The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial

Goodchild, Peter. The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial. 115 mins. ISBN 9781580815581. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

In 1925, the state of Tennessee passed a law that criminalized the teaching of evolution. Fundamentalist and evangelical people applauded this decision to only use the teaching of the Bible in the science classroom, but others opposed this law. The ACLU actively looked for a science teacher willing to become a case test to support the First Amendment’s freedom of religion. John Thomas Scopes, a science teacher from the small town of Dayton, worked with the local school board and elected leaders to bring this case to court, so that Dayton would economically benefit from such a trial.

Legal heavyweights assembled on both sides, with William Jennings Bryant, a three-times presidential candidate and evangelical favorite for the prosecution, and Clarence Darrow, a famous New York defense lawyer, defended Scopes. Over the course of the trial, the evangelical position was undermined by arguments made in court by Bryant and Darrow. Though Scopes was eventually found guilty at the state level, the negative publicity that this court case had brought the state of Tennessee, coupled with errors by the trial judge allowed the Tennessee Supreme Court to overturn the case on a technicality and prevent the certain appeal the defendant wished to make in Federal Court. However,

This audiobook features a reenactment of the actual court case based on court transcripts, and reveal the depth of convictions on both sides. The debate surrounding the separation of Church and State continued for decades afterwards, and remain present to this day, with controversies surrounding “Intelligent design.”

The Time Machine

Wells, H. G. The Time Machine. 2000. 118p. ISBN 0-03-056476-X. Available at 823 WEL on the library shelves and as an eBook on Overdrive.

Having invented a machine that allows travel through time, an English scientist informs his dinner guests of the fourth dimension of time and claims that he will prove it with his machine. The following week, when the guests return to the scientist’s estate, they are more than puzzled to find him dirty, bruised and haggard. He reveals to them that he has traveled over 800,000 years in the future.

Through an unbelievable tale, the Time Traveler describes his encounter with the children-like people of the Eloi, a society of indolent humans descendents who seem to have neither curiosity nor desire to improve their lot. At first the Time Traveler is enchanted by their lack of work and their diets based on fruit, yet he can’t escape the conclusion that this is what happens when humans no longer need strength and intelligence. When he discovers that his time machine has been move in a building with locked doors, the Time Traveler panics. He must retrieve the machine otherwise he will never be able to go home.

Discovering the presence of another race of human descendents he dubs the Morlocks living in the depths of the world, the Time Traveler realizes that they are responsible for removing his machine. Having saved the life of Weena, an Eloi who was drowning, the Time Traveler and the girl travel through the forest to visit ancient sites, but are attacked on their way back. Now armed with matches and a weapon, the Time Traveler fights the Morlocks back, but Weena disappears in the process. Ready to return home, he realizes that the doors to the building where his machine is kept are opened, but it most likely is a Morlock trap.

The first novel to make extensive use of the concept of time travel, The Time Traveler opened the door to a new genre of science fiction still popular to this day.

See You in the Cosmos

Cheng, Jack. See You in the Cosmos. 2017. 316p. ISBN 978-0-399-18637-0. Available at FIC CHE on the library shelves.

Alex Petroski is fascinated by space. He loves stars and rockets, and his an active participant on Rocketforum.org, where he knows all of the other participants. He loves his dog, named after the famed astronomer Dr. Carl Sagan. He loves his older brother, who works in Los Angeles as a sports agent, and his mother, who has good days and bad days, but mostly bad days. At eleven, Alex wants to do is to replicate Dr. Sagan’s exploit of creating a golden record containing all sort of information on Earth, then sending it to space on Voyager back in 1977. He’s built a rocket, and he plans on attending SHARF (Southwest High Altitude Rocket Festival) in New Mexico so he can fire it up in the sky, along with a golden iPod on which he has been recording his thoughts.

Accompanied by Carl Sagan, Alex leaves a bunch of ready to eat meals for his mother, who rarely comes out of her bedroom, and heads out to New Mexico on a train from his hometown in Colorado. He meets Zed, a man who has made a vow of silence and communicates with a chalkboard and who is also heading to SHARF. Since the train is late, Alex agrees to go with Zed and Steve to the festival site. There, Alex manages to fire his rocket in the C competition, but it doesn’t go very far. Steve and Zed do their best to comfort Alex, but he perks up when he discover that there is a match for his father in Las Vegas. Alex and Ronnie’s father died eight years ago, and no one really talk about him. When Alex did a family project in school, he used Ancestry.com and left some contact information if anyone else was looking around, and lo and behold there is someone with the same name, birthdate and deathdate a state away. Steve and Zed agree to take him to Vegas to find out more about his father. As Alex’s adventures continue, he will realize that sometimes what you are looking for is right at home.

Told through transcripted recordings, Alex has the responsibility level of a 13-year-old, as he likes to point out, but he’s also incredibly naive and talkative, often repeating himself. Though not addressed until the end, his mother’s sickness and his brother’s absence from his life overshadow everything that Alex does. The discovery of a half sister increased the size of his family, and the many contacts he makes during his trip turn into friends that help him grow and deal with his mother’s schizophrenia. Alex, who often thought he was alone, has a bigger family and way more friends than he ever thought.

Manipulating Light: Reflection, Refraction and Absorption

Stille, Darlene R. Manipulating Light: Reflection, Refraction and Absorption. 2006. 48p. ISBN 0-7565-1258-1. Available at 535 STI on the library shelves.

Light is one of the more mysterious scientific concept. It provides us with the ability to see shapes and colors. It can sharpen a view, from the extremely large telescopes gazing at the stars to the microscope observing the smallest building blocks of matter. It can distort a view, from mirrors in your car to carnival rides. It can transmit information instantly around the globe through fiber optics, and it can scan numbers through barcodes and lasers. It represents a standard that in theory cannot be broken, the speed of light. But what is light?

Light behaves according to a set of principles known as the law of reflection. How light bounces, bends, and gets absorbed dictates what will be seen. This short book describes the process by which light provides colors and enable scientific accomplishments such as the photographic camera and the most advanced telescopes. Without light, we could not read these words.

Cancer Treatments

Capaccio, George. Cancer Treatments. Part of the Advances in Medicine series. 64p. ISBN 978-1-60870-466-8. Available at 616.99 CAP on the library shelves.

Cancer remains one of the most elusive and deadly disease affecting the human race. Though scientific breakthroughs have happened in the last fifty years, much remain unknown about the mechanics of cancer and how to treat the different types effectively. This book presents information about how cancer forms, how the damaged cells spread, and the characteristics of the different cancers. Treatment options are also discussed and the impact on the individual receiving treatment is reviewed. Overall, this is a great resource for the reader to gain an understanding of how cancer works and what can be done to defeat it.

Paper Trail: History of an Everyday Material

Brocker, Susan. Paper Trail: History of an Everyday Material. 2008. 36p. ISBN 978-0-531-17589-7. Available at 676 BRO on the library shelves.

Paper is one of these commodities we never really think about, but it surrounds us. In fact, without paper one could argue that our entire civilization would collapse. Consider toilet paper, for example. What did people use before toilet paper was invented and refined into a product we would recognize today?

This short book describes the history of paper and what was used before it was created. From clay tablets and papyrus, writing was reserved for government officials and rich individuals. In China, a highly secret and coveted recipe created a very coarse form of paper. It was an expensive and long process. Using wood pulp, hemp, and bits of clothings, these fibers merged together and formed a tight bond.

As the recipe for paper slowly spread throughout the world, an insatiable appetite for paper fed by increased literacy created new products, art, and sped the development and transmission of information. Now an everyday item with a myriad of uses, the paper industry remains one of the most polluting industrial products, and we still not have come with viable processes to make clean paper.

Whether we head towards a paperless society or whether paper remains with us for a long time, the history of paper is a fascinating story.

Pox, Pus and Plague

Townsend, John. Pox, Pus and Plague: A history of Disease and Infection. Part of the Painful History of Medicine series. 2006. 56p. ISBN 1-4109-1333-3. Available at 616 TOW on the library shelves.

The human body is constantly under attack from bacteria and viruses. Even though thousands of different bacteria thrive in the environment, a few of them are very harmful to us and have the power to kill us. This short book discusses the history of our interactions with these invisible forces and the mysteries they presented until their “discovery” thanks to microscopes.

From ancient times to the Ebola epidemic of 2015, this invisible enemy has threatened us with disease and death. Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans thought that blood letting would help sick people. There were four types of humors, and when they were not in balance it was thought the cause of the sickness. As the Middle Ages plodded along the Black Death, transmitted by fleas, killed off more than a third of Europe’s population. Eventually, a scientist discovered that bacteria thrived in unsanitary water, and measures were taken to solve this problem. More discoveries led to the creation of vaccines such as penicillin, and humankind began fighting back against harmful bacteria.

Some work remains, however, for even now these types of diseases kill millions of people every year. With cancer in the crosshair, there is hope that further discoveries will improve the lives of many people.

IF this topic is of interest, be sure to read Life During the Black Death.

The Wind At Work

Iwinski, Melissa. The Wind At Work. 2008. 36p. ISBN 978-0-531-17586-6. Available at 621.4 IWI on the library shelves.

Caused by the displacement of air from cold to warm areas, wind can be a positive or negative force. On the positive side, wind can be harnessed to produce electrical power that then provides energy for million of houses. It helps spread seeds. It was used in the past to mill grain. But wind can also be destructive. Tornadoes and hurricanes feature strong winds blowing, which can destroy entire neighborhoods and even kill people.

This short book explains the science behind one of the most common environmental phenomena and describes the impact wind has had on the world around us, from erosion to destruction to energy creation. Produced with interesting pictures and engaging text, this book is sure to appeal to budding scientists.

Goodbye, Gasoline: The Science of Fuel Cells

Lew, Kristi. Goodbye, Gasoline: The Science of Fuel Cells. 2009. 48p. ISBN 978-0-7565-3521-6. Available at 621.31 LEW on the library shelves.

The recent push for reducing the world’s carbon footprint is leading towards the invention and refining of existing technologies to both improve performance and reduce their environmental impact. Gasoline, the liquid that powers today’s cars and trucks, has not changed in the last several decades. And though vehicles get better gas mileage now than they did even ten years ago, gasoline still remains a polluting and non-renewable resource. It this therefore time to move beyond gasoline.

Several technologies are competing to be the next motor of the economy, but none are as promising as the fuel cell. Based on combining hydrogen and oxygen, and resulting in water, the power that comes from combining these two elements is enough to power today’s car, trucks, and even buildings.

There are several problems that remain, however, before fuel cells become the future of transportation. First, the size of the cells continue to be a problem. Second, the lack of an hydrogen infrastructure such as fueling stations and processing centers continue to be a detriment to the rapid spread of this technology. Finally, costs continue to be higher than conventional gasoline engines.

Nevertheless, this short book accurately presents the current state of fuel cells and how, in the near future, they should revolutionize how we consume energy. Only time will tell if the predictions come true (still waiting for that flying car), but fuel cells are a promising type of technology.

Secrets of the Space Shuttle

Rees, Peter. Secrets of the Space Shuttle. 2008. 36p. ISBN 978-0-531-17590-3. Available at 629.44 REE on the library shelves.

The space shuttle delivered astronauts, satellites, and pieces of the International Space Station to orbit around Earth for over three decades. This book not only tells the story of the space shuttle, but also of the whole space adventure from the beginning of the space race to today. Well written with great illustrations, it also discusses the future of space travel and space living.