Welcome to Ask The Dean's Journal

    Summer may be here, but that’s no excuse to put your brain in “park”. Nothing beats a good summertime read. Below please find my personal recommendations…

The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by Jonathan Weiner
    What could be a more appropriate read while sitting under a tree and watching the birds. Take a trip to the Galapagos Islands and learn more about the fascinating life and evolution of Darwin’s finches. This book is based on the personal observations of Rosemary and Peter Grant collected over a 20 year period. This is not a flash in the pan book.


The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery by Wendy Moore
John Hunter…anatomist…surgeon…revolutionary thinker…resurrectionist (i.e., grave robber)…translational scientist. What more can one say. A fascinating read about an individual whose unconventional lifestyle, hyperactive mind, and insatiable curiosity will leave you in awe. Not a book for the faint of heart, but definitely for anyone interested in the evolution of surgery and medicine. Also chock-full of Ripley Believe It Or Not vignettes.

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives (Vintage) by Leonard Mlodinow
    This has nothing to do with how to walk a straight line…. and everything about crooked lines! If you are fascinated by the placebo effect, batting averages, winning streaks, you gotta read this one. A fascinating insight into statistical probability! If you think this is boring... you could not be any more wrong! Read this book and you might even win a game of craps!


The Boat Who Wouldn't Float by Farley Mowat
A funny, funny, funny book written by one of the greatest Canadian writers of all time. Say, who said summer reading has to be totally educational. Of course, Mr. Mowat may teach you more than a thing or two in this witty, sailing adventure in the northland.


Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
    A lesson I learned as a lad in a Lackawanna pool hall was.. “Think long, think wrong". This book lends a little more credence to that old adage. Gut instincts are sometimes the best. Another fascinating read into the fascinating workings of the human mind.

    And what have you been reading???

Summer has finally arrived. Time for barbecues, cycling, tennis, baseball, beach time, bad movies, amusement parks, etc. In essence, a time for slacking off. Whoa… not so fast. The mind is like a muscle, if you stop exercising - it will atrophy. So in between downtime – PICK UP A BOOK! It doesn't have to be a book on differential equations, but it should stretch your mind a bit. Here is my top 5 for the Summer of 2008!

1 - Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson. A wonderful review of his life and thoughts. A complicated man with complicated ideas who simplified our lives.
2 – The Maine Woods by Henry David Thoreau. A mid-19th century romp through the “pre-civilized” woods of Maine. Before there was Rachel Carson, Thoreau was concerned with the effect of logging on nature.
3 - Eleven Blue Men by Roueche. It’s what turned me on to epidemiology. A classic collection of stories recapping strange and mysterious medical conditions. Shoe leather epidemiology at its best!
4 - The Boat That Wouldn't Float by Farley Mowat. I didn't say they all had to be brain teasers! A great book by the greatest Canadian writer of all time. A rip-roaring adventure of a Newfeee boat!
5 - Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. If you have only seen the movie, you've missed out. Pick up the book and read what began it all. Not only a wonderful tale, but it also poses some deep ethical issues concerning cloning. Definitely proves that science is fun.
Enjoy your reading and don't forget your SPF!

What do I like to do in my spare time?

The keys to success in any field, not just science, are hard work, more hard work, perseverance, and relaxation. The first three keys leave very little time for the fourth, but the fourth element – relaxation- is essential. It is not so much how one relaxes that is important, but that one finds time to relax. These leisure moments may be spent listening to music, reading, exercising, BASE jumping, etc.. These stolen moments allow time for our minds to relax and the thoughts of the day to percolate on the back burner. You will be amazed at the clarity these “distracted” moments bring to the burning questions of your day. In his book "Einstein: Hs Life and Universe", Walter Isaacson relates how Einstein would often have eureka moments not when tediously pouring over some tedious equation, but while playing his violin or listening to a symphony. The mere process of relaxation distracts the mind and in this relaxed environment the answers to the day’s questions bubble to the surface. I am not saying relaxation will make you an Einstein, but it may prevent you from becoming an Elmer Fudd!

So, how do I spell relief? I enjoy reading (mostly nonfiction), cooking (because I love to eat), and bicycling (again because I like to eat). I find great serenity peddling the hours away…alone…on my bicycle…on a country road. It affords me time alone, a time free from e-mail and the issues of the day. A time, as my Indian friends would say, to get back into balance. So I would urge you all to step away from the computer and chill out for a while.