Pushing the Limits of Nature
Suggested Questions and Additional Readings

Recommended Book: When the Killing’s Done by T. C. Boyle

  • Were folks able to read the book? (Give a very brief summary just to give a little context for those who didn’t read it). What did people think of it?
  • Has our community faced similar issues?
  • Any thoughts on what kinds of comments the book was making regarding the question of “what is natural”? What is a “natural environment?”
  • Did you feel that one of the heroes/heroines was right and the other wrong?

Author Interview: T. C. Boyle

  • What do people think of T.C. Boyle? Was he as you imagined him?
  • Were the rats “naturally” on the islands?
  • What is a natural state? Does chance play a role?
  • Does it seem possible to engineer nature? Is that an inherently impossible idea?
  • If humans are a part of nature, are their actions part of the natural events that shape
    an eco-system?
  • How do humans fit into the idea of balance in nature?

Science in Everyday Life: Cameron Clapp

  • What did people think of Cameron?
  • Is risk-taking part of one’s nature? Are we born with a certain nature already baked-in?
  • What did people think of Cameron’s prosthetics? Any thoughts on the kinds of technologies and understandings that need to be incorporated into the development of these new prosthetics?
  • Have people heard of the debates in athletics about whether or not those with prosthetics
    should be allowed to compete with “natural” athletes? Can these prosthetics be thought of
    as improvements?
  • Where do we draw the line between natural and science-assisted?

Additional Readings

Abramson, Neil. Just Life, New York: Center Street. 2016. Print.

Kingsolver, Barbara. Flight Behavior, New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2012.

Rollins, James. Amazonia. New York: Harper, 2010. Print.

Sterling, Bruce.Heavy Weather, New York: Bantam Books, 1994.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award Numbers 1515241 and DRL-1010577.

The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily

reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. © Dawson Media Group, L.L.C., 2013 – 2016