Don't Be Such a Scientist, Second Edition

Don't Be Such a Scientist, Second Edition PDF Author: Randy Olson
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1610919173
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
In Don't Be Such a Scientist, Randy Olson shares lessons of his transformation from tenured professor to Hollywood filmmaker, challenging the science world to toss out its stodgy past in favor of something more dymanic --and ultimately more human. In this second edition, Olson buils upon the radical approach of Don't Be Such a Scientist throught timely updates and new stories. In his signature candid style, Olson weighs in on recent events in the science community, celebrating the rise in grassroots activism while critiquing the scientific establishment. In an age of renewed attack on science, Don't Be Such a Scientist, Second Edition is a provocative guide to making your voice heard.--

Don't Be Such a Scientist, Second Edition

Don't Be Such a Scientist, Second Edition PDF Author: Randy Olson
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1610919173
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Get Book

Book Description
In Don't Be Such a Scientist, Randy Olson shares lessons of his transformation from tenured professor to Hollywood filmmaker, challenging the science world to toss out its stodgy past in favor of something more dymanic --and ultimately more human. In this second edition, Olson buils upon the radical approach of Don't Be Such a Scientist throught timely updates and new stories. In his signature candid style, Olson weighs in on recent events in the science community, celebrating the rise in grassroots activism while critiquing the scientific establishment. In an age of renewed attack on science, Don't Be Such a Scientist, Second Edition is a provocative guide to making your voice heard.--

Why Fish Don't Exist

Why Fish Don't Exist PDF Author: Lulu Miller
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501160346
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Nineteenth-century scientist David Starr Jordan built one of the most important fish specimen collections ever seen, until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake shattered his life's work.

Why Don't Students Like School?

Why Don't Students Like School? PDF Author: Daniel T. Willingham
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470730455
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Easy-to-apply, scientifically-based approaches for engaging students in the classroom Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham focuses his acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning. His book will help teachers improve their practice by explaining how they and their students think and learn. It reveals-the importance of story, emotion, memory, context, and routine in building knowledge and creating lasting learning experiences. Nine, easy-to-understand principles with clear applications for the classroom Includes surprising findings, such as that intelligence is malleable, and that you cannot develop "thinking skills" without facts How an understanding of the brain's workings can help teachers hone their teaching skills "Mr. Willingham's answers apply just as well outside the classroom. Corporate trainers, marketers and, not least, parents -anyone who cares about how we learn-should find his book valuable reading." —Wall Street Journal

Houston, We Have a Narrative

Houston, We Have a Narrative PDF Author: Randy Olson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022627098X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
Communicate more effectively about science—by taking a page from Hollywood and improving your storytelling skills. Ask a scientist about Hollywood, and you’ll probably get eye rolls. But ask someone in Hollywood about science, and they’ll see dollar signs: Moviemakers know that science can be the source of great stories, with all the drama and action that blockbusters require. That’s a huge mistake, says Randy Olson: Hollywood has a lot to teach scientists about how to tell a story—and, ultimately, how to do science better. With Houston, We Have a Narrative, he lays out a stunningly simple method for turning the dull into the dramatic. Drawing on his unique background, which saw him leave his job as a working scientist to launch a career as a filmmaker, Olson first diagnoses the problem: When scientists tell us about their work, they pile one moment and one detail atop another moment and another detail—a stultifying procession of “and, and, and.” What we need instead is an understanding of the basic elements of story, the narrative structures that our brains are all but hardwired to look for—which Olson boils down, brilliantly, to “And, But, Therefore,” or ABT. At a stroke, the ABT approach introduces momentum (“And”), conflict (“But”), and resolution (“Therefore”)—the fundamental building blocks of story. As Olson has shown by leading countless workshops worldwide, when scientists’ eyes are opened to ABT, the effect is staggering: suddenly, they’re not just talking about their work—they’re telling stories about it. And audiences are captivated. Written with an uncommon verve and enthusiasm, and built on principles that are applicable to fields far beyond science, Houston, We Have a Narrative has the power to transform the way science is understood and appreciated, and ultimately how it’s done.

The Science of Middle-earth

The Science of Middle-earth PDF Author: Roland Lehoucq
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1643136178
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Book Description
The surprising and illuminating look at how Tolkien's love of science and natural history shaped the creation of his Middle Earth, from its flora and fauna to its landscapes. The world J.R.R. Tolkien created is one of the most beloved in all of literature, and continues to capture hearts and imaginations around the world. From Oxford to ComiCon, the Middle Earth is analyzed and interpreted through a multitude of perspectives. But one essential facet of Tolkien and his Middle Earth has been overlooked: science. This great writer, creator of worlds and unforgettable character, and inventor of language was also a scientific autodidact, with an innate interest and grasp of botany, paleontologist and geologist, with additional passions for archeology and chemistry. Tolkien was an acute observer of flora and fauna and mined the minds of his scientific friends about ocean currents and volcanoes. It is these layers science that give his imaginary universe—and the creatures and characters that inhabit it—such concreteness. Within this gorgeously illustrated edition, a range of scientists—from astrophysicists to physicians, botanists to volcanologists—explore Tolkien’s novels, poems, and letters to reveal their fascinating scientific roots. A rewarding combination of literary exploration and scientific discovery, The Science of Middle Earth reveals the hidden meaning of the Ring’s corruption, why Hobbits have big feet, the origins of the Dwarves, the animals which inspired the dragons, and even whether or not an Ent is possible. Enhanced by superb original drawings, this transportive work will delight both Tolkien fans and science lovers and inspire us to view both Middle Earth—and our own world—with fresh eyes.

Why We Sleep

Why We Sleep PDF Author: Matthew Walker
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501144316
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
"Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity ... An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now ... neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming"--Amazon.com.

Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles?

Can a Scientist Believe in Miracles? PDF Author: Ian Hutchinson
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830873953
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Plasma physicist Ian Hutchinson has been asked hundreds of questions about faith and science: What is faith and what is science? Are they compatible? Are there realities science cannot explain? Is God's existence a scientific question? Is the Bible consistent with the modern scientific understanding of the universe? Are there scientific reasons to believe in God? In this comprehensive volume, Hutchinson answers a full range of inquiries with sound scientific insights and measured Christian perspective. Without minimizing challenging questions, he explores how science and Christianity are mutually supportive and intellectually consistent. Both God and science truthfully address our curiosity and destiny. Find answers to your deepest questions.

Great Minds Don’t Think Alike

Great Minds Don’t Think Alike PDF Author: Marcelo Gleiser
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231555377
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 387

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Book Description
Does technology change who we are, and if so, in what ways? Can humanity transcend physical bodies and spaces? Will AI and genetic engineering help us reach new heights or will they unleash dystopias? How do we face mortality, our own and that of our warming planet? Questions like these—which are only growing more urgent—can be answered only by drawing on different kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing. They challenge us to bridge the divide between the sciences and the humanities and bring together perspectives that are too often kept apart. Great Minds Don’t Think Alike presents conversations among leading scientists, philosophers, historians, and public intellectuals that exemplify openness to diverse viewpoints and the productive exchange of ideas. Pulitzer and Templeton Prize winners, MacArthur “genius” grant awardees, and other acclaimed writers and thinkers debate the big questions: who we are, the nature of reality, science and religion, consciousness and materialism, and the mysteries of time. In so doing, they also inquire into how uniting experts from different areas of study to consider these topics might help us address the existential risks we face today. Convened and moderated by the physicist and author Marcelo Gleiser, these public dialogues model constructive engagement between the sciences and the humanities—and show why intellectual cooperation is necessary to shape our collective future. Contributors include David Chalmers and Antonio Damasio; Sean Carroll and B. Alan Wallace; Patricia Churchland and Jill Tarter; Rebecca Goldstein and Alan Lightman; Jimena Canales and Paul Davies; Ed Boyden and Mark O’Connell; Elizabeth Kolbert and Siddhartha Mukherjee; Jeremy DeSilva, David Grinspoon, and Tasneem Zehra Husain.

Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze

Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze PDF Author: Scientist New
Publisher: Penguin Canada
ISBN: 0143182013
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
- What time is it at the North Pole? - What’s the chemical formula for a human being? - Why is snot green? - Should you pickle your conkers? - Why do boomerangs come back? The New Scientist magazine’s ever-popular "Last Word" column produces an endlessly fascinating array of questions and answers from its readers. For all those who relish its mixture of wit, insight and scientific curiosity—not to mention those who have read and enjoyed Does Anything Eat Wasps?, the brilliantly successful previous collection—this new volume will be irresistible. Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze? includes recent answers never before published in book form, as well as old favourites from the column’s early days. This bumper collection brings together the highlights of the ‘Last Word’ in another wise, weird and wacky compendium that is guaranteed to amaze, inform and delight.

Numbers Don't Lie

Numbers Don't Lie PDF Author: Vaclav Smil
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525507817
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
"Vaclav Smil is my favorite author… Numbers Don't Lie takes everything that makes his writing great and boils it down into an easy-to-read format. I unabashedly recommend this book to anyone who loves learning."--Bill Gates, GatesNotes From the author of How the World Really Works, an essential guide to understanding how numbers reveal the true state of our world--exploring a wide range of topics including energy, the environment, technology, transportation, and food production. Vaclav Smil's mission is to make facts matter. An environmental scientist, policy analyst, and a hugely prolific author, he is Bill Gates' go-to guy for making sense of our world. In Numbers Don't Lie, Smil answers questions such as: What's worse for the environment--your car or your phone? How much do the world's cows weigh (and what does it matter)? And what makes people happy? From data about our societies and populations, through measures of the fuels and foods that energize them, to the impact of transportation and inventions of our modern world--and how all of this affects the planet itself--in Numbers Don't Lie, Vaclav Smil takes us on a fact-finding adventure, using surprising statistics and illuminating graphs to challenge conventional thinking. Packed with fascinating information and memorable examples, Numbers Don't Lie reveals how the US is leading a rising worldwide trend in chicken consumption, that vaccination yields the best return on investment, and why electric cars aren't as great as we think (yet). Urgent and essential, with a mix of science, history, and wit--all in bite-sized chapters on a broad range of topics--Numbers Don't Lie inspires readers to interrogate what they take to be true.