Dr. Reichler's Spring 2007 Bio 301 Bonus #1

This assignment is optional and can be worth a maximum of 2 points added to your final grade.

Please choose a book from the list below.  Read the book.  Then I would like you to write about it.  I do not want a book report/summary.  What I would like is for you to write something interesting and/or novel about the book.  This is a fairly free-form assignment... make it what you want it to be.  I am looking for commentary, opinion or analysis; but support your ideas with information from the book or other sources.  The only real limit is that your report should be no longer than 4 typed/word-processed pages.  Based on your paper, you can receive up to 2 points added to your final grade.  The typed/word-processed paper is due February 28, 2007 at the beginning of class.  If you have any questions about this, don't hesitate to ask.

Book Title Author
Any book by Edward Abbey Abbey, Edward
A natural history of the senses Ackerman, Diane
An alchemy of mind: the marvel and mystery of the brain Ackerman, Diane
Cultivating delight: a natural history of my garden Ackerman, Diane
The moon by whale light: and other adventures among bats, penguins, crocodilians, and whales Ackerman, Diane
The rarest of the rare: vanishing animals, timeless worlds Ackerman, Diane
A natural history of love Ackerman, Diane,
Last chance to see Adams, Douglas
The Electric Meme: A New Theory of How We Think Aunger, Robert
The Myth of Monogamy Barash and Lipton
The Meme Machine Blackmore, Susan
The biology of civilisation: understanding human culture as a force in nature Boyden, Stephen V.
Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme Brodie, Richard
Outgrowing the earth: the food security challenge in the age of falling water tables and rising temperatures Brown, Lester R.
A brain for all seasons: human evolution and abrupt climate change Calvin, William H.
Diet for a dead planet: how the food industry is killing us Cook, Christopher D.
Andromeda strain Crichton, Michael
Climbing mount improbable Dawkins, Richard
River out of eden: a Darwinian view of life Dawkins, Richard
The blind watchmaker: why the evidence of evolution reveals a universe without design Dawkins, Richard
The extended phenotype: the long reach of the gene Dawkins, Richard
The selfish gene Dawkins, Richard
Why we do it: rethinking sex and the selfish gene Eldredge, Niles
Middlesex   
Eugenides, Jeffery
Why we love: the nature and chemistry of romantic love Fisher, Helen E
Confessions of an eco-warrior Foreman, Dave
Race, racism, and science: social impact and interaction Jackson, John P
Emergence: the connected lives of ants, brains, cities, and software Johnson, Steven
Mind wide open: your brain and the neuroscience of everyday life Johnson, Steven
Everything bad is good for you: how today's popular culture is actually making us smarter Johnson, Steven
Apprentice to genius: the making of a scientific dynasty Kanigel, Robert
A feeling for the organism: the life and work of Barbara McClintock Keller, Evelyn Fox
The origin of minds: evolution, uniqueness, and the new science of the self La Cerra, Peggy
Dinner at the new gene cafe: how genetic engineering is changing what we eat, how we live, and the global politics of food Lambrecht, Bill
The periodic table Levi, Primo
Rosalind Franklin: the dark lady of DNA Maddox, Brenda
Microcosmos: four billion years of evolution from our microbial ancestors Margulis, Lynn
What it means to be 98% chimpanzee: apes, people, and their genes Marks, Jonathan
Mendel's dwarf Mawer, Simon
Pandora's picnic basket: the potential and hazards of genetically modified foods McHughen, Alan
The Polymerase chain reaction Mullis, Kary
Dancing naked in the mind field Mullis, Kary
Eat your genes: how genetically modified food is entering our diet Nottingham, Stephen
Genescapes: the ecology of genetic engineering Nottingham, Stephen
Grizzly years Peacock, Doug
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance Pirsig, Robert
The demon in the freezer: a true story Preston, Richard
The Hot Zone Preston, Richard
Food, inc.: Mendel to Monsanto-the promises and perils of the biotech harvest Pringle, Peter
Ishmael Quinn, Daniel
Making PCR : a story of biotechnology Rabinow, Paul
Not by genes alone: how culture transformed human evolution Richerson, Peter J.
Genome: autobiography of a species in 23 chapters Ridley, Matt
Nature via nurture: genes, experience, and what makes us human Ridley, Matt
Origin of virtue Ridley, Matt
Red queen Ridley, Matt
Hominids   
Sawyer, J.
Sex, time, and power: how women's sexuality shaped human evolution Shlain, Leonard
Adam's curse: a future without men Sykes, Bryan
The seven daughters of eve Sykes, Bryan
The double helix Watson, James
Nature wars: people vs. pests Winston, Mark L
Travels in the genetically modified zone Winston, Mark L.
Rattling the cage: toward legal rights for animals Wise, Steven M.
The moral animal: evolutionary psychology and everyday life Wright, Robert

(If you would like to use a book not listed, check with Stuart)

Most of these titles are available from the UT library.