Thursday, January 8, 2009

The 2009 Science Book Challenge

Over on The Blogging Bookworm today there was information on how to participate in the 2009 Science Book Challenge. I'm going to do this one, because I realized I already have several books on my reading list that will qualify, and this might help me to prioritize reading them. Besides, I really liked the button!

I've been reading "Team of Rivals", and was reminded that Abe Lincoln, with less than one year's worth of formal schooling, wound up being a lawyer, state and federal legislator, and one of our greatest presidents. It's made me realize once again the value of reading for self-education. I also know that my artsy-fartsy mind could stand to dwell on some factual information. This will be a good challenge for me!

Here are the rules:

The 2009 Science-Book Challenge:

1. Read at least three nonfiction books in 2009 related somehow to the theme "Nature's Wonders". Your books should have something to do with science, scientists, how science operates, or science's relationship with its surrounding culture. Your books might be popularizations of science, they might be histories, they might be biographies, they might be anthologies; they can be recent titles or older books. We take a very broad view of what makes for interesting and informative science reading.

2. After you've read a book, write a short note about it, giving your opinion of the book. What goes in the note? The things you would tell a friend if you wanted to convince your friend to read it--or avoid it. Naturally, you can read some of the existing Book Notes for ideas. You might like to read our Book-note ratings for ideas about how to evaluate your books.

3. Don't worry if you find that you've read a book someone else has also read; we welcome multiple notes on one title.

4. Get your book note to us and we'll post it with the other notes in our Book Note section. Use the book-note form or the comment form to get in touch with us.

Tell other people about the Science-Book Challenge: http://ArsHermeneutica.org/besieged/Science-Book_Challenge_2009.

3 comments:

Rose said...

I think I'll pass on this challenge, unless gardening books count:) Just wanted you to notice, though, that I left a comment on yesterday's post. You certainly provoked some interesting comments there.

Joyce said...

Rose, I'll bet gardening books could count! That's all the science I've read, for the most part.

But I do really, really like the button!

Anonymous said...

Joyce, you might let Rose know that gardening books might well be included, particularly if they have the right attitude. I've enjoyed reading books about plants, at least, and that's close, right?

Thanks for the compliment on the button. I think it's fabulous this year, but my biases might be showing.