Science and Inquiry discussion

I was wondering if anyone would be interested in having monthly discussions of popular science books?

Sure. Sounds fun.

I would definitely be very much "in" on this. There are quite a few good ones listed on the bookshelf. Do we want to pick one from there to start with? I'd be happy to nominate one, but I think JuliAnna should pick the first one since it's her idea.

I think some nominations would be useful. Then, we can see what those who will be participating are most interested in reading and discussing. Hopefully, we can find something with general appeal.

Here are some of the books that I would like an excuse to read:
Gould's The Mismeasure of Man
Dawkins' Selfish Gene
Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma
Oshinsky's Polio
Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Physics would also be fun.

What would other people like to read and discuss with the group?

I'd be interested in reading

The Ghost Map
The Radioactive Boyscout
The Third Chimpanzee
Plague Time
Physics of the Impossible
The Selfish Gene
The Mismeasure of Man (which I have read, but a looong time ago)

I like this idea!

The Ghost Map
The Beak of the Finch
The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments

Thanks for organizing, JuliAnna!

It looks like the monthly reading will be a go! Several people have responded to the event announcement saying they are interested.

I thought I would collect nominations for a few more days. If there seems to be a clear preference for a particular book, we should go ahead with that one. Otherwise, I can post the list and have folks vote. (A kind soul from one of my other groups showed me how this can be set up quite easily.)

So far, it looks like the there is the most interest in The Ghost Map, The Selfish Gene, The Mismeasure of Man, and the Physics of the Impossible (which I would also like to read).

I have created an online questionnaire with the book nominations:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm...

Please head over and vote for your top choice!

I'll collect votes through Sunday 7/20/08 and then announce the results.

Thank you so much for organising this. So many great books! I can't wait to start!

Looking forward to the results!!! I saw a lot on that list I could go for.

This looks great! I look forward to seeing the results :)

There's some excellent choices on this list! I'm excited :~)

I'm curious to see what our choice is!

Here are my votes for the first monthly discussion:
The Mismeasure of Man
The Selfish Gene
Physics of the Impossible

There are three because I just couldn't decide. In fact, the whole list looks really good, except for the ones about plague and disease. Though not exactly a hypochondriac, I am somewhat of an alarmist and had to stop watching "House."

Thanks for the list and the excellent opportunity.

Just a reminder for folks. You need to go to the online poll in order to vote:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm...


It looks like a pretty good turnout based on the votes so far. I expect to post the results Monday night.

Just a reminder that today is the last day to vote for which book to discuss. Just follow the link in the comment above.

I'll post the results tomorrow!

Hi!

I'm new in this group and would love to participate in the monthly book discussions... the problem is, I don't live in the US and it takes about 21 days for the books to arrive here once I buy them.

Would it be possible to pick the books well in advance, so that I (and others who might have a similar problem) can have time enought to get them??

Thanks!
Andrea