random thinks

Science Verse Rocks!

(Click to enlarge)

Science Verse, by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

I saw a poster for this book hanging in the window of my favorite Borders Books and Music store(the flagship store on Liberty in Ann Arbor) a couple of weeks ago when Kevin and I were hanging out.

Whenever I see something like this, something science related and amusing, I generally try to at least take a look at it and most often end up purchasing it. I teach chemistry to non-majors and majors alike at a small liberal arts college, and anything I can do to liven up the classroom is welcome.

This is a very clever and funny book. It has the format of a child's picture book, and I found it in the children's section, but I cannot imagine most children reading it on their own. Too many big and hard to pronounce words. I can imagine the fun they might have having it read to them.

Scieszka and Smith have a lot of fun creating science-based rhymes to the familiar cadences of several well known works. Think "Battle Hymn of the Republic", or "Trees", or "The Raven", or "Jabberwocky", or "Paul Revere's Ride". The illustrations are awesome as well.

My favorite, and one that I have already read to my non-majors, is "Twas the Night", in the cadence of "A Visit from St. Nicholas", about the creation of the universe, by someone suspiciously similar to Santa. My favorite part:

"He huffled and snuffled and sneezed one AH-CHOO! / Then like ten jillion volcanoes, the universe blew. / That dense dot exploded, spewing out stars, / Earth, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, and Mars"

Check this book out for a little silly science fun. If you decide to buy it, use the link at the top of this post, and help me buy more great books.

Internet Kills Book Reading: Who'd'a Thunk It?

Found today via Slashdot, article is available at the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

The National Endowment for the Arts profiled a new survey yesterday describing a sttep downward trend in book reading by Americans. Seems that this decline nicely matches the increase in the amount of time Americans spend with the Internet. Ya think?

The NEA is warning us of "an imminent cultural crisis". Again...ya think? Not much earth shattering news here.

As a college professor, I regularly ask my students to answer an information survey at the beginning of each semester. I use the information to get to know a little bit about who they students are, and what they are interested in. One of the questions I ask is "What is the last book you read for fun?" As little as 7 years ago I had no problem getting feedback. More and more I get responses like: "Do magazines count?" or "I don't read for fun" or the name of a book that was from their last high school literature class.

My colleague Brian and I talk about this situation pretty regularly. He calls our students part of the "postliterate" generation, implying that they know how to read books, but that it is become their least favorite way to access information. Part of the problem I have with this argument is that there are so many more reasons to read books than "accessing information".

I worry that this sharp decrease in reading is also coming with a decrease in the curiosity and creativity of our younger generation.

Rereading I, Robot and Wondering About the Movie

I am in the process of re-reading Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot" in anticipaion of seing the new movie soon. I'd forgotten what fun Asimov seemed to have with his dialogue. This excerpt, from the portion of the book about the two troubleshooters has a line that I really enjoy (emphasis is mine):

"What I want to know," said Donovan, in sudden savagery, "is why we're always tangled up with new-type robots. I've finally decided that the robots that were good enough for my great-uncle on my mother's side are good enough for me. I'm for what's tried and true. The test of time is what counts - good, solid, old-fashioned robots that never go wrong."

Powell threw a book with perfect aim, and Donovan went tumbling off his seat.

"Your job," said Powell evenly, "for the last five years has been to test new robots under actual working conditions for United States Robots. Because you and I have been so injudicious as to display proficiency at the task, we've been rewarded with the dirtiest jobs. That," he jabbed holes in the air with his finger in Donovan's direction, "is your work. You've been griping about it, from personal memory, since about five minutes after USR signed you up. Why don't you resign?"

This whole section of the book has some great lines and some very amusing instances of these two characters troubleshooting their charges strange behaviors, including an abundance of reason, a pool of selenium on Mars, and a supervisory robot who forces his five cybernetic charges through intricate martial and ballet movements whenever something threatens his system.

Very good stuff. I know the movie will take a completely different track, but I am still looking forward to it. The movie seems to be, at least from viewing the trailer, to be an amalgam of A.I., Minority Report, The Terminator, with a little Independence Day thrown in.

100 Books Meme

Found via LunaNina, she of the Unconscious Mutterings.

Simple enough meme: Highlight the ones that you have read. I've read 32 of 100. I do not know who made this list, or what it is supposed to represent (The 100 Best? Books...I'd disagree with some of those choices), but it is interesting.

See below for the list. My reads are bolded...

1984, George Orwell
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Animal Farm, George Orwell
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
The BFG, Roald Dahl
Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
Bleak House, Charles Dickens
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
Catch 22, Joseph Heller
The Catcher In The Rye, JD Salinger
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
Dune, Frank Herbert
Emma, Jane Austen
Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
The Godfather, Mario Puzo
Gone With The Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
His Dark Materials trilogy, Philip Pullman
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
Holes, Louis Sachar
I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
Katherine, Anya Seton
The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, CS Lewis
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
The Lord Of The Rings, JRR Tolkien
Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blighton
Magician, Raymond E Feist
The Magus, John Fowles
Matilda, Roald Dahl
Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
Middlemarch, George Eliot
Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
Mort, Terry Pratchett
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
On The Road, Jack Kerouac
One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Perfume, Patrick Suskind
Persuasion, Jane Austen
The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
Pride And Prejudice, Jane Austen
The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
The Ragged Trousered Philantrhopists, Robert Tressell
Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Secret History, Donna Tartt
The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
The Stand, Stephen King
The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
Tess Of The D'urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
The Twits, Roald Dahl
Ulysses, James Joyce
Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
War And Peace, Leo Tolstoy
Watership Down, Richard Adams
The Wind In The Willows, Kenneth Grahame
Winnie-the-Pooh, AA Milne
The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

Cool Workshop Today

I am down (over?) in Dearborn today at the Ritz-Carlton for a workshop by Edward Tufte. Tufte is an emeritus professor from Yale U, where he taught courses in statistical evidence, information design, and interface design. The New York Times calls him "The Leonardo da Vinci of data." In my opinion, he has written the definitive work on the subject, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information".

Most recently he has been on a crusade about the mangling of information by the use of PowerPoint. I am looking forward to seeing what he has to say about that.

I first picked up one of his books 4 or 5 years ago and have always marvelled at the beautiful design and presentation of the books. I have been looking forward to this workshop for months. I'll let you know how it was when I get back.

Great Quote - Eric Alterman

I just started reading "What Liberal Media?" by Eric Alterman. Alterman is a liberal pundit, the guy who takes on the likes of Ann Coulter and Bernard Goldberg. He is also the author of the MSNBC.com weblog "Altercation", a provocative daily read.

Alterman is set to visit our campus for a convocation lecture on April 14th. Having visiting authors come to campus is always enjoyable. We've had a good group of people that have visited in the last few years: Maxine Hong Kingston, Alan Lightman (my personal favorite), Steven Pinker, Sy Montgomery, Morris Dees, Ramsey Clark and James Fallows, among others.

I volunteered to be on the planning team that is preparing for his visit. I like doing this, especially when the speaker is someone I'm interested in meeting. I got to pick up Alan Lightman at the airport and take him to dinner. It was a great opportunity to have a one on one conversation with someone whose work I really admire.

I get to do the same with Alterman. While not as familiar with his work as I was with Lightman's, I am still looking forward to the opportunity. I did not consider myself a staunch liberal until the current occupant of the White House moved in, but still I think I'll enjoy speaking with him.

As I started reading his book in preparation for the visit, I was immediately struck by a simple quote on page 3 of the introduction:

Ideas, especially bad ones, have consequences.

For some reason, this is ringing in my head right now. Must have something to do with the fact that I think some of the people causing stress and irritation in my life recently have had multiple bad ideas, and they are trying to force those bad ideas on me and my colleagues.

No Fear Shakespeare

In my opinion, part of the magic and wonder of reading Shakespeare is puzzling out the language, trying to understand and appreciate it. I had a wonderful teacher in High School who went through it with us.

It would seem that for some current high school students (and teachers) that this is too much work, and that the kids are getting turned off from it. Enter Spark Notes, a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble. Using their "No Fear Shakespeare" series you can "find out what Shakespeare really meant".

These study guides are designed with "an easy to understand" translation on the right side of the page, next to the original work. Students and teachers in the Metro Atlanta area are using these once barred works in the classroom. See "To Read or Not to Read - New Shakespeare Translations are the Question" from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for the original article.

Some of the translations, from "Julius Caesar", taken from the AJ-C article:

"Tut, I am in their bosoms, and I know wherefore they do it."
--- Act 5, Scene 1.

"I know how they think, and I understand why they're doing this."
--- Same scene, "No Fear Shakespeare" translation.

It is clearer, but the poetry is lost.

"Beware the ides of March."
--- Act 1, Scene 2.

"Beware of March 15."
--- Same scene, "No Fear Shakespeare" translation.

And the most famous of all:

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones."
--- Act 3, Scene 2.

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, give me your attention. I have come here to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do is remembered after their deaths, but the good is often buried with them."
--- Same scene, "No Fear Shakespeare" translation.

I have a problem with this. It is OK for some things to be difficult to understand. Actually, I think it is important and necessary for some things to be difficult. Where is the pleasure and satisfaction in achieving something? I know I am getting worked up about this, but it seems like we are dumbing some things down too much. What's next? Simply getting rid of the novels and just perusing the Cliff's (or Sparks) notes? If I ever see a Sparks Notes for the Cliff's Notes for Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, I know I will have entered the final circle of Hell.

Complaining Can Be Useful?

According to Robin M. Kowalski, a psych professor at Clemson University, complaining does serve a purpose. In her new book Complaining, Teasing, and Other Annoying Behaviors (Yale U. Press 2003) she says "Complaining has value. We wouldn't do it otherwise."

Complaining can relieve stress (venting, getting things off our chests), connect people (uniting people against a common concern, engendering sympathy), and get results (correcting issues), if it is done correctly. Done wrong, it is just annoying. Believe me, I know this. I have listened to my students, my colleagues, and myself complain poorly.

How NOT to complain:

1. Complain all the time. Constant complaining is just whining, and makes you seem like a crank.
   
2. Complain without checking the facts. Do some research about the issue before you start to complain.
   
3. Be non-specific: I tell my students "Don't tell me that this assignment sucks, tell me why it sucks."
   
4. Complain to the wrong person. If you are not complaining to someone who can correct the problem, the chances of correcting the problem are slim.
   
5. Make the complaint a personal attack. Use "I" statements to avoid criticizing directly.
   
6. Have no suggestions as to how to fix the issue. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the precipitate problem.
   
7. Let the issue escalate. If you are proactive, maybe the problem can be fixed more easily if it is noticed quickly. A stitch in time..., don't you know.
   

Everything can be useful, even complaining, if the time is taken to do it well.

30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray

Since the days have become very short, and the weather has turned frigid, I have found myself with more indoor spare time. I have taken to watching a bit more TV than I normally do, which is very little (an hour a day or less).

When I do flip through the channels, my favorites are generally Tech TV, Food Network, Discovery or F/X. I have recently been catching Rachael Ray on 30 Minute Meals. Not only does the food look delicious, the host is pretty awesome as well. Brunette, and she seems quite brainy...an incredible combination. Her latest book,30 Minute Meals "get togethers", in the image to the left, is on my Christmas Wishlist. Any benevolent readers out there?

She also has a show called $40 a Day, on Wednesday nights at 10:00 PM. I have not caught it yet...too late for me, and I have not set the VCR yet. Man, I need to get a TiVo.

Most/Least Literate Cities in the U.S.

According to researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Minneapolis is the most literate city in the U.S. (link)

Statistics from 5 categories and 13 measurements of literacy were combined to give the rankings for 64 U.S. cities with more than a quarter of a million population. Some of the criterion were education levels, circulation of newspapers, number of booksellers and number of periodicals published in the city. Click below to see the lists.

The top 10:

1. Minneapolis
2. Seattle
3. Denver
4. Atlanta
5. San Francisco
6. Pittsburgh
7. Washington D.C.
8. Louisville
9. Portland (OR)
10. Cincinnati

The bottom 10:

54. Los Angeles and Toledo (tie)
56. Fresno
57. Jacksonville, FL
58. Memphis
59. Santa Ana
60. San Antonio
61. Detroit
62. Long Beach
63. Corpus Christi
64. El Paso

The nearest big cities to me are Toledo and Detroit. Although I am at least 45 minutes from either of them. I find the rankings a little difficult to understand. It seems like this can depend on a lot, but especially the demographics of the surrounding suburbs come into play. I know that a lot of people enjoy living in Minneapolis and Seattle and a lot of the rest of the top ten, but fewer and fewer people are actually living in the cities of Toledo and Detroit. I cannot comment on the rest of the lower 10, except maybe L.A.

Interesting...