BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID;X-RICAL-TZSOURCE=TZINFO:-//com.denhaven2/NONSGML ri_cal gem//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:Join us for spirited discourse in this new\, timely Natural History book discussion group. \; Together\, we will explore four important works which have had significant impact on contemporary t hought within the sciences. Assistant Curator and Librarian Mark Swe berg will lead us in an examination of these informing and always in teresting classics of non-fiction literature. \; Pre-registratio n for entire four book series is required\; please sign up asap as s pace is limited\, and a minimum number of participants is required. Ages 18 and up.\nBooks to be discussed:\nThe Origin of Species by Charle s Darwin (April 7\, 2012)\nPerhaps the most readable and accessible of t he great works of scientific imagination\, The Origin of Species sol d out on the day it was published in 1859. \; Theologians quickl y labeled Charles Darwin the most dangerous man in England. \; B ased largely on Darwin's experience as a naturalist while on a five- year voyage aboard H.M.S. Beagle\, The Origin of Species set forth a theory of evolution and natural selection that challenged contempor ary beliefs about divine providence and the immutability of species.  \; A landmark contribution to philosophical and scientific thou ght\, Darwin's book came to have far-reaching importance beyond the field of biology\, encompassing such fields as psychology\, sociolog y\, law\, theology\, literature\, and other branches of intellectual endeavor.\nSilent Spring by Rachel Carson (May 12\, 2012)\nFew books ha ve had as much impact on early twenty-first life as Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. \; Though an environmental consciousness can be d iscerned in American culture as far back as the nineteenth century\, environmentalism as it is known today has only been around for fift y years\, and Carson's book is one of its primary sources. Her tirade against humankind's attempt to use technology to dominate nature w renched environmentalism from its relatively narrow\, conservationist groove and helped transition it into a sweeping social movement that has since impacted almost every area of everyday life.\nGuns\, Germs \, and Steel by Jared Diamond (June 16\, 2012)\nWinner of the 1998 Pulit zer Prize for nonfiction\, Guns\, Germs\, and Steel was also a natio nal best-seller. \; At a time when other popular nonfiction topi cs centered on personal relationships and diets\, Jared Diamond caug ht the attention of the reading public with a fascinating account of more than 13\,000 years of human evolution and societal development . Diamond recounts how he became intriqued when his New Guinean frie nd Yali asked\, "Why is it that you white people developed so much c argo and brought it to New Guinea\, but we black people had little c argo of our own?" \; The cargo that Yali refers to is technology- -tools as simple as axes\; accessories such as umbrellas\; and more complicated inventions such as computers. \; Diamond searched for an answer by examing millions of years of history\, mapping out the migrations of early humans. Diamond concludes that it is ultimately geography\, not biology or race as some other studies have tried to prove\, that produced the cultural disparities his friend Yali had pointed out.\nThe Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking (July 28\, 2012)\nStephen Hawking is that rare combination of scientist and celebri ty whose writings take the obscure and arcane workings of the univer se and make them available to general readers. Born exactly three un dred years after the death of Galileo\, Hawking would eventually hol d the Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics at Cambridge\, the same post once held by Sir Isaac Newton. \; In 1988\, Stephen Hawking published A Brief History of Time. \; It was among the most suc cessful popular books about science ever written. The Universe in a Nutshell is its sequel. \; Always charming\, frequently funny\, and at times bewildering\, author Stephen Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell describes a universe that sounds like a carnival fun hous e: nothing is really as it seems. URL:http://coventry.patch.com/events/museum-of-natural-history-and-planet arium-roger-williams-park-bad12a23 SUMMARY:Museum of Natural History and Planetarium\, Roger Williams Park LOCATION:1000 Elmwood Ave\, Providence\, RI 02907: 1000 Elmwood Ave\, Pro vidence\, RI END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR