The roots of mental illness

Image by Jennifer Mathis
Image by Jennifer Mathis

There’s been a lot of buzz in the media this week about a new study on the genetic component of some mental illnesses. This is the largest genome wide association study of the genetic component of mental illness to date (33,332 affected individuals and 27,888 control individuals had their genomes examined for single base pair genetic differences.  The affected individuals were diagnosed with one of five disorders: autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, or schizophrenia. This particular study focused on finding genetic changes that were common to all five disorders as opposed to any genetic changes that cause the individual disorders. The genetic associations uncovered by this study were shocking to many in the field.

Continue reading “The roots of mental illness”

Whither Water

8431325708_e9eb970bf2_bEva has been delighting us all recently with descriptions of her trips to spectacular water engineering trips to locations like Haarlemmermeer and Hoover Dam. At the end of January, I went on my own trip to see a water engineering project. I don’t know if it counts as spectacular, but it was fun and interesting. As a prelude to ScienceOnline 2013, Scott Huler showed a lucky few what he had learned about the Raleigh storm water sewer system while researching his book on the infrastructure of modern cities, On the Grid.

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You can see all my photos from the tour (well all the ones that turned out OKish) at my Flickr page. Continue reading “Whither Water”

The Unfeathered Bird – A review in three parts

Skulls of Galapagos Finches by Katrina von Grouw - The Unfeathered Bird (2012 Princeton University Press - Used with Permission)
Skulls of Galapagos Finches by Katrina von Grouw – The Unfeathered Bird (2012 Princeton University Press – Used with Permission)

Katrina van Grouw‘s The Unfeathered Bird is a complicated book that combines elegant writing, copious information, and beautiful illustrations with bird anatomy. There may only be one person on earth prepared to handle all of that on her own. She wrote the book. And, it took her over 25 years.

We don’t have anyone that can cope with The Unfeathered Bird on their own. That’s ok. A multifaceted book should get a multifaceted review. So, we created a dream team of reviewers: artist Michele Banks focused on the artistry, Rebecca Heiss (PhD in avian physiology) focused on the avian physiology information, and Josh, me, focused. . .well it is not entirely clear what I focused on, like usual.

Michele Banks: The Art of The Unfeathered Bird
Rebecca Heiss: The Birds of The Unfeathered Bird
Josh Witten: The Layers of The Unfeathered Bird

The Layers of “The Unfeathered Bird”

The Unfeathered Bird by Katrina van Grouw

My copy of Katrina van Grouw‘s The Unfeathered Bird demanded to be placed on my coffee table. In the same way that everything about a cheetah says fast, everything about The Unfeathered Bird says coffee table book. There are 385 illustrations of 200 bird species. It is 287 pages long and weighs a couple of kilograms. When a book like that asks space on your coffee table, you ask “how much space?”. Fortunately, I have a sturdy coffee table.

I also have two small children (hence the sturdy coffee table). As a result, my first encounter with the content between the covers was not the orderly perusal with wine I had been planning for that night. Instead, it started with my 4-year-old, The Frogger, opening The Unfeathered Bird and asking, while staring at an immaculate illustration of a skinned bird foot, “Daddy, what is this book about?”

“It’s a book about birds. It shows you the insides of birds so we can learn how they work.” Continue reading “The Layers of “The Unfeathered Bird””

The Art of “The Unfeathered Bird”

Skeleton of a Great Hornbill by Katrina von Grouw - The Unfeathered Bird (2012 Princeton University Press - Used with Permission)
Skeleton of a Great Hornbill by Katrina von Grouw – The Unfeathered Bird (2012 Princeton University Press – Used with Permission)

Katrina van Grouw’s The Unfeathered Bird is curious hybrid – not a textbook, not quite an art book. Forget definitions, it is a rich and beautiful work with many rewards for readers.

I approached this book as a visual artist and a decidedly non-expert reader, and I will admit an initial bias against it. I love color. I was convinced that a coffee-table book of birds drawn without their feathers was like a book on ice cream that featured only the cones.

I was wrong. Continue reading “The Art of “The Unfeathered Bird””