Munching Maggots, Noah's Flood and TV Heart Attacks and Other Cataclysmic Science Moments Book

First off, I picked this book up at the library because I had made challenge to read a book from all the Dewey sections of the library, so this is my 500 section. It's science, written simple and with humor. Each chapter covers a topic and the author uses a lot of humor in his writing. My criticism would be that this book is outdated. It probably should be pulled off the shelf around 2003.


Chapters:
1. Running in the Rain
2. Noah’s Flood
3. Can’t Get to the Stars in a Lifetime
4. Can Get to the Stars in a Lifetime
5. Coffee, Caffeine and Circles
6. Maggots Give LIve
7. Maggots Date Death
8. Is Mr Smith Heavier Than Mr Tailor?
9. Super Broccoli!
10. Life on Titan
11. Life on Europa
12. Flattened Fauna
13. Melatonin--Magic or Madness?
14. Name Your Own Element?
15. Planets Line Up
16. TV, Heart Attacks and CPR
17. Your Name Is Your Job
18. Cold Baths, Olympic Games and Hot Bodies

#1: yes if you run the right direction and speed you should be able to avoid getting wet depending on the slant of rain.

#2: Is there any evidence of a flood. The author states it was very local and involved the Mediterrenean Basin and the Black Sea.

#3, 4: is star travel possible.

# 5: the benefits of caffeine (yea, coffee is good for energy, alertness, fighting cancer, etc.

# 6, 7: Maggots in wound care and Maggots in forensics.

# 8. both 8 and 17 talk about names and jobs

#9: broccoli, where did it come from and why is it good when it taste so bad. And yes its very good for you.

#10 and #11: outdated, talked about the proposed Voyager trips when it is already over. But I decided to check and yes, there is a vehicle that keeps flying by Titan and sending back videos.

#12. Research on roadkill.

#13: should you take Melatonin or not. I can say that I actually found things in this chapter to use in my work and that the chapters I found most interesting were #5 and 6, 7, and 9.

#14-18, generally I am growing tired of the book and rushed through these final chapters. The author reported on some research in cold baths and athlete performance and tolerance of cold that was as weak as the Melatonin reseach but he wasn't as critical

#16: Findings, so far, challenge simplistic
notions that viewing TV encourages anti-social behaviour.
Discussions with older students suggested family and
community factors which seem more persuasive in shaping
behaviour than mere exposure to TV. St. Helena Project by Prof Tony Charlton and Dr. Andrew Hannan

The section on TV is severely outdated with the advances made in flat screens, LCD, Plasma etc. And changes with viewing TV verses watching content on computers, pads and laptops.


Finally, even though I want to read some nonfiction, I will never do another Dewey challenge.
���*
�
�