Inspired by A Wrinkle in Time, I started thinking about what other young adult novels have scientists in them (not necessarily accurate/realistic ones). Unfortunately, being a fantasy buff, the list on my shelves was pretty short. Though, as Arthur C. Clarke put it, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Being unable to come up with a good list, I took advantage of my social network, and so I asked a youth librarian. Here are some of her suggestions:
Fever Crumb, by Philip Reeve
Alchemy and Meggy Swan, by Karen Cushman (Haven't read this one, but two of her other books, Catherine Called Birdy and The Midwife's Apprentice were favorites)
Science Fair, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
The Kiki Strike series, by Kirsten Miller (mad scientists!)
The Leviathan Series, by Scott Westerfield (I've read these, and loved them! They're also steampunk books, so there's lots of swashbuckling airship action too. Darwin is also a total celebrity. Third one is due out in November. It also talks a bit about mechanics, which is fun.)
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly
The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart
Higher Institute for Villainous Education, by Mark Walden
The Relic Master Series, by Catherine Fisher
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, by M.T.Anderson
Double Helix, by Nancy Werlin
Living on Impulse, by Cara Haycak
Tentacles, by Roland Smith
and
The Gadget, by Paul Zindel
For teenagers, I recommend Fluke, by Christopher Moore, which is goofy and bit raunchy for younger kids, but (very loosely) based on real whale researchers. The second half gets very strange, but teenage boys will like it. This is hardly an exhaustive list, but if you're looking for books with scientists in them, it's a place to start!
Summer time is apparently reading time: for adult recommendation, check out the list growing at Uncertain Principles, and of course, his book, How to Teach Physics to Your Dog.
Showing posts with label liberal arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label liberal arts. Show all posts
Monday, June 13, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Well-Rounded Engineers (or why Humanities Matter)
While SnowTech was an engineering school to the core, my high school education was very much like attending a liberal arts college. I was enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program, which means that, among other things, I can spell baccalaureate correctly on the first try. It also means that I got a much broader education than the typical American high school student.
As a graduate student, it is pretty much inevitable that you will work with people from other countries, and absolutely inevitable that you will work with people from very different cultural backgrounds than yours. Sure, you'll have common scientific backgrounds, but there's more to an effective working relationship. This is where I think it's important to have that broader background to draw on.
My high school experience involved a very extensive study of modern (i.e., 1760-ish onward) European History, as well as a brief study of Asian and Latin American History. Learning history gives me perspective on more cultural background. More importantly, though, history class is where I really learned how to write a coherent argument. We wrote essay. Lots of essay. Some of them at home, some of them where we were given specific resources to analyze, and others where we had to recall the supporting information without help. We were taught how to structure an argument, and how to support a thesis statement effectively. Over and over, I read about how scientists can't write or communicate. Perhaps it's because they were never really taught how?
I also had to learn a second language (I chose Spanish). More than anything, I think this is something everyone should have to try, just so they can appreciate how difficult it really is. Yes, your Chinese TA may have a thick accent and trouble with articles like "the", but your Chinese would probably be even more unintelligible. Trying to speak a second language helps you learn how to effectively manipulate a restricted vocabulary. Depending on who I'm talking to, I tend to adjust my speech patterns (particularly my enunciation), because I'm aware that my standard mode of speech can be excessively florid, slightly mumbled, and non-linear. Learning Spanish made me a more effective communicator, even though I'm still speaking in English.
Speaking of English, my freshman year focused on learning how to extract meaning from text efficiently. We were assigned 26 books over the course of the year, and while my freakish speed-reading self completely read all but one of them (I just can't get into Dickens), we were taught strategies on how to look for meaning without poring over every single word. I also learned how to edit myself brutally. We were given red pens and our own papers, and she expected them to be bleeding when we turned them back in.
I've already talked about how music lead me to materials science, and it should be obvious that chemistry and physics and math were very important to that as well. However, I think the most important skills I learned in high school weren't the facts or formulas I memorized, but the communication skills I learned outside of STEM classes.
As a graduate student, it is pretty much inevitable that you will work with people from other countries, and absolutely inevitable that you will work with people from very different cultural backgrounds than yours. Sure, you'll have common scientific backgrounds, but there's more to an effective working relationship. This is where I think it's important to have that broader background to draw on.
My high school experience involved a very extensive study of modern (i.e., 1760-ish onward) European History, as well as a brief study of Asian and Latin American History. Learning history gives me perspective on more cultural background. More importantly, though, history class is where I really learned how to write a coherent argument. We wrote essay. Lots of essay. Some of them at home, some of them where we were given specific resources to analyze, and others where we had to recall the supporting information without help. We were taught how to structure an argument, and how to support a thesis statement effectively. Over and over, I read about how scientists can't write or communicate. Perhaps it's because they were never really taught how?
I also had to learn a second language (I chose Spanish). More than anything, I think this is something everyone should have to try, just so they can appreciate how difficult it really is. Yes, your Chinese TA may have a thick accent and trouble with articles like "the", but your Chinese would probably be even more unintelligible. Trying to speak a second language helps you learn how to effectively manipulate a restricted vocabulary. Depending on who I'm talking to, I tend to adjust my speech patterns (particularly my enunciation), because I'm aware that my standard mode of speech can be excessively florid, slightly mumbled, and non-linear. Learning Spanish made me a more effective communicator, even though I'm still speaking in English.
Speaking of English, my freshman year focused on learning how to extract meaning from text efficiently. We were assigned 26 books over the course of the year, and while my freakish speed-reading self completely read all but one of them (I just can't get into Dickens), we were taught strategies on how to look for meaning without poring over every single word. I also learned how to edit myself brutally. We were given red pens and our own papers, and she expected them to be bleeding when we turned them back in.
I've already talked about how music lead me to materials science, and it should be obvious that chemistry and physics and math were very important to that as well. However, I think the most important skills I learned in high school weren't the facts or formulas I memorized, but the communication skills I learned outside of STEM classes.
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