Seminar in Natural Science (online)

  BGS 391 
 Fall 2007

Required Texts

Charles Wynn and Arthur Wiggins, The Five Biggest Ideas in Science.  
John Wiley and Sons, 1997 (paper).  Available at both RU bookstores.

Chicago Wilderness, An Atlas of Biodiversity, 2000.  Available in digital format (pdf) or hardcopy at http://www.chiwild.org/pubprod/atlas/index.cfm (free).  Print copy is recommended; follow instructions at link to order yours.

 

The Wynn and Wiggins book is available from Roosevelt's bookstores at both the Chicago and Robin campuses.  If you live near either campus, you may drop by and pick them up directly.  If you don't live close by, you can

  • Call either store (847.619.8660 RC; 312.341.3592 DT) to have the book shipped directly to your address.

  • Order the book online from a web-based bookseller, such as the Seminary Co-op in Chicago.

In addition to these two texts, our required readings will include many web-based documents and websites, accessible via the Weekly Schedule or the Course Documents section of our Bb site. 

A Selected Natural Science Bibliography

The following books are not required reading.  However, for those of you who are interested in further reading and research, this list is a good starting point.  Some of these books have been used in my classes from past semesters (these authors are highlighted).  

Genetics

  • Matt Ridley, Genome:  The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters.  Harper, 2000.

  • Ruth Hubbard and Elijah Wald, Exploding the Gene Myth:  How Genetic Information is Produced and Manipulated by Scientists, Physicians, Employers, Insurance Companies, Educators, and Law Enforcers.  Beacon Press, 1999.

  • Larry Gonick and Mark Wheelis, The Cartoon Guide to Genetics.  HarperPerennial, 1991.

  • Maxim Frank-Kamenetskii, Unraveling DNA:  The Most Important Molecule of Life.  Perseus, 1997.

  • James Watson, The Double Helix:  A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA.  Norton Critical Edition.   Norton, 1980.

  • Evelyn Fox Keller,  A Feeling for the Organism:  The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock.  W. H. Freeman, 1983.

Evolution

  • Jonathan Weiner, The Beak of the Finch:  A Story of Evolution in Our Time. 
    Vintage Books, 1995.

  • Tim Berra.  Evolution and the Myth of Creationism:  A Basic Guide to the Facts in the Evolution Debate.  Stanford Univ. Press, 1990.

  • David Quammen, The Song of the Dodo:  Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions.  Touchstone, 1997.

  • Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker:  Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design.  Norton, 1996.

  • C. Leon Harris, ed.  Evolution:  Genesis and Revelations.  SUNY Press, 1981.  

  • Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan.  What Is Life?  Univ. of CA Press, 2000.

Ecology / Natural History

  • E. O. Wilson, The Future of Life.  Borzoi, 2002.

  • Joel Greenberg, The Natural History of the Chicago Region.  Chicago, 2002.

  • Sandra Steingraber, Living Downstream: A Scientist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment.   Vintage Books, 1998.

  • Daniel Botkin, Discordant Harmonies:  A New Ecology for the 21st Century.  Oxford, 2000.

  • E. O. Wilson, The Diversity of Life.  Norton, 1999.

  • Rachel Carson, Silent Spring.  Houghton Mifflin, 1962.

General Biology

  • Ernst Mayr, This Is Biology:  The Science of the Living World.  Harvard, 1997.

  • Anne Fausto-Sterling, Myths of Gender:  Biological Theories about Women and Men.  Basic Books, 1992.

General Science

  • Bill Bryson.  A Short History of Nearly Everything.  Broadway Books, 2003.

  • Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World:  Science as a Candle in the Dark.  Ballantine, 1996.

  • E. O. Wilson, Consilience:  The Unity of Knowledge.  Random House, 1999.

  • Leslie Stevenson and Henry Byerly, eds.  The Many Faces of Science:  An Introduction to Scientists, Values, and Society.  Westview Press, 1995. 

  • Michael A. Bryson, Visions of the Land:  Science, Literature, and the American Environment from the Era of Exploration to the Age of Ecology.  Univ. Va Press, 2002. 

  • Stephen Tchudi, ed.  Science, Values, and the American West.  Nevada Humanities Committee, 1997.

 Mike Bryson
Associate Professor
University College
Roosevelt University

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Last updated 09/12/07