Text Set

Levi, P. (1984) [1917]. The Periodic Table. New York: Schocken Books Inc.

Although this collection of short stories is not technically book about science, it was named the greatest science book ever by the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 2006 because it helps the reader to truly understand how chemistry parallels life itself. The Periodic Table includes 21 chapters, each named for an element in the periodic table. Some of the material is fictional and some is autobiographical, drawn from Levi’s experiences as a Holocaust survivor at Auschwitz, but the common thread running throughout is that chemistry offers insights in the reality of how the world and its people coexist. There is one chapter that references how zinc requires an impurity for a reaction in acid to proceed in order to offer a lesson on the fundamental imperative of diversity:

"…the so tender and delicate zinc, so yielding to acid which gulps it down in a single mouthful, behaves, however, in a very different fashion when it is very pure: then it obstinately resists the attack. One could draw from this two conflicting philosophical conclusions: the praise of purity, which protects from evil like a coat of mail; the praise of impurity, which gives rise to changes, in other words, to life. I discarded the first, disgustingly moralistic, and I lingered to consider the second, which I found far more congenial. In order for the wheel to turn, for life to be lived, impurities are needed and the impurities of impurities in the soil, too, as is known, if it is to be fertile. Dissension, diversity, the grain of salt and mustard are needed: Fascism does not want them, forbids them, and that is why you are not a Fascist, it wants everybody to be the same, and you are not."

I envision using chapters of this book to 1. introduce a science concept involving ethics, 2. initiate a classroom discussion about how science reflects reality in the students’ own lives, and 3. model good scientific story telling.  For instance, to start a conversation about how chemistry lessons extend beyond the classroom, there is a chapter in the book “Iron,” that describes how certain elements have qualities that parallel human personalities; these elements either generously share electrons, or selfishly hoard them for themselves. Although science and technical journal articles tend to be dry, they also must tell a story, and it is useful to have books that provide good writing models for students. The writing style of The Periodic Table is both compelling and articulate and will be a useful text for modeling writing skills.

McCall-Smith, A. (2003). The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs. New York: Anchor Books.

This book is one of a series of fictional accounts of a pompous and self-absorbed yet endearingly naïve Romance Philology professor and self-proclaimed expert in the eclectic and archaic study of Portuguese Irregular Verbs.  This book is one of my favorites in the series, highlighted by the chapter describing an excruciatingly awkward situation where the professor is mistaken for a famous veterinarian and called upon at a conference to present a paper he knows nothing about, “Further Studies of Canine Pulmonary Efficiency,” and then even more preposterously, to perform a delicate veterinary procedure on a colleague’s dog. The book is clever and scientifically accurate, but is also fall-over funny, with witty dialog and charming characters. 

My major purpose in using this book would be to humanize scientists, as several of the characters are absolutely spot-on impressions of professors I’ve encountered and the scenarios that develop depict a very humorous but fairly accurate reflection of academia. I envision using it to prompt discussions of what students expectations are about scientists vs. reality. This could be combined with an actual visit to a college classroom or presentation by a visiting professor, so students feel less intimidated and more comfortable asking questions.

Ridley, M. (1999). Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

Genome is one of the most readable introductions to molecular biology I have ever come across. There are 23 chapters (one for each chromosome in the human genome) and each chapter addresses a compelling or controversial issue relevant to genetics, with a painstaking and lucid explanation of the science involved. For instance, one chapter references the discovery of an “intelligence gene” but also cites research that demonstrates the role of environmental stimulation in the gene’s expression. Another chapter explains the link between sickle cell anemia and resistance to malaria.

Because this book is so readable, I believe it would be an excellent accompaniment to a more conventional biology textbook. The concepts of systems biology (i.e. genotype > phenotype, DNA > RNA > protein) are simply and elegantly explained so the students get a deeper understanding than from a textbook alone. The issues driving molecular research are helpful in showing the students how the basic concepts are applied and more importantly, why understanding them is important.

Mowat, F. (1963). Never Cry Wolf. New York: Atlantic-Little Brown.

 Never Cry Wolf is an autobiographical account of Farley Mowat’s experiences as a Canadian Wildlife Services biologist where he was assigned to investigate the role of the Arctic wolf in declining caribou populations. Mowat lived closely alongside a wolf pack and his studies disproved multiple misconceptions about wolf behavior and were instrumental in changing the public image of the wolf from a savage killer to an intelligent, social animal with an ecologically beneficial role in the food chain which is necessary for preserving the health of caribou herd.

This book is useful in showing students 1. How a single scientist/writer can make a significant impact on the world, 2. The importance of making informed decisions based on accurate science instead of opinion, and 3. That science is fundamentally the documentation of observations, whether it takes place in an antiseptic laboratory or the Canadian tundra, occasionally fueled by “wolf juice,” (an alcoholic concoction intended for specimen preservation but judiciously consumed by the author to help sustain him in his primitive surroundings). I believe the book could be used to help students understand the scientific method (question, research, construct a hypothesis, experiment to test the hypothesis, analyze data and form a conclusion, and communicate results). 

Strunk, W. Jr. and White, E.B. (2009)[1918]. The Elements of Style (5^th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

The Elements of Style is a brief compilation of guidelines that are useful in developing a good writing style. For instance, it includes a list of words and expressions that are commonly misused and a list of words that are commonly misspelled. My favorite piece of advice is the admonition to “make every word count.”

This book really should be included in every text set in a class that involves writing, in my opinion. Because it is simple and brief, the book is easily read and referenced. I believe it could be provided along with writing assignments and used by students to edit their own and each other’s writing efforts.

6. Adams, C., Thompson A., and Hass, J. (1998) How to Ace Calculus (The Streetwise Guide). New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

The Streetwise Guide has been one of my favorite books since college, when I unfortunately found it too late to resurrect my poor Calculus grade in high school. I think of it as an antidote to calculus textbooks. Not because it avoids the calculus content, but because it celebrates it. Despite being mathematically rigorous and very thorough, there are jokes, one liners and puns on every page, each concept is illustrated in an entertaining, whimsical way, and examples are easy to follow and very engaging. 

I envision using this book to inspire students to find joy and fun in learning where they absolutely least expect it, and to challenge them to create learning tools for themselves and others that show off their creativity and passion for education.

7. Kipfer, B. A., Chapman, R. L. (2001). Roget’s International Thesaurus (6^th ed.). New York: Harper Collins Publishers

Roget’s Thesaurus was originally published in 1852. It is very thoughtfully organized so that the synonyms for each word are grouped into classes, according to general meaning. This helps the user narrow down a selection of subtly different words to target the one that precisely identifies what he is trying to communicate.

Roget’s Thesaurus is a tool I rely on very heavily when writing, to the point that I won’t write if my thesaurus is not available within arm’s reach or online. I believe the use of a thesaurus is what distinguishes excellent from passable writing. It is a tool I will strongly encourage, if not require, my students to use at every writing opportunity. 

8. Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org/

User-contributed and collaboratively edited Wikipedia entries are currently available in multiple languages, with over 4 million English encyclopedia-type articles. Although Wikipedia is not as formally accurate as a peer-reviewed journal, the Wikipedia article for itself reports that “a 2005 investigation in Nature showed that the science articles they compared came close to the level of accuracy of Encyclopædia Britannica…”

Wikipedia is a resource that most students are already familiar with, so it is a relatively non-intimidating research tool. Wikipedia-based exercises in the classroom could involve the use of Wikipedia as: 1. a method for identifying relevant peer-reviewed journal articles, since Wikipedia articles are referenced with easily accessed hyperlinks to journals, and 2. as a potential outlet for students’ creative contributions to science and education, by editing an existing article or writing their own entries. 

9. PubMed database http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

PubMed is a free database resource that allows users to search for biological/biomedical references and abstracts maintained by the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. Although the abstracts are freely available, most of the article content is only available by journal subscription, so users may be limited to either free journal articles or proxy access to journals through an academic library. 

I use PubMed every day to find research articles relevant to my work, but it’s also a very useful resource for information related to personal interests such as health. After a brief tutorial about how to use the online PubMed interface, students can be encouraged to research issues that are meaningful to them using PubMed to track down the most current articles. There have been incidences where laypeople were able to find research concerning their medical issues that helped guide their own treatment. Students could choose a disease or health condition to research using PubMed, and report on the most recent or most effective potential treatments that have been published. It may also be a useful exercise to discuss the process of publishing a journal article, and why some journals are considered more prestigious.

10. Nelson, D. L., Cox, M. M. (2012). Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry (6^th ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman and Company

This is the definitive biochemistry textbook, and the most comprehensive and well referenced I’ve used in my years at school and in the lab. The chapter on enzyme kinetics is exceptionally helpful, and I still refer to it. 

I plan to keep a copy of the current edition of this textbook for reference use in the classroom. It is not light reading, and it is written at a college/graduate level, but it is reliably informative and accurate on virtually every fundamental biochemical concept and it is well worth consulting.