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45th out of 71 books
—
50 voters
The New Cool: A Visionary Teacher, His FIRST Robotics Team, and the Ultimate Battle of Smarts
by
Neal Bascomb
That Monday afternoon, in high-school gyms across America, kids were battling for the only glory American culture seems to want to dispense to the young these days: sports glory. But at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California, in a gear-cluttered classroom, a different type of “cool” was brewing. A physics teacher with a dream – the first public high-school teacher e...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
March 1st 2011
by Crown
(first published January 1st 2010)
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As a FIRST robotics participant (I cosponsor the club at my school), I felt obligated to read this book. Often I found myself wondering if Dean Kamen had asked Neal Bascomb to write this book. It may be that my mixed feelings about the robotics program itself bled into my reading of the book, but I just did not find it that well written. I was at some of the events described in the book and I found them awkward and goofy rather than cool and inspiring (as the author apparently found them). Howev...more
Jul 28, 2011
Shirley Freeman
added it
This was great!! Author Neal Bascombe follows high school science and engineering teacher Amir Abo-Shaeer as he promotes his high school's engineering academy, guides 31 seniors through a Robotics competition season and sets out to transform American education. The reader gets to watch as a disparate group of kids (third to half girls) transforms into a well-functioning team. The build season begins when the new game is unveiled at the same moment all over the country. The team is challenged to...more
I read the book called “The New Cool” by Neal Bascomb. It is about a FIRST robotics team. FIRST is an organization that was founded by Dean Kamen. FIRST holds an annual robot competition where teams and their robots fight on a field. They usually play a game that is simple, but it is a challenge to build the robot for the job. The book focuses on the Dos Pueblos High School’s engineering academy’s team. It tells about their journey to the competition in the season of 2009 which the game was call...more
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I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this through the Giveaways and was so glad I did. I had never heard of the high school FIRST Robotics competition before reading this book, nor was I particularly intrigued by the concept. However, as soon as I began reading, I became engrossed in the drama of the competition, the humanity of the students and visionary adults involved, and the importance of the competition's mission to instill scientific curiosity and confidence in America's students. I al...more
Dean Kamen, the Segway inventor, created the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition to encourage high-school students to consider scientific careers.
The book begins with Mr Kamen introducing the 2009 FIRST competition and then follows team 1717, the D'Penguineers, from Goleta, California, as against all odds they grow into an award-winning team.
The team is led by Amir Abo-Shaeer, a physics teacher and the founder of the fledgling engineering acade...more
The book begins with Mr Kamen introducing the 2009 FIRST competition and then follows team 1717, the D'Penguineers, from Goleta, California, as against all odds they grow into an award-winning team.
The team is led by Amir Abo-Shaeer, a physics teacher and the founder of the fledgling engineering acade...more
Reading this book the month of the 2011 FIRST championships was good timing. I liked the organization of the book according to the time of the season. I liked reading about how the team became a powerhouse with a partially rookie team. (The teacher and mentors weren't new to FIRST.) I liked the description of the students and how they grew over the season along with the physical environment. I liked how the author introduced the reader to technical concepts in passing. I liked the focus on one t...more
Well researched and written, really captures the atmosphere, which I experienced firsthand (as a parent). This is about a "newbie" team participating in the FIRST international robotics challenge in 2009. It happens that my son was a senior at this school in 2006, the first year his high school--the one featured in this book--competed. Their mentor, physics teacher Amir Abo-Shaaer, a former engineer and dedicated pedagogue, worked very hard to realize his dream of hands-on education and affect h...more
Fantastic book about a new sporting event for teenagers - FIRST Robotics! This book follows a few teams of High School kids and their mentors as they prepare for an annual robotics event held across the country. The writer of the book actually embedded reporters with each team and ultimately the book focuses mostly on one of those teams. FIRST Robotics is an awesome program. It gives a competitive edge to science and technology and encourages adults to mentor kids through real-life technology an...more
This non-fiction book is telling the story of one high school team and their participation in a F.I.R.S.T robotics competition. This has been my academic book for the last six weeks, and though it took me a really long time to work my way slowly through it, I do feel like I gave my brain a good work out and that I'm a little more educated about current events. Besides being caught up in the competion and the students/teacher/mentors' lives, I also have a greater appreciation for anyone engineer...more
This book is about a teacher/mentor and his high school students building operable robots that compete against other robots in Dean Kamen’s FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competitions. The robot building tests the students smarts, ingenuity, will, and team working abilities. It’s amazing what kids can do when they put their minds to it! Although I got the feeling that for the better part of the book itself was written like a play-by-play basketball game that bu...more
Wow..... OK, I'm somewhat biased, but this book was spectacular (first book in a long time that I've been unable to put down.... so I'm now writing a little review at 2:30 AM). It revolves around a FIRST FRC team, which is an international high school robotics competition, and just like the first program, the book combines the excitement of a great sports story with lots of great personal stories. The fact that its focused around one of the most exciting robotics seasons for me (I had the pleasu...more
"But the PenguinBot was stalked relentlessly by the opposing alliance, allowing Kevin only a couple more shots. Something was wrong with the Ape too. Its hoppwer was full of balls, but they didn't release when thier driver had lined up their robot for an easy dump. Only Turk and CHS's shooter kept thier alliance ahead while the Wildhats kept scoring.
"The D'Penguieers won 64-60" (263)
This quotation reveals the thing that I most dislike about this book and the thing that I like best about it. My...more
"The D'Penguieers won 64-60" (263)
This quotation reveals the thing that I most dislike about this book and the thing that I like best about it. My...more
A majority of our family members are "techies," so this book has a broad appeal to us.
But it is the maze through which these "lab rats" have to manipulate their dreams that makes this great reading for all folk.
It isn't all that technical, which is good, because they would have lost me!'
Instead, their is a lot of dialogue to help explain how they got from point A to point Z. So much dialogue, in fact, in some places it reads like a novel. Did the crew carry tape recorders around with them? Or do...more
But it is the maze through which these "lab rats" have to manipulate their dreams that makes this great reading for all folk.
It isn't all that technical, which is good, because they would have lost me!'
Instead, their is a lot of dialogue to help explain how they got from point A to point Z. So much dialogue, in fact, in some places it reads like a novel. Did the crew carry tape recorders around with them? Or do...more
Fantastic! Possibly I enjoyed this so much because I love robotics but I think the writing was excellent and the story of the kids phenomenal.
This books describes the process/journey a group of high school kids from California take in making a robot from scratch and getting it ready for a national competition. The amount of hours the kids put in, the skills they learn and the various backgrounds are impressive and fascinating. The individual stories are captivating as well as the main mentor/t...more
This books describes the process/journey a group of high school kids from California take in making a robot from scratch and getting it ready for a national competition. The amount of hours the kids put in, the skills they learn and the various backgrounds are impressive and fascinating. The individual stories are captivating as well as the main mentor/t...more
The New Cool is about a robotics competition and the integral part it plays in an inspiring education program. The author, Neal Bascomb, and his researchers clearly spent a lot of time at Dos Pueblos High School, and the resulting details about many of the students' lives had me rooting for them individually, in addition to the team as a whole.
The engineering program at Dos Pueblos gives me hope that education in the United States (and internationally) can evolve, so that students' dormant abili...more
The engineering program at Dos Pueblos gives me hope that education in the United States (and internationally) can evolve, so that students' dormant abili...more
I won a copy of this book through the goodreads first reads program. I am so glad I was chosen to receive a copy of this book. I LOVED IT!
Neal Bascomb weaves an amazing story about the Goleta, CA Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy's 2009 competition season in the FIRST robotics match (www.usfirst.org). The D'Penguineers team comes together slowly and works through a number of intense engineering and interpersonal problems to become an amazingly competitive team. Bascomb makes the competition read l...more
Neal Bascomb weaves an amazing story about the Goleta, CA Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy's 2009 competition season in the FIRST robotics match (www.usfirst.org). The D'Penguineers team comes together slowly and works through a number of intense engineering and interpersonal problems to become an amazingly competitive team. Bascomb makes the competition read l...more
This book tells the tale of a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) season. By shadowing several teams, the author and his team of reporters are able to present several different viewpoints on the usefulness, appeal, and conduct of FIRST and FRC. It accurately portrays some of the joys and frustrations of the experience, and conveys the reasons for "Why FIRST?" more subtly than Dean Kamen would. Tempered by my own FRC experience (which, hey, I enjoy a lot), I enjoyed reading the book. However, I was...more
This book was good, but it took a while to entice you. I wanted to read it because I am part of FIRST Robotics, which kept me going through the whole book. Others may not have this drive.
In the beginning, I felt that the story was more informing you about what went on in that season of robotics and the history of every character. This put me off a bit. Bascomb kept going off in tiny tangents and talking about the history of, say, Dean Kamen, instead of telling more of the story and what was happ...more
In the beginning, I felt that the story was more informing you about what went on in that season of robotics and the history of every character. This put me off a bit. Bascomb kept going off in tiny tangents and talking about the history of, say, Dean Kamen, instead of telling more of the story and what was happ...more
First of all, THANKS to Goodreads, Crown Publishers, and Neal Bascomb for the free Goodreads copy of this book. I can honestly say that I never would have read it had it not shown up mysteriously on my doorstep. Needless to say, I'm glad it did and I'm very glad I read it.
My one word review of this book would simply read: AWESOME! However, not oven that overly generalized term does it justice. First of all, and like I mentioned before, this isn't the type of book I generally read. But one thing...more
My one word review of this book would simply read: AWESOME! However, not oven that overly generalized term does it justice. First of all, and like I mentioned before, this isn't the type of book I generally read. But one thing...more
May 03, 2011
LC Piper
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in robotics and personal success stories.
Recommended to LC Piper by:
Goodreads first readers.
The New Cool by Neal Bascomb.
Written within is a clever story about the Amir and his attempt to change the lives of children at a key place in their education. The book was well written and read easily with professional skill. The voice is clean and smooth.
I found the flow of the book irregular as it frequently jumped a narrative POV from one focused character to the next. If I wasn't expecting it, as I wasn't frequently at the beginning, then it was a bit confusing. However later in the book I...more
Written within is a clever story about the Amir and his attempt to change the lives of children at a key place in their education. The book was well written and read easily with professional skill. The voice is clean and smooth.
I found the flow of the book irregular as it frequently jumped a narrative POV from one focused character to the next. If I wasn't expecting it, as I wasn't frequently at the beginning, then it was a bit confusing. However later in the book I...more
May 28, 2011
Dolly
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
parents who want their children to
Shelves:
2011,
education-school,
nonfiction,
science,
other-usa,
new-england,
math,
fitness-sports,
first-reads
I won this book on Goodreads Giveaways and I am so glad that I did. It was an eye-opener to see a whole world of science and engineering competition that may help our country regain some of the footing we've lost in the world of technology and STEM academics. I am new to the world of robotics competitions; when we lived on Oahu, I'd heard of a high school in Waialua (Waialua Robotics) who did really well at a national FIRST event, but I didn't know much more than that. I find the whole project f...more
A bit of nerdy fun--the author followed 2-3 high school engineering teams around as they prepared for a worldwide robotics competition (F.I.R.S.T.) and showed the perseverence and sacrifices the kids made to make their robot the best that it could be. Culminates in the national finals for the competition. As a non-fiction book, it of course is a bit predictable since you can see in the table of contents that the kids DO end up in the finals--but it's still very worthwhile to see how mentors and...more
This was an interesting read, though not up to the level of brilliance I've come to expect from Neal Bascomb's writing. If engineering were really taught the way Dean Kamen, Woodie Flowers, Amir Abo-Shaeer, and others in this book suggest, I might have stuck with it. This quote stood out for me:
"Training and education are very different. Training is a commodity. Education is the part that confers comparative advantage. Much of what we call engineering education is in fact training and poorly don...more
"Training and education are very different. Training is a commodity. Education is the part that confers comparative advantage. Much of what we call engineering education is in fact training and poorly don...more
... 1717 is crazy amazing.
I can't even begin to imagine what sort of a build season they have, starting over with a new crop of students every year. Our build season is crazy enough.
Strangely, it didn't seem real at all until it got to the Sacramento regional. Then they mentioned the proposal, and then I realized that this was a nonfiction book. 1717 actually did build an awesome robot and completely dominate and make it to division finals at champs. And they've continued to do so since then.
Rob...more
I can't even begin to imagine what sort of a build season they have, starting over with a new crop of students every year. Our build season is crazy enough.
Strangely, it didn't seem real at all until it got to the Sacramento regional. Then they mentioned the proposal, and then I realized that this was a nonfiction book. 1717 actually did build an awesome robot and completely dominate and make it to division finals at champs. And they've continued to do so since then.
Rob...more
This is a must-read for science teachers as well as for kids interested in science. Teachers in other subjects should read this, too. This is a fantastic, inspiring story that demonstrates what kids can do when challenged to be creative, collaborative problem solvers. I couldn't put this one down.
http://nextgeneduleaders.blogspot.com...
http://nextgeneduleaders.blogspot.com...
This was one of those "I read it because my boyfriend is into robotics and I want to be a good girlfriend and impress him" kind of books. Actually ended up liking it...interesting look at one teachers goal of making math and science cool and fun for his students.
If you are interested in Robotics and technology then this is the book for you.
It reminded me much of the struggles the kids in october sky went through before
they became a success. Plus Homer Hickim from the story of October sky (aka rocket boys)
also likes the book. It is a MUST READ!
It reminded me much of the struggles the kids in october sky went through before
they became a success. Plus Homer Hickim from the story of October sky (aka rocket boys)
also likes the book. It is a MUST READ!
The New Cool, indeed! This story follows the dream of a high school teacher to inspire interest in science, technology, engineering and math to students in his school and around the country, through participation in the FIRST Robotics competition.
Gripping writing and a great story. Inspired me to buy a bunch of DIY robot kits for my kids today. Hurrah for Science, Technology, Engineering and....Math (STEM) in America!
Excellent book - really inspiring to me as a FIRST Lego League coach. Fast-paced and exciting to read.
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