http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Tue, 30 Aug 2005 12:41:58 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/08/30/124158.php Fred BortzDiscover the true source of creation here."Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him....Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this enough, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming too long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don't."Methinks the author has been hitting the sauce (marinara that is) a little too often.We now return you to our normal serious programming.That's all, folks! Sci/Tech35097@blogcritics.org Tue, 30 Aug 2005 12:41:58 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/08/21/120814.php Fred BortzWhile browsing in my community library yesterday, I noticed that a book that I had reviewed a year ago, The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New Future by Paul Roberts, had come out in paperback with a new afterword.As the book's title and subtitle imply, experts now recognize that demand for oil may soon exceed the production capacity of even the largest suppliers. The world's economy is heading for a painful transition, and Roberts makes the case that we are unprepared for it.The new afterword is hardly comforting. The evidence is mounting that we are approaching or have already reached "Hubbert's Peak," when world oil production will be at its maximum, yet the growth in demand continues unabated. The good news is that this seems to be accelerating the development of alternative sources of energy, but there is still no clear technological solution. The "perilous new future" includes not only problems with energy supply but also the possibility of geopolitical turmoil.Last year, with gasoline prices approaching the then incredible $2.00 per gallon level in the U.S., the Dallas Morning News ran my review comparing The End of Oil with Out of Gas by David Goodstein, which was then picked up by a number of nonprofit websites dealing with energy, the environment, and politics.Now as the price of gasoline is flirting with $3.00 per gallon, I recommend reading or re-reading Roberts' paperback and its new afterword. Sci/Tech34541@blogcritics.org Sun, 21 Aug 2005 12:08:14 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/08/17/194655.php Fred BortzWe have an elephant in the china shop of science.That is the warning sounded by Chris Mooney in his upcoming book The Republican War on Science.I have written a review for a major metropolitan newspaper, and I'll be posting it on my Science Shelf website as soon as it appears in print or on that newspaper's website.Meanwhile, you can read excerpts of my review, discover Chris Mooney's other writing at his web site, or have a look at the creative website for the book itself, which has a very entertaining opening page.Then prepare yourself for a lively discussion here on Blogcritics. The book will be hotter than the Sahara after another two decades of global warming, but it won't be dry. Politics34329@blogcritics.org Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:46:55 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/08/12/114906.php Fred BortzI've been writing long enough not to obsess over being turned down, especially when the editor is a long-time friend who takes the time to tell me why a book proposal doesn't fit the publisher's present plans. In this case, however, the reason for the turndown suggests that an organization that once took the lead in promoting innovative and critical thinking can no longer justify the risks in doing so.For background, the proposed book is based on my current school visit presentation, "Our Next Planet: Why, When, and How People Will Settle Another World." The publisher is associated with a major national nonprofit organization.Here is the relevant portion of the rejection:"... while I recognize how well qualified you would be to write OUR NEXT PLANET, the proposal simply did not win me over. We try very hard to tie our books to the curriculum, and I don't think teachers spend much classroom time on speculative material such as this."I couldn't argue with the reason for the rejection, but I lamented it as follows:Dear _____,Thanks for the very specific feedback. It will help me to find the right publisher, probably one with a clear niche and a risk-taking approach, if such publishers survive these days.Your comment about NEXT PLANET is absolutely correct. Teachers don't spend much classroom time on speculative material such as this. I can certainly understand _____'s business approach that leads to that point of view and decision.However, if you'll allow me a little philophizing, the reason you had to pass on that book is a sad reflection on the current state of education, which is being pulled apart by ideologues at both ends of the spectrum. Teachers no longer have time for much in the classroom besides satisfying over-defined curricular and social requirements, and those are increasingly aimed at improving scores on standardized tests. Those tests focus on answers, while science and other fields of inquiry stress questions and exploration. Critical thinking is left behind along with every child, despite the name of the program. In the name of universal competence, we are creating universal mediocrity.It used to be that kids would be given time to explore beyond the curriculum, including the chance to browse the school library where some would discover books like the ones I want to write. Unfortunately, the emphasis on standardized tests and the diversion of educational time and funds to meet the testing programs have left librarians with little money to spend on books like the one I'm proposing. So I can't argue with the correctness of your decision for your organization's current financesI must admit that it makes me wonder whether _____ has lost its ability to set the trends in science education and has become content to be a follower like every other publisher in its market. I know you're not the one to raise that issue, but I am relying on the fact that our friendship allows me to bring it up to you.... Culture34073@blogcritics.org Fri, 12 Aug 2005 11:49:06 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/08/09/113348.php Fred BortzI've been quiet here, because this is not the best venue for me. However, I will occasionally adapt articles from my Science Blog for this site. In a brilliant commentary entitled, "I'm a Public School Dropout" in my hometown paper, Esther Mellinger Stief describes why at age 35, she has quit her teaching job in the public schools. According to the sub-headline, Ms. Stief "loves to teach, to guide the growth of young minds[, but] she doesn't love training students to take the latest mandated standards test."Real education, i.e. the process of learning to think critically, suffers from the increasing trend toward teaching to the test, and no subject suffers more than science. Ms. Stief's comments are a clear indication that we are not only losing our next generation of students, but we are also losing the teachers who really care about critical thinking in all areas.In our eagerness to create "competence," we are emphasizing sameness and mediocrity. We are damaging the best of our public schools. I am a proud product of a public school education, and I benefited from the post-Sputnik reforms in science education that are now disappearing. We are leaving every child behind -- especially in science. It is time to act!Please spread the word about Ms. Stief's important article. Let's get her on talk shows across the country now!For my personal contributions to science education, please visit "Dr. Fred's Place" for children's science and The Science Shelf site of book reviews and columns. Sci/Tech33891@blogcritics.org Tue, 9 Aug 2005 11:33:48 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/06/05/123203.php Fred BortzNew books (see below) sometimes remind me of older books that may not have gotten enough attention from reviewers when they first came out. That is certainly the case for the excellent and readable Nature Out of Place by Roy and Jason Van Driesche.It begins with good intention, innocently, unobtrusively. An attractive ornamental chestnut tree is imported from Asia in the early twentieth century carrying a fungus with which it has co-evolved but which devastates the chestnut's North American cousins.A boat arrives from Europe in the late 1980s and discharges its ballast, containing larvae of zebra mussels, into the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Within a few years, water systems on the Great Lakes and nearby rivers are clogged with colonies of invaders that have overwhelmed and displaced native mussel species.European explorers bring swine and other nonnative livestock to Hawaii. The animals transform the texture of the soil, creating niches for vegetative invaders. Centuries later, feral pigs continue to drive the transformation of the ecology and the loss of precious, unique habitats and species.Leafy spurge, an Asian perennial, arrives in North America, probably for the first but certainly not the last time, in the 1820s as seed in ballast soil from European merchant ships. First noticed in Massachusetts in 1827, it slowly moves westward as a troublesome but minor weed. It finally takes hold in the Great Plains at about the time chestnut blight is doing the same in the Appalachians, probably arriving in crop seed carried from the Ukraine by Mennonite immigrants. Grazing cattle won't touch it. This bit of Nature Out of Place has become a threatening alien invader.Writing with scientific objectivity, rich detail, and quiet passion, the father-son team of Roy and Jason Van Driesche produce unique insights into the dramatic transformations that human culture and commerce have brought to ecosystems throughout the world. University of Wisconsin graduate student Jason acts as tour guide, giving readers intimate, first-person experiences in each venue, introducing them to the scientists on the front lines of investigation and action. University of Massachusetts professor Roy lays out the scientific background.Most important, the Van Driesches resist the temptation to produce a doom-and-gloom expose. Rather, they move progressively from the most alarming settings to the most hopeful, where determined activist scientists, economists, and policy makers seek ways to reverse the ecological damage in the context of twenty-first century civilization and commerce.In the end, they bring the issues "home" to the readers, closing with a chapter entitled "Going Local: Personal Actions for a Native Planet." Whether a reader devours every word of this important volume or merely focuses on the chapters of personal interest, he or she will never view life in the Global Age in the same way again. Ph.D. Physicist Fred Bortz has found his ecological niche in the world of science books, both as a frequent reviewer for adults and an author of several titles for young readers, including Collision Course! Cosmic Impacts and Life on Earth. NEW BOOKS ON THIS TOPIC Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological InvasionThe Botanist and the Vintner: How Wine Was Saved for the WorldRead the new Science Shelf review of The Botanist and the Vintner Books30580@blogcritics.org Sun, 5 Jun 2005 12:32:03 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/12/203355.php Fred BortzI have been away from Blogcritics for a few days, so I was hoping I would have something to contribute when I came back. When I saw that we are spotlighting the Intelligent Design sideshow in Kansas, I knew that I had a lot of old and new reviews to choose from.I settled on this one, because I think the book deserves a lot more attention than it has gotten since it was published in 1999. Admittedly, it's academic in flavor and sometimes slow going, but there's plenty of meat, even if you read it selectively.Following the review, I'll include a few links to reviews of more popular books on evolution at my Science Shelf website, where the latest addition is a roundup of books for the World Year of Physics.The link in the middle of the review takes you to the page on my Children's Science web site where I give my personal assessment of intelligent design in an "Ask Dr. Fred" question from a ninth grader who, I think, was hoping for a different answer. In Sudden Origins, University of Pittsburgh Anthropology Professor Jeffrey Schwartz has produced a book that will challenge -- even overwhelm -- its readers with a wealth of detail. Yet if they can stay the course, they will be rewarded with a thought-provoking new view of the history of life on Earth."Evolution is not a theory," argues Schwartz. "It is a phenomenon. What evolutionists ... strive to understand are the processes that make evolution tick. This is not an easy task, because evolutionary events occur over greater periods of time than any scientist, or generations of scientists, could observe."Without taking on so-called "creation science" directly, Schwartz demonstrates that evolutionary theory is itself evolving, as all good scientific theories do in the face of new knowledge. What creation scientists cite as the theory's weaknesses, Schwartz presents as its strengths.With a thorough detailing of the history of this century-and-a-half-long quest, even including notations in Darwin's original notebooks, he traces the development of our current understanding. That understanding emerges not as Darwinian doctrine, but rather as the result of a rich scientific conversation among colleagues and adversaries, all of whom share a common goal if not a common point of view: understanding the origin and development of, and relationships among, the diverse creatures that have lived on our planet.A recurring theme in that conversation is one that creation scientists often seize upon. If life evolves gradually, where are all the "missing links"? Although that term conjures images of "ape-men," the challenge to the theory is much more serious than that. The fossil record is riddled with gaps.Life forms evolve, it seems, in a kind of punctuated equilibrium. Successful species change slowly and gradually over millions of years, then new species originate suddenly, arising in dramatically different forms with, in many cases, no intermediate examples.Scientists have proposed many explanations for the absence of transitional creatures, none of which have been totally plausible. They have tended to divide into two camps on that issue. One group has insisted that the intermediate examples will be found; the other has argued that geographic separation and environmental change drives rapid speciation.Schwartz sides with the latter group and tackles two important unanswered questions in his "New Evolution" as to the underlying cause of novel characteristics that lead quickly to new species: (1) "How will novelty look when it does appear?" and (2) "How does more than one individual come to have a novel structure?"The answer, he writes, lies in a class of genes called homeobox, whose importance was not fully appreciated until recently. These genes regulate the development of creatures from embryo through adult. Mutations in these genes propagate invisibly through the species as recessive and unexpressed, says Schwartz, until they are common enough that some individuals inherit them from both parents. That leads to fully developed novel features. Within a few generations, a new species emerges.To Schwartz, this is the origin of species: "(T)he same kinds of structural building blocks are found among a wildly diverse array of organisms -- from yeasts to humans -- that have fashioned the resultant structures differently," thanks mainly to the differences between their developmental sequence. As a result, "seemingly distantly related and very dissimilar groups we call invertebrates and vertebrates are, in their genes, much closer than scientists even ten years ago could have imagined." One developmental sequence leads to animals with skeletons inside their musculature; another leads to the opposite arrangement."Given the potential of homeobox genes to be fully rather than partially expressed," Schwartz concludes, "we can appreciate why 'missing links' are so elusive in the fossil record. They probably did not exist."Physicist Fred Bortz is the author of numerous children's science books, including Collision Course! Cosmic Impacts and Life on Earth. If you enjoy reading books about evolution, the following books reviews also appear on The Science Shelf: The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution by Richard Dawkins Man the Hunted: Primates, Predators, and Human Evolution by Donna L. Hart and Robert W. Sussman The Search for the Dawn Monkey: Unearthing the Origins of Monkeys, Apes, and Humans by Chris Beard Darwin and the Barnacle: Story of One Tiny Creature and History's Most Spectacular Scientific Breakthrough by Rebecca Stott The Impact of the Gene: From Mendel's Peas to Designer Babies by Colin Tudge Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect by Paul R. Ehrlich Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley Sci/Tech29431@blogcritics.org Thu, 12 May 2005 20:33:55 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/01/123105.php Fred BortzI usually post in the Books area, but I wanted to share something from popular culture that has always amused me. In writing the monthly newsletter for my Science Shelf website, I always try to come up with an enticing title. Since I was featuring a book about a rocket scientist and some books written for The World Year of Physics 2005, I decided to call the column "You Don't Have to be a Rocket Scientist," with the implication that people love to read about many things outside their expertise.To reinforce my point, I downloaded and included a couple of images from the classic "You Don't Have to be Jewish to Love Levy's" ad campaign for "Levy's real Jewish Rye" bread.It left me with these questions, and I'd love to know what other people think. First, would such a campaign today be quickly entangled in political correctness flap? Second, what other "You don't have to be" campaigns have had similar impact on the culture? Culture28881@blogcritics.org Sun, 1 May 2005 12:31:05 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/04/29/115225.php Fred BortzHere's a scary story from the SF Chronicle with the headline, "Ocean tells the story: Earth is heating up. Human activity, not variables in nature, cited as culprit."This is new data from deep in the ocean. Objective scientists recognize a drumbeat of warning from a variety of sources. Special interests still engage in wishful thinking, as if that will reverse the trend.It's time to dust off an old review and post it here. The curtain rises on the dimly lit stage. Flashes illuminate the backdrop and a rolling rumble fills the hall. The Change in the Weather, a drama in many small acts, has begun. We in the audience willingly face uncertainty, mystery, and clues both false and true, for we know in the end we will sort everything out and return to our normal world.Yet the world we return to is somehow different -- or at least we see it differently.That is the goal of every author, and New York Times science reporter William Stevens achieves it admirably in this challenging yet readable book. He forces his readers to confront the reality that normal weather isn't what it used to be, and that the implications of The Change in the Weather are profound for the world of the twenty-first century.The greenhouse effect and consequent global warning are not millennialist fantasies. Even the "contrarians," whom Stevens gives their due, admit that the average temperature of the world is rising. Their disagreements with mainstream scientists are about the magnitude, details, and consequences of the increase, and the role of human activities in it.The signs of change are everywhere. The 1990s dominate the list of the hottest years since weather record-keeping began; but the increase in temperature is only part of the story. More energy in the world weather system means more severe extremes. Cities around the world are suffering record heat waves, floods, droughts, and blizzards. Severe storms are more frequent and extreme. Spring is coming earlier and fall later in the far North. Plant and animal ranges are shifting toward higher altitudes and the poles. Ice sheets are melting, and glaciers are receding. Large scale cyclic phenomena, such as El Niņo, may be growing stronger and more frequent.How much of this change is due to human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels? That is difficult to quantify, because the Earth's climatic history is one of constant change, even without human intervention.Though scientists are becoming better at modeling the complex land-air-water climate machine of our planet, their predictions are full of uncertainty. Some forecasts are as dire as the loss of entire nations and coastal communities to rising sea level and surging tides. Others are as benign as bountiful harvests in favored agricultural areas. On one hand, changes may be gradual and reversible. On the other, we may experience a sudden and irrevocable transition to a new climatic pattern.How different will the world of our great-grandchildren be, and will we humans be prepared to adapt our lives and political institutions to the changes in global weather? Though Stevens offers several possibilities, he doesn't venture a guess about which prediction will come to pass. Like his readers, he sits in the audience and watches the drama unfold, offering only this closing comment: "The experiment is running, and time will tell."Ph.D. physicist Fred Bortz is the author of many books for young readers, including Dr. Fred's Weather Watch: How to Create and Run Your Own Weather Station. His reviews are archived online at The Science Shelf.Other Wind- and weather-related reviews on The Science Shelf include the following: Wind: How the Flow of Air Has Shaped Life, Myth, and the Land by Jan DeBlieu Inside the Hurricane by Pete Davies The Coming Storm by Bob Reiss Hurricane Watch by Dr. Bob Sheets and Jack Williams FitzRoy: The Remarkable Story of Darwin's Captain and the Invention of the Weather Forecast by John and Mary Gribbin Defining the Wind by Scott Huler Sci/Tech28810@blogcritics.org Fri, 29 Apr 2005 11:52:25 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/04/24/122100.php Fred BortzWhenever I add a new review to my Science Shelf archive, I will try to find a fairly recent one on a related topic to share with the readers of Blogcritics. Today, my comparative review of three books about the conquest of polio and the lives affected by the disease was published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (and will be in the Dallas Morning News soon if it did not also appear today).Some of the events in that quest reminded me of another book about medical research with a focus on the great adventure and bravery. That is the story which author Maryn McKenna describes as Beating Back the Devil. I hope my Blogcritics readers enjoy it as much as I did. We all love photo albums, even when the people in the pictures are long dead and unrelated to us. We wonder what was important about the moment, what thoughts were hidden behind awkward expressions. If the photos are informal, we scan the background for hints of other stories. In that one moment in one family's life fixed in a flash, we see timelessness and universality. The photographs may be dated, but the themes they capture will never be out of date.In Beating Back the Devil, Atlanta Journal-Constitution science and medical writer Maryn McKenna takes readers deep within the snapshots of the subtitle, On the Front Lines With the Disease Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service. Through this compelling book, readers not only relive the events that made or are still making history, but also discover the human back stories.There, unheralded heroes overcome physical, emotional, and political obstacles to prevent news from happening. People do not die. Disease does not spread. Byline-hungry reporters disappear, leaving the truly important stories to be told later by those journalists, like Ms. McKenna, who are perceptive enough to see the larger picture and patient enough to wait for it to come into focus.The Devil of the title lurks in dark corners and has many names: polio, West Nile virus, smallpox, listeriosis, AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, drug-resistant staphylococcus, and SARS. We humans provide niches for this demon in our urbanization, in our technologies, in our personal behaviors, and in our political actions. Old-style wars and genocide create vulnerable refugees living in squalor. Modern terrorist threats stealthily deliver death in the mail, on the winds, or through ventilation systems.This insidious enemy must be fought on his own ground, so the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) sends its troops stealthily into society's underground or visibly into some of the most dangerous settings on Earth. And, thanks to Maryn McKenna, readers come along, sharing the fears, the adventures, the triumphs, and the disappointments.People who study nonfiction writing will also appreciate this book for its technique. In order to tie together these diverse stories, Ms. McKenna views the stories through the eyes of one class of the EIS's two-year training program and places the readers in their midst. She does that by referring to the trainees by first names while identifying other health workers by last names. She also does not hesitate to retain real-life's loose ends or ambiguities. These stories are well-framed and well-composed snapshots, but they are not formal portraits with pleasant but uninteresting backgrounds. They will give readers plenty to pore over for many years and ought to give this book a much longer life than most "timely" nonfiction.Physicist Fred Bortz is the author of numerous children's science books, including the upcoming Beyond Jupiter: The Story of Planetary Astronomer Heidi Hammel. Books28571@blogcritics.org Sun, 24 Apr 2005 12:21:00 EDT