Chemical Education Today edited by
Cheryl Baldwin Frech University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, OK 73034-5209
The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing by Richard Dawkins. Oxford University Press: New York, 2009. 512 pp. ISBN 978-0199216819 (paper). $18.95. reviewed by Luis D. Montes
In The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, Dawkins has compiled over 80 excerpts of writing from notable scientists. Included in this anthology are pieces written by 10 Nobel Prize winners and one Pulitzer Prize winner. Dawkins has chosen to arrange the selections in four categories, and prior to each piece, he provides a brief introduction describing either his reason for the following piece or some bit of interesting information about the author of the piece. The first and longest section contains pieces that describe “What Scientists Study”. As with any anthology, debates ensue about what excerpts should be included, and it is mainly in this first section that a chemist might at first disagree with the pieces selected. However, once readers get beyond the titles, they will find chemistry is well represented within the realm of “What Scientists Study”, whether it is the second law of thermodynamics in an excerpt written by Peter Atkins, or Francis Crick's description of the importance of base pairs in the ability of DNA and RNA to replicate. While this first section provides readers with a broad range of the questions scientists pursue, the remaining three sections provide readers with much richer detail about the lives of scientists. The second section contains excerpts describing “Who Scientists Are”. These selections provide readers with brief glimpses of what scientists think of themselves or other scientists, as well as the role of science in society and the responsibilities of scientists who are members not only of the community of scientists, but also members of the broader society. Not all the selections included in this part would be considered typical science writing, as Dawkins has included a few pieces written in verse, including one by J. B. S. Haldane describing his experiences with rectal carcinoma. What unites the pieces in this section is their demonstration of the range of extraordinary personalities that can be found among scientists. The selections that comprise the third section describe “What Scientists Think”. These pieces give many examples of the different ways that scientists think about science, and indeed the varied analogies presented in these pieces provide readers with new ways of thinking about particular aspects of science, from entropy and conservation of energy to Darwinian evolution. The selections in this section convey the importance of analogies as thought experiments in communicating science to others, and sometimes more importantly their usefulness in helping scientists themselves to understand new phenomena. The final section of the anthology contains pieces that describe “What Scientists Delight In”, which in many instances is the beauty or simplicity that a form of a new law or theory will take in explaining some aspect of nature. In each excerpt of this section, the 1138
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authors successfully convey the joy they derive from their struggles and accomplishments in their fields of study. Indeed, throughout The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, the effectiveness of the selections is in no small part a result of passion the writers have for their subjects. As Dawkins writes in his introduction to a selection from Oliver Sack's Uncle Tungsten, “Isn't it nice to listen to a man who really loves his animals”. Throughout this anthology, that enthusiasm is conveyed in each piece. There are many within the Journal of Chemical Education community who would profit from reading this anthology. The passion for science demonstrated in the selections is an important reminder to educators that inspiring others to learn about science begins with the ability to convey one's own passion for the subject. Further, this anthology would be an excellent case study for any who wish to teach scientists to communicate their discipline to a wider audience. Finally, for science educators who are fortunate enough to encounter bright, young minds in their classes, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing would make excellent kindling for growing that spark of interest in a career in science. The varied disciplines and backgrounds of the authors and the subjects they write about provide further reinforcement that science is not about individual disciplines, rather, it is an entire enterprise united by the passion, creativity, and thoroughness of the people who engage in its studies. Luis D. Montes is in the Department of Chemistry, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK 73034-5209;
[email protected]. DOI: 10.1021/ed100864n Published on Web 09/07/2010 Introducing Science Communication: A Practical Guide Edited by Mark L. Brake and Emma Weitkamp Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin's Press: New York, New York. 177 pp. ISBN 978-0230573864 (paperback). $33.95. reviewed by Robert E. Buntrock
The basic premise of this book is that scientists should be able to communicate what they do, not just “do it”. The skill of effectively communicating science has become even more necessary, both for policy makers and also with the general public. These two audiences fund much, if not most, scientific research and they increasingly want their investments to be justified. The scope of the book is on science in general, yet the application to chemistry is appropriate. Introducing Science Communication is organized like a textbook (with a comparable cost), complete with sidebars that include learning points, other sources for additional information (United States, U.K., Europe, etc.), case studies, and activities. It is a suitable text for both science and journalism classes. Science communication in context is covered in Part I, which includes: the history and development of science; science in culture, including literature, cinema, and theater; and formal
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and informal science education of citizens. Practical aspects of science communication are covered in Part II, which discusses: science journalism and other writing about science; broadcasting science, including in emerging media; presentation of science in a number of venues, including pitfalls such as live demonstrations; and the presentation of science in venues such as museums and science centers. Those of us in “alternative” careers in chemistry promote education about such careers, including those involving writing and journalism (1). Scientific journalism programs at a number of colleges and universities have been described (2) and are programs worthy of broader availability. Even those students not contemplating a career in journalism should develop skills in effectively communicating science to enhance their performance in their scientific careers. The material in Introducing Science Communication can also enhance the assimilation of scientific information by those science students who find themselves educating citizens in nonscientific careers. The benchmark reference for professional writing on chemistry remains the ACS Style Guide (3), however, this book is an excellent supplement and should be available to all college-level students and faculty in chemistry, as well as chemical researchers. Literature Cited 1. Buntrock, R. E. Careers in Chemistry: A Wealth of Opportunities. In Chemical Information Sources Wiki; Wiggins, G., Ed; Indiana University: Bloomington, IN, (accessed Aug 2010).http://cheminfo. informatics.indiana.edu/cicc/cis/index.php/Careers_in_Chemistry (accessed Aug 2010). 2. Borman, S. Chemistry in the News. Chem. Eng. News 2004, 82 (Nov 22), 75-76, 78. 3. Coghill, A. M.; Garson, L. R., Eds. The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information, 3rd ed.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2006.
Robert Buntrock is a ( semi)retired chemist living in Orono, ME; Buntrock Associates, Orono, Maine 04473; buntrock16@ myfairpoint.net. DOI: 10.1021/ed1008552 Published on Web 09/03/2010 The Craft of Scientific Communication by Joseph E. Harmon and Alan G. Gross. University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL, 2010. 240 pp. ISBN 978-0226316628 (paper). $20. reviewed by Jeffrey Kovac
Dozens of good books about scientific communication are available. Some are long; others are short. Some are written primarily for students; others are written for working professionals. Some address science broadly; others focus on a specific discipline. Some are guides to writing; others have a broader scope and discuss other aspects of communication. In reviewing any new book on this subject, it is important to locate it in this broad spectrum and identify what is unique about it. The Craft of Scientific Communication is primarily concerned with the big picture, the strategy of scientific communication, rather r 2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
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than the minutia of grammar and style. Harmon and Gross have done extensive research on the development and structure of the scientific article and they have drawn on that research to provide practical advice based on how scientists who are effective communicators actually write. The first half of the book takes readers through the typical scientific article, section by section, showing how to structure the various sections to communicate more effectively. For example, Chapter 1 on the introduction presents a three-part plan for setting the stage for the rest of the article. The three parts are in order: (i) Define the research territory; (ii) Establish a limited problem in that territory that is at the forefront; (iii) Suggest or summarize your solution to that problem. Harmon and Gross then illustrate this plan using examples from the literature. The remaining chapters follow a similar structure. In Chapter 4, the authors provide an extensive discussion about the effective use of tables, graphs, and other illustrations in developing the argument of the paper; I found this to be one of the strengths of the book. In Part II, Harmon and Gross turn to broader considerations. There is a nice chapter on writing for the general public with six excellent suggestions on how to write an engaging article for nonspecialists. The authors end this chapter by advising all scientists to have a short, up-to-date article on their research written for the general public on their computers. Part II also includes two outstanding chapters on PowerPoint presentations. PowerPoint has become the medium of choice for oral presentations, yet some thought is required to use it effectively. Harmon and Gross draw on the criticisms and insights of Edward Tufte (1) and give sound advice, using examples of talks provided by working scientists, on how to design good slides and then how to put them together into an effective talk. I cannot recommend these chapters too highly; everyone who uses PowerPoint should read them. The book concludes with two chapters on style in which the authors show how to work within the constraints of modern scientific style to improve the quality and readability of prose. For example, they recognize that most scientific writing uses the passive voice so they demonstrate how to write better sentences in that voice. They also show how to break up long noun phrases and strings so they are easier to understand. Finally, Harmon and Gross point out that adding a bit of context or a few words of explanation can make your article more transparent to the reader. Although this is a well-written and valuable book, it has some limitations for chemists. The authors have tried to use examples from a range of disciplines; however, no strictly chemical articles are among them. The closest are some biochemical articles such as the famous Watson-Crick paper on the structure of DNA, and some articles on protein structure; no examples are provided of scientific writing involving the kinds of molecular structures that are ubiquitous in the chemical literature. Chapter 4 does a successful job of explaining how to effectively use a table or graph, but does not discuss such important chemical topics as presenting synthetic schemes or analyzing spectra. Chemists will need to adapt the generally useful advice in this book to their unique needs. Fortunately, there are several good references for chemists, including the ACS Style Guide (2), and the recent book by Marin S. Robinson and Fredricka L. Stoller, Write Like a Chemist (3). The Craft of Scientific Communication should not be the only book on your reference shelf, but it should be there to consult regularly.
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Literature Cited 1. Tufte, E. The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within; Graphics Press: Cheshire, CT, 2003. 2. Coghill, A. M.; Garson, L. R., Eds. The ACS Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information, 3rd ed.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2006. 3. Robinson, M. S.; Stoller, F. L.; Constanza-Robinson, M. S.; Jones, J. K. Write Like a Chemist: A Guide and Resource; Oxford University Press: Oxford and New York, 2008.
Jeffrey Kovac is in the Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1600;
[email protected]. DOI: 10.1021/ed100882r Published on Web 09/03/2010
Higher Education in Virtual Worlds: Teaching and Learning in Second Life Edited by Charles Wankel and Jan Kingsley. Emerald Group Publishing Limited: Bingley, U.K., 2009. 256 pp with media disk. ISBN 978-184950-609-0 (hardback). $101.92. reviewed by Lawton Shaw
Higher Education in Virtual Worlds: Teaching and Learning in Second Life discusses teaching in Second Life, an online, immersive environment in which users adopt an alter ego, known as an avatar. Through their avatar, users explore the virtual world of Second Life (SL) and interact with other avatars in real time. Before reading this book, I opened a free SL account and created my avatar. Over a week, I spent a few hours looking around Second Life, checking out the “islands” owned by various universities, and familiarizing myself with SL. With this initiation, I felt prepared to read the book. Higher Education in Virtual Worlds is a collection of 12 essays and research papers by various educators, instructional designers, and other university professionals. Chapters 1-6 cover general issues around SL and education. Chapters 7-12 describe specific case studies. In their introduction, editors Wankel and Kingsley argue that educators must face the fact that virtual worlds like SL are “part of the technological infrastructure”; they say that SL is not “just a game”. Wankel and Kingsley assert that by developing strategies and approaches to teaching in virtual worlds, educators will be prepared to succeed when today's youngsters, who supposedly use virtual worlds as part of their social networking, arrive at postsecondary institutions. That sounds plausible, although the book fails to make a compelling case for educators to introduce SL into their courses. To the credit of most of the book's contributors, they are honest about the challenges and difficulties of using SL in higher education. Unfortunately, many of these reported challenges are so egregious that most educators would throw up their hands and get out of SL quickly. Here are a few examples: In several chapters, authors point out that SL has a significant learning curve, it takes about half an hour just to get into SL with your avatar, and much longer to get familiar with the interface. In one case, students spent class time modifying their avatar's appearance rather than working on the learning exercise. SL graphics are slow: in my experience, the 1140
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graphics are frustratingly slow. The SL Viewer crashes frequently, at a rate of 20% of sessions (my own experience confirmed this). There is the problem of “griefers”, avatars who literally cause grief by interfering with, and sometimes being violent with, other avatars. And then there is sex. The book repeatedly points out that adult content is extremely easy to stumble upon in SL. One contributor described (p 92) the case of a female prostitute avatar selling her services on the university's SL campus! Some of the virtual sexual activity in SL is disturbing: a cautionary description can be found in an online column cited in the book (1). Many SL avatars are dressed provocatively, which necessitates dress codes. (Just how does one enforce a dress code with anonymous avatars?) Ultimately, why would an educator want to deal with any of these problems? Contributors make statements in the book that leave the reader asking whether using SL in teaching has any merits. For example, in Chapter 1, “Second Life... has not yet reached a level of maturity or professionalism that easily allows for successful implementation of Higher Education contexts without considerable compromise and accommodation on the part of the institution” (p 24). And in Chapter 4, “Our findings suggest that, thus far, the pedagogical uses of Second Life are quite limited” (p 71). The editors and some of the contributors are guilty of overstating and exaggerating virtual world populations and their growth potential. The editors point out that there were 15 million SL avatars as of June 2008. However, this figure is misleading because many of these avatars are inactive, and some users operate several avatars. The number of people actually using SL is much lower, on the order of 700,000 active monthly users worldwide, approximately 20 times smaller than the total number of avatars implies (2). Is this really the way of the future? In comparison, as of July 28, 2010, Facebook was reporting 500 million active users (3). Higher Education in Virtual Worlds does offer some hope for SL in higher education. The case studies truly highlight the potential for virtual world technology in education. One case study involved a SL consumer product branding exercise for business students. Students created brands for personal styling products, which were judged by their peers who chose to spend SL currency on the products if they liked the brand. This exercise would be very difficult to do in the real world, and it is easy to see how SL is a suitable venue for it. In another case, English literature students used SL to visit simulated locations representing literary periods. Students could get a full sense of the setting of a novel, such as Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables. A very interesting case study involved architecture students from several countries using SL as a collaborative environment for building design. Some inspiring examples demonstrate SL activities that align with course learning objectives. After reading them, it was easy to come up with ideas for using SL in chemical education. Alas, the book makes no mention of science education. This is surprising, but it does not represent a failure on the part of the editors. For some reason, there is very little science content in SL. A search for “chemistry” in SL yielded zero (yes, zero!) relevant results. Perhaps Second Life is mostly a dead-end in terms of educational uses. Higher Education in Virtual Worlds states that SL university campuses are normally deserted. (Using my avatar, I confirmed this firsthand.) One contributor described the
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absurd, actual case of providing real-life receptionists with avatars so they could greet any visitors at their deserted SL university campus. A recent article describes the trend toward colleges moving out of SL, choosing instead to operate their own virtual worlds to circumvent the problems of SL (4). This may turn out to be the future for virtual worlds in education. This book provides some interesting possibilities and certainly reveals the challenges of using virtual worlds for educational purposes. Literature Cited 1. Ellis, W. Second Life Sketches: Please Stop Doing That to the Cat. February 23, 2007. http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/02/ 23/second-life-sketches-please-stop-doing-that-to-the-cat/ (accessed Aug 2010).
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2. Au, W. G. Exclusive: Second Life Starts To Grow Again. April 15, 2009. http://gigaom.com/2009/04/15/exclusive-internal-secondlife-data-shows-returning-growth/ (accessed Aug 2010). 3. Facebook Press Room from July 28, 2010. http://www.facebook. com/press/info.php?statistics (accessed Aug 2010). 4. Young, J. R. After Frustrations in Second Life, Colleges Look to New Virtual Worlds. The Chronicle of Higher Education Feb 14, 2010, http://chronicle.com/article/After-Frustrations-in-Second/ 64137/ (accessed Aug 2010).
Lawton Shaw is in the Centre for Science, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB, Canada;
[email protected]. DOI: 10.1021/ed100858d Published on Web 09/03/2010
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