Science: August 2008 Archive Page

Neither faculty members nor librarians expect e-books to constitute a viable substitute for print books; they are more generally seen as complementary.

Somewhat oddly given this low level of faculty interest in e-books, many librarians consider the provisioning of e-books an important role, and substantially more expect it to be one in five years (see Figure 16). This enthusiasm is notably higher at the largest institutions, with one-quarter of librarians anticipating a transformative role and two-thirds believing that licensing and making available e-books is an important library function, both numbers well above those of smaller schools. Librarians' enthusiasm in the face of a relative lack of interest from faculty may indicate that librarians are responding to student demand or expecting future faculty demand.

It is also possible that librarians believe wider use of e-books will improve their ability to provide library services in a cost-effective manner, and are interested in driving the transformation of the book medium.

The 3,000-year-old skeletons were in such good condition that anthropologists at the University of Goettingen managed to extract a sample of DNA. That was then matched to two men living nearby: Uwe Lange, a surveyor, and Manfred Huchthausen, a teacher. The two men have now become local celebrities.

"It's odd, standing here in the same area where my ancestors were buried. I felt really strange when I had the bones, the skull of my great-great-great grandfather dating back 120 generations, in my hands," said Manfred.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I think the lack of respect for math and science is one of the largest unacknowledged problems in today's society. And it starts in the academy -- somehow, we have moved to a place where people can consider themselves educated while remaining ignorant of remarkably basic facts of math and science. If I admit an ignorance of art or music, I get sideways looks, but if I argue for taking a stronger line on math and science requirements, I'm being unreasonable. The arts are essential, but Math Is Hard, and I just need to accept that not everybody can handle it.--Chad Orzel, Inside Higher Ed

When I teach "News Writing," I include a brief unit on reporting with statistics and percentages, and the "New Media Projects" seminar exposes upper-level students to various computer programming tasks.

I wonder whether Orzel would feel comforted to know that I regularly encounter people who laughingly dismiss their self-proclaimed inability to master the (heart-breakingly simple) rule about when to use "its" and when to use "it's."