just found two interesting titles on the group book shelf
1- The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
2- At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity

Rana, those are good books. They were tied for our "Book of the Month" in August. You can find a complete list of our "Books of the Month" right here.

I'd like to nominate Bad Science and Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. Both have been on my to read list for quite some time, and both seem like interesting books.

David wrote: "I've been reading Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America. It may be the most important book about science and society. It has changed my outlook on journalism, an..."

Wow! David. Coming from you, that says a lot. I now have to read this book. Right now I'm reading The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, an astounding work by Sam Harris, but it is leaving me feeling very, very depressed about the prospects for mankind.

Sandra wrote: "... Right now I'm reading The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, an astounding work by Sam Harris, but it is leaving me feeling very, very depressed about the prospects for mankind."

That looks like a very interesting book, Sandra. I've put it on my "To Read" list. Are you nominating it for next month?

I'm going to go with something sitting on my bookshelf... The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker, though honestly I'd love to read any of his works.

David wrote: "Sandra wrote: "... Right now I'm reading The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, an astounding work by Sam Harris, but it is leaving me feeling very, very depressed about the ..."

No, I think not. It is a very interesting book, but it's not really a science book, more philosophy/ethics.

I nominate The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. I just finished it, and enjoyed it a lot, but it's so rich, so concise, I want to discuss it with others.

It is good science, written by a psychology professor who is a Jewish atheist. He just wants us to think about universal axioms from a balanced perspective. We who are atheists can't deny that religion and spirituality are important to lots of people, so we need to explore that. He does most of the work for us - we just have to read this short book carefully.

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "I nominate The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. I just finished it, and enjoyed it a lot, but it's so rich, so concise, I want to discuss it with others. ..."

Sounds like a good book for spiritually-inclined people to read, so they could have the opportunity to be accepting and understanding of atheists.

Here are a couple from my TBR:

What is Life?: With Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches by Erwin Schrödinger

and

Atom: An Odyssey from the Big Bang to Life on Earth...and Beyond by Lawrence Krauss

How about Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life. Looks interesting. Available in paperback or kindle.

Priscilla, you make a good point. I'm going to add that to my review (in-progress).
ETA - giving you credit of course!

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "Priscilla, you make a good point. I'm going to add that to my review (in-progress).
ETA - giving you credit of course!"

Thanks, Cheryl. that's what this community is all about. i'll be posting more reviews soon - very busy these days, a good thing.

The nominations are closed and the poll for the January book is up and ready for votes. Poll closes December 7, so get your vote in early!

http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/57...

The group has finished voting in the poll and two books were voted in for January.

They are Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

and

Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America

I'm about a third of the way into Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America. As much as I have read and followed Carl Sagan, I was shocked and saddened to learn that he was denied admission to the National Academy of Sciences by his peers, apparently jealous of his celebrity status.

Several chapters later in the book the author states: "Scientists simply need to speak up and play their part in the national discussion and to listen to--and sell the value of their work to--the public that so often pays their salaries."

Given how Sagan was treated I can understand why some scientists might be reluctant to step into the spotlight.

If scientists don't step into the spotlight, they are leaving a vacuum for the pseudo-scientists of the world to take over. And right now they are doing a pretty good job of taking over.

Steve wrote: "I'm about a third of the way into Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America. As much as I have read and followed Carl Sagan, I was shocked and saddened to learn tha..."

Steve, unfortunately this didn't surprise me, it just upset me. I had read another book (The China Study) that details how some members of the NAS are influenced by industry.

I was also really surprised when CNN fired Miles O'Brien and the rest of its science staff. It was interesting to read about that episode as well. It was nice to see Miles back on CNN just recently, albeit for a brief NASA story.

I am not surprised at any news station firing science staff. I don't think science, or any other dispassionate approach, furthers the ends of news stations (entertainment).

I'm done with Proust and the Squid. It's not going to do much to bring acclaim to scientists. I didn't even read the whole thing, but I did read the conclusion carefully. And I didn't really get anything out of it.

I mean, duh, of course our brains aren't wired to read. And duh, of course people who are dyslexic have their own strengths, maybe even complementary and or compensatory ones. And of course reading enables the imagination.

I think I'll have to read another by Oliver Sacks to boost my morale and rekindle my interest in science.

Cheryl, I scanned parts of Proust and the Squid and decided against reading it. Try Fool Me Twice, I'm finding it interesting and thought-provoking.

tx :)

I finished Fool Me Twice, and wrote a review, which you can find somewhere, somehow. I gave it 5 stars. But like David, the book left me feeling very depressed. The truth hurts.

Sandra, I liked and enjoyed your review. Agree completely. BTW, to share your review simply go to it, copy the link at the top of your browser and then paste it into your comment.

I just finished the chapter in which the education system is discussed, with a lot of mention of relativism. I never found any relativism in any aspect of science education, where I spent my working life (now retired). Perhaps it is more a West Coast phenomenon?

This book has so many references to the body of research supporting global warming and its human causes, but I would like a summary of some sort--a book or a magazine article--with plenty of information on the actual research. You see, I live with two deniers--my son and my husband. Anyone?

Phylwil wrote: "This book has so many references to the body of research supporting global warming and its human causes, but I would like a summary of some sort--a book or a magazine article--with plenty of inform..."

Phylwil: The real problem with human-caused global warming (or climate change, if you're not sure which way the temperature will go) is that there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. Remember from your science class that the earth experienced probably thirty cycles of ice ages with intervening temperate periods during the Pleistocene Epoch (from 1.8 million to 11,000 years ago). Note that humans have been on the scene, and thus able to contribute to climate change, for maybe 10,000 years. So man's industrial might had absolutely nothing to do with it.
However, if you have a political agenda, you can stir up the populace with ugly stories about how global warming (or cooling) will destroy our delicate environment. Thus you can convince the political class to raise taxes to interfere with the economy and use the money to advance their power and influence. Don't be fooled by scientific proof of some hockey-stick increase in temperature during the industrial era. 500 years is a negligible blip in the long-term graph of temperature cycles.
Later, John. (denier)

John, thanks for your response. It is certainly tempting to dismiss the concerns about climate change, but I am reluctant to do so without examining the data and research that drives so many climate scientists to tell the ugly stories.

Is anybody else reading either of these two books? What do you think about them?

I'm still reading last month's book, Earth: An Intimate History, so I'll probably skip these and go directly to the February book next, hoping to get back to these later.

David wrote: "Is anybody else reading either of these two books? What do you think about them?"

I finished Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America a few days ago.

Here's the first paragraph from my review: "This is an important book for anyone who loves science. As one who shudders when he hears beliefs put forth as facts, and scientific theories described as unproven alternatives to equally viable answers, it is comforting to read such a well-reasoned and clearly written defense of the scientific process and the knowledge that it provides."

Here's the rest of the review:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

David, here is my review of Fool Me Twice:

I found this book of enormous personal help since I have been grappling with why, why, why Americans have become so rejecting of science and scientists and what this bodes for our future. Over-population, fuel depletion, global warming, environmental degradation and the takeover of our country (and other countries) by fundamental religious fanatics of various stripes is of enormous concern to me, and Shawn Otto does a phenomenal job of explaining exactly how and why that has happened, no holds barred. He provides a little mini-history of science, and the real philosophical underpinnings of the great democratic experiment that is/was America.

I keep hoping that if I read enough of this sort of thing, I will become clear-headed enough to take people on and become more effective in advocating for the things I believe in--wait a minute, that is exactly how NOT to proceed since it is BELIEF that is largely the problem--be able to better explain why the scientific method matters and why it is important that government policies be based on actual knowledge instead of ideology.

Unfortunately, while the author's analysis is spot-on (IMHO), it leaves this reader feeling very depressed about the future and our prospects for meaningful dialogue and change. I think things are going to have to get a lot worse before they get any better.

I agree, Sandra, that Fool Me Twice leaves me somewhat upset and depressed.

Here are my reviews for the two books:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I'm just about done with Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. I have really enjoyed it. I was fascinated by several of the historical details and research presented in this book. Socrates opposition to written language was interesting. This book really makes you stop and think about how much is involved in the simple act of reading. Breaking words down into syllables, and syllables down into sounds, and finally, using symbols to represent those sounds, and training our brain to recognize each symbol and connect them to the appropriate sounds. Wow! I was also interested to learn that most types of reading disorders are grouped into the category of dyslexia. There have been a few boring parts, but all in all, I've really enjoyed this book.

I've had to bow out completely on these as life and work have attacked with any number of things the last few weeks...