Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown

BRAVING THE WILDERNESS by Brene Brown was released today and she will be speaking locally (at Evanston Township High School, sponsored by Family Action Network) to a sold out audience on September 27. 

Brown has subtitled her latest work “The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone” and she spends the first chapter talking about a childhood where she struggled to belong.  Perhaps one of the most memorable and poignant sections is her description of frequent moves and her concerted effort to audition for the drill team – that alone should make us all aware of assumptions we make, unintentional hurt we may inflict, and the lasting impact of small choices.  It is moving to see that this “valley” for Brown became a positive by igniting her interest and subsequent study of human nature.  In fact, her TedTalk on “The Power of Vulnerability” has over 30 million views. I am curious to read more of Brown's insights, including a recent article at Fast Company about America's crisis of disconnection. I know that her previous titles, such as Rising Strong and Daring Greatly, have sparked much discussion amongst educators and concerned parents.

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Condoleezza Rice

As Mother's Day is fast approaching, I am thinking about what we can do for our children and their children.  How about taking just a few minutes to watch what roughly 30 million people have already viewed? It's Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about science and politics:

Then think about your family and choose to act.  Maybe it's giving everyone a hug, maybe it's making a phone call or sending an email ... up to you. 

Neil deGrasse Tyson has a new book titled ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY and I know that we have already had several requests for it.  In the preface, he says, "at one time or another, every one of us has looked up at the night sky and wondered: What does it all mean? How does it all work?  And, what is my place in the universe?"

In chapters with titles like "Dark Matter," "Invisible Light," and "Reflections on the Cosmic Perspective," Tyson explains the ideas behind our current understanding of the universe.  I actually found myself pausing frequently to better digest and contemplate the information he shares.  For example, he refers to how latest estimates show that the observable universe may contain a hundred billion galaxies. He goes on to share info about asteroids, individual elements, radio waves and much more in the relatively short 224 pages where Booklist said readers "will find Tyson's wittily delivered explanations compelling and disarmingly entertaining."  Kirkus gave ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY a starred review.


This past Spring Tyson also noted: "Cutting the NEA & NEH to save money on a $3-trillion budget is like thinking 3 days is long relative to an 85-year lifespan." He tweeted that "Politics is one's reaction to data, not the data itself" and in the above video, he refers to "a recipe for the complete dismantling of our informed democracy."

We are fortunate to have so much opportunity to get smart about Science AND to think about the country's future.  This week, Condoleezza Rice is speaking at New Trier on Tuesday, May 16 at 7:00pm in the Gaffney Auditorium.  Her topic will indeed center around democracy and its challenges, including references to her new book:  DEMOCRACY: STORIES FROM THE LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM.

Family Action Network (or FAN) are the local sponsors of the event and their invitation to the sold out presentation notes, "at a time when people around the world are wondering whether democracy is in decline, she shares insights from her experiences as a policy maker, scholar, and citizen."

We are in the midst of ordering new books to be processed this summer; if you have one to suggest, particularly related to science and/or government, please let us know. 

A Field Guide to Lies and more ....

A Field Guide to Lies by Daniel Levitin is subtitled “Critical Thinking in the Information Age” and I loved the author’s many, many references to our inclination to believe inaccurate and distorted information.  I am sure that I can use those examples with students and I look forward to hearing Daniel Levitin speak about transforming education.  He will be at our Cornog Auditorium (Northfield Campus) on Thursday, September 8^th beginning at 7:00 pm.  Contact FAN (Family Action Network) or The Book Stall for more information.

Levitin writes that, “Statistics are not facts. They are interpretations.” In A Field Guide to Lies he explains the scientific method and encourages students to ask questions like: What is the source of this data or quote? Are the experts credible? Has the graph been distorted? What alternative relationships or explanations exist?  These are exactly the types of questions that we, as librarians and teachers, are constantly modeling for students. Levitin raises these issues in an engaging and entertaining way and is a popular author with students, several of whom read his This is Your Brain on Music each year as part of a non-fiction assignment.  

Here are a few recent articles that we could tie to the concepts in A Field Guide to Lies (on order for the new library): 

• “Recidivism Watch” from The Washington Post (8/29/16)
• “The Fix” (8/24/16) also from The Washington Post
• “13 Tips for Reading General Election Polls like a Pro” (9/2/16) on Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight
• If you have more to add, please let us know. 

Also, see a separate review for Good Charts by Harvard’s Scott Berinato which does an excellent job of discussing data visualization.

Another new and related book is called Head in the Cloud by William Poundstone. This title, too, deals with information, although the focus is more on the value (or not) of general knowledge when students can just Google everything.  Well-known author Poundstone relies on a number of surveys (Levitin would ask: What were those sample sizes? Was this a representative sample? How were the questions worded?) in order to illustrate the inability of respondents to accurately identify country names on a map, for example. 

Overall, the instances that Poundstone shares are interesting and provide a great selection for trivia enthusiasts, but serious concerns arise, too, when one realizes that the least knowledgeable respondents (Where is Ukraine?  When did that dinosaur live?) also often hold the strongest (and uninformed!) opinions on important issues like immigration and global warming. I have ordered a copy of Head in the Cloud for the new library since it could certainly serve as a starting point for some very stimulating arguments.