Lab Girl (2016) - insight into the life of an academic in the sciences

I found Lab Girl (by Hope Jahren) helpful for understanding the experience of academics in the sciences, both graduate students and faculty, especially those involved in labs. I wasn't sure, though, what to make of the interspersed chapters on plant biology, as fascinating as they were. They did provide a metaphor for understanding the rest of the book: “People are like plants: they grow toward the light. I chose science because science gave me what I needed – a home as defined in the most literal sense: a safe place to be.” (18)

At times, though, these interspersed chapters on biology felt like they got in the way of the story I wanted to hear more about, even as much as Jahren's telling us of the biology of trees is as much a part of her story as all the (mis)adventures that she had. Her story was unique: “there’s still no journal where I can tell the story of how my science is done with both the heart and the hands.” (20) Nor can she speak fully of all the non-successes that obviously don’t make it into journals. Instead she notes that “I have become proficient at producing a rare species of prose capable of distilling ten years of work by five people into six published pages, written in a language that very few people can read and that no one ever speaks. This writing relates the details of my work with the precision of a laser scalpel, but its streamlined beauty is a type of artifice, a size-zero mannequin designed to showcase the glory of a dress that would be much less perfect on a real person.” (20)

The book was also helpful in providing insights into some of the unseen challenges of academic, especially that of science professors (and those who direct labs). She notes how, while we might expect knowledge and research to be the hardest questions that scientists face, funding is actually the biggest stress:

"Next time you meet a science professor, ask her if she ever worries that her findings might be wrong. If she worries that she chose an impossible problem to study, or that she overlooked some important evidence along the way. If she worries that one of the many roads not taken was perhaps the road to the right answer that she’s still looking for. Ask a science professor what she worries about. It won’t take long. She’ll look you in the eye and say one word: “Money.” " (124-5)

She also talks about the challenges and loneliness that she experienced, particularly as a female in her profession. Despite being someone who won some prominent awards (and was on the tenure track at 26 already!), funding was a significant problem for at least ten years. She also speaks about being taken advantage of by another lab in the building, of being yelled at a conference presentation, of being ignored socially at conferences by the senior scientists in her field. She also notes about how hard when her life went against a lot of societal norms, especially what is expected of females:

“I didn’t know if I was crying because I was nobody’s wife or mother – or because I felt like nobody’s daughter – or because of the beauty of that single perfect line on the readout. I had worked and waited for this day. In solving this mystery I had also proved something, at least to myself, and I finally knew what real research would feel like. But as satisfying as it was, it still stands out as one of the loneliest moments of my life. On some deep level, the realization that I could do good science was accompanied by the knowledge that I had formally and terminally missed my chance to become like any of the women that I had ever known. In the years to come, I would create a new sort of normal for myself within my own laboratory. I would have a brother close than any of my siblings, someone I could call any hour of the day or night. . . I would nurture a new generation of students, some of whom were just hungry for attention, and a very few who would live up to the potential that I saw in them.” (71-2).

Despite all the challenges, there is a lot of hope in the book: the community that she builds, the grace and acceptance that she presents, and the quiet presence of God:

“My lab is a place where my guilt over what I haven’t done is supplanted by all the things that I am getting done. . . My lab is a place where I can be the child that I still am. . . . My laboratory is like a church because it is where I figure out what I believe. The machines drone a gathering hymn as I enter. I know whom I’ll probably see, and I know how they’ll probably act. I know there’ll be silence; I know there’ll be music, a time to greet my friends, and a time to leave others to their contemplation. There are rituals that I follow, some I understand and some I don’t. . . And, just like church, because I grew up in it, it is not something from which I can ever really walk away.” (19)

Planning to read the whole Bible this year

The beginning of the new year, despite my annoyance with how cliché New Year's resolutions are, seems like a good time to begin fulfilling my desire to read through the whole Bible again. I've read it through in the past and have continued to read/hear parts of the Bible regularly, but it has been a long time since I've been systematic about it. I feel thus like I've been losing some of my Bible knowledge, which from the perspective of being a Christian is sad. Furthermore, as a Biblical scholar and one who wants to do biblical theology well, it's actually a significant hinderance. Thus it feels like it's time to pick up my English Bible and start spending more time with it.

But how? Once upon a time I had a New Living Translation Two-Year Bible, and that worked well. I really appreciated that each day had a reading from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. But I have since misplaced it (I remember lending it out?), and I also wonder if I don't prefer the slightly more haphazard reading plan style from my earlier years (start at the beginning, read a few chapters most days and stop when I'm finished). The current plan is a mixture of both. I did some googling and found an outline of a classic Bible reading plan, which starts in Genesis and Luke 5 with a Psalm or Proverb along side of that. I've put bookmarks/papers in three parts of my Bible. Written on the bookmarks is how much I should have read by day 7, 14, 21, 28 so that I can finish in a year. Every day I try to read at least one chapter and some days more, and I can choose from NT, OT and/or Psalms.

Already I've noticed that I've appreciated reading it. If you'd asked me whether Luke had a version of the beautitudes, I would have probably have said yes - but I hadn't realized how different they were (e.g., Luke 6:21 - "Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh."). Even more different is the present of woes/curses following the blessings. 
I'd also forgotten the story of Abram rescuing Lot and helping out the king of Sodom, as found in Gen 14. Abram is such a familiar figure that I was surprised that I was capable of forgetting parts of his story. I had remembered the visit of the high priest Melchizidek but had forgotten in which context it occurred, not entirely surprisingly as his presence in this story does seem a bit random. 

Hopefully I'll post more things that surprise me as I continue to read and fall in love more with the Bible.

summer is for reading

ever since i can remember, i've tended to read a lot during the summer. mind you, most people would call how much i read during the year to be a lot, but when it's summer i read even more. and this summer it has been a mixture of different reading material.

sometimes it's children's books, like:
- Kikker is Kikker [Froggie is Froggie]
- Anders is niet minder goed [Different is not less good]
- Grote Dierenboek... [Large animal book]
As you can see, they're mostly in dutch. the incentive for reading them was my helping out with the children's program on retreat. i rather enjoyed getting to read the books - and they are best read aloud - which means i'll have to borrow someone's child for awhile to hang out with in the library :)

sometimes it's teen books, like:
- mysteries by Norah MacClintock (a Canadian writer, although i've been reading them in dutch)
- New Moon by Stephanie Meijer (the second book in the Twilight Series). I read the first book in dutch last summer and couldn't find the second one anywhere - and finally one of the teenage girls in the community lent me her english copy. this same person (who perhaps reads even more than i do in the summer!) gave me a list of potential books to read, so hopefully we'll get to that soon (although perhaps it'll wait until school starts and the shelves at the library are no longer half empty).

perhaps i'll pick up some adult fiction somewhere, but that has more to do with availability - and if it's in english, i can read fast enough that i'll put up with some of the mediocre parts.
- this summer it's been a book by Carol Smith and one by Katherinne Kerr, and also one by Kelley Armstrong (part of my paranormal fiction exploration), but i'd not sure if i'd really recommend any of them.
- the one recommendation i do have is People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - the characters were fairly well-formed (although their stories were a bit depressing). and most of all for myself, i found it fascinating to think more about the history of a book could shape one's understanding of it.

- and then just so i feel scholarly (and because i recognize that deep down i'm a bit of a nerd and really do love reading academic stuff), i've picked up (and read at least sections of the following):
- Interpretation and Incarnation by Peter Enns
- Ezekiel and his Book edited by J Lust
- The Rhetorical Function of the Book of Ezekiel
- Prophecy and Hermeneutics by Christopher Seitz
- Reading the Latter Prophets by Edgar Conrad
- Narrative Structure and Discourse Constellations

and as a final tribute to the wonder of reading, i'll share the following link which discusses why people read.

some people don't read

every week, the big stairwell in the house gets cleaned. and everyone who lives there takes a turn - this week it's my turn. and i've been paired with somebody who isn't usually (at least not in my memory) scheduled to clean them. in the process of making sure that this wasn't a scheduling glitch, i found out that the person cleaning with me is probably unaware that she is scheduled to clean this week - even though there's a schedule hanging up in the hall and she received a letter in her mailbox about it. see, she doesn't read.

when i heard that she doesn't read, i didn't understand. i know some people don't read books and perhaps some people can't be bothered to read their mail (especially when half of it is in a foreign language). but that wasn't the case here. she can't read. growing up she never learned how. and even after living in the Netherlands for a significant time now, she still hasn't learned. and i was flabbergasted. my world is so completely surrounded by words and writing and reading that i have a very difficult time imagining functioning without being able to read.

and others have walked through our doors at Oudezijds 100 who can't read. learning to sign their name is the closest they come to writing. when i put it in the context of the other challenges going on in their lives, it doesn't appear quite so strange - even as i believe it must be very difficult. and in the life of this woman who is to clean the stairwell with me, who i've known for more than a year and who has had quite a lot of challenges to overcome, i remain surprised about how she cannot read. i see that her life has reached a certain level of stability and that she seems to be functioning okay - and i cannot completely get my mind around how she can manage to live well without being able to read since so much of life is dependent on reading and writing. and as much as it puzzles me, i think it also makes me a bit sad.

and i recognize that i have so much to learn about people and life and seeing the world around me.

postscript: The Parool, a dutch newspaper, published an article today about a special dutch integration course for people who are illiterate.

on reading Christian fiction

having been in school for a very long time, i've come to recognize that the writing in most novels classified as Christian fiction is not that good. most people who've gone to university tend to look down on it, choosing instead the type of novels that are classics or [could] have received some kind of award.

nonetheless, every now and then i pick up a few Christian novels. i do so for a number of reasons: partially out of nostalgia since i grew up reading a lot of these kind of books. partially out of easy access (the libraries of most churches are pretty full of the typical christian novels and i have a good friend who works for a christian publisher so i have lots of possible material). and partially just because i want something to read (that is usually pretty quick).

i usually get a sense of being bloated by the time i'm done. i'm sure it's helped by the fact that i usually read about 4 novels in a week (i can finish a book in an evening). but there's something predictable about many christian fiction books, something that doesn't seem to fit the world i live in now. even recognizing that many are historical novels not set in my time does not change the sense that there is something unreal about them. the happy ending provided (usually marriage or a baby) does not seem to capture the painful messiness of my life that remains even as i've found joy in many ways - and besides the expected way of finding joy in a husband and children.

and yet, i still pick up the books now and then. perhaps it has to do with my desire to honour the (good) hopes and intentions of those who write and publish them. even as much as i often grimace through the "preach-y" sections of the book, i am thankful for the desire to share the gospel that permeates through the book. and even as much as i often find that the faith doesn't quite fit the messiness of my life, the faith pictured in the books (and given by those writing) can also be inspiring. there's a desire in the books for faith to be shared - and to be alive in our prayers and our words. and since i come from the type of tradition where faith is rarely talked about (except where you think/believe the right thing), this every day sharing of faith is refreshing - and i've noticed that my mom, who has picked up more Christian books in these last few years (and also been leading a Bible study at church that is more outreach focused), has changed in how she prays and talks about faith - reflecting more of that vividness that i do appreciate in these books.

and sometimes i pick up a Christian book simply with the hope of being surprised -not because being surprised is so unusual but because you never know what to expect or where the surprise will come - of having a delightful good laugh, of enjoying the characters, of hearing a story that makes me want to follow it, and/or of recognizing what i am either thankful for or hopeful of in my own life.

on a different (lighter) note...

i read a lot - including blogs. besides being a great source of information and insight into different people's lives in different places, blogs can also be a great way of putting life into perspective (or just giving me a smile/laugh for the day). so i thought i'd share a couple of blogs that i always look forward to reading:

dutch word of the day - the explanation and sentences are an informative (and sometimes humourous) way to increase my knowledge of dutch language and culture.

Life at the Geertsema's - the author is someone i lived with in college and even then she had a knack for telling great stories. the stories she shares here of being a down-to-earth parent (of two girls) are both sweet and funny. the following is a glimpse:
"Big Tummy
One of Naomi's favourite things to play lately is "Big Tummy" - that is, one of us pretends to have a big tummy (be pregnant), and then rushes to the hospital, where the doctor pulls it out. I gave birth to several babies today, including one set of twins. (They weren't identical - one was a cat, and one was a bunny.) When she is the doctor, she pulls out the baby with such excitement, and then hands me the baby, and leans in to kiss me and say congratulations. Then she tells me if I've had a boy or a girl.
One day last week, I just couldn't resist asking a question.
"Congratulations, it's a girl," she said.
"How do you know?" I asked, curious as to what she might say.
"Silly Mom," she responded, "she's got braids."

Female Science Professor - she shares the good, the bad, the challenging, and the bizarre things that come into her life as a female science professor (with a science professor husband and a teenager). for some reason i feel like i can relate to her life, although maybe it's only because i appreciate her odd sense of humour and am thankful that somebody else has even more bizarre things happen to her than i do!

happy reading ;)

i love reading, and i've been able to do more of it here (since i now have easy access to so many english books). and since i do a lot of it, i thought i'd share. so i've posted a brief blurb on some of the books i've been reading in another blog, brenda's recent reading. perhaps it might give you ideas of what to read next (or whether not to read a book).

just so you know - some of the books are novels and some are more memoir or non-fiction type. and a few are academic, most notably a number of books dealing with prostitution near the bottom of the list.

happy reading :)