Chasing Science: Science as Spectator Sport [Paperback]

Mr. Pohl has the pleasurable job of being a professional writer who gets to investigate science and what scientists are working on. He discovered the joys of doing this as a tourist after an impromptu visit to the computation lab at MIT after giving a speech there. Since then, he has circled the globe in all directions to enjoy nature and scientists at work in many different dimensions. This book is a guide to show you where and how to enjoy the fun as well!

The book is divided into many different sections, by interest area. These include the U.S. national laboratories that you can visit (like Fermilab, Brookhaven National, Argonne, and Sandia), using a backyard telescope to look at the heavens, visiting various telescopes, space travel sites (from Cape Canaveral to Star City in Russia), volcanoes and earthquake locales (especially California, Italy, Iceland, Hawaii, and east Africa), water phenomena (China, Chicago, Niagara Falls, and the Mississippi River), great caves and tunnels (Lescaux in France, Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, Carlsbad Caverns, and subways), fossil and archeology sites (La Brea tar pits, Great Wall of China, Hadrian's Wall, Machu Picchu), meetings where scientists gather to share knowledge (like sessions of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, various museums in the U.S., and the New York Academy of the Sciences), and opportunities for distance learning (by mail, publications, periodicals, television, and e-mail).

One of the great strengths of this book is a geographical index of all of the sites and sources mentioned in the book. The text also contains information about how to access the scientific community and equipment in many cases. For the most part, not much special effort is required other than getting yourself there.

For me, this book is great because I travel a lot. I can use the index to help pick places to visit when I have a hole in my schedule during a trip. For years I have done this with art museums and other cultural sites, but not as often with scientific locations. I look forward to rebalancing that.

I only saw two flaws in the book. First, Mr. Pohl omitted a major way that thousands have enjoyed science over the years, an Earth Watch expedition. This is a non-profit organization based in Massachusetts that helps volunteers find experiments to fund and work on during vacations. One of my sons and I have done this, and found it very rewarding. In my case, I worked on the ways that whales communicate while riding in a Zodiac off the coast of the big island of Hawaii. While there, I had a chance to visit the volcanoes, so I enjoyed two types of science in one trip. It never occurred to me to try to visit the observatories there as well. Next time!

Second, the book does not present many ideas for biological field research visits. Birding is especially good in Central America and Kenya. Whale watching is outstanding in Hawaii, Baja California, Alaska, Massachusetts, and in the Galapagos . . . depending on the time of the year. Perhaps if there is another edition, these kinds of ideas will be added.

If you think you like science or you have family members who do, this book will bring you many hours of pleasure by guiding you into many of the most interesting sites that are easily accessible. I have already visited many of these locations, and can certainly agree that each one was well worth the trip.

After you have read the book, I suggest that you pick themes of things you would like to learn more about. I had the chance to spend time at the Amazon exhibit at the Smithsonian two years ago, and the scientists there were very good at describing all of the research needs we have for the rain forest. Since then, I have learned a lot more in that area. That has turned out to be very intellectually rewarding for me.

Once you find an area that appeals to you, learn about it in as much depth as you enjoy. That will prove more satisfying than just getting a smattering of a lot of areas. Perhaps you can find ways to get your employer involved in supporting the scientific work that needs to be done. Wouldn't that be great?

Have all the science fun you want!

This book is at its best served as a fun read that establishes the fundamentals of a number of fascinating phemonena and studies. It is certainly not an in-depth text full of technical data, but in this case, this is a strength. It conveys some concepts and information in a paragraph or chapter in a fashion that is understandable by a reader with no background in the field.

I would highly recommend it particularly to these readers; when you say, "Gosh, I didn't know that!" (as you will at least once or twice) you might just want to look closer at something you've seen all your life but never really looked at.

I think it would be a great book for every high-schooler to read as an introduction to the sciences.

Additionally, it serves as a great resource for curious travellers; there are many locations locally and internationally that could be an easy sidetrip on any vacation.

Well, now. Let us suppose, in these demon-haunted days, that you are one of those Rare and Noble Souls, a lover of science. You want to find out more about it, preferably in as interesting a manner as possible. This book is just the one for you. Its subtitle--_Science as a Spectator Sport_-- is revealing. It is crammed with places to go, things to see, and activities to do. There is an appendix of museums, observatories, learning centers, space centers, and nature preserves in different states and countries that is worth the price of the book alone.

The revised edition contains two new chapters-- one on math (particularly binary counting) and one on borderline science and pseudoscience (corpsicles, saucers, and ESP). Pohl's conclusion at the end of the second chapter: "If a few thousand people read _The Skeptical Inquirer_, they are totally outnumbered by the millions who read the new best seller about reincarnation or extraterrestrial abduction" (220).

I once knew a man who traveled about the country renovating old-fashioned telescopes to their former condition. I learned from him that even if the old telescopes are no longer the most powerful, they are of considerable historical value; and many are truly beautiful devices. "The Big Eyes" is a marvelous chapter on touring observatories (visual and radio, reflectors and reractors, old and new). It also contains an update on the S.E.T.I. program with suggestions on how to support it; you might even become a volunteer for it.

I had never given much thought to visiting laboratories before-- they had always seemed a bit remote from the public to me. But Pohl takes us on a tour of several labs open to the public-- Fermilab, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Argonne National Laboratory, the Sandia National Laboratory, the Mojave Power Tower, and others. In another chapter, he shows how you can listen to lectures and to shoptalk by scientists. He recounts listening to a lecture by Stephen Hawking. You can actually see a lot of science in operation, and most scientists _like_ to talk to people about what they are doing.

Other chapters of interest include ones on backyard astronomy; dams, locks, and tsunamis; caves and tunnels; fossils and archeology; volcanoes and earthquakes; the space program; and publications and organizations. In an introduction to the book, Pohl acknowledges that his formal training in science is very small. But:

What I am is a _fan_ of science. My relation to science is the same as my relation to the New York Mets. I don't hope to make the team, I just like to watch them play-- the difference being that, for me, science is even better as a spectator sport than baseball ever was. (11)

Just so. You don't have to be a professional scientist in order to play the game. There will, of course, be many people around you who don't know how to play. But if you love the game, it won't really matter.