I Speak of Dreams

The Importance of Word Choice: Terms with multiple meanings for scientists and the public « Southern Fried Science

Yes, more tidbits prompted by #scio12.

The Importance of Word Choice: Terms with multiple meanings for scientists and the public « Southern Fried Science.

If you haven’t seen the excellent post on Mountain Beltway - Words matter – you should head over there and take a look. The post brought up some interesting ideas about word choice, and how the common definition of a word may convey a different meaning than the scientific definition. For science communicators, this may lead to confusion and misunderstanding between you and your audience. 

I presented this table to my Science and Nature Writing class this morning and asked my students to come up with other terms that may also have multiple, opposing meanings. This impressive list is what they produced:

Apple's iBooks Author hands-on -- Engadget

NOT a #scio12 post.  I'm excited by this but the bolded phrase might be a deal-breaker.

Apple's iBooks Author hands-on -- Engadget.

Apple confirmed to us that you can publish classroom materials for free and that each book will be approved in the same way that the App store approvals process works. Copyrighted works (if you utilize any) will have to be strictly cited and referenced in order to pass muster. You'll be able to publish books for free, all the way up to $14.99: with a fixed profit-share model of 70/30 between yourself and Cupertino. Most importantly of all, any book that you publish must be an exclusive to iBooks.

Tools for Writers’ Workflow, ScienceOnline 2012

Yes, this is just a hint.  I am so envious of the folk at #Scio12

The Further Adventures of Germ Girl | Tools for Writers’ Workflow, ScienceOnline 2012.

Here’s a list of tools and programs that were recommended by speakers (David Dobbs, Brian Switek and me) and by the collected wisdom of the audience in the Tools & Tips for Project Workflow session at ScienceOnline 2012 this morning:

Free Cultural Resources for Your New Devices

Sometimes I use this blog as a notebook -- more than bookmarking, a way of reminding me of things I want to get back to.

Dan Colman at Open Culture published a list of free books, movies, textbooks etc. available for several platforms.

Three online books I'm going to study:

eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Online Marketing (3rd edition) by Rob Stokes

How Language Works (edition 3.0) by Michael Gasser

Educational Psychology (3rd edition) Kelvin Seifert and Rosemary Sutto

 

Now Available for Your Gift-Giving Needs: The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism

Available for purchase at CreateSpace and Amazon in paperback!  Kindle & other e-book links coming soon.

"Refreshingly free of dogma, disinformation, and heavy-handed agendas, The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism is an oasis of sanity, compassion, and hope for people on the spectrum and those who love them."
-- Steve Silberman, senior writer for Wired magazine and autism /neurodiversity blogger for the Public Library of Science. at Neurotribes

 Contributors--you can read more from contributors by clicking the links.

• Kate Ahern
• Devon Koren Alley
• Kyra Anderson
• Anonymous Special Needs Professional
• Asperger Ninja
• Katharine Beals, Ph.D.
• Corina Lynn Becker
• Barbara H. Boucher, OT, Ph.D., PT
• Liane Kupferberg Carter
• Sara Chapman M.A.
• Kristina Chew
• Clay
• Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg
• Daniel Dage
• Christa Dahlstrom
• Michael V. Drejer
• Judy Endow, MSW
• Susan Etlinger
• Shawn C. Graves
• Carol Ann Greenburg
• Prather Harrell
• Michelle Hecht, M.A., BCBA
• Jess at Diary of a Mom
• Jillsmo
• JoyMama
• Mir Kamin
• Brian R. King, LCSW
• Estée Klar
• Judy McCrary Koeppen M.S., CCC-SLP
• Kim Leaird
• Kev Leitch
• Diane Levinthal
• Sarah Low
• J. Lorraine Martin
• Jennifer Byde Myers
• Lindsey Nebeker
• Kristin Neff, Ph.D.
• Rory Patton
• Holly Robinson Peete
• Pia Prenevost
• Shannon Des Roches Rosa
• Brenda Rothman
• Jordan S. Sadler, M.S., CCC-SLP
• Susan Senator
• Laura Shumaker
• Kristen Spina
• Squillo
• Mike Stanton
• Hartley Steiner
• Frances Vega-Costas
• Susan Walton
• Emily Willingham
• Jean Winegardner
• Kim Wombles
• Sandy Yim

Thanks to Amy Freels for the book cover design:  www.amyfreels.com and to Will Hornaday for the Thinking Person's Guide to Autism logo design:www.shoehorndesign.com

 

Podcast with friend and colleague Emily Willingham on The Bears of Texas: A History of Conflict

Critical Wit Podcast » Blog Archive » Critical Wit #31 – Bears And People: A History Of Conflict.

Emily Willingham is a biologist, science writer, and author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to College Biology. She is also the blogger at ‘The Biology Files.’ In this episode we talk about a short book that Emily wrote called When Worlds Collide: The Troubled History of Bears and People in Texas, which is available as a Kindle book on Amazon. Emily also has a personal blog called ‘A Life Less Ordinary‘ which focuses on parenting, special needs children, and autism. You can follow Emily on Twitter @ejwillingham.

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider ‘liking’ the Critical Wit page on Facebook and/or give it a rating in iTunes. You can also follow the podcast on Twitter; @TheCriticalWit. Thanks!

Emily is also the science editor for The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism, and writes for PKids at the Ask Emily column.

The Glorious Fourth!

A revised reprise from 2006

This is for Mark Carbanaro, who thinks that calling this holiday "The Fourth of July" means a lack of patriotism.  He said in an article published July 4, 2006 San Jose Mercury News (no longer available online)

"We lose a certain acknowlegement as to what the meaning of the Declaration of Independence is and why our nation was founded when we just say "Happy Fourth of July."

Carbonaro speculates that the growing use of ``Fourth of July'' is the result of a language prone to shy away from multisyllabic words and an increasingly commercial culture.

Geoff Nunburg (who was quoted in the Merc article) at Language Log says much ado about nothing.

Referring to "the Fourth" instead of "Independence Day" has a long history.   James R. Heintze of American University. Washington, D.C. of has a whole page of late nineteenth and early twentieth century postcards --Fourth of July greetings.  Heintze maintains a database of Fourth of July celebrations.

In 2007, Heintze published   The Encyclopedia of Fourth of July Celebrations:

This is the first comprehensive reference work on America’s Independence Day. Bringing attention to persons, places, and events of historical significance, the book focuses on the Fourth of July as it has been commemorated over the span of more than two centuries, starting with the first celebrations: public readings of the Declaration of Independence that occurred within days of its signing.

At any rate, Independence Day or the Glorious Fourth, wishing you and yours a day of joy and freedom.

I particularly salute the men and women of the military and their families.  I honor their service and their sacrifices.

 

A Home Library for Early Readers: S.W.R.L. "I See Sam"

Back in the 1960s,  Southwest Regional Laboratory for Educational Development and Research (SWRL). was a  a federally funded research and development program in beginning reading.  One outcome was a series of early readers,  which were published by Ginn and Company in 1972.   The writers were Lin Oliver and Steve  Mooser.

Because the project was federally funded, the books are in the public domain. I have two sources Mrs. Sakamoto's page Brian Marriot's I See Sam Homepage.

Interview with Lin Oliver

Interview with Steve Mooser

Interview With Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett is one of my favorite authors. While he writes fantasy, it is also rather pointed political commentary in the background. He recently published a young-adult novel, Nation, that is very fine indeed. There's a short interview with him in School Library Journal

What prompted you to write this story?

A question that is being asked these days is, "is Nation a fictional realization of your real battle with Alzheimer's disease?" which just goes to show that there is far too much psychology around these days! I wasn't diagnosed until about a year and a half ago, by which time I was at the late editing stage of the book, but the idea came to me several years previously, and I would have written it then had it not have been for the big Asian tsunami. After that, I thought it would be too soon for a book like Nation. As to its content, character, and philosophy, all I can say is that a lifetime of writing experience just seemed to open a big door and everything flowed into place. Nation very nearly wrote itself.

New and forthcoming young adult fiction and literature with autism as a theme.

Reviews of the books listed below can be found at Suzanne Crowley's School Library Journal article.

• The Very Ordered Existence of Merilee Marvelous (Greenwillow, 2007) Suzanne CrowleyISBN-13: 978-0061231971.  Young adult novel.  Merilee is a young girl on the autism spectrum.
• Rules (Scholastic, 2006) Cynthia Lord ISBN 978-0439443838 Young adult novel. Catherine's younger brother David has autism; the novel (told from Catherine's point of view) describes how she comes to understand David. Author interview
• Anything but Typical (Simon & Schuster, 2009) Nora Raleigh Baskin ISBN  978-1416963783 First-person novel on the adventures of Jason Blake, a twelve year old with autistic spectrum disorder.
• Marcelo in The Real World (Scholastic, 2009) Francisco X. Stork ISBN 978-0545054744  First-person novel. Marcelo is 17 and has a "cognitive disorder".  His father makes a deal: if Marcelo works for his father's firm, then Marcelo can decide whether to go to a regular high school (what his father prefers) or return to his special-education placement (Marcello's preference).

Forthcoming 

• Episodes: My Life as I See It (Roaring Brook, 2009), Blaze Ginsberg, (Amazon). Memoir/autobiography by young man with autism, Blaze Ginsberg , who was previously the subject of his mother's 2002 book, Raising Blaze.
•  Mockingbird (Philomel, April 2010) Kathryn Erskine ISBN 978-0399252648.  A novel about a young woman with Asperger's.