The Other Side of Normal by Jordan Smoller

via

Reviewed by Christina
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Full Title: The Other Side of Normal: How Biology is Providing the Clues to Unlock the Secrets of Normal and Abnormal Behavior

Published: 2012

It's about:  "In this enthralling work of popular science, respected Harvard psychiatrist Jordan Smoller addresses one of humankind's most enduring and perplexing questions: What does it mean to be "normal?" In The Other Side of Normal, Smoller explores the biological component of normalcy, revealing the hidden side of our everyday behaviors--why we love what we love and fear what we fear. Other bestselling works of neurobiology and the mind have focused on mental illness and abnormal behaviors--like the Oliver Sacks classic, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat--but The Other Side of Normal is an eye-opening, thought-provoking, utterly fascinating and totally accessible exploration of the universals of human experience. It will change forever our understanding of who we are and what makes us that way." (goodreads)

Wow, what a blurb!  I had high expectations for this one.

I thought:  I didn't love it.  And that's a shame, because it's right up my alley: I love pop science, especially when it's in the psychology/psychiatry/neurology department.  And The Other Side of Normal is certainly smart and well-researched.  There's a lot of interesting information about the brain and human behavior here.  It reads a little like an update for those of us who took AP Psych back in the day but haven't stayed up to speed with current trends in the field.

So why was I falling asleep when I read it?  The style itself isn't dull; Smoller writes conversationally and adds appropriate humor, research summaries, and personal anecdotes.  But there are also parts in each chapter where he delves into more of the nitty-gritty:  molecular biology, epigenetics, anatomy.  This book has far more detail about the inner workings of the brain than any other of its type (that I've read) and I'm a little embarrassed that I couldn't always concentrate.  In my (and the author's) defense, I did read this during a busy period of my life.  I was very, very tired most of the time when I finally sat down to read, and a more alert reader might have had no problem.  Still, I can't help but think that in the general populace the audience is pretty small for illustrations like this one:

I did enjoy Jordan Smoller's punny, Dad humor-ish subtitles.  Here are some examples: "Facial Profiling," "The Gland That Rocks the Cradle," "Crocodile Fears," and "Mind Your Pleasing Cues."  Teehee!  I have a feeling that this is one of those books that I'm going to look back on more fondly than what I'm thinking and feeling about it right now.

Verdict: Stick it on the shelf or Rubbish Bin?  In between.

Reading Recommendations:  Don't be tired.

Warnings: none

Favorite excerpts:  [About Big Five Personality tendencies in different states]
"North Dakotans seem to be the most outgoing, friendly bunch of traditionalists you'd ever want to know: they topped the list of all states in agreeableness and extraversion but came in last on openness.  On the other hand, Alaska scored at or near the bottom on all five traits, suggesting that the typical Alaskan is a calm but disagreeable and introverted slacker who doesn't like unconventional ideas.  If you're looking for open-minded, enthusiastic, friendly neighbors who are emotionally stable and conscientious, your best bet is to move to Utah."

(I'm amused by that paragraph because I have lived in both North Dakota and Utah.  By the way, I took the Big Five personality test and it told me that the highest concentration of personality traits similar to my own is found in North Carolina.  Guess where I live.)

What I'm reading next:  Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Review: True Medical Detective Stories by Clifton K. Meador

pneumonia is kind of pretty! via

Reviewed by Christina
(I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.)

Published: 2012

It's about: This a collection of (you guessed it!) True Medical Detective Stories.  They are compiled and told by Dr. Meador, a physician and author with over fifty years of experience practicing and teaching medicine.  In this most recent book, he shares nineteen perplexing cases in which some one- a doctor, researcher, nurse, or family member- seizes upon an unusual or unexpected diagnosis.  In one chapter, a woman has unexplained paralysis associated with pregnancy.  In another, a young man frequently visits the E.R., healthy except for a fever and some air under his skin. (?!)  You get the idea.

I thought:  I love medical mysteries, and so I tore through this collection in one quick evening of reading.  Dr. Meador is a good writer: straightforward, clear and very concise, never condescending toward layperson readers.  There's really no extra jibber-jabber in this collection, which is probably why I read it so fast.  Meador describes and solves each case very quickly, providing only the minimum, most necessary information.  My only real complaint is that I wanted so much more: more information about the patients, the diseases, the treatments.  I wanted a little more flair in the storytelling- some red herrings, maybe, or even just more physical description of the settings, the people.  I wish each story had just been fleshed out a little more.

The cases themselves are great.  Some are bizarre, some are sad, all are fascinating.  And Dr. Meador has some nicely-woven recurring themes: the importance of taking a thorough patient history, the power our minds can wield over our bodies, the idea that the doctor isn't always the best detective in the room.  If you like medical mystery shows like House, M.D., Bones, and Doc Martin, you should definitely pick up True Medical Detective Stories and spend a pleasant hour with Dr. Meador's stories.  (By the way, I'm pretty sure the first episode of Doc Martin is based off the "Dr. Jim's Breasts" case, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1980.)

Verdict: Stick it on the shelf.

Warnings:  I don't know, some anatomy and stuff.  It's medical, not sexy.

What I'm reading next:  I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg

Review: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Tarahumara runners in Copper Canyon, via Running Matters

Reviewed by Christina

Full Title: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

Published: 2009

It's about:  In this mishmash of memoir, travel writing, persuasive essay, and sports science journalism, Christopher McDougall describes his own experience with a running-induced injury and his subsequent quest to discover how a native Mexican tribe of natural-born runners, the Tarahumara, can run absurd distances at breakneck speeds for their entire lives without injury or burnout.  Along the way he researches and becomes acquainted with a number of eccentric American ultra-marathoners.  It all comes together in a climactic 50-mile footrace in the forbidding Copper Canyons.

I thought: I LOVED THIS BOOK.  LOVED.  I can't remember the last time I was so continuously engrossed, inspired, and awestruck while reading.  I almost don't want to give too much away about it because I so enjoyed learning something new on nearly every page while also being drawn along by McDougall's enthusiastic storytelling.  Born to Run is full of amazing information about what humans can do.  I especially loved his chapter about our evolutionary background and how distance running may have saved and created modern mankind.  I realize that the jury is still out about the scientific validity and health benefits of certain ideas McDougall favors: minimalist running, the endurance running hypothesis, and ultramarathoning.  But I can't remember the last time I met so many interesting and new (to me) topics in one book.  I'm pretty convinced by McDougall's writing, and I'm generally not an easy person to convince.  Plus the end is heartwarming, even to a crusty old cynic like me.

Because of my own adoration, it's hard for me to accurately judge whether the average reader would react as strongly to Born to Run as I did.  It's hard for me to resist overstating things here; I really do feel that this book has changed my life.  I've only ever been a casual runner at best, but now I feel motivated to learn to love to run.  And in a more broad sense this book has awaked in me a new respect for what we as people are capable of accomplishing.  I've already begun recommending it to every person I know who has even a mild interest in running or sports/exercise science, but I think I could expand that recommendation to anybody who loves adventurey nonfiction.

Verdict: Stick it on the shelf!  Do it now!  Especially if you consider yourself a past, present, or future runner!

Reading Recommendations:  Perfect for giving you a new passion for running (and life in general) after the gluttony of the holidays.

Warnings:  a few swears.

Favorite excerpts: “That was the real secret of the Tarahumara: they'd never forgotten what it felt like to love running. They remembered that running was mankind's first fine art, our original act of inspired creation. Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain. And when our ancestors finally did make their first cave paintings, what were the first designs? A downward slash, lightning bolts through the bottom and middle--behold, the Running Man.
Distance running was revered because it was indispensable; it was the way we survived and thrived and spread across the planet. You ran to eat and to avoid being eaten; you ran to find a mate and impress her, and with her you ran off to start a new life together. You had to love running, or you wouldn't live to love anything else. And like everyhing else we love--everything we sentimentally call our 'passions' and 'desires' it's really an encoded ancestral necessity. We were born to run; we were born because we run. We're all Running People, as the Tarahumara have always known.” 

“There's something so universal about that sensation, the way running unites our two most primal impulses: fear and pleasure. We run when we're scared, we run when we're ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time.” 

What I'm reading next:  Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (!!!!!)

Review: Deadly Choices by Paul A. Offit, M.D.

Cilia of Respiratory Tract infected with Pertussis.  via

Reviewed by Christina

Complete Title: Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All

Published: 2011

It's about: [From the bookjacket] "There's a war going on.  Science is under siege.  And the casualties are mounting.  The victims aren't professors or researchers- they're children.
In 2010, California suffered the largest and deadliest outbreak of pertussis, also known as 'whooping cough,' in more than fifty years, killing at least nine children.  Worse- this tragedy was avoidable.  An effective vaccine has been available to prevent pertussis since the 1940's.  In recent years other diseases, like measles and mumps, have also made a comeback.  The reason for these epidemics can be traced to a group whose vocal proponents insist, despite evidence to the contrary, that vaccines are poisonous.  As a consequence, parents, caretakers, and other adults are rejecting vaccines for themselves and their families.
In Deadly Choices, infectious-disease expert Paul Offit takes a look behind the curtain of the anti-vaccine movement and tells the story of a handful of parents who, having witnessed a life-saving tool wilt before an epidemic of fear, are fighting back.  This book is more than just a vigorous rebuttal of arguments against vaccines: It's a reminder of the power of scientific knowledge, and the harm we risk if, as a society, we give it up.  A cry from the heart and a call to arms, Deadly Choices is essential reading for a society confronted with a vital decision."

I thought: I went ahead and used the bookjacket text above because I wanted to start by condemning its melodramatic tone.  That first paragraph sets my teeth on edge.  The very last sentence, too.  Why is this necessary?  It's like the author is trying to fight anti-vaxers' nonsensical fear with other ramped up emotional responses: indignation and, yes, more fear.  This drives me crazy.  Sound argumentation and scientific backing do not need a coating of inflammatory, alarmist crap.

So, even though I absolutely support vaccines and I knew I would agree with Dr. Offit, I opened Deadly Choices (ugh, that title) with one eyebrow cocked.  And yes, there's some unnecessary filler material that serves solely to heighten the drama.  It appears mainly toward the beginning and ending of each chapter, which leads me to wonder if it might not have occurred naturally in Dr. Offit's writing.  As I complained to my husband about this, he pointed out that many readers like a little excitement- straight up science writing can be pretty dry.  Maybe an editing/publishing team encouraged the more melodramatic tone inserted here and there.

But anyway, I still really appreciated and enjoyed this book.  It is full of sound, persuasive writing and fascinating history about vaccines and the waxing and waning backlashes against them.  The author really nicely lays out the arguments of anti-vaccine thinkers and then logically dismisses them, using the abundant facts available for support.  I feel more certain than ever before that vaccination is the right thing to do.  But then, I pretty much already felt that way.  I'm very curious about how a more wary parent would respond to Deadly Choices. 

Verdict: Stick it on the shelf!

Reading Recommendations: I found this to be a very quick, interesting read.  It's not very long, and it's full of information presented in an easy-to-absorb manner.  But if you're not wild about nonfiction (or, more specifically, science writing) you could read it a chapter at a time and still get just as much out of it.

Warnings: Quoted swears from class act Jenny McCarthy and a few other prominent anti-vax voices.

What I'm reading next:  The Annotated Alice: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll; Introduction and Notes by Martin Gardner

Psssssst!  Here's a funny clip of Paul Offit and Deadly Choices on The Colbert Report.
          

Review: The Einstein Syndrome by Thomas Sowell

I couldn't come up with a better photo idea for this post than my very own late talker.

 Reviewed by Christina

Published: 2002

It's about:  Economist Thomas Sowell coined the term "Einstein Syndrome" to describe children who start speaking later than their peers, despite their being unusually analytically intelligent.  In this, his second book on the subject, he lays out the characteristics of such children and their families using research performed by himself and Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt University.  (You can read a quick description of said characteristics on wikipedia if you're curious)

Mr. Sowell also describes multiple late-talking yet bright children and adults as case studies before giving a fair amount of advice to parents who believe their children may fit the Einstein Syndrome description.  He cautions against putting too much faith in the "dogma" of speech therapists and school professionals who will be quick to label most late talkers as autistic or developmentally delayed. 

I thought: My father-in-law gave this book to me because my own son, Jude, is a fairly late talker- at two and a half he is just beginning to communicate.  Naturally, his grandfather was interested in the idea that Jude might turn out to be highly gifted in math, science, and/or music like so many of the children and adults described in The Einstein Syndrome.  I, too, wanted to explore the possibility and so I was eager to read the book.

Now that I've learned all about Thomas Sowell's theories, I don't think Jude fits the Einstein Syndrome mold.  But still, it's a fascinating concept.  My favorite part was the chapter hypothesizing why these children talk late:  their unusual brains funnel resources to the sections of the brain devoted to analytical thought, causing those math/science/music abilities to appear earlier and language later.  The tendency appears to be hereditary- nearly all of the Einstein Syndrome children have close relatives who work in analytical fields and/or play musical instruments and/or were themselves late talkers.

But there were a few things that really bothered me about this book.  First of all, Mr. Sowell writes about the research as if it were vast, but the sample of Einstein Syndrome children he and his colleague have contacted is less than 300.  Almost all of these children seem to come from upper-middle class homes;  Among the markers for Einstein Syndrome, Sowell lists "highly educated" (Bachelor's degree +) parents, and relatives with analytical careers (scientists, pilots, physicians).  I think these are markers for an extremely skewed sample.  I kept getting the sense that Sowell came up with the idea for the Einstein Syndrome using his own son as an example, and then all his research revolved around finding other children to suit his ideas.  That's just not even real research.  It is gross confirmation bias masquerading as research.

It's easy for me to think these disapproving thoughts about Mr. Sowell's work because I just didn't like him.  He has an opinionated and forceful manner that comes through quite strongly in his writing.  He seems to think that ADD and ADHD actually do not exist.  He brushes Asperger Syndrome under the rug, too, despite the fact that several of the case studies in The Einstein Syndrome sound like they could be copy/pasted into a book about Asperger.  He writes glowingly about the situation in public schools in the 1960's and earlier, back in the good old days when children with learning disabilities didn't exist and students were just expected to pass or fail with no help from anyone.  I'd bet money that Thomas Sowell LOVES Ayn Rand.  He's an insufferable elitist who mocks virtually all public school teachers, speech therapists, and school psychologists, calling almost everyone without a Ph.D. or M.D. a self-interested and unethical "semi-professional" or "mediocrity."

And, given the fact that The Einstein Syndrome was published in 2002, Thomas Sowell's ideas are also based on outdated ideas about the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders and the highly typical language delay seen in children raised in multilingual homes (a phenomenon Sowell doesn't believe exists).  I'd be curious about an updated edition, and I'd like to hear how the Einstein Syndrome children in his sample are doing ten years years later.  I'd love to read the results of some real, rigorous research about the Einstein Syndrome.  But I'm not sure I could suffer through another book written by Thomas Sowell;  our personalities just do not mesh well.       

Verdict: I'll very grudgingly put it In-Between, since some parents who are concerned about a late-talking child might find useful and/or comforting info here.  But it has WAY too much unhelpful filler opinion material for my taste.   

Reading Recommendations: Keep your cynicism about you as you read.  No need to take Thomas Sowell's word as gospel.

Warnings: none.

What I'm reading next:  The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard edited by Tom Léger and Riley Macleod

Review: Anarchy Evolution by Greg Graffin and Steve Olson

Greg Graffin, via

 Reviewed by Christina
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Complete Title: Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science, and Bad Religion in a World Without God


Published: 2010

It's about: Greg Graffin, UCLA science lecturer and singer/songwriter for Bad Religion, explains his naturalist worldview in this blend of memoir and science writing.  He describes the origins of Bad Religion within the world of L.A. punk in the early 1980's, explains how he came to love Life Sciences (especially evolutionary biology and paleontology) and argues for Naturalism as guiding truth.

I thought:  Well.  For starters, I've got to tell you what a fascinating person Greg Graffin is.  How many people can love two worlds so whole-heartedly?  He's passionate and successful in both art and science, and that is something I really respect.  The persona he presents in Anarchy Evolution is pretty likeable, too- he's far less arrogant than I expected.  I can get behind a lot of what he says, and I learned a lot from reading his ideas.  I liked learning how he experiences and interprets the world.

And it's a good thing, too, because a little likeability goes a long way in a book that is as heavily weighted with personal experience and opinion as this one.  Graffin uses a very casual, personal, "I"-based style in the more memoir-y passages.  Then, in the more persuasive, science-based sections, his voice changes quite drastically to become informative, argumentative, sometimes almost academic.  Honestly, this didn't make for the best flow within chapters.  I found myself wondering where Steve Olson stepped in; did the two authors situation cause some of the loss of consistency?  The entire book reads like it's Greg Graffin's own, but then there's Steve Olson's name on the cover.  What was his role in writing this book?  Was he more a glorified editor than a true co-author?

This is the first book I've read that argues against the existence of God.  My husband loves Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, though, while I haven't picked them up yet, the atheist/antitheist ideas and arguments are fairly familiar to me.  So I was curious to see how Greg Graffin would present things.  In general, I think he takes a more conciliatory attitude than the more famous guys, and it does seem like he tries, in a way, to be reasonably sensitive to religious people.  But there's still quite a bit of condescension in the air here, as well as oversimplification of religious belief.  (For example, the implication that all faith is based in fear and all religious childrearing is gentle brainwashing.)  But then, this is Graffin's book.  It's his presentation of his own worldview; his perceptions of religion are a legitimate part of that.  So I personally wasn't offended.  In fact, I really liked his argument against the term "atheism."

Me in high school.
(I blurred out my mildly offensive gesture
because this is a family friendly website.
You're welcome.)

One thing I loved: learning about the early punk scene in Southern California.  Those sections reminded me a little of Fargo Rock City, only more amusing since I actually know and relate to the bands and unifying ideas Graffin discusses.  A few parts of Anarchy Evolution read like a punk rock primer: this is what punk is about, this is how and why it started, and this is why it's still relevant.  I loved revisiting this subject that I haven't thought about in ten years.  I'd love to read a real cultural history of punk.  I know they're out there, but I don't want to waste time with a bad one.  Recommendations?

One final thing: the title.  Come on!  Anarchy Evolution doesn't really say anything.  Instead of two nouns side-by-side, shouldn't it be "Anarchic Evolution" or "The Anarchy of Evolution" or "Anarchy and Evolution"?  I know I'm over-thinking this.  It just bugs me.      

Verdict: Stick it on the shelf.  It's a unique piece of work from an unusual point of view- just what I was hoping for when I picked it up.

Warnings: Maybe a swear or two?  And then, obviously, the whole atheism thing.  Watch out if you're sensitive to that.

Favorite excerpts: "Suffering is an inevitable consequence of evolution.  Naturalists see tragedy as an outgrowth of natural processes that have been occurring in multicellular organisms throughout history: bacterial parasitism, infant mortality, infection, starvation, catastrophe, species extinction.  Does all this suffering serve any purpose other than reminding us to try to avoid suffering in the future?  Perhaps it's too much to ask of any worldview- whether based on naturalism or religion- that it provide an ultimate answer to the question of tragedy."

What I'm reading next: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Review: Birthing a Mother by Elly Teman

via

 Reviewed by Christina

Published: 2010

Complete Title: Birthing a Mother: The Surrogate Body and the Pregnant Self


It's about: (from the back cover) "Birthing a Mother is the first ethnography to explore the intimate experience of gestational surrogate motherhood.  In this insightful and beautifully written book, Elly Teman shows how surrogates and intended mothers carefully negotiate their cooperative endeavor.  Drawing on anthropological fieldwork among Jewish Israeli women, interspersed with cross-cultural perspectives of surrogacy in the global context, Teman traces the processes by which surrogates relinquish any maternal claim to the babies they carry even as intended mothers accomplish a complicated transition to motherhood.  Teman's groundbreaking analysis reveals that surrogates develop profound and lasting bonds with intended mothers even as they psychologically and emotionally disengage from the babies."
(I couldn't come up with a summary to rival that neat little abstract.)

I thought:  Yes!  Finally, a scholarly look at the surrogate experience!  The world of fertility and birth is such an emotionally charged one, and in my search for fictional and nonfictional texts about surrogacy I found nothing rational until stumbling upon Birthing a Mother on Amazon.  Most published and electronic material about this subject seems to fall clearly on one side of the fence; we have the "babies are a priceless gift from heaven and surrogates are the sweet and selfless angels who bring them" side, and then there's the radfem "surrogacy is by nature exploitative, patriarchal, and morally reprehensible" side.  Elly Teman examines the whole picture from the points of view of surrogates and intended mothers, all the while drawing in cultural, political, religious and feminist perspectives.  Her conclusions are enlightening.

As a surrogate myself, I did read this book with a certain bias.  It's easy for me to feel that I know the surrogate experience better than any researcher can, since I'm living it myself.  And my insider perspective makes some generalizations hard to swallow.  Ms. Teman extrapolates overarching ideas from interviews she conducted, and sometimes those ideas seemed... stretched.  For example, a good-sized section of the book describes a sub-conscious "body-mapping" process in which surrogates disengage from certain parts of their bodies, especially the uterus, in order to avoid bonding and connecting with the baby.  The theory makes sense in a way, and Teman develops it well, backing it up with surrogates' own testimonies: Israeli surrogates said that they didn't want to touch their own swollen bellies, that they sometimes forgot they were pregnant, that they were uninterested in viewing ultrasound images of the babies within them, etc.  But because I feel pretty confident that I haven't engaged in "body-mapping" myself (I still feel very connected to my uterus, thank you very much), it's hard for me to believe that it's a common, important part of the surrogate experience.  Then again, she does such a fabulous job of pointing out cultural influences, especially Israel's pronatalism, that I can't say for certain that she isn't absolutely right about the subset of women in her research. 

In general, I found Birthing a Mother refreshing and invigorating.  It's probably the most scholarly thing I've read since I graduated from college ages ago; rather than being a narrative or straight up information, it's a collection of well-organized, novel ideas that have been drawn from original research.  And there are SO MANY fascinating ideas!  The inner workings of the relationships that surrogates and intended mothers develop, the cross-cultural aspects that differentiate surrogacy experiences in different parts of the world, the examination of surrogacy as a postmodern form of reproduction, the potential for surrogate exploitation by the body politic... I learned so much from Birthing a Mother.  I came away from the reading experience in awe of the staggering workload Elly Teman must have shouldered for years to produce this book, and I'm grateful to her for it.

Verdict: Stick it on the shelf.  It's a must-read if you really want to understand the surrogate perspective.

Reading Recommendations: Get ready to dig in and think on this one.  If you're looking for a fluffier surrogacy story, try Then Came You.

Warnings: none

Favorite excerpts: My favorite conclusion, framing a surrogate's pregnancy/birth journey as a quest and addressing the question of whether or not surrogacy is exploitation:
"As Frank suggests in his examination of illness narratives, the 'truth of stories is not in what was experienced, but equally what becomes experience in the telling and its reception.'  The 'high' that surrogates say they feel at the end of the process can be seen literally as an effect of the heights of power they have reached in their experience of the quest.  This high represents the transcendent moment that is produced after the surrogate has disengaged her self from parts of her body, subdued her nature, battled material circumstances, and ascended in the pantheon of creation.  She has been joined together with the intended mother in a unity and has passed the tests of her sacred quest by showing courage and bravery.  Her 'high' is thus an effect of this moment of self-realization, an indescribable moment that may be likened to what Otto termed 'the experience of the holy.'  Consequently, although all signs may point to the surrogate's objectification and victimization, she experiences surrogacy as a liberating process in which she temporarily accesses what was once the feminine domain of creation."

What I'm reading next:  The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox

Review: Science Ink by Carl Zimmer

Reviewed by Christina
[I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.]

Published: 2011

Full Title: Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed

It's about: After noticing a small but significant DNA tattoo on a scientist friend, journalist Carl Zimmer put out a call for science tattoos on his blog, The Loom. The response was huge, and Science Ink is the result: a compilation of over 300 science-y tattoos with a photo and explanation for each.

I thought: I LOVED this book. My life has been terribly busy lately, and Science Ink provided the right distraction every time I sat down to read it: equal parts ogling voyeurism and intelligent science talk.

Firstly, it is beautifully put together. It has the size and build of a small textbook or expensive yearbook. All the photos are in color, many of them full-page, and they've been tastefully enhanced (the color saturated and edges darkened for a sort of vignette effect). The photo editing gives the book unity, which wasn't something I expected given the premise.

If you're interested in the stories behind tattoos, or if you're looking for an enjoyable way to learn a little about science, you'll dig Science Ink. Mr. Zimmer explains concepts very clearly; each blurb explains not only the "what" of each tattoo, but the "why." I'm not surprised he's such a successful science writer, and I'd love to read more by him. There's also an amusing foreword by another of my favorite science journalists, Mary Roach.

Verdict: Stick it on the shelf!

Reading Recommendations: Obviously there's no overarching story here, so this would be a good one to pick up every now and then when you're between books. You could display it on your coffee table, but be careful not to spill anything on it! It's way too beautiful to be a coaster.

Apparently there's also a collection of literary tattoos called The Word Made Flesh. Want! I wish someone would do one for music tattoos. I could be in it.

Warnings: none

Favorite excerpts: There are lots of slideshows and photos available online. Here's the NYT one. One of my favorites is number four in that series, Passionflower. Here are some other cool ones:

Review: The Upside of Irrationality, by Dan Ariely

Reviewed by Christina
[I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.]

Complete Title: The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic

Published: 2010

It's about: Ariely, a behavioral economist, explains some of the irrational things people do:
Why don't big bonuses make people work harder?
Why is it so hard to get people to support the most desperate causes?
Why does food taste better when we cook it ourselves?

He argues that some of our irrational behaviors are actually good for us individually and for humanity in general; hence the "upside" in the title.

I thought: I enjoyed hearing Dan Ariely on an episode of Radiolab a while back (unfortunately I can't find that episode now) so I jumped at the opportunity to review his second book. And I'm so glad I did, because I really enjoyed it.

This book is different from any other social science nonfiction I've read in that the information is presented in a very casual and personal way. Most research-based writing describes the research and then describes the results. That's fine; it's what I'm used to and it gets the point across. Mr. Ariely is a researcher himself, and in describing some of the studies he and his colleagues have performed, he adds a personal touch by explaining the experiment from the participants' perspective. I loved this! It made the experimental process into a story, and personalized the research and the results.

Ariely also illustrates his points with quite a lot of examples from his own life, which also contribute to the personal tone of the book. When he was a teenager, a terribly unfortunate accident left 70 percent of Mr. Ariely's body covered in burns. He speaks candidly about the unspeakable frustration, depression, and humiliation he suffered during his extended hospital stay following the accident, and the continuing pain that he will carry all his life. The sections about his awful experience read a little like a memoir, but one that is firmly grounded in research and ideas.

This is just a little thing that probably no one cares about but me, but I like it so much that I have to mention it: organization. Upside is perfectly organized. The chapters build upon one another and ideas flow smoothly. It's lovely. And impressive.

I can't think of much nonfiction that I believe to be universally interesting. We all have different interests and passions, and who am I to guess what you will or won't want to know more about? But The Upside of Irrationality is about the most basic human behavior, and I can't really imagine a person who wouldn't want to know more about the way our emotions effect our lives and especially our decision making. Plus it's such a readable, enjoyable book- it makes perfect sense that it is a bestseller.

Verdict: Stick it right up there on the shelf!

Reading Recommendations: Anybody who likes Malcolm Gladwell will like Dan Ariely.
There seem to be quite a few amazon reviewers who think Ariely's first book, Predictably Irrational, is even better than this one! I just added it to my wishlist.

Warnings: There is one quoted editorial (written by some public official) that has a couple of swears. Dan Ariely's own swears are few and cutely hidden behind asterisks.

Favorite excerpts: "... If we place human beings on a spectrum between the hyperrational Mr. Spock and the fallible Homer Simpson, we are closer to Homer than we realize. [But] I hope you also realize the upside of irrationality- that some of the ways in which we are irrational are also what makes us wonderfully human."

What I'm reading next: Of Mice and Men for the upcoming Steinbeck Classics Circuit tour and then The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, by Katherine Howe. Also still reading Quarantine: Stories, by Rahul Mehta

Review: Inside of a Dog, by Alexandra Horowitz

Reviewed by Christina

Complete Title: Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know

Published: 2009

It's about: Alexandra Horowitz, an animal cognitive scientist and dog enthusiast, has gathered all the dog science and she presents it here. Her goal is to enlighten the reader to the realities of dogs' Umwelt, or life experience. This includes their history (evolution and domestication), sensory capabilities, and what they know about the world. She also muses on the experience of being a human who shares her environment with a dog, and she intersperses the text with anecdotes about her own beloved dog, Pumpernickel.

Stella!

I thought: I had very high expectations for this one. During the time that I was on the library's wait list for Inside of a Dog, I read four (five, if you count the fictional Where the Red Fern Grows) other books about dogs. Yeah, I tend to get a little obsessed with things. But not without reason, and in this case the reason is super cute. Her name is Stella.

Anyway, back to business. I was really looking forward to reading some science about dogs, since dog training and advice books tend to be roughly 95% opinion. And Ms. Horowitz definitely delivers in the science department. She sites previous research (her own and others'). She warns against anthropomorphizing. She plays the devil's advocate, mentioning multiple interpretations of data. Information is presented in detail and in an authoritative tone; she writes like a professor (and she IS a professor, btw). In general her style is a little thicker than some other popular nonfiction I've read, but still accessible.

In college I took a class called Human and Animal Minds that covered quite a lot of the same material found here. And if you've spent a fair amount of time with dogs, you might not be enthralled with the author's observations about the experience of living with a dog. So overall I didn't feel as enlightened and amazed as I hoped. Still there are lots of interesting tidbits in this book, and I did learn some cool things, like why dogs chase bikes and skateboards, how dogs can catch balls and frisbees so well, and why dogs don't watch TV. So if you're curious and enthusiastic about our canine companions, Inside of a Dog is worth checking out.

Verdict: It didn't completely fulfill my hopes and expectations, but still stick it on the shelf.

Reading Recommendations: Brenna at Literary Musings has also reviewed Inside of a Dog here, if you want a second opinion.

Warnings: nope, none.

Favorite excerpts:
"Imagining that dogs' thoughts are but cruder forms of human discourse does the dog a disservice. And despite their marvelous range and extent of communication, it is the very fact that they do not use language that makes me especially treasure dogs. Their silence can be one of their most endearing traits. Not muteness: absence of linguistic noise. There is no awkwardness in a shared silent moment with a dog: a gaze from the dog on the other side of the room; lying sleepily alongside each other. It is when language stops that we connect most fully."

"Even with a scientific take on the dog, we find ourselves using anthropomorphic words. Our dogs... make friends, feel guilty, have fun, get jealous; understand what we mean, think about things, know better; are sad, are happy, are scared; want, love, hope."

"Every dog owner would agree with me, I suspect, about the specialness of her own dog. Reason argues that everyone must be wrong: by definition, not every dog can be the special dog- else special becomes ordinary. But it is reason that is wrong: what is special is the life story that each dog owner creates with and knows about his own dog."

What I'm reading next: The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides

Review: In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan

Reviewed by Christina

Complete title: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

Published: 2008

It's about: Michael Pollan explains the history behind the invention and acceptance of processed foods in America. He also explains the idea of Nutritionism, or the philosophy that nutrients are more important than whole foods, and how Nutritionism contributes to the Western Diet and unhealthful eating habits. Finally, he gives some advice about how to get the most possible real food onto your plate.

In short: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

I thought: I knew I would like and agree with this book from the get-go, because I had heard about Michael Pollan from so many people whose eating philosophies gel with mine. Really, I'm surprised it's taken me this long to actually get around to reading it. I thought it would be the kind of book that I would read and think to myself, "I'm so awesome because I already eat way better than everybody else in this country and that's why I'm healthy. Go me!"

Boy, was I wrong. This isn't a book about why Baconators and Gushers and Velveeta are bad for you. I mean, it is, but that's not all. It's also about our whole idea of what "healthy eating" is, about the insidiousness of ubiquitous corn and soy, about how unnatural and dangerous our Western Diet really is. I couldn't count myself out of this nastiness, and it was painful to read. I had to kiss some of my delusions goodbye; I can no longer pretend pasta and white rice are guiltless, or that regular produce is just as healthy as organic.

But, despite the discomfort of having my bad habits exposed to me, I liked this book and I'm glad I read it. I loved learning the story of how we all got into this processed food mess. And I enjoyed the comparisons between American food attitudes and those of European countries. Like the study described here:

He showed the words “chocolate cake” to a group of Americans and recorded their word associations. “Guilt” was the top response. If that strikes you as unexceptional, consider the response of French eaters to the same prompt: “celebration."

It makes perfect sense to me that the food itself doesn't represent the entire problem- our attitudes and emotional baggage about food play a part in health, too.

The book is absolutely packed with information, and Mr. Pollan organizes it beautifully. His prose is expressive enough to be engaging, and yet always clear and concise. He's logical, he's done his research, and he knows how to present a point without beating the reader over the head. If you're at all interested in food, you've probably already read In Defense of Food. But if, for some reason, you're even later to the party than I am, you best get reading! You probably have lots of foodie friends who can loan you a copy.

Verdict: Excellent nonfiction writing. Stick it on the shelf.

Reading Recommendations: Be prepared to view food differently.
One of the reasons I liked In Defense of Food is because generally I'm a moderator, not an abstainer (read about the difference between the two here). The abstainer's equivalent of this book might be Skinny Bitch, which I really disliked.
If you're interested in health and diet, check out this NYT article about sugar.

Warnings: none

Favorite excerpts:
About the joy of real whole foods:
"When you're cooking with food as alive as this- these gorgeous and semigorgeous fruits and leaves and flesh- you're in no danger of mistaking it for a commodity, or a fuel, or a collection of chemical ingredients. No, in the eye of the cook or the gardener... this food reveals itself for what it is: no mere thing but a web of relationships among a great many living beings, some of them human, some not, but each of them dependent on each other, all of them ultimately rooted in soil and nourished by sunlight."

What I'm reading next: Inside of a Dog, by Alexandra Horowitz

Review: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Reviewed by Connie

Published: 1964

It's about: A science-fiction/fantasy, children's novel about Meg Murry and her younger brother, Charles Wallace Murry, who cross infinite space and time with three "witches" -- Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which -- in order to rescue their scientist father, who is trapped on a "dark planet" in another galaxy. In the process, they come to battle Evil itself.

I thought: I hadn't read this book since childhood, but I decided recently to revisit it, primarily to figure out if it is as weird as I was remembering... and it was.

Let's start with the good points. I respect the allegory of the story and its presentation of battling an Evil that threatens to destroy from within. I also enjoyed reading about some highly unusual characters -- Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace. Meg, as the protagonist, is described as awkward, -- we're talking big glasses and braces here -- of mostly average intelligence, easily angry, and sickeningly dependent. I was annoyed with Meg for most of the novel, for always looking to the male characters to sort everything out, so I was pleasantly surprised with and heartily approved of the ending, with her own personal journey that leads her to find courage and confidence within herself.

Other than that, though, I can't exactly sing this book's praises. The allegory, though respectable, was a bit too -- obvious -- for my taste. Granted, this is a children's book, but it comes across to me as if L'Engle sat down and said, "All right, I'm going to write an allegory of good overcoming evil" and THEN came up with every element of the story to fit that. Not my favorite style there.

Plus, it may be that I am brainwashed by the YA literature and movies of today, but I found the story too skeletal -- especially the climax. Things are resolved too quickly with not enough struggle, not enough adventure, not enough meat. Just a personal preference.

Verdict: In-between

Reading Recommendations: I wouldn't call this a "must read," though I know LOTS of people who would say otherwise.

Warnings: quite a bit of whining and a dash of sentimentality, not to mention a crystal ball

Interesting Information: Disney made a movie version of the book back in 2003. I haven't seen it, but I love Madeleine L'Engle's comment on it. When someone asked her if the book fulfilled her expectations, she replied, "Yes, I expected it to be bad, and it is." Gotta respect her bluntness.

What I'm reading next: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Review: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman

Reviewed by Christina

Published: 1997

It's about: The subtitle is "A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures." It's Anne Fadiman's account of a little girl named Lia Lee, who was born to Hmong refugees in California in 1982. Lia has severe epilepsy, which her doctors and parents all try to treat as best they can. But major cultural differences and language barriers erode the already tenuous relationship between them, and Lia suffers the consequences.

I thought: When I picked up this book, I knew next to nothing about the Hmong people. I actually thought Hmong and Laotian were the same thing, so I had nowhere to go but up in the learning curve. I think I represent the intended audience, though, because Ms. Fadiman alternates chapters telling Lia's story with chapters about the Hmong's history, their role in American military history, their language, their religion, and their experience as refugees in Thailand and the U.S. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is densely packed with meticulously-researched information, but the writing is so clear and full of anecdotes, that I never felt bored or bogged down.
I was especially impressed by Ms. Fadiman's ability to present both sides of the conflict with empathy and rationality. The Lee family differ from their American doctors in almost every conceivable way, and it is nearly impossible for the two groups to see each others' point of view. I worried, originally, that this book was going to be a tirade, like "This is what those awful doctors did to that poor little girl, and she would have been just fine if only they would have stuck with natural remedies." I'm not sure where I got that idea, because that's not the case at all. Anne Fadiman certainly never implies that Hmong shamanistic rituals could have cured Lia's epilepsy. She presents the facts, both as the medical establishment perceived them, and as Lia's parents perceived them. She only very rarely inserts her own opinion, and she does so carefully.
In the end, this isn't just a case study of little Lia Lee. It's an extended discussion of the problem of cross-cultural medicine, and also a meditation on the Hmong refugee experience in general. I loved it. I learned so much, and I was moved by the heartbreaking history of the Hmong people, especially the Lee family.

Verdict: DEFINITELY on the shelf.

Warnings: Some swears and racial epithets in quotations from real-life jerks.

Favorite excerpts: "The customs they were expected to follow seemed so peculiar, the rules and regulations so numerous, the language so hard to learn, and the emphasis on literacy and the decoding of other unfamiliar symbols so strong, that many Hmong were overwhelmed. Jonas Vangay [a Hmong immigrant] told me, 'In America, we are blind because even though we have eyes, we cannot see. We are deaf because even though we have ears, we cannot hear.' Some newcomers wore pajamas as street clothes; poured water on electric stoves to extinguish them; lit charcoal fires in their living rooms; stored blankets in their refrigerators; washed rice in their toilets; washed their clothes in swimming pools; washed their hair with Lestoil; cooked with motor oil and furniture polish; drank clorox; ate cat food; planted crops in public parks; shot and ate skunks, porcupines, wookpeckers, robins, egrets, sparrows, and a bald eagle; and hunted pigeons with crossbows in the streets of Philadelphia."

"Animal sacrifices are common, even among Christian converts, a fact I first learned when [my interpreter] May Ying Xiong told me that she would be unavailable to interpret one weekend because her family was sacrificing a cow to safeguard her niece during an upcoming open-heart operation. When I said, 'I didn't know your family was so religious,' she replied, 'Oh yes, we're Mormon.'"

What I'm reading next: The Winter Queen, by Boris Akunin

The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine

Reviewed by Ingrid

Published: 2006

It's about: This book is about how girls' brains work. Brizendine believes that girls' and boys' brains are inherently different. Her argument is basically this: "Girls arrive already wired as girls, and boys arrive already wired as boys. Their brains are different by the time they're born, and their brains are what drive their impulses, values, and their very reality." She then goes and lays out, chapter by chapter, how the chemical structure of a woman's brain fluxes and changes through different stages of life.

I thought: I don't usually read science-y books like this, but it came recommended by a good friend, and I generally like to know what's going on in the world of gender studies. And I liked it. This book was written for a broad audience, so it was easy and even entertaining to read. I appreciated that every one of her statements about the nature of the female brain was backed up with facts, statistics, and examples from her own work experience. It was generally a pretty good book.

Verdict: In between. Not an absolutely thrilling read, but if you are interested in women's studies, women's issues or women in general, it's worth picking up.

Warnings: Sexuality is mentioned, but discussed in scientific terms. Definitely nothing racy here.

Favorite excerpts: "A study by the Stanford University psychologist Eleanor Maccoby showed that girls learn to tell the difference between reality and fairy tales or 'just pretend' play earlier than boys. By adulthood, modern females have fine-tuned their superior ability to read emotional nuance in tone of voice, eye gaze, and facial expressions."