I am just going to go ahead and admit that I am afraid of science. I am also afraid of math. Just the idea of trying to understand mathmatical or scientific concepts makes my brain shut down. There were many unpleasant moments in high school because of this mental block.*
But so now that I am a bit older and a bit more patient, and more interested in the world around me, I find myself actually wanting or needing science sometimes in order to be able to understand concepts or ideas that are important to our world. Like, climate change, or bird flu, or stem cells. But where to go to get that kind of information? Who is going to teach science to adults?
Natalie Angier is! Her new book has been called a “guide for the scientifically perplexed adult who wants to understand what those guys in lab coats on the news are babbling about.” That would be me. Is it you, too? Join us today and find out.
-Jessica
*College was quite a different story where thanks to distribution requirements that were kind to non-scientific minds, I was only made to take two science classes. Most people took psychology, but I took a course called Ethonobotany and a course called The Biology of Science Fiction. This was hands down the best science course I have ever taken. In fact it was one of the best classes I took in college. Every meager things I know about science I learned in this class from science fiction writer and professor Joan Slonczewski. If you like science fiction, check out her stuff. Thanks for helping me not be totally terrified of science, Professor S.
