Monday, November 10, 2014

Nonfiction November: Be the Expert




This week is the Expert Week, and I have chosen to be the expert, and hence give some recommendations to you for this Non-Fiction November. Being that I am a Science PhD student AND I saw how many of you seemed interested on The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I decided to go with the science theme. All the books are already published and available ;)

If you have someone in your life that is starting their Science studies I recommend Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson. I read this book last year and as someone who is still a student I can tell you, frustration becomes a constant. However, this tiny book is full of words of someone who has done great things in his field and can tell you for sure why and how not to despair. It even made me cry a bit and I gave it to my little cousin who started her Biology Undergrad studies this year too. 
 
If you liked or want to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks because you want to know a bit more about cancer and it's history, I would recommend Pandora's DNA by Lizzie Stark. This book is focused on Breast Cancer, particularly the one that you can inherit. Part memoir, part research, this book will leave you with knowledge about how this particular cancer has been treated over the years, the advances in the science and other fields; as well as the touching humane part of a whole family affected by a gene mutation. 

If what you want to learn is...well, how is it that we learn, may I recommend How We Learn by Benedict Carey. While the subtitle might be a bit deceiving (The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens, I wasn't really surprised, sorry) it seems to me like a great introduction if you want to learn about this subject. It even has a couple of exercises that can be very fun. Again, it might not be very surprising with the info unless is your first time approaching the subject, but it is very well vulgarized, it is engaging and perfect to being to journey on how do we learn. 

Those are my suggestions. If you do read any of them, please come back and let me know what you thought. I you already did, even more so! Have a wonderful nonfiction week!!

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