Week 8

Assignment 1:

I read the two articles.

Assignment 2:

I viewed Pratt’s E-Learning video.

Assignment 3:

• Biography (BIO): Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
• Memoir (BIO): Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray
• History (940-British, 970-American…) Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady by Kate Summerscale
• Science (500): The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Keen 

Assignment 4:

Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady by Kate Summerscale is the character-driven yet issue-oriented story of Isabella Robinson, the unhappy second wife of a businessman.  Intellectually and sexually frustrated, lonely Isabella confides her thoughts and secret infatuations—they might well have been be dalliances—into her private diary.  When it is discovered by her dictatorial husband in 1858, the diary becomes the basis for one of the first scandalous divorce proceedings to take place among the middle class in Victorian Britain.  This is personal history merged with a social history of marriage, class and hypocrisy.  Devotees of British and women’s history will enjoy this steamy, thought provoking work which is amply supplied with background notes.  Fans of Hilary Mantel, Philippa Gregory, Frank Horan and even Downton Abbey are a likely audience for Mrs. Robinson.

The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Keen merges science with quirky personal stories.  The discovery and influence of human DNA is illuminated and its past and future ramifications are explored by Keen’s witty recounting of the human stories behind the science.  Readers can learn the scientific basis for crazy cat ladies, why JFK was perpetually tanned and why Einstein was a genius, and why thumb flexibility is a prerequisite for world class violinists.  Accessible and engaging, this is the story of the interplay between science and history.  Readers who have enjoyed Dava Sobel, Richard Dawkins, Mark Kurlansky and Bill Bryson should appreciate Sam Keen.