David’s Comments (group member since Dec 13, 2009)

David’s comments from the Science and Inquiry group.

Interesting article, Leonardo! I have occasionally tried protein and creatine supplements--but I don't have any anecdotal evidence of their helping me.

Meenakshi wrote: "Thanks, Matt and Kenny. Well, since we have already read it in 2011, A Short History Of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson will be nice for a group read."

Meenakshi, you are right--it was a very nice group read. You can find it, and a list of all the books that our group has read at this link.

Interesting review, Steve. Thanks!

I plan to start reading the book in a few weeks.

Cosmos is a great book. However, I can't seem to get through it. I have just read about two-thirds of it, and it's not interesting to me. The reason is that for me, there is nothing new here.

Along these lines, I heartily recommend the book The Science of Liberty: Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature. The thesis of this book is that democracy and scientific achievement go hand-in-hand. Democracy helps to further science, and vice-versa.

This was our "book of the month" a couple of years ago.

Very interesting article, Leonardo--thanks for the post!

This discussion about BEEM is very interesting--it points out the age-old dilemma of science. When does a hypothesis become elevated to a serious theory?

In the book's web page, the author readily admits that BEEM is just a hypothesis, not a theory. It is a very speculative hypothesis, and without reading it, I can't tell what predictions (i.e., falsifiability) are possible. The author definitely believes in evolution--he just does not believe that natural selection is fully capable of explaining all of evolution. (The author does not believe in a supreme being, and he is not proposing creationism or intelligent design.)

As Danielle mentioned above, the book was not peer-reviewed, so the "risk factor" is higher than it would be if it had been peer-reviewed. The book may deserve a read--it just depends on how much time you have, your ability to sort out science from pseudo-science, and your willingness to take a risk and read about an idea that could be a far-sighted explanation of evolution, or might be pure bunk.

Sharon wrote: "Just thought I'd point out that 'Evolution: A View from the 21st Century' by James A Shapiro is currently a free Kindle download on Amazon. However, I'm not sure how long that will last."

Thanks for mentioning that, Sharon! The book is also available for free as a PDF file here:
http://intelligentdesignscience.files...

A brief look at the book shows that it is not a "quick read".

Hi Kitty, and welcome to Science and Inquiry! You have a wide range of interests, so I'm sure you will find some worthwhile topics. Please dig in!

Ashley wrote: "My name is Ashley and I'm currently finishing up a degree in computer science at University of Maryland and have worked in the computer security field a bit. I started out in life loving English an..."

University of Maryland--my alma mater!

Welcome, Ashley.

Susanna wrote: "Darwin's Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution, by Rebecca Stott."

Excellent book! I learned that many scientists in the past faced persecution for their ideas--some were very brave. (Actually, even today some scientists face persecution by over-zealous politicians.)

Aloha wrote: "I know this was not a choice due to it being a new release, but maybe it's not so new now. I nominate State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible?."

This book looks very interesting! But it was published just a month ago ...

Traveller wrote: "Jackboot wrote: "Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life
"
Seconded... but hasn't this club read bot..."

Yes, we read this book in March, 2012.

Kenny wrote: "... Also re-reading last years "Years Best Science Writing" which has a focus on bio.
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2012 "

That's a great series! A compendium of diverse essays, each one excellent. Highly recommended.

Welcome, Prince and Armin. You've come to the right place!

BetseaK, your review is great! I just finished the book myself, and found it to be fascinating. I really knew nothing about Tesla. The book claims that there may have been a range of conspirators who tried to take credit for Tesla's discoveries and inventions. These claims may be true.

Here is my review.

Is anybody else reading this book?

Kenny, I agree. I've been reading the book The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity, which bemoans the fact that our elected representatives are usually ignorant or even averse to science. A TED talk by Scott Fraser, a forensic psychologist complains that judges (and juries) do not understand scientific evidence. Anti-science has engulfed our culture (think of movies like Star Wars, Prometheus, etc.).

I can think of two pros and two cons for "open access publishing". The first, and biggest pro: it is much cheaper. Scientists typically pay a hefty amount to get their research published. Then, science libraries at universities and laboratories pay incredible subscription fees for the journals. And this is despite the fact that peer review is provided by scientists for free! Open access publishing reduces the price significantly, often by having a reduced editorial staff, and by publishing online.

The second pro: It is much easier for anybody to get their research published. Which brings me to the first con: it is much easier for anybody to get their research published. The problem is that with open publishing, there is often less editorial and peer review. Now, peer review is not perfect, but it does serve to filter out the non-scientific garbage.

The second con: There are a thousands of con artists out there, actually preying on scientists. They scam scientists by creating an online presence with a journal name that is almost identical to a well-respected journal. This is known as predatory open access publishing. Scientists submit papers to them, and they get published online. But when they don't see their papers published in the expected journals they complain, bewildered.

Thanks for the recommendation, Aaron. I've put it on my "To-Read" list.

I finally finished the book. I think it's fantastic. The second half of the book emphasizes the usefulness of Bayes Theorem--which I think is quite appropriate. I use Bayes Theorem on a daily basis; while it is mathematically simple, it sometimes seems to work "like magic". Here is my review.