Six Research Revolutions and 34 Resources

In 2003, the National Science Foundation and the American Library Association, with National Video Resources, granted 50 libraries, one per state, funding to pilot Research Revolution: Science and the Shaping of Modern Life, a six-part film series addressing how big scientific ideas and developments in the 20th century shaped modern society. Murrysville Community Library was fortunate enough to receive its state’s NSF grant, and this author was fortunate enough to be asked to be the facilitator for it. What an outstanding set of videos!

A recommended list of books evolved from the course that was given over six weeks at numerous public libraries and the University of Pittsburgh Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Here they are.

<indent>o Atomic Age: I Am Become Death: They made the Bomb

<indent><indent>1. I. B. Cohen, Science and the Founding Fathers, W.W. Norton & Co., New York (1995).

1. K. Bird and M.J. Sherwin, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Vintage Books, New York (2005).
2. J. Gleick, Genius, Vintage Books, New York (1992).
3. R. P. Feynman, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!, Bantam Books, New York (1986).
4. The Universe, J.B. Crawford, ed., Time-Life Books Student Library, Richmond, VA (1998).
5. J. Gribbin, Hyperspace, Our Final Frontier, DK Publishing, Inc., New York (2001).
6. S. Hawking, The Illustrated A Brief History of Time, New York: Bantam Books (1996).
7. S. Hawking, The Universe in a Nutshell, New York: Bantam Books (2001). </indent></indent>

</indent>

Bernard Cohen sets the stage for the whole series of six films by hailing the 18th century Age of Reason. For it, he argues, science was an integral part of the seminal thinking processes of learned men such as the constitutional framers. In what he calls our current Age of Anxiety, science and technology are more likely to be merely invoked for commercial benefit or as tools of war. In the film, and in the excellent Bird/Sherwin book, which could well be the basis of the film and much more, we see this in the making of the atomic bomb by conflicted scientists. Author Richard Feynman, Manhattan Project recruit and Nobel Laureate, is an unmentioned “genius” among geniuses in the film. His personal life and stories, however, add color to the Los Alamos Manhattan Project. He was an interesting and humorous character. Also, the four books about astronomy and the Universe, or ones like them, are needed to broaden the scope of nuclear physics; humankind’s atom bomb is so small in the Universal perspective of “billions” of nuclear stars.

<indent>o Robotics: Into the Body

<indent><indent>1. B. Russell, Understanding History, Wisdom Library, New York (1957).

1. N. Wiener, Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (1981 printing).
2. K.W. Plaxo and M. Gross, Astrobiology, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore (2006).</indent></indent>

</indent>

Russell and Wiener were way ahead of the game with their philosophical discourses about organic origins of life and cybernetics, respectively, the real subject matters of this film. Astrobiology is a comprehensive, undergraduate “101” approach to life’s origins based on chemistry, biology and geology. It can be tough going at times, but it’s a worthwhile trip.

<indent>o Genetics: Our Genes, Our Choices: Who Gets to Know?

<indent><indent>1. J.D. Watson, The Double Helix, Penguin Books Canada, Markham, ON (1968).

1. H.F. Judson, The Eighth Day of Creation, Simon and Schuster, New York (1979).
2. J. D. Watson and F. H. C. Crick, “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids,” Nature, Vol. 171, pp. 737-738 (1953).
3. J.D. Watson with A. Berry, DNA: The Secret of Life, Knopf, New York (2003).
4. R. Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, Oxford University Press, New York (1976).
5. W. H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples, Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, New York (1976).
6. F. F. Cartwright, Disease and History, Thomas Y. Crowell Co., New York (1972).
7. E. G. Chuinard, Only One Man Died: The Medical Aspects of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, WA (1999).</indent></indent>

</indent>

The first five are classics and represent the underlying seminal DNA science of the film. Judson is a must and joyous read; nowhere else is the scientific enterprise better handled. Darwin’s work could be added here also but appears below instead. The last three resources concern pre-Pasteur inflictions with what are now known to be bacteria and viruses. We can realize from these books that science must keep advancing to improve the quality of life, despite accompanying risks. Risks must be managed with the benefit of lifelong learning.

<indent>o Forensics: The Gene Squad

<indent><indent>1. N. W. Gillham, A Life of Sir Francis Galton: From African Exploration to the Birth of Eugenics, Oxford University Press, Oxford (2001).</indent></indent> </indent>

Sir Francis Galton is a biography about the 19th century scientist who developed the system for conventional fingerprinting. He was a cousin of Charles Darwin; he was much influenced by Darwin’s work.

<indent>o Global Warming: What’s Up with the Weather?

<indent><indent>1. B. Fagan, The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History 1300 – 1850, Basic Books, New York (2000).

1. C. E. P. Brooks, Climate Through the Ages, 2nd revised edition, Dover Publications, Inc., New York (1970).
2. S.R. Weart, The Discovery of Global Warming, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (2004).</indent></indent>

</indent>

These resources might help the reader to escape the politics and emotion of current events on this subject. They lend scientific credence to recent global warming and its effect on our biosphere.

<indent>o Biodiversity: Stewardship of the Planet

<indent><indent>1. C. Darwin, The Origin of Species, Collier Books, New York (1962).

1. C. Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle, Doubleday & Company, Garden City, N.Y. (1962).
2. M. Shermer, In Darwin’s Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace, Oxford, New York (2002).
3. J. L. Powell, Night Comes to the Cretaceous, W.H. Freeman and Company, New York (1998).
4. E. H. Colbert, Wandering Lands and Animals, Dover Publications, Inc., New York (1973).
5. R. Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, W. W. Norton & Co., New York (1987).
6. A. W. Crosby, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe 900-1900, Cambridge University Press, New York ((1988).
7. E. H. Colbert, The Great Dinosaur Hunters and their Discoveries, Dover Publications, Inc., New York (1984).
8. J. R. Horner, Digging Dinosaurs, Workman Publishing, New York (1988).
9. D. R. Wallace, The Bonehunters’ Revenge, Houghton Mifflin Co., New York (1999).
10. B. Hölldobler and E.O Wilson, Journey to the Ants, Belknap Press of Harvard U., Cambridge, MA (1994).</indent></indent>

</indent>

All of the 34 are wonderful resources, available at library or on-line. The exceptional videos, unfortunately, have vanished from free, on-line access after 25 years. However, this author still does retain access to the original DVDs.