Re: School Discussion
Gerold Firl (geroldf@sdd.hp.com)
5 Nov 1996 20:38:39 GMT
In article <3277D9CF.4273@frontiernet.net>, Susan Whitney <whitneys@frontiernet.net> writes:
|> Help! I am piloting a program in a Middle school where highly able
|> Science students read and discuss a wide variety of Science related
|> essays. Gould and Lewis Thomas immediately came to mind. Any
|> suggestions for appealing and discussible articles?
Human sociobiology always gets the kids excited; works on this
newsgroup. I'm not sure about articles, but you could try excerpts
from e. o. wilson _sociobiology_ or _on human nature_; dawkins _the
selfish gene_, _blind watchmaker_, or _the extended phenotype_; jared
diamond _the third chimpanzee_; or barash _the whisperings within_.
Any of those should get some discussion going. You could contrast with
the anti-sociobiology polemics of gould and lewontin, and if you
really want to get to the fringe of philosophy-of-science type issues,
scientific american had a short interview/profile of feyerabend a
couple of years ago.
Two other books which I think would be interesting are freeman dyson's
_infinite in all directions_, and a book called _cosmic ecology_
(can't remember the author offhand - a caltech astronomer), both of
which look at big-picture issues ranging from the living cell to the
origin of the universe.
William Calvin has written a number of wonderful books about the
evolution of human intelligence; he has them all availible on his
website. _The river that runs uphill_ is organized around a grand
canyon rafting trip, where calvin muses on time and evolution as the
river cuts through successive strata. Combine those essays with a
geologic map of the grand canyon (availible in a big format, like 3'
by 5' from the park association); could be fun.
--
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=---- Gerold Firl @ ..hplabs!hp-sdd!geroldf
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