Grade 7-10. Bortz asks readers to consider this book as a research project, posing the questions: "What does it mean to do science and to live a scientific life?" and "What must I do to prepare myself to live such a life?" He then profiles a variety of scientists working in different disciplines: astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker and astrogeologist Eugene Shoemaker; analytical chemists Frank Asaro and Helen Michel; cluster chemist Richard Smalley; Paula Gregory, Richard Morgan, and Michael Blaese of the National Center for Human Genome Research; anthropologist Patricia Wattenmaker; and engineers Roberta Nichols and Indira Nair. Bortz offers a nice balance between personal information (including how these people got interested in science and their educational backgrounds) and the significance of their research. The use of direct quotes enhances the presentations. A boxed sidebar indicates each individual's current field of work; business title and mailing address; place and date of birth; significant accomplishments; previous work; and words of wisdom. Trite limericks open each chapter. A useful addition to collective-biography and career-guidance collections.?Carolyn Angus, The Claremont Graduate School, CA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 6-12. Addressing students considering a science career, an experienced author and teacher explains how he came to his chosen field, then, refusing to acknowledge the gender gap in science, asks five men and six women, all trained professionals, for their stories. However, except for fact boxes summarizing each interviewee's education and achievements and the muddy black-and-white photos that are a Watts trademark, there is almost no conventional biographical information, but rather a glimpse of how vast and varied are the circumstances, interests, chances, and choices that lead people to their work--and sometimes to epochal discoveries. Bortz's subjects make a reassuringly varied lot: some are not well known outside their fields, but the likes of Carolyn Shoemaker, our century's foremost comet hunter, and Nobelist Richard Smalley enjoy wider reputations. In edited extracts, some of these scientists speak of their own feelings and attitudes, others focus on their research; all, however, urge young readers to go where their interests lead them, learn how to ask the right questions, and be relentless in searching out answers. The packaging isn't glamorous, but the contents are must reading for teenagers who "love, live and breathe science." John Peters
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