Generally, when Jody Clark goes to the 500 section at the Traverse Area District Library, she seeks its wealth of books on natural history. For this column, she decided not to go beyond the full round number. It was an eye-opening and interesting experience.
"The Flight From Science and Reason," edited by Gross, Levitt and Lewis, presents a broad spectrum of learned papers from a conference. Forty-three papers are divided into 11 sections. One related set is Ann Macy Roth's "Building Bridges to Afrocentrism" representing an Egyptologist-antropologist's view. Then, Bernard R. Ortiz de Moptellano, another anthropologist, studies the flaws in baseline essays that include "Afrocentric Pseudoscience".
Michael Stebbins' title, "Sex, Drugs and DNA: Science's Taboos Confronted," is certainly eye-catching. Inside the covers, Stebbins uses pointed prose and cartoons to explore the irrational and frustrating world of professional science as practiced in the U.S. As a sample of the humor at a quick glance, a quack peddler pitches his product by warning, "Drugs may cause itching, swelling, dizziness and bankruptcy."
Compiled by Friends of the Traverse Area District Library
