Science Says Bookclub Blog Posts

Science and democracy

If someone were to ask me on what the United States was founded, "science" would not be my first answer. Or even my second. But in chapter three, "Religion, Meet Science", Otto argues that science is a core, founding principle of the US and democracy itself.

Anti-vaxxers and the Sagan effect: A grim read for science communication hopefuls

It was hard not to be depressed after finishing the chapter entitled "Science, Drugs, and Rock'n'Roll." The chapter was a litany of all the ways the public can misperceive science, detailing how these misperceptions can take hold and the ramifications that come from denying science. Otto's most striking example chronicled the saga of the anti-vaccine movement – a movement that has diminished vaccination rates and caused thousands of preventable deaths.

Is knowledge still power?

The first book club meeting was a success! Grad students studying plant science, biomedical engineering, and public health each contributed to the discussion through their unique scientific base of knowledge and diverse personal experiences. From the beginning, it was clear why the people in the room were interested in reading this The War on Science: science is a major part of their life and they are gravely concerned with how our current culture is handling science.

Battle cry, not a playbook

I'm behind! We just wrapped up our first book club reading Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System by Raj Patel. Instead of writing individual posts I opted to write one final summary of my take on our discussions guided by the author's main points. After finishing the book we were left with one overarching thought: There is more to the food system than meets the eye. And it's not all about feeding people.

Bookclub Meeting #1: Introductions

As we went around the table introducing ourselves we noted a major theme arising in our motivation to join the bookclub. We all joined to learn more about the entire food system, and how our college major or thesis work or personal background fits in. We are all students at UC Davis. Some of us are in graduate school, a couple of us are undergraduate students. We are studying things like global disease, animal science, cell biology, biochemistry, plant biology and plant breeding (with a minor in Spanish!). All subjects pertinent to the conversation of food on some level.