Hi, Beth, You might want to look for Judith Moffett's Pennterra. I can't
vouch for the accuracy of the science, but it sounds like the kind of
book you'd like. You might also want to try Joan Slonczewski's books.
She's a well-known bacteriologist at Kenyon College and an excellent sf
writer.
Mike Levy
Michael M. Levy levym@uwstout.edu
Department of English levymm@uwec.edu
University of Wisconsin-Stout off. ph: 715-834-6533
Menomonie, WI 54751 hm. ph: 715-834-6533
On Wed, 30 Apr 1997, Beth Middleton wrote:
> Hi-
>
> I'm a new person, so I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm a
> scientist/university prof (plant ecologist) who really enjoys reading
> science fiction, particularly "natural" science fiction, e.g., "Earth
> Abides" by George Stewart and "Ecotopia" by Ernest Callenbach. I'm sure
> that others in the discussion group share this interest and could pass on
> other interesting titles. I haven't been very successful in finding very
> many of these. In the books I have found, often the science is fairly
> flawed, or they are sexist or racist -- another reason I find this
> discussion group so intriguing.
>
> To spice up my non-majors ecology class at the university, I organize some
> lectures/discussion around a natural science fiction title. "Biomes" (the
> vegetation types around the world before we destroyed them all) is a
> dreadfully boring topic for most students, so I changed it. I began to use
> the sci-fi book, "Earth Abides", as part of the biomes unit. The book
> worked out really well from the biomes angle, but it was really tiring
> apologizing for all of the sexist/racist overtones in the book.
>
> >From a science perspective, the ideas in the book did make a great
> springboard for a discussion of how people change the earth. This is really
> the entire point of teaching students about biomes in the first place, but
> it was much more interesting for the students to start with the sci-fi
> approach and then progress to the sci approach. I eventually wrote a sci-fi
> thing of my own to use in class to avoid the sexist/racist problem.
>
> Does anyone know of other books similar to "Earth Abides", that discuss the
> way the world would change without so many people? I'd really like to vary
> the title from year to year.
>
> Beth Middleton
> Dr. Beth Middleton
> Department of Plant Biology, 411 Life Science II
> Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901
> 618-453-3216 FAX: 618-453-3441
> Sabbatical Phone and FAX: 618-457-6760
> bmiddleton@plant.siu.edu
>
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