Fall 2005 Excerpts from CHEM105 Student Book Reports:

One of the highlights from each academic semester is the opportunity to read and to think about what students have written concerning several of the defining science books of our times.  This particular group of reports was truly exceptional.  Outlined below is a sampling of excerpts from a few these.  Nice job!!
Dr. O.
Designing the Molecular World: Chemistry at the Frontier
“This was a good leisure read, while at home my friends thought I was nuts reading a book such as this one with the intent of using it to pass time.  It has made me re-look at my current major and ask myself if I would like to pursue my current major, or if I would like to double major or just switch my major altogether to chemistry.  I have developed a new found fondness for chemists because they are so much more important and society does not give them the respect they deserve.”

The Emperor's Scent
“It merely shined light on a topic of which I had never deeply considered or questioned.  Smell is one of the five senses and I’ve always thought of it that way, and have never really questioned it.  It is just simply a normal, everyday function.  This book made me interested in the how and why questions.  I found the book to be enlightening and present fresh, new ideas about scents and smells.”

In Search of Schrodinger’s Cat
“Seeking knowledge gives us a purpose and learning about the world around us seems infinitely important, which in turn, makes physics and the concepts therein seem more important and even more useful after reading Gribbin’s book."

A Brief History of Time
“After reading Stephen Hawking’s book, I realized just how important science is and how much more we have to learn about the universe we live in today.”

A Brief History of Time
 “It explains the majority of the phenomenon that happen in outer space.  I have always wondered about many of these questions but have never found a readable explanation. This book has helped me explain where the universe came from and where it is going.”

Waves and Beaches
“Through reading this book I have learned that the ocean is far more complex than I thought it was, and I am not the type of person who has ever taken complexity lightly.  From now on, I’ll have a better understanding of that complexity and when I look out into the ocean, it will have that much more meaning to me.”

Marie Curie: A Life
“Honestly, this book was a very interesting read.  Maria Curie had many challenges in her life and many accomplishments through her life.  This book has made me more open to the field of science and more aware of how you can not just give up on a goal that you have set.”

Waves and Beaches
“It will be hard for me to go to the beach now, and not just stop and wonder where a wave originated from, and what is happening beneath the surface causing this amazing process to develop.  From reading this I am able to take in a new view of what many people take for granted."

A Brief History of Time
“Reading this book was also one of the first times that many different aspects of science that I have learned in the past came together to make sense and teach me about the bigger role they play in things.  This book has definitely made me feel like a chemistry major.”

Wonderful Life
“Through this reading, I have learned more than I ever thought possible about the science of archaeology, morphology, and cladistics, and their role in discovering the history of nature……The most important thing I have learned, however, is an understanding that our knowledge about nature, specifically our history are far from and will never be one-hundred percent complete."

Conversations with Neil’s Brain
“I found the book extremely interesting because it made me think that I really do not understand who I am.  How did I become the person I am today? Where is the narrator of the story of my life located in my brain?

I found this novel an interesting read.  It was well written and helped me to understand how I am able to live a capable life.  It also helped me to have a better understanding of what is meant by mental illness or disease. One slight change in a person’s chemistry can cause him to live an alternative life; one traumatic blow to the head can cause epilepsy; too many divisions of the cell can cause brain tumors that will alter a person’s life.”

The First Three Minutes
“As I began to read further into the book, everything started to come together and I understood how the universe actually was created and how it works."

Ben Franklin: the Autobiography and other Readings
“Most importantly, this reading has taught me that in order to be successful in life, you must find happiness and never let it go."

Cosmos
“That is what is so wonderful about Carl Sagan and his novel Cosmos; he is able to explain even the most complicated scientific idea in such a way that an individual with only the most basic scientific knowledge would understand.  He opens the door to scientific and galactic study to anyone who is able to crack open the spine of this most amazing novel and open up their minds to the possibilities presented within.”

Silent Spring
“After reading this book, I find myself stopping during the middle of a meal and wondering what percent of my food consumption contains one of many chlorinated hydrocarbons.  Perhaps this piece of lettuce slipped through inspection and will contain the 5 in 1,000,000 parts of DDT so synonymous with “necrosis or disintegration of liver cells [Carson 21]."

A Brief History of Time
 “..[in] Hawking’s work, there lies an ultimate issue that the author describes and attends to solving using modern physics: the question of what position an external God would have in our universe today.  Through mathematics, Hawking tries to explain thoroughly such theological issues involving the origin of the universe and life, matters that are commonly left to religion to answer.  In doing so, he proceeds to downplay the role of God in our lives and world, and rather elevates the roles of existence and knowledge.

While I am not personally as radical in my belief in the importance of knowledge as Professor Hawking, I do believe that it is the desire for knowledge that ultimately moves our society forward, with or without the influence of God. I do, however, leave some things to explanation via the Bible and religion, and I do believe in the existence of a God, however limited or omnipresent His influence may be.  Professor Hawking’s work, though, has given me a much better  understanding of the universe the and forces that comprise it.”